Choosing the right TV size for your living room or bedroom isn’t exactly like determining where to sit in a movie theater, but there are certainly similarities. In movie theaters, people generally prefer to sit centrally, maybe a little front-of-center. Studies have shown that the same is true at home—central, on-axis viewing is preferred.
In movie theaters, we generally don’t like to sit in the front third of the theater because often, we’d have to move our head or eyes from side-to-side to follow the action; the angle at which we’re viewing
The dark days and long nights of winter provide a great opportunity to reassess the safety of your home’s electrical power grid, lest your plans for seasonal lighting become worthy of a parody by National Lampoon, if not worse. To guard against such a dangerous event, we’ve gathered up the handy tips and product recommendations below to help you upgrade your infrastructure with safety and effectiveness in mind.
Safety Basics
Did you know that although power cords and surge protectors don’t have established expiration dates, they do have a
As someone who has been obsessed with all things audio for most of my life, I always find it interesting to hear what people have to say about sound quality. I find it especially fascinating to hear the opinions of people who aren’t in the audio field themselves. A great live sound engineer once said to me, “Most folks know something doesn’t sound right; they may not be able to tell you why, but they know something sounds off the mark.” I think there’s a lot of truth to that statement. Just ask my wife, who’s heard a lot of the songs I’ve
Since many families are forgoing their annual vacations and staying put for the summer, people are looking for creative ways to bring their loved ones together at home. With social distancing still the norm, setting up an outdoor movie theater in your backyard is a great way to get your family and close friends together to have some fun and be entertained in a safe manner. Creating a backyard theater may sound like a daunting task, but it’s easier than you may think.
Choosing when to have your outdoor movie night involves some considerations
In the 1960s, we saw starship captains flipping open a pocket-sized device and talking to their crew in orbit, and family members calling one another in full color through what looked like a TV (or at least, what a TV looked like at the time). Steven Spielberg once said, “There is no such thing as science fiction, there is only science eventuality,” and just 50 years after these shows originally aired, you can video chat with anyone around the world while waiting for a taxi, ask a speaker to play your favorite sappy love song, or tell your TV
by Richard L Stevens · Posted 08/08/2018
Don’t take the gazebo down just yet. Summer, or some version of it, is still in full swing—and thus, so is your ability to enjoy it. Every year around this time, my family and I prepare for an annual summer tradition of our own: our backyard movie party. Summer must end at some point, but before it does, we break out the A/V gear, fire up the grill, and send it out with a bang. This type of party always goes over well with my outdoorsy crowd. There’s something about a big screen, good company, and good food that makes you appreciate all the
It seems that every time a new technology comes out, there’s a slew of new vocabulary to learn. Recently, the term HDR entered the home theater vocabulary, and without an explanation of what dynamic range is, it’s difficult to understand what high dynamic range is. Luckily, we’re here to explain all the new terminology associated with HDR and the source content that each format supports.
Dynamic Range
In general, dynamic range can be defined as the ratio of the highest to the lowest frequency level that can be transmitted or reproduced. In the
If you’re looking to maximize the sound of your home theater surround sound system, you’ve most likely heard of Dolby Atmos and DTS:X. Understandably, while many may want to get the best sound possible out of their surround sound system, not everyone is plugged in to the latest developments and trends of the consumer electronics industry. For the layperson who isn’t up to speed, and for whom Dolby Digital, DTS, or Dolby Pro Logic were the latest audio codecs when last you bought a
Every year, around the time that people start gearing up for the Big Game, TVs seem to go on sale everywhere. And similarly, every year, I try to caution friends, before you run out and grab the lowest-cost model you can find at your local big-box store, you may want to look beyond price to ensure that your new TV serves you adequately in the short and long run. Is the TV the right size for your space? When the game is over, is the picture quality up to the task of displaying the content you watch beyond sports?
IPS Displays Provide a Wide
We’ve all seen the YouTube videos showcasing strangers driving around neighborhoods and stealing packages from random porches and driveways. What are you supposed to do if you are out all day? What if you don't have the time to spend jockeying for position in the shops and department stores? For those who work all day and don’t have a choice except to shop online (like 46% of shoppers in the US), an even bigger problem presents itself—how do you keep delivered packages safe when you're not at home?
There are ways to watch the outside of your
You’ve just seen a commercial showing a homeowner having a friendly exchange with their package delivery person via camera while they’re not at home, or another commercial showing a homeowner scaring away would-be burglars by shouting something witty into their smartphone’s microphone, sending the culprits scurrying into the night. You think to yourself, “That would be awesome—I need that, I can do that!” With the holiday season right around the corner, there’s no better time than now. That’s it! You’ve decided to purchase a video doorbell of
Unless you’re dialed-in to the home entertainment industry and its latest trends, shopping for home entertainment gear can be a daunting and confusing experience. Components such as these aren’t changed as frequently as the other devices in our lives. If you haven’t shopped for a receiver or Blu-ray player in a few years, there’s a good chance you’re staring at a few features and specifications that weren’t prevalent on home theater components a few years ago. Popular features like Dolby Atmos surround sound support and wireless streaming
In the decade spanning 1990 to 2000, when video games were just beginning to enter the phase of legitimacy they now enjoy, I was a contender in the gaming industry. I wrote for the now defunct GamePro magazine, then the world’s largest video-game magazine, under the nom de plume of “Scary Larry.” If you knew anything about video games back then, you knew GamePro, and if you knew GamePro, you knew me.
But as time marched forward, I moved across the aisle into video-game marketing and branding, where I landed a gig as Editorial Director for The
by Kate Kliner · Posted 12/22/2014
Preserving family videos is an important task, because no one wants to lose the precious memories of their loved ones. Recently, my family started the process of converting several VHS tapes to DVD format. My mother had been thinking about doing this for years; however, since she doesn’t consider herself to be especially tech-savvy, she was intimidated and kept postponing the job. However, after recently watching some of the tapes with the family, she decided it was time to transfer them. She was reminded of how special these home movies are,