More from CES 2024: SVS demo’d their new Ultra Evolution Series Speakers, Hisense claims their 110″ ULED X TV can hit 10,000 nits, Portrait Displays offers their G1 Pattern Generator for Calman, but their C7 HDR Colorimeter got cancelled, and Filmmaker Mode is coming to Dolby Vision. Tom unexpectedly had to cut out early this week, so it’s a whole lotta Rob at the end!

Pictures shown in this episode: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjBaCMH

00:00:00 – Intro

00:11:15 – What We Watched

Rob watched Gran Turismo, South Park: Joining the Panderverse, and (Not Suitable for Children), and The Curse. We both watched at least part of Echo. And Tom continued Tacoma FD.

00:32:00 – Listeners of the Week

Our Listeners of the Week are Tyler, David, Jason, and Raf for their PayPal donations, plus our 133 Patreon Patrons, as well as Aaron for sending even more Canada-only movie codes to try out.

We also appreciate the notes of gratitude for keeping the podcast going from: Mike, Martin, Eric, Kris, Aaron, Henry, and Michael. Thank you to everyone for continuing to listen!

In the news:

00:34:49 – News: SVS Ultra Evolution Series

3 Towers, 2 Bookshelves, a Center, and Elevations speakers. Curved front faces to physically time align the voice coils. And force-cancelling front & back woofers on the floorstanders. Coming this Spring: http://tinyurl.com/43zz26hd

00:52:34 – News: Hisense hits 10,000 nits

8K 110″ ULED X TV model claims 40,000 miniLED local-dimming zones and 10,000 nits, while 2024 UX Series hits 5,000 nits: http://tinyurl.com/mr396h3t

00:54:08 – News: Portrait Displays Cancels C7 HDR

Some major manufacturing problem prevented the launch: http://tinyurl.com/fasz32tb

– C6 HDR2000 Meters are back, and bundle pricing drops the price: http://tinyurl.com/4er4h83u

00:56:19 – News: Portrait Displays G1 Pattern Generator

Only works with Calman, and costs way less when bundled: http://tinyurl.com/5n7et73p

00:58:24 – News: Filmmaker Mode for Dolby Vision

Coming to LG TVs this year: http://tinyurl.com/4hk8ku3j

QUESTIONS:

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CES 2024 is happening now. But we record early in the week, so we only have the preview news to talk about. LG’s 2024 QNEDs, OLEDs, and their Transparent T Series. Samsung QD-OLEDs, and transparent microLED. Brighter, bigger – up to 115″ – TCL miniLED TVs. Sony’s focus on backlighting. Samsung’s Music Frame speakers. And Apple Vision Pro release date.

Pictures shown in this episode: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjBa1yU

00:00:00 – Intro

00:09:14 – What We Watched

Rob watched What If…? S.2. Tom watched Tacoma FD

00:24:58 – Listeners of the Week

Our Listeners of the Week are Toke and Jonathan for their PayPal donations, plus our 133 Patreon Patrons, as well as Aaron for sending more Canadian movie codes for Rob to inspect.

We also appreciate the notes of gratitude for keeping the podcast going from: Jay, Kris, Scott, James, Martin, David, Gideon, Paul, Aaron, and Bradford. Thank you to everyone for continuing to listen!

In the news:

00:30:01 – News: LG 2024 QNED TVs

8K, miniLED & 98″ offerings: http://tinyurl.com/35kdv9wj

– https://avgadgets.com/what-is-a-qned-tv/

00:33:59 – News: LG 2024 OLED TVs

Brighter, 83″ MLA: https://youtu.be/NdOnEh0kvDE

00:37:15 – News: LG Signature OLED T Series

Transparent OLED with a roll up black backing: https://youtu.be/tcHGpw7KKE4

00:43:56 – News: Samsung QD-OLEDs

Matte screen option, and plenty of W-OLED models, too: https://youtu.be/ahg_-Qeely0

– https://avgadgets.com/oled-in-a-bright-room-can-it-work/

00:48:49 – News: Transparent microLED

Clearer than T OLED, but less available: https://youtu.be/3aWXsrcy0AE

00:50:03 – News: TCL miniLED TVs

Bigger, brighter: http://tinyurl.com/2znbnj3u

00:50:45 – News: TCL 115″ QM891G

No longer exclusive to China: http://tinyurl.com/2ykckk97

00:53:30 – News: Sony Local-Dimming

Trying to make miniLEDs as close to a dual-LCD monitor as possible: https://youtu.be/grBlT1DIqZk

00:56:23 – News: Samsung Music Frame

Art speakers the size of an LP: http://tinyurl.com/yeyjw648

00:57:29 – News: Apple Vision Pro Date

Coming Feb 2: http://tinyurl.com/bd3zmd6k

Comments:

00:59:33 – Comment: Scott – Hisense, and Fiber Optics

Bad customer service experiences. Be gentle with fiber optic HDMI cables.

QUESTIONS:

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Happy New Year! Tom is sort of back in his home theater, and that means his video feed has returned! Denon & Marantz owners can now pay hundreds of dollars to add Dirac Live Bass Control. You can pre-register for ad-free Amazon Prime Video. And Discovery shows will remain available via the PlayStation Store for another 30 months.

Pictures shown in this episode: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjB8Ymi

00:00:00 – Intro

Welcome back to Tom’s home theater…mostly.

00:13:56 – What We Watched

Rob watched Only Murders in the Building S.3, and The Curse. Tom watched Reacher.

00:27:18 – Listeners of the Week

Our Listeners of the Week are our 133 Patreon Patrons, as well as Aaron for seeing if Rob could make sense of some Canadian movie codes.

We also appreciate the notes of gratitude for keeping the podcast going from: Karl, Jim, Gurinder, Dev, Zach, Raf, Sasi, Kevin, Stan, Stephen, Aaron, Steve, Mike, Jason, Jefferson, and Toke. Thank you to everyone for continuing to listen!

In the news:

00:32:08 – News: Dirac Live Bass Control on Denon & Marantz

Top end Receivers & Pre-Pro now have the option of paying to add Dirac Live Bass Control: http://tinyurl.com/ybsx4fnr

00:38:22 – News: Pre-register for Ad-free Prime Video

Regular Amazon Prime subscriptions will have ads by February. Pay $3/month for ad-free: http://tinyurl.com/2xax57k3

00:39:32 – News: Discovery Shows Staying on PlayStation

Sony reached a new licensing agreement to keep Discovery shows for another 30 months: http://tinyurl.com/j7byphnf

Comments:

00:40:48 – Comment: Zach – Successful Buzz Troubleshooting

A USB power adapter was to blame.

00:44:06 – Comment: Sasi – EQ, Calibration & Subwoofer Room Size

Suggestions to try the WiiM software EQ options, calibrating SDR to be brighter, and a chart for various subwoofers’ output vs room size and Reference Volume: http://tinyurl.com/234tjkpe

00:49:26 – Comment: Infinite Gary – Class A Amp Setup

We might have exaggerated the heat output.

QUESTIONS:

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Season’s Greetings! It’s our final episode of 2023! Happy New Year! And we’ll see you all again in 2024.

Tom has quite the tale to tell this week. Disney has dropped Jonathan Majors from his role as Kang in the MCU. And Xbox Cloud Gaming is available in beta on Meta Quest VR headsets.

Pictures shown in this episode: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjB7s4a

00:00:00 – Intro

What a day Tom and his family went through.

00:15:30 – What We Watched

Rob started Twisted Metal, and watched No Hard Feelings. Tom watched The Menu.

00:33:16 – Listeners of the Week

Our Listeners of the Week are Tyler for his PayPal donation, plus our 134 Patreon Patrons, as well as Jack for alerting Tom when the https://avgadgets.com/ website seemingly had a problem.

We also appreciate the notes of gratitude for keeping the podcast going from: Joe, Jonathan, Dazz, Ben, Jay, Kevin S, Stephen, Kevin P, and Anthony. Thank you to everyone for continuing to listen!

In the news:

00:39:37 – News: Jonathan Majors Convicted

Following his trial verdict, Majors has been dropped by his agency and from the MCU: http://tinyurl.com/4yn7cy7u

00:43:47 – News: Meta Quest Xbox Cloud Gaming

Meta Quest VR headsets can now access Xbox Cloud Gaming in beta: http://tinyurl.com/2pkjzvke

QUESTIONS:

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Happy Holidays! It’s our second to last episode of the year! SAG-AFTRA ratified their new contract. Zappiti players can live on via a subscription to R_volution’s R_video software. And Rob says SVS crossed the line with their bi-wire claims.

Pictures shown in this episode: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjB6MZX

00:00:00 – Intro

00:05:34 – What We Watched

Rob watched Bottoms. Tom continued Rick & Morty, and finished S.1 of Welcome to Wrexham.

00:18:32 – Listeners of the Week

Our Listeners of the Week are Andrew and Jeff for their PayPal donations, plus our 134 Patreon Patrons, including Ken.

We also appreciate the notes of gratitude for keeping the podcast going from: Greg, Art, Ken, Mohsen, Terry, Brandon, Chris, Julian, Vince, Rob, Jeff, and Frank & Nina. Thank you to everyone for continuing to listen!

In the news:

00:21:37 – News: SAG-AFTRA Ratify Contract

The actors’ strike is officially over, and they have a new 3-year contract: http://tinyurl.com/54kjk2ad

00:24:24 – News: R_video on Zappiti

Zappiti’s own software is completely dead now, but you can pay a subscription to use R_volution’s R_video software instead: https://www.rvolution.com/rvideo

Comments:

00:26:19 – Comment: Rob J – Corner Bead Panel Frames

At one point (when lumber was overpriced), we wondered if drywall corner bead could make for good DIY absorption panel frames. Rob J tried it out!

QUESTIONS:

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