• Last updated 6/6/12 by capnsmak

Since the advent of high definition media, we as enthusiasts have strived to seek out the titles that would satisfy our insatiable thirst for the type of high quality presentations that give us that special thrill when we see them on our displays at home. As a writer that covers Blu-ray disc releases, I am fortunate in that a large number of movies pass through my players. You would think that having written over a thousand reviews that my thirst for the next thrilling high definition presentation would be diminished. Well, like most of you reading this, it isn’t. When I... read more

• Last updated 10/24/12 by espodo

  By Eric Podolsky, 10/22/12   It’s that time of year again. October is the month in which we give ourselves permission to revel in the perverse, to take pleasure in fear, to seek out the dark things from which we recoil the other 11 months of the year. In a nutshell, it’s horror movie time here at AVS! Whether the macabre and gruesome is your bag or not, there is a deep, deep well of lost and not-so-lost horror/thriller classics to explore. Lucky for us, AVS has a dedicated contingent of horror movie aficionados who are more than happy to help us decide where... read more

• Last updated 10/10/12 by espodo

  By Eric Podolsky, 10/10/12   As the 3D Blu-ray market grows larger with every passing year, we’re finding it harder and harder to sift through the plethora of mediocre 3D films to find ones that are truly worthy of our home theater. It’s certainly true that there is a discrepancy between what constitutes a good film and a good 3D film -- eye-popping 3D visuals will often make up for the lack of a good plot when it comes to 3D Blu-rays. Conversely, while there are plenty of fantastic movies that have been released on 3D Blu-ray, most of the time 3D just doesn’t... read more

• Last updated 12/18/12 by Ralph Potts

In looking back over this year’s Blu-ray releases I would say that 2012 had its share of noteworthy offerings. This includes new films coming to the format as well as catalog titles several of which have received re-mastered video with impressive results. While the year isn’t quite over I wanted to take a look at 25 Blu-ray releases that I found to be special. This isn’t limited solely to discs that received reference marks from me for audio/video although there are many. I have included the Final Thoughts portion from my review of each along with a link to the review... read more

• Last updated 10/5/12 by espodo

    By Eric Podolsky, 10/03/12   If there’s one thing that becomes readily apparent from browsing AVS Forum’s wealth of informative threads, it’s that the AVS community takes projectors very seriously. There are few topics onsite that inspire the amount of time and dedication in our members as projectors do, and AVS Forum takes great pride in our wealth of lengthy threads that contain invaluable information submitted by our resident projector experts. There’s no denying that the world of projectors can be a rabbit hole that leads to endless experimenting,... read more

• Last updated 9/10/12 by espodo

    By Eric Podolsky, 9/10/12   As we collectively hurtle into the brave, new world of streaming, our ever-increasing bandwidth demands present us with constant challenges. The amount of data we stream continues to increase exponentially, and the routers we use to transmit said data are becoming obsolete faster than ever before. Thanks to a growing pool of streaming HD entertainment and games, the typical 300 Mbps wireless router just isn’t going to hold up to demands pressed upon it.   Naturally, as our hardware becomes increasingly unable to handle the... read more

• Last updated 11/1/12 by espodo

    By Eric Podolsky, 8/27/12   When building a home theater, there is no debate as to the importance of choosing an audio configuration that’s the best fit for your taste, as well as your space. Whether you’re looking to keep it minimal and compact, or want to go all out with big, floor-standing speakers, care needs to be given to their configuration if you want everything to sound its best. Here are some of the main considerations to take into play when choosing your home theater’s surround sound configuration.   Room Size   As most AVS members... read more

• Last updated 8/24/12 by Ralph Potts

As home theater enthusiasts we love to show off our home entertainment systems. Let’s face it we have put lots of blood, sweat, tears and money into our labor of love so why shouldn’t we sit our friends, neighbors, relatives and anyone else that happens by down for a demonstration? Like many of you reading this I still get a kick out of watching people react to a great demo scene played back in my 7.2 channel theater. Of course this type of setup isn’t required to derive the awe factor as each room, system and enthusiast is different. The advent of surround sound gave... read more

• Last updated 10/12/12 by espodo

  By Eric Podolsky, 10/12/12   As the Blu-ray format slowly pushes DVDs into yesterday’s news, us videophiles couldn’t be happier with the ever-growing plethora of old films getting remastered and released in a pristine HD format. We are very grateful to live in a time when we’re able to experience film at a cinematic level in our own homes -- Blu-ray has truly improved the quality of home theater in ways that none of us could fathom a decade ago.   But there are still a massive number of classic films that, for whatever reason, have yet to get the proper HD... read more

• Last updated 12/4/12 by Scott Wilkinson

    Last night, Sony launched its much-anticipated 4K Ultra HD flat panel at a gala event held at a palatial private residence known as the House of Rock, located in the high-end Los Angeles neighborhood of Brentwood. The 84-inch XBR-84X900 (seen here with the lovely Allison Holmes of Sony's Cierge customer-service group) is now available to well-heeled consumers at a list price of $25,000—but don't expect any holiday-shopping discounts, at least not this year! Sony is using the term "4K Ultra HD" to distinguish the pixel resolution of this flat panel... read more