Home Theater Geeks (Video): Recent Episodes
TWiT
Scott Wilkinson, online editor of the AVS Forum, interviews the leaders and pioneers behind today's home theater technology. Each week Scott explores the technologies behind your screen.
Although the show is no longer in production, you can enjoy episodes from the TWiT Archives.
John Durante has built his dream home theater from scratch in his basement, and it's a modern marvel of understated design and exceptional performance. It cost some serious coin, even with a lot of DIY sweat equity, but it's worth every penny.
Host: Scott Wilkinson
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Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey is undoubtedly this summer's blockbuster cinema experience. It's the first movie to be shot entirely with IMAX 70 mm film cameras, which have superior resolution and an aspect ratio much taller than most commercial cinemas. If you want to see it as the director intended, you need to see it at an IMAX theater, preferably one of the 25 in North America that are showing it on 70 mm film.
- List of IMAX theaters - https://imax.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_IMAX_venues
- List of 70mm theaters - https://www.in70mm.com/country/usa/cinemas/2023/index.htm
- Comparison of aspect ratios - https://movieweb.com/the-odyssey-viewing-formats-compared/
Host: Scott Wilkinson
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Sony made two disturbing announcements recently—first, it is removing over 500 StudioCanal movies from its online PlayStation Store, so that people who bought those titles will no longer have access to them. Second, Sony will no longer sell games for the PlayStation on physical discs. Is this the start of the slippery slope that leads to the death of physical media more generally?
Host: Scott Wilkinson
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Richard Charscan, President of AcousticSmart, talks about his approach to designing the ultimate home theaters, including some of the most awesome and outrageous rooms Scott Wilkinson has ever seen. His coffee-table book, Home Theaterology (https://hometheaterology.net), showcases some of his best home theaters, and we take a peek into some of them on the show.
Host: Scott Wilkinson
Guest: Richard Charschan
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Direct-view LED displays are the holy grail for home theaters, but they are insanely expensive. Industry consultant Ted Romanowitz talks about the latest developments in this exciting technology and whether or not we will finally see the cost descend from the stratosphere to levels that mere mortals might afford.
Host: Scott Wilkinson
Guest: Ted Romanowitz
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HTG listener Jeremy Mills built an exceptional home theater in his basement, mostly with his own two hands and help from his wife and kids. That kept the budget down without sacrificing quality. Jeremy joins Scott Wilkinson to share his process and the outstanding final result.
Host: Scott Wilkinson
Guest: Jeremy Mills
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A long-time friend of Scott Wilkinson's asked him about updating his 20-year-old TV and the best option for receiving local channels now that he has moved to an area with virtually no over-the-air reception. Scott offers his best advice.
Host: Scott Wilkinson
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In episode 531, Scott Wilkinson answered a listener question about adding a center-channel speaker, but he discovered several other things that needed to be changed in order to get the most out of the system. However, the limitations on the listener's space were frustrating. Since then, another listener offered some additional thoughts, which warrant an update to Scott's original response.
Host: Scott Wilkinson
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The range of colors that can be reproduced by an RGB-based video display is well-defined for standard definition, high definition, ultra-high definition, and high dynamic range content. The ultimate range is called BT.2020, which was developed by Kenichiro Masaoka. Scott Wilkinson dives deep into this topic with Jeff Yurek, VP of Marketing for Nanosys, the primary supplier of quantum dots to the display industry.
Host: Scott Wilkinson
Guest: Jeff Yurek
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This month's featured home theater is astounding in its extensive planning and execution. Owner Robert Vanman went all out on an uncompromising 13.7.8 audio system and 194" screen in a room-within-a-room-within-a-room. Scott Wilkinson talks with Robert about his amazing theater.
- Youthman's video profile: https://youtu.be/KvID0xQmf14
- The Van Cave Theater Build Book (PDF): https://amaziwater.org/wp-content/uploads/Van-Cave-BUILD-BOOK-6F-Low-Res.pdf
- Amazi Water (Robert Vanman's charity): https://amaziwater.org
Host: Scott Wilkinson
Guest: Robert Vanman
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Victor Pavy sent in the shortest listener question we've ever received! He wants to know Scott Wilkinson's opinion of the new Dolby Vision 2 HDR format, which was just announced at the IFA 2025 trade show. Scott was going to talk about anyway, because it's an important upgrade to the already-best HDR format.
Host: Scott Wilkinson
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Terrence Huntington, who composed the theme music for Home Theater Geeks, built his own home theater in the basement of his house way back in 2014. The space was very limited, but he made the most of it with a killer system. He called it the Duck and Cover Theater because it was barely big enough to stand up in, but once you were seated and the lights went down, it was movie magic.
Host: Scott Wilkinson
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Listener Bob has a TCL Roku TV that is starting to misbehave, so he's looking for a new TV. Also, he's limited to a 55-incher in a very bright room. Finally, he's somewhat hard of hearing, and his wife would like him to use headphones when watching. Scott Wilkinson has some answers.
Host: Scott Wilkinson
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Patrick Williams' latest home theater is a real beauty. He wanted to surpass his previous room, dubbed The Force Theater, which was designed to look like the interior of the Death Star from Star Wars. His new one is not themed, yet it does exceed The Force in every way.
Host: Scott Wilkinson
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It's the live chatroom special with Scott Wilkinson and TWiT viewers across YouTube, Twitch, and Discord! Scott responds to various home theater questions and comments for the entire episode, ranging from physical media and Kaleidescape to frame interpolation and subwoofers! It's a grab bag of visual and aural tips and answers!
Host: Scott Wilkinson
Guest: The Chatroom
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Listener Ann Duran is shopping for a new TV, and at the top of her wish list is the ability to listen on headphones. She also wonders about the Samsung QD OLED versus the Sony QD OLED. Scott Wilkinson reveals which TV he would get (in fact, already has) and talks about his experience using Bluetooth headphones with TVs.
Host: Scott Wilkinson
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The Society for Information Display's annual Display Week highlights cutting-edge display technology. Scott Wilkinson spent a day there and reports on some of the amazing tech he saw on the show floor.
Host: Scott Wilkinson
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This home theater was featured on AVS Forum way back in 2013 as an excellent example of what you can do with a very small space. The equipment has undoubtedly been updated by now, but the basic design is timeless.
Host: Scott Wilkinson
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LCD TVs are about to get a big boost in performance with a new backlight technology called RGB LED. Does this spell doom for OLED? Scott Wilkinson breaks it down.
Host: Scott Wilkinson
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Listener Charles Simmons has an old LG C series OLED TV and wants to upgrade. But should he get last year's G4 for less money or this year's G5 with its updated technology? Scott Wilkinson offers his advice.
Host: Scott Wilkinson
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After listening to episode 477 about Sony's 2025 TV lineup, Dan has some questions about models that carry over from one year to the next as well as the differences between the Bravia 7 and Bravia 5. Scott Wilkinson has some answers.
Bravia 7 can be looked at here: https://electronics.sony.com/tv-video/televisions/all-tvs/p/k65xr70?srsltid=AfmBOoqaBzUX9aFRDqqmoNPdCL2RCtb037LDa1aDnatER6MBpNVcK8fl
Bravia 5 can be looked at here: https://electronics.sony.com/tv-video/televisions/all-tvs/p/k65xr50?srsltid=AfmBOoocfLtU8kTaPa-uONgF3zKBayiudWCB03GTOlaAsBUQP8MYz_C2
Host: Scott Wilkinson
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In honor of Star Wars Day (May 4), Scott Wilkinson shares a Star Wars-themed home theater he featured on AVSForum.com back in 2018. It's a beautiful rendition of a Death Star interior with great acoustic treatments and exceptional performance.
Host: Scott Wilkinson
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Online home-theater designer and retailer The Screening Room AV hosted its second projector shootout April 5 and 6 in Colorado Springs, CO. Scott Wilkinson is joined by owner John Schuermann, system designer Steve Crabb, and calibrators Kris Deering and Sammie Prescott, Jr, to discuss the event. In Part 2, we learn the results of the shootout.
2025 TSR Projector Shootout Results: https://www.thescreeningroomav.com/single-post/results-of-the-2025-tsr-projector-shootout
Host: Scott Wilkinson
Guests: John Schuermann, Sammie Prescott Jr., Kris Deering, and Steve Crabb
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Online home-theater designer and retailer The Screening Room AV hosted its second projector shootout April 5 and 6 in Colorado Springs, CO. Scott Wilkinson is joined by owner John Schuermann, system designer Steve Crabb, and calibrators Kris Deering and Sammie Prescott Jr. to discuss the event. In Part 1, we learn about the contenders and process of evaluating them.
Check out The Screening Room AV at https://www.thescreeningroomav.com/
Host: Scott Wilkinson
Guests: John Schuermann, Kris Deering, Sammie Prescott Jr., and Steve Crabb
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In episode 473, Scott Wilkinson railed against what seemed like a totally frivolous lawsuit against Hisense for false advertising about one of its low-end QLED TVs. But it turns out the lawsuit might not be frivolous at all.
Host: Scott Wilkinson
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After many years of compromises in his home theaters, Ryan finally got the opportunity to build one from scratch just the way he wanted it with no compromises in the performance or aesthetics. Its understated elegance belies the kick-ass audio and video in this no-holds-barred theater.
Host: Scott Wilkinson
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The Audiophile Society recently released an album of digital audio files designed to let you evaluate any headphone's ability to render pinpoint imaging in an immersive soundfield. It also includes several full-length music tracks encoded in various immersive spatial-audio formats. Co-creator Brent Butterworth joins Scott to talk about the album.
Host: Scott Wilkinson
Guest: Brent Butterworth
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ProjectorScreen.com recently hosted its third annual side-by-side showdown of UST projectors in collaboration with ProjectorReviews.com to identify which ones offer the best performance. In this episode, ProjectorReviews.com lead reviewer Phil Jones Joins Scott to talk about the event.
Host: Scott Wilkinson
Guest: Philip Jones
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Alex's new house had a designated home-theater room with a very high ceiling, a riser for the second row of seating, and in-wall surround speakers, but it was not very inspiring. So, he set to work and transformed it into a real beauty, with a unique star ceiling, DIY acoustic panels, a custom projector niche, and screen wall with luxurious curtains to rival any big-time cinema.
Host: Scott Wilkinson
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Sota Audio Guy has his Samsung TV connected to his Yamaha AVR using HDMI eARC. He wants to know if it's better to connect his Roku Ultra streaming box to one of the TV's other HDMI inputs or to one of the receiver's inputs. Also, he's having a lip-sync issue. Scott offers some advice...
Host: Scott Wilkinson
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After Craig hears Scott's lament over the death of home-theater print magazines in episode 453, he echoes that sentiment about the lack of stereo shops where he can compare specific audio components. Is there anywhere he can audition specific components? Scott offers his comments on this conundrum.
Host: Scott Wilkinson
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When he wanted to create a home theater, Mike decided to add an entire room onto his house in Los Angeles. Everything was done to maximize audio and video performance while minimizing any compromises. The result is one of Scott's all-time favorite home theaters, a true black hole dubbed The Event Horizon.
Host: Scott Wilkinson
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Victor Pavy asks a very simple question: What is Scott's favorite TV wall mount? Of course, Scott has some recommendations, including the one he recently put in his own media room.
Host: Scott Wilkinson
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At long last, Scott's home theater has a display—the Sony XR-A95L QD OLED. It's the best flat panel you can buy today, and for good reason: It looks spectacular! In this episode, Scott talks about why he chose this model (and not a projector), getting it installed, and overall performance.
Host: Scott Wilkinson
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Daniel has a 9-year-old Vizio soundbar that works great except that the HDMI ARC connection just died. He wants something inexpensive to replace it; Scott Wilkinson offers some recommendations.
Host: Scott Wilkinson
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Sound & Vision is the only home-theater print magazine left standing in the US, and its last print issue will be October/November 2024. With its demise, a proud and complicated history of home-theater magazines comes to a close.
Host: Scott Wilkinson
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In this gem, owner Steve turned a spare bedroom into a beautiful home theater. His unique masking system is ingenious, as is the swing-out screen that lets him access the speakers and the back of the equipment rack. It has only three seats, but this theater is an exemplar of what can be done with a small space.
Host: Scott Wilkinson
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The 2024 CEDIA Expo was filled to the brim with new audio and video products as well as a bunch of awesome demos. Journalist, consultant and jolly good CEDIA Fellow Mike Heiss joins Scott Wilkinson to discuss what he saw and heard there. In Part 3, we talk about some of the new audio products introduced at the show.
Host: Scott Wilkinson
Guest: Michael Heiss
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The 2024 CEDIA Expo was filled to the brim with new audio and video products as well as a bunch of awesome demos. Journalist, consultant and jolly good CEDIA Fellow Mike Heiss joins Scott Wilkinson to discuss what he saw and heard there. In Part 2, we talk about some of the new video products introduced at the show.
Host: Scott Wilkinson
Guest: Michael Heiss
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The 2024 CEDIA Expo was filled to the brim with new audio and video products as well as a bunch of awesome demos. Journalist, consultant and jolly good CEDIA Fellow Mike Heiss joins Scott Wilkinson to discuss what he saw and heard there. In Part 1, he talks about some of the demos he experienced and trends he identified.
Host: Scott Wilkinson
Guest: Michael Heiss
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Most home theaters are dedicated to displaying movies and other passive video content, but this one does much more. It incorporates a full-fledged golf simulator and virtual-reality rig into a kick-ass home theater. The owner has been dreaming of such a space for 30 years, and he finally made his dream come true.
Host: Scott Wilkinson
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When listener Russ Wyllie turns off his AV receiver while leaving his subwoofer on, he hears a thunk or pop from the sub. Is this normal? Is it damaging? It sure is annoying, so how can he avoid it? Scott Wilkinson explains.
Host: Scott Wilkinson
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Alan Goldstein is planning to replace his TV, and he wonders about the degradation of picture quality when viewed off-axis. Are OLED TVs really better than LED-LCD TVs in this regard? How far off axis is too far? Scott Wilkinson has some answers.
Host: Scott Wilkinson
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Scarsdale, NY, retailer Value Electronics hosts an annual TV shootout in which the flagship models from major manufacturers are lined up, calibrated, and evaluated by a panel of expert judges to see which is the best. Robert Zohn, owner of Value Electronics; Jason Dustal, Technical Trainer for AVPro Edge who supplied all the switching equipment and set up the system; and David Mackenzie, one of the judges, join Scott Wilkinson to discuss part two of this year's event and reveal the King of MiniLED!
Host: Scott Wilkinson
Guests: Jason Dustal, Robert Zohn, and David Mackenzie
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Scarsdale, NY, retailer Value Electronics hosts an annual TV shootout in which the flagship OLED models from major manufacturers are lined up, calibrated, and evaluated by a panel of expert judges to see which is the best. Robert Zohn, owner of Value Electronics; Jason Dustal, Technical Trainer for AVPro Edge who supplied all the switching equipment and set up the system; and David Mackenzie, one of the judges, join Scott Wilkinson to discuss part one of this year's event and reveal the King of OLED!
Host: Scott Wilkinson
Guests: Robert Zohn, Jason Dustal, and David Mackenzie
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Palle Juul Sorensen wants to know what Scott Wilkinson thinks about LED video walls as TVs. This is a hot topic these days, so Scott breaks it down!
Host: Scott Wilkinson
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When Roku pushed its latest OS update to TCL Roku TVs, it enabled frame interpolation to make moving objects look sharper. But it also causes the dreaded "soap-opera effect," which video purists and filmmakers hate. Worst of all, there seems to be no way to turn it off.
Host: Scott Wilkinson
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Club TWiT member Rebecca DuPree just got a new Sony OLED TV and wants to up her audio game with an external sound system. She wonders if a Sony soundbar or Apple Home Pods would be better. Scott Wilkinson has some definite thoughts on this.
Host: Scott Wilkinson
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A.J. is a movie industry professional who built a new house in Los Angeles. Of course, he installed a home theater in the big bonus room with high-end equipment and a super comfy "pit couch" that's perfect for cuddling with his partner.
Host: Scott Wilkinson
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After hearing about Sony's 2024 TV lineup, Dan is confused about TV brightness and color, especially as it relates to different display technologies. Scott Wilkinson sheds some light on this tricky issue.
Host: Scott Wilkinson
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Ray Davis got rid of his AVR and speakers, but now he's having trouble understanding dialogue from his TV's internal speakers. Scott Wilkinson recommends a soundbar that is designed specifically to address this problem.
Host: Scott Wilkinson
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The Society for Information Display hosts an annual conference called Display Week to showcase the bleeding edge of display technology. This year's gathering focused on electroluminescent quantum dots, which is The Next Big Thing. This is a super-geeky episode, so strap on your propeller hats!
Host: Scott Wilkinson
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Shelby Brannin is obsessed with bass, tactile transducers, and motion actuators, which move the seat in response to low-frequency audio signals. This turns every action movie into a thrill ride. Hang onto your popcorn!
Host: Scott Wilkinson
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Listener TR's cousin lives in rural Ohio with no cable or Internet and needs a new TV. He wants to know if "dumb" TVs are still available. Scott Wilkinson offers some alternatives.
Host: Scott Wilkinson
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An AVS Forum member posted an interesting blind test that invited readers to listen to two audio files, one made from a $500,000+ turntable and the other from a $78 turntable, and asked them to identify which was which. The results are quite fascinating!
Host: Scott Wilkinson
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Listener Eric is moving his old AVR into the workout room, and he'd like to install some in-ceiling speakers to avoid taking up floor space. Scott Wilkinson has some recommendations.
- Polk Audio RC80i: https://amzn.to/44HU4ll
- Klipsch CDT-5650-C II: https://amzn.to/4bjkOet
- Klipsch CDT-5800-C II: https://amzn.to/3K3QGYl
- Yamaha NSIC800WH: https://amzn.to/3K0Qyce
- Acoustic Audio by Goldwood CS-IC83: https://amzn.to/3K4xaej
Host: Scott Wilkinson
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Sony introduced its new TV lineup for 2024 at a special event last month. Surprisingly, the new flagship is not a QD-OLED as it has been for the last two year; it's a miniLED LCD with greatly increased brightness. There are also other LCD-based models and one new conventional OLED. Scott Wilkinson breaks it down.
Host: Scott Wilkinson
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This month's featured home theater is a real gem. Built in a "box within a box" inside the owner's garage, its form follows function, resulting in outstanding performance that also looks great when the lights are on.
Host: Scott Wilkinson
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Listener Carl Lundgren wonders why some directors make their movies for IMAX cinemas knowing that very few people will actually see them as intended. Scott Wilkinson speculates about why this might be.
Host: Scott Wilkinson
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Listener Greg Davis finds his center speaker somewhat dull sounding. Is there anything he can do to improve its sound, or is it a result of his hearing loss? Scott Wilkinson tries to help.
Host: Scott Wilkinson
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Michael Meyer bought a Samsung CU8000 LCD TV, and he's disappointed at the dark-area performance. Is there anything that can be done to improve the picture quality in dark areas on this relatively low-end TV? Scott Wilkinson does his best to help.
Host: Scott Wilkinson
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Scott Wilkinson highlights one of the most over-the-top home theaters he has ever seen! This Star Wars-themed room emulates the Emperor's throne room in the Death Star from Return of the Jedi with top-notch audio and video.
Host: Scott Wilkinson
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The Verge recently posted several articles about how physical media could be making a comeback. Scott Wilkinson discusses this hopeful trend with UHD Blu-ray and gives his recommendations for players and titles.
Host: Scott Wilkinson
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Andrew Perry is replacing his 12-year-old TV and wants to know the correct height to mount it as well as the correct viewing distance, which depends on the size of the TV. Scott Wilkinson has the answers!
Host: Scott Wilkinson
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Scott Wilkinson recently saw Dune Part 2; in this episode, he discusses the presentation technology, which type of movie theater is best to view it, and his impressions of the movie itself. Is it worth your time and money? Listen to find out.
Host: Scott Wilkinson
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Hey there, Home Theater Geeks! We've got a bit of news for you about our show. From now on, we'll be releasing all episodes of Home Theater Geeks as audio-only in our public feed.
That's right, you can now easily access all episodes (audio only) on your favorite podcatcher. But don't worry, if you're all about watching videos, we've still got you covered with Club TWiT. In fact, this change is part of our plan to grow and enhance the club.
If you haven't joined yet, now's a great time! It's just $7 a month. So head on over to https://twit.tv/clubtwit to sign up.
Your support means the world to us, so thanks!
Josh is a blind tech geek, and he asks a really interesting question about the balance between the quality of speakers and the quality of audio files. Will high-quality lossless audio files make junky speakers sound better? Scott Wilkinson offers his two cents.
Host: Scott Wilkinson
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Club TWiT members can discuss this episode and leave feedback in the Club TWiT Discord.
Mike has a Sony HT-A3000 soundbar, and he wants to add external speakers that will expand the sonic experience. Fortunately, Sony offers just what he's looking for.
Host: Scott Wilkinson
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Club TWiT members can discuss this episode and leave feedback in the Club TWiT Discord.
Mastering engineer Eric Boulanger talks about the process of mastering audio for music recordings. Topics include how he got into audio engineering after being a professional violinist, the process of mastering (especially for vinyl), the "loudness wars" (or as Eric prefers, the "loudness plague"), how he started his current facility called The Bakery, stories from mastering such titles as the soundtrack from La La Land and albums by Rufus Wainwright, Diana Krall, and Colbie Calliat, his involvement in Apple's "Mastered for iTunes" initiative, the real value of high-resolution audio, answers to chat-room questions, and more.
Host: Scott Wilkinson
Guest: Eric Boulanger
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Thanks to CacheFly for the bandwidth for this show.
Color-imaging scientist Jack Holm digs deep into high dynamic range. Topics include color volume, what artists might do with an expanded palette of colors and brightness, the actual dynamic range of most images, accurate versus preferred images, the difference between PQ and HLG HDR formats, the "look" of HLG, HLG's backward compatibility with SDR displays, the problems of delivering SDR and HDR streams, expanding SDR for HDR displays versus compressing HDR for SDR displays, the importance of the viewing environment, answers to chat-room questions, and more.
Host: Scott Wilkinson
Guest: Jack Holm
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Thanks to CacheFly for the bandwidth for this show.
Journalists Mike Heiss, Mark Henninger, and Tom Norton join host Scott Wilkinson to talk about what they saw and heard at the CEDIA Expo 2017. Topics include the new Sony projectors, such as the market-disrupting VPL-VW285ES ("4K for under $5K"); the new lower-cost JVC projectors; how none of the DLP projectors looked all that great (even the really expensive ones); ultra short-throw projectors, such as the Epson LS100; LED video walls; Samsung/SpectraCal auto-calibration; Fibbr fiber-optic HDMI cables; AV processors, such as the Emotiva RMC-1; speakers, such as the Definitive Technology Demand series and Creative X-Fi Sonic Carrier soundbar; the near ubiquity of voice control; our pics for the best video and audio at the show, answers to chat-room questions, and more.
Host: Scott Wilkinson
Guests: Michael Heiss, Mark Henninger, and Tom Norton
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Thanks to CacheFly for the bandwidth for this show.
Tyll Hertsens, headphone maven and editor-in-chief of InnerFidelity.com, answers questions from the chat-room. He starts with a new killer headphone for less than $100, then discusses a variety of topics, including dual- and multi-driver headphones, balanced-armature drivers, whether or not price correlates with performance, how measurements correlate with performance, wireless headphones, high-res audio on headphones, his measurement and review process, and more.
Host: Scott Wilkinson
Guest: Tyll Hertsens
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Personal-cinema architect John Bishop discusses how he rates the performance of commercial cinemas with a 100-point scale, which provides a benchmark for how home cinemas should perform. In this episode, he focuses on the visual aspects, including viewing geometry, flat-field uniformity, light levels, screen materials, viewing angles, and other factors. Next, he offers ratings of various reference and commercial cinemas as well as some of the best home cinemas he has worked on. Plus, answers to chat-room questions and more.
Host: Scott Wilkinson
Guest: John Bishop
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Personal-cinema architect John Bishop talks about movie aspect ratios and how to accurately reproduce them. Topics include the aspect ratios of different movies through history, how some movies (such as Dunkirk and The Dark Knight) use more than one aspect ratio, his experience seeing Dunkirk in several venues with different projection setups, optical-anamorphic versus electronic aspect-ratio control, how electronic scaling affects resolution and contrast, the constant image-height approach to multi-aspect-ratio setups, answers to chat-room questions, and more.
Host: Scott Wilkinson
Guest: John Bishop
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Audio engineer Bob Schulein talks about his work combining immersive binaural audio with virtual reality. Topics include the difference between VR for gaming and music recordings, different techniques for capturing binaural sound, head tracking, combining immersive audio with 3D video, Bob's latest project recording a bluegrass band in binaural audio and 3D video, binaural recordings from the artist's perspective, binaural playback with speakers, answers to chat-room questions, and more. We also play several clips with binaural audio, which can only be heard in the video versions of the podcast; the audio-only MP3 is mono, so no binaural effects can be heard in that case.
Host: Scott Wilkinson
Guest: Bob Schulein
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Thanks to CacheFly for the bandwidth for this show.
Audio legend Bob Carver talks about what he's been up to lately with his new company, Bob Carver Corporation. Topics include tube amps and why they continue to be so appealing, new approaches to tube-amp design, increasing tube longevity, amplifier topologies, the importance of the output transformer, the relationship between power amps and speakers, damping factor, Bob's latest power amps, line-array speakers, Bob's Amazing Line Source speaker, his thoughts on subwoofers, answers to chat-room questions, and more.
Host: Scott Wilkinson
Guest: Bob Carver
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Thanks to CacheFly for the bandwidth for this show.
Nanomaterial expert Peter Palomaki talks about quantum dots and microLEDs and how they apply to video displays. Topics include what quantum dots are, how they function, what they're made of, why cadmium-based quantum dots work best but are toxic, new materials used in the shells of quantum dots, the current and future ways they're used in TVs, replacing phosphors in LEDs with quantum dots, microLEDs and how they might be used in video displays, manufacturing microLEDs, answers to chat-room questions, and more.
Host: Scott Wilkinson
Guest: Peter Palomaki
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AVS Forum Associate Editor Mark Henninger and host Scott Wilkinson spend a pleasant hour answering questions from the chat room. Topics include why home projectors don't yet implement Dolby Vision, 4K/UHD projectors in the $2-3K price range, home-theater lighting control, whether we prefer the LG E7 or Sony A1E OLED TV, will there ever be a single HDR format, high-resolution audio, headphone virtualization, VR for movies, Dolby Atmos, and more.
Host: Scott Wilkinson
Guest: Mark Henninger
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Video technologists Joel Silver, Matt Murray, and Mark Henninger join host Scott Wilkinson to discuss the 2017 TV Shootout held during CE Week in New York City. Joel headed the event, Matt set up the entire system and was one of the judges, and Mark carefully observed the proceedings. Topics include the competing TVs, the addition of a Sony BVM-X300 4K HDR OLED broadcast-reference monitor, the move from audience voting to video-professional judges, the establishment of three performance categories (dark-room, bright room, and streaming), system setup, calibrating the TVs, the judging criteria, the comparative performance of the TVs, the winner, how closely the OLEDs performed, how the LCDs fared, answers to chat-room questions, and more.
Host: Scott Wilkinson
Guests: Joel Silver, Matt Murray, and Mark Henninger
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Thanks to CacheFly for the bandwidth for this show.
Video specialists Joe Kane, Geoff Tully, and Ron Williams join host Scott Wilkinson to talk about the two-day Samsung QLED and HDR10 Summit we all recently attended. Topics include what quantum dots are, current use of QDs in video displays, replacing color filters with QDs, using QDs as direct emitters under electrical stimulation, LEDs, microLED displays, the variability of HDR compared with SDR, Joe Kane's vision for reducing that variability, HDR10+ dynamic metadata, Florian Friedrich's new HDR stability test patterns, answers to chat-room questions, and much more.
Host: Scott Wilkinson
Guests: Joe Kane, Geoff Tully, and Ron Williams
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Thanks to CacheFly for the bandwidth for this show.
Composer John Keane talks about his latest project, a 5.1-channel album of electroacoustic music on Blu-ray. Topics include his background as a recording musician from the age of 10 or so, various recording projects, his current studio, conceiving the new album as 5.1 from the start, combining electronic and acoustic instruments, mixing the music in 5.1, creating a 2-channel mix, creating a binaural version that reproduces the 5.1 soundfield in headphones, the benefit of high-res audio, answers to chat-room questions, and more. Plus, we hear a bit of John's music and see the abstract video patterns that move to the music.
Host: Scott Wilkinson
Guest: John Keane
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THX CTO Scott Francis talks about the company's work in commercial - and home - cinema certification, product certification, and technology development. Topics include history of THX, some technical details of the iconic signature sound called Deep Note, a new partnership with Cinemark called THX Cinema Alliance, recommendations for speaker placement and seating distance in a home theater, immersive audio, high dynamic range, audio and video product testing and certification, the company's recent acquisition by Razer, AAA amplifier technology, answers to chat-room questions, and more.
Host: Scott Wilkinson
Guest: Scott Francis
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Don North, president and chief designer at Riva Audio, talks about the company's WAND (Wireless Audio Network Device) whole-home audio speakers, the Arena and Festival. Topics include driver designs, passive radiators, built-in class-D amps, Wi-Fi networking, closed versus open architecture, casting, Trillium technology that creates a large stereo soundfield from a single cabinet, high-res audio, answers to chat-room questions, and more.
Host: Scott Wilkinson
Guest: Don North
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Thanks to CacheFly for the bandwidth for this show.
Calibrator David Abrams and host Scott Wilkinson talk about the LG 65C7 OLED TV. Topics include the features of this TV, the pre-calibration measurements of grayscale and colorimetry, the SDR calibration results, the effect of the color-management system (CMS), which actually works well in the 2017 LG OLEDs, the HDR calibration results, looking at the colorimetry with and without taking tone-mapping luminance errors into account, Dolby Vision calibration, real-world content, answers to chat-room questions, and more.
Host: Scott Wilkinson
Guest: David Abrams
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Thanks to CacheFly for the bandwidth for this show.
Grammy-nominated surround-sound engineer and electronic musician David Miles Huber talks about his new ambient album, GAMmA. Topics include how he conceived the project and started recording, his exclusive use of hard-panned stereo tracks for each instrument, working in several studios in Seattle, Berlin, and Belgium, combining electronic and acoustic instruments, performing several different mixes in 2.0, 5.1, and Auro 3D, high-resolution audio, answers to chat-room questions, and more. We also hear two completely different mixes of the same track that are both available on the Pure Audio Blu-ray and from his website.
Host: Scott Wilkinson
Guest: David Miles Huber
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Thanks to CacheFly for the bandwidth for this show.
Journalists Chris Chinnock of Insight Media and Mike Heiss of Residential Systems and TWICE join host Scott Wilkinson to talk about what we learned about the future of display technology at DisplayWeek 2017. Topics include color conversion of blue light to longer-wavelength colors using quantum dots and phosphors, the various forms of QLED technology (photo-enhanced, photo-emissive, electro-emissive), an early demonstration of a full-color electro-emissive QD display, bendable OLED screens, micro LED, microdisplays, AR/VR, lightfield displays, a transparent flat-panel directional speaker, answers to chat-room questions, and more.
Host: Scott Wilkinson
Guests: Chris Chinnock and Michael Heiss
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Thanks to CacheFly for the bandwidth for this show.
On the 40th anniversary of the theatrical release of Star Wars, 3-time Academy Award-winning re-recording mixer Mike Minkler talks about his work on that seminal movie. Topics include how he first got hired to work on the sound, the process of pre-mixing various sound elements, the first use of front-back panning, the birth of separate low-frequency effects (called "Baby Boom" at the time), Dolby Stereo, Dolby A noise reduction, the transition from magnetic to optical soundtracks, how THX was born to assure the quality of commercial presentation, the movie's impact on the cast and crew the first time they saw it, how the future of movie sound was influenced, answers to chatroom questions, and much more. May the force be with you!
Host: Scott Wilkinson
Guest: Mike Minkler
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Darin Fong talks about his headphone-virtualization software called Out of Your Head. Topics include a quick summary of head-related transfer functions (HRTFs), how Darin wanted to simulate the effect of listening to a speaker-based stereo system in headphones, how he measures HRTFs in different rooms with different speakers to create presets, and how the software accepts the audio from a media player and applies the selected preset to create a binaural-audio file. We also play a few examples (be sure to listen on headphones to hear the effect!) and discuss various applications and plans for future developments. Plus answers to chatroom questions and more.
Host: Scott Wilkinson
Guest: Darin Fong
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In the first of an ongoing series of TV reviews on HTG, calibrator David Abrams starts with a description of his studio environment and measurement and calibration process, followed by a detailed analysis of the Sony A1E OLED TV. We talk about the X-tended Dynamic Range control and what it does, then take a close look at the grayscale and color measurements in standard dynamic range (SDR) at different window sizes and settings of X-tended Dynamic Range. We also look at the grayscale and color measurements in HDR with a 10% window and X-tended Dynamic Range set to High. Plus, answers to chatroom questions and more.
Host: Scott Wilkinson
Guest: David Abrams
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Thanks to CacheFly for the bandwidth for this show.
Kaushik Sunder, research scientist at Ossic, talks about how humans hear in three dimensions. Topics include the anatomy of the ear, head-related transfer functions (HRTFs), and how they affect the spectral balance of what we hear based on the direction from which a sound comes as well as individual characteristics such as the shape of the outer ear and size of the head. He also discusses binaural recording, and we listen to a clip of such a recording he made in Bali; for more of Kaushik's binaural recordings, go to https://soundcloud.com/soundmaps_beingthere. Finally, he describes the Ossic X headphones and how they reproduce 3D immersive sound. Also, answers to chatroom questions and more.
Host: Scott Wilkinson
Guest: Kaushik Sunder
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Thanks to CacheFly for the bandwidth for this show.
Calibrator David Abrams, journalist Mike Heiss, and consultant Geoff Tully talk about what they saw and learned at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) 2017 convention this week. Topics include the first live 4K stream from space, the ATSC 3.0 UHD/HDR broadcast standard with a live demo at the show, how broadcast and studio reference monitors are getting larger and brighter, high dynamic range (HDR) in broadcasting, NHK's 8K demos and concept for a very large, flexible OLED screen, virtual reality, direct-LED displays such as the Sony CLEDIS and others, answers to chatroom questions, and more.
Host: Scott Wilkinson
Guests: David Abrams, Michael Heiss, and Geoffrey Tully
Subscribe to Home Theater Geeks at https://twit.tv/shows/home-theater-geeks
Thanks to CacheFly for the bandwidth for this show.
Video guru Joe Kane talks about what he saw and learned at CinemaCon 2017, the trade show for commercial-cinema owners. Topics include the lengths to which theater owners will go to attract customers, such as augmented-reality lobby posters, first-class airline seating with meal and drink service in theaters, and the Barco Escape three-screen system. He also discusses the potential of direct-LED screen walls such as the Sony CLEDIS and Samsung Cinema Screen, the importance of bias lighting even with projectors, high dynamic range, answers to chat-room questions, and more.
Host: Scott Wilkinson
Guest: Joe Kane
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Thanks to CacheFly for the bandwidth for this show.
Ralph Potts, Blu-ray reviewer for AVS Forum, talks about his home theater system and his favorite Blu-ray and UHD Blu-ray titles, including some of the best titles for image quality in both HD and UHD, immersive audio, and 3D. He also discusses high dynamic range (HDR), wide color gamut (WCG), high frame rate (HFR), and how he divides his attention between the technical aspects of the presentation and the movie itself. Plus answers to chatroom questions and more.
Host: Scott Wilkinson
Guest: Ralph Potts
Subscribe to Home Theater Geeks at https://twit.tv/shows/home-theater-geeks
Thanks to CacheFly for the bandwidth for this show.