AVForums.com has produced what is probably the most comprehensive guide to 3DTV and the technology behind it yet. This video explains the two most common systems coming to the UK market just in time for 3DTVs hitting store shelves. You can view the video here…

AVForums have published three reports from this year’s Bristol Sound and Vision show 2010. The show was held over the weekend of the 26th to 28th February 2010.
You can use the playlist video box below to watch all three videos. Enjoy!

In a recent series of 10 videos, Phil Hinton explored THX and how the certification process is carried out.

THX – Interview with Rick Dean about THX (Part One)
THX – Interview with Rick Dean (Part Two)
THX – Cinema certification process (Part One)
THX – Cinema certification and 3D (Part Two)
THX – Cinemascope constant height Home Cinema examined
THX – From Cinema to Home
THX – Speakers and subwoofer set up explained
THX – In-wall subwoofers and room EQ
THX – Certification testing for TVs and Projectors (Part One)
THX – Certification testing for TVs and Projectors (Part Two)

We spent some time with THX at their San Rafael offices in mid January and shot a number of videos. Here we get an introduction and overview of what THX does from Snr.VP Rick Dean.

Mark Botright looks at the changing face of cinema and games…

As is the case with most AV enthusiasts, I have whiled away many an hour tweaking and fiddling with equipment in order to wring out every last ounce of enjoyment from my kit. This is borne from many different agendas; it can be partly attributed to the sort of geekdom that is demonstrated in the instances when I long to dismantle something just for the sake of it, as well as a hereditary tight-fistedness that sees me intent on getting every last penny’s worth of performance from the gadgetry I have before I can finally allow myself to succumb to upgrade-itis.

Another factor that rears its ugly head and one which is perhaps often overlooked is that of the multi-functionality needed from an entertainment set-up these days.  Long ago perhaps two speakers and one display would suffice but we are now living in an information age where dedicated kit is recommended for almost every purpose that our listening and viewing needs dictate.  With gaming being a priority for me, I saw the early plasmas and baulked at what I perceived as dim screens unable to reproduce the eye scorching candy colours I had grown accustomed to during sun drenched daylight hours.  I was also put off by tales of purple snakes and image retention.  Similarly, the LCDs seemed unable to reproduce the black levels and proved unforgiving when viewing films as well as lacking the response time to eradicate motion drag for sports and gaming.  Luckily, as time has passed the technology has improved and we are now seeing the benefits of display technology fit for all purposes (that technology is plasma btw – I’m a convert).  However, in recent years there’s been an increasing amount of focus on the fact that the very media themselves that we are displaying may be becoming as uniform in nature.  So, now that I’m finally happy with a set up for both films and games, I look at my disc collections and have to ask, am I satisfied because my equipment is capable of displaying both media in an accomplished manner, or is there something else that needs to be considered?  Are these two forms of entertainment converging in a way that makes them artistically and visually similar?  I turn from one AV input and go from a dark and moody room on a Blu-ray movie, to another on a Blu-ray game disc – was it always like this?  If not, where did the lines begin to blur, and where might it lead?

For those who have a keen interest in videogames it may not be an entirely (or even vaguely come to think of it) new topic to broach – the continued cries of an industry desperate to be considered as relevant as any other that offers a narrative or moving experience – the subject raises its head every few years.  Unfortunately, this usually coincides with a long running debate by the mainstream press about the depiction of violence in this medium;  one that all too frequently traces its roots back to a Daily Mail headline on a slow news day and is seemingly always linking the question with one of narrator responsibility due to a particularly brutal and unrepresentative example of a typical videogame hitting the shelves (though it’s worth noting the many ways in which developers themselves use this furore to knowingly publicise their wares nowadays).  For film fans this level of outrage has long since been an afterthought, having been consigned to the annals of history in boxes marked “A Clockwork Orange and Straw Dogs controversy”, only rarely surfacing when phrases such as “torture porn” are created by what I expect was a quick thinking ad executive.  But I digress, my point is that my increasing awareness of the visual similarity of games to their more established brethren could be seen as indicative of a systematic divergence of the art forms (certainly from one direction – that of games).  Is it my imagination, wishful thinking as a film fan or is there merely a stylistic similarity borne out of the want of the consumer, as the age of the average gamer increases, to show more mature stories?

It is hardly surprising that industry trends cause the artistic shifting of those who develop the products.  For example, during 2008, for the first time it was reported (by market research bods Media Control Gfk International) that videogames sales outstripped those of both DVDs and Blu-rays, creeping up from a market share of 47 percent in 2007 to a whopping 53 percent of total packaged sales.  Even the wealth of other merchandise available via digital distribution isn’t expected to halt this trend over time, as the game market share is assumed to be in the ascendancy.  The fly in this ointment?  Well once you factor in the high price point of even budget games available as downloads, then it is perhaps not too surprising that their sales account for such a large slice of the pie.  All this though could still be seen as evidence that the growth of the gaming sector is a snowball effect, but does it accidentally coincide with, or is it as an effect of the increasing amount of mature titles in that medium?  Have a quick gander at the top titles of the past year and it may bring you to an almost entirely different conclusion.  With Nintendo absolutely throttling the charts with such mainstream titles such as WiiFit, WiiSports and the latest in the long running Pokemon franchise it looks like business as usual, with games easily swept aside as a pastime based around fun frolics and neon visuals.  These examples bear little in common with critically acclaimed outings on the silver screen that most of us probably use our home cinema set-ups to view.  However, a glance at the biggest box office hits of the past year shows us that maturity and success don’t always go hand in hand as the list is populated with (amongst others) Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and the latest Harry Potter and Ice Age money makers.  Thus I ask you not to write off the notion of gaming as an increasingly cinematic narrative style simply due to the indication that the mainstream success of Nintendo (and wonderful renaissance that I wholeheartedly praise – I’m not sneering here), which might paint videogames as artistically stunted.

Colours and general content are one thing, and both games and movies will always have their more vibrant types shining in the faces of eager viewers.  They will also both have more well crafted examples that are hidden away and not oft discovered by the majority of their potential market.  The silver screen at least has an allure that allows it to be considered televisually worthy and will gain accreditation for these gems somewhere along the line.  The problem for the argument that games are moving in the same direction as novels, cinema etc is also one of a lack of penetration into the consciousness of the general populace.  A bare minimum of shows are available for those who crave button pressing thrills and they are usually pushed backed to an hour that is only really sociable for shift workers and serial killers – neither of which describe the average gamer no matter what the tabloids may tell you.  The Daily Mail controversy was in fact one of the few ways for several games, such as Carmageddon and others which fell into the equivalent of the video nasty category, to gain widespread attention and in line with the theory that games are increasingly influenced by cinema, the aforementioned driving splatathon by Stainless Games, was in fact inspired by the 1975 cult sci-fi starring David Carradine – Death Race 2000.  As with its source of inspiration, it was widely derided by those who peered into the goldfish bowl of gaming culture, yet the jet black humour infused into its production was lost on those unable to get to grips with bright colours and swathes of blood and carnage.  Both source material and following creation suffered the fate of being labelled low brow exploitation fare and it was this stamp which also brought with it their success.  Perhaps if there is a correlation to be made between the two mediums, its seeds for success are to be found in this parallel.

We all know that a potential divergence or the evolution of gaming to emulate the maturity of cinematic vision is possible.  The fundamentals of placing violence on screen are well documented.  Be it plastic light guns blasting pixellated ducks or the rampages of going Postal, this was never likely to be the main hurdle.  If indeed there is a case to be made for videogames to be considered a mature medium, it must surely be in the progression, or perhaps lack of it, in the narrative.  For an interactive pastime, the emphasis of emotional story telling and character progression has not always been at the forefront of a game’s success.  Indeed, it still arguably isn’t, with Nintendo recently unearthing the veritable goldmine of untapped money that is family gamers.  For these button bashing participants, the move towards emotive tales being told in an interactive manner is not of paramount importance, as they are essentially children new to the delights of the scene as a whole and through clever marketing have been drawn down the rabbit hole of joypad japery and enjoyment.  For many of us though, we represent a market that is harder to satisfy with the repackaging and continuation of supposedly simple concepts such as “fun”.  No, a generation of once young men (and a few girls) who grew up practicing every version of the fundamental building blocks of reaction and repetition, a more meaningful shift in emphasis was necessary.  Many new dawns have come and gone for the latest epoch that is purported in the ever moving goalposts of “interactive story telling” and more than a few consoles have died on the back of claims hyped up and never truly fulfilled.  Yet only in recent months have such figures as Mad Max director George Miller emerged to liken the medium to that of the novel, stating “Games were the poor cousin to feature films when it came to story telling but I think it’s flipping.  Games allow you to be much more like a novelist”.   Now perhaps this can be taken with a hefty pinch of salt.  I’m sure some will see the man’s lack of production in his first chosen field as a reason for his championing of another, akin to a footballer who fails to cut it at a club and later claims to have always been a fan of wherever he is being shifted onto.  But there are moves afoot that may make such bold cries of evolution seem not quite so far fetched.

Primary evidence of the continued creep towards cinemisation (I’ve made that one up, but to hell with Microsoft Word’s red squiggle, I like it!) is the evolution of the once humble cut-scene.  Often originally utilised as nothing more than a simple respite for the gamer to catch his breath, it served merely as a peremptory pause between bookends of interactivity.  Little thought truly went into the style it should take as in days gone by it merely looked exactly the same as any other section, but with the added boredom of the fact that you could not control what was going on.  The screen perhaps lost the health bar or HUD but the viewpoint remained and you watched on helplessly as your on screen persona walked about, talked to a few people, maybe got in a scrape or two and then you were handed control back.  It mattered little why you were headed to a castle, or shooting at someone or something, all that was necessary was for it to point you in a given direction then let you take over again.  A bridge that connected two destinations and nothing more.  I won’t bore you with the gradual progression or the mammoth shifts that helped move these stilted sessions of text reading into craved instances of potential insight into key characters. Suffice to say that for many the advent of full motion video and Square Enix’s Final Fantasy VII played a major part.  It was one of the first examples of creative direction in these segments that not only drew the viewer’s gaze in subtle ways but also sought to enrich the fundamentals of game playing by making the gamer actually invest genuine emotion into the role they played.

Whether this cross pollination is entirely one way traffic is a matter that is somewhat muddy.  The ranks of cinephiles eager to bemoan what they see as a continued trend of summer blockbusters that contain little more than bubble gum for the brain (an aside levelled numerous times at the videogame industry) appears to grow with each passing year.  As does the list of games turned into films, but this in itself shouldn’t be taken as anything more than the rush for marketable source material.  That the end product often resembles the average mess that is a videogame’s storyline and contains all the brash characterisation and absurdities is not a signal of influence past that of the want to ride on the coat tails of something that is already within the consciousness of an important demographic.  Ever since Jaws first hit the screens back in 1975 the film industry has been ever eager to produce bigger spectacles, with many commentators arguing that the chasm that started to fracture the creative film making community started there or thereabouts.  This would continue to widen leaving greater distance between the blockbuster cash cows and the award show darlings, with each major studio looking to find the balance between the two and retain credibility as well as stuffing its wallets.  The dumbing down of present summer blockbusters is frightening but even the most ardent gamer would be hard pushed to make a case for their hobby having had even a passing influence on Hollywood.  Instead it is far more plausible that the MTV generation as a whole has dictated the type of television, games and movies that are produced, with more emphasis placed on concept, flashy design and the sheer thrill of the ride rather than the craft of the product itself.  This likeness to the average rollercoaster videogame is therefore coincidental or perhaps parallel due to a shared market and certainly not a sign of inspiration.

So if the direction of influence is only one way between games and films, where does this leave consoles gaming and the push for interactivity of some kind in story telling?  Will we ever have an example that truly pulls together the best of both worlds?  It may sound crazy but I don’t think it is quite as far fetched a concept as it may initially sound.  Consider recent examples of both.  James Cameron’s Avatar has been much discussed the world over for its use of 3D but in depth analysis of its plot points and general moral preaching is thin on the ground, perhaps because the material is similarly thin.  The argument could be made that in this film we have the first specimen of the experience truly trumping the art.  It is easy to make cinema goers jump in their seats at basic noise shock tactics but to envelop them in something that happens as if they were inside the narrative in some way is altogether harder, but surely this is what intelligent (spot the keyword there) videogame developers have always been striving for?  It seems to me that there are factions within the two industries (not the whole industries mind, as with any art form there are distinct branches and nothing can be generalised in such an easy manner for the sake of my measly brain burp article) that are coming at the conundrum of thrill ride story telling from differing ends of the spectrum.  Those whose audience have a controller in their hands find themselves struggling to place greater importance upon the narrative and try to add depth to their characters.  Whilst at the same time those whose audiences are purely passive passengers seek to find a way to engender a feeling of being physicality to the two dimensions the screen has to offer.  We’ve had the advent of surround sound which can be seen as an attempt to place viewers in an audible bubble, and now with 3D technology there are moves afoot to make the visual presentation have a similar impact.  It is also not unheard of that tactile responses are employed within what may seem a passive movie going event.  Consider if you will the matter of the “.1” in your film encounters.  Much more than a mere extra channel, when utilised by the correct equipment a poor man’s boomy bass that annoys the neighbours, rightly becomes actual pressure within the viewing environment that is felt rather than heard by the ears.  I’ll admit it’s still a long way from Smell-O-Vision, three hundred and sixty degree screens and virtual reality pods but it is still a tangible push into the realms of active responses that brings with it a level of physicality and interaction and is already available to all with the right kit.  We all see films being continually linked with the world of literature by many style and review magazines, but does this link really exist beyond the pages of such articles?  With cinema you already have a continuing trend to find more and more ways in which to raise the blood pressure and trick the brain than the introspective world of the readers’ imaginations that has stayed the book for millennia.  Not withstanding the odd novel (no pun intended) example such as Mark Z. Danielewski’s House of Leaves or perhaps that age old refuge of geekdom the dice-rolling fantasy book, pages remain read in one way.  The link between videogames and cinema is there, if only in their mutual progression of attempts to gain greater viewer response and sensory domination.  It is hard to imagine even the starkest, most uncommercial tale, filmed in black and white, by an unheard of auteur not to carry some form of surround sound.

I’m not trying to make a case that the intelligent string pulling God sims of Peter Molyneux or the bum numbing length of cut scenes favoured by Hideo Kojima, or even James Cameron’s thrilling but still somewhat unconvincing 3D attempt Avatar hold the key to unlocking the door to finding a totally new experience, but I can’t help but feel that in modern times it is looking more and more likely that we will eventually have a point of reference that will fall somewhere between what have sometimes been depicted as the opposing spheres of cinema seat with popcorn and couch with joypad, in the gulf that lies between passivity and interactivity, that will be able to tell a story, be emotive and place the audience within the experience in a convincing manner.  So far neither industry has proved truly effective in this goal, but the strides towards 3D cinema, and the continued push to employ credited writers for games development may indicate that there may be an answer somewhere in between two pastimes I hugely enjoy and from it something genuinely new may raise its head.  It shouldn’t mean the dilution of either art form, as every time the subject of new technology being utilised in mediums that people love tends to engender fear, disparagement and dismissal from those who want things to remain the same.  Bergman’s films won’t metamorphose into absurd creations, with a 3D head of Death looming out at you while you scratch your bum or viewers able to equip Mary Poppins with a flame thrower via a controller.  Similarly the finger twitching response-heavy medium of game playing will likely not descend into pot boilers teaching us lessons about domestic violence and kestrels.  I suppose I was just wondering, given that at one point the idea of taking 3D cinema seriously was a hilarious proposition, is it possible that there is space between the two mediums for something genuinely new to arise, or will the elasticity of these novel new directions both appear to have teetered into wear out soon, only to snap each back to their original positions?  In the end, will it be 2D and/or button mashing forever?  If not, what next?

Panasonic Hollywood Labs (PHL) are one of the premier Blu-ray authoring houses in Hollywood with many award winning discs to their name, such as i,Robot. Here the team explain the process of taking the master and transferring that to Blu-ray. PHL are also one of the leaders in 3D Blu-ray authoring having set the standards for the industry to follow.

AVForums have completed their CES 2010 reports by providing the most comprehensive video coverage to be found anywhere.

Use the video play list to watch their exclusive interviews and footage of the latest new technology; which includes them breaking the Panasonic Kuro story that every other site then followed with.

Why do some question Calibration to the industry standards?  Phil Hinton gives us his musings on the subject…

One Journalist recently tried to write a Calibration article from his view point that his personal preference was better than industry standards.  Yet for all his talk of personal preference and don’t let people tell you what to do;  his piece then went on to tell people how to calibrate their TVs in a manner that did nothing but confuse the issue.  For someone who had supposedly been reviewing TVs for 10 years or more,  his piece did little more than confirm that he isn’t as knowledgeable as he thinks he is;  and that his reviews are little more than subjective comment.  But he is not alone when it comes to the UK AV Press,  just look at the red top magazines with their four paragraph reviews on TVs and revel at the absolute nonsense they talk about.  Maybe they need some ‘insight’.

Anyone who adjusts their TV to how they think it should look,  is missing out big time on seeing their TV or display work at its best,  and produce the content as it is supposed to be seen.   It’s that simple and it’s a fact.

Now,  nobody in anyway is saying that if you prefer to adjust the image for each and every program or film that you should be shot, hung, drawn or quartered like some subjective reviewers out there try to peddle to cover their own lack of knowledge.   Rather, that you need to know that this approach will not get you the best technical image quality and you will miss details,  colour nuances and the feel for material you watch.

As the whole point of a TV is to watch someone else’s work on it,  should we not at least have TVs that meet and match the material we watch?   Logically this is what every TV should be capable of and the enjoyment factor can be increased by doing so,  knowing that what you are seeing,  is what you are supposed to see.

Where there is a problem with all this is a severe lack of education,  not only with end users and the general public,  but actually with TV manufacturers and almost every hack that turns their hand to writing about the technology.

Let’s look at the manufacturers first.

Well, they have a product to sell you and they want your money.   Very few manufacturers would risk a sale in the name of producing a TV that actually looks correct to the material we watch.   Why?  Because of a human condition to automatically focus on the brightest and most colourful image.   That’s why every TV has a Dynamic, Vivid or standard picture preset set as its default.   It’s to entice your eyes to look at their product over someone else’s. The vast majority of the public and I hazard a guess, a good proportion of members here, will still be using these presets and looking for their images to be bright, crisp and overly colourful.

Bright and colourful - it looks nothing like it was intended..

A simple experiment I have conducted on people shows this to be the case time after time.   Show people a TV in Standard picture presets with high brightness and bold colours and then switch to how it’s supposed to look and at first the answer will always be that the correct image looks muted.   It’s simply because you have been subjected to an image that your eyes in the first instance get drawn to because it’s in your face and vivid.   By then switching to how it should look, with all the controls of the TV set correctly, there is a jump down from the in your face colours and brightness and we automatically assume it’s dull, misty, or whatever other description usually gets used.

However, if we turn the experiment around and have the subjects watching a correctly calibrated image that matches the material for 10 minutes and then switch to the standard mode, it’s amazing how the results change.   This approach doesn’t show the overly bright and colourful images first,  so you start to see the image as it’s supposed to be seen.   It’s still a bright and very natural looking image with bags of depth and detail, but you haven’t had an excessive image thrown at you to start with. Suddenly after watching the material as it’s supposed to be seen and then switching to standard modes, the subjects can see how the colours in the brighter modes are un-naturally boosted and that whites suddenly look blue. Plus image detail is lost because it is too bright.

So, the public are programmed by manufacturers trying to sell them a product and go out of their way to make sure it’s your eyes that are drawn to their TV. It’s a repeat of the first experiment I mention above.

Uncorrected greyscale controls give a colour cast to images

There’s no doubt that people will initially go for the standard or vivid presets due to a preference or mistaken knowledge that it is supposed to look that way, that animation needs brighter and more intense colours. It’s also an emotive subject as people like to think they know better or what they like is gospel. And that’s fine, if someone is happy (and it appears that the majority of the public are happy in their collective ignorance and encouraged by misinformation being peddled to them) then I’m not going to argue and stamp my feet. However, as a community here and one that aims to help get the best from your equipment, we will always strive to push the correct information and hopefully start to educate in the correct way. Not force feed, but tell people why it’s a certain way and how it could be so much better.

Manufacturers do not normally calibrate their TVs to look correct to the material as it’s difficult, adds expense to the production line, and won’t get those eyes popping in the showroom. Plus it’s very difficult to get an image correct for your room and your sources.

What they can do, if so inclined, is calibrate so the TV can at least try and be accurate enough to how the material should be seen with a picture preset on the TV. The recent introduction of THX mode on some plasmas is exactly that kind of preset and one that follows the standards that the content producers use. It’s a ‘one setting catches all’ and aims to produce colours and white balance in the correct manner. You will never see it being used in a showroom, but it is there to help all consumers start to get closer to what an image should look like – the same as it was filmed, mastered and broadcast. This approach at least keeps everyone happy, those who want to watch in vivid modes can still quite happily indulge in their ignorance and those who want as good as possible an image can select the THX or similar picture mode that tries to be correct.

Again it’s coming back to education. Actually show people what their TV is capable of and most will then want to have the best the TV can produce. Why wouldn’t they?

Calibrated correctly - image depth and skin tones look sublime

And manufacturers (some anyway) are starting to realise this is the case. We can’t say much about it, but some of the biggest have even asked us to consult on what their TVs should have on them and how they achieve the best image for the material people watch. This has come about due to the fact that the review process is objective and performance heavy. The manufacturers in this case get the fact that people will buy a TV not because it’s just bright and colourful, but that it produces the finest picture quality (that shows the entire image as it was supposed to look.)

It’s also surprising that the vast majority of the reviews in magazines and websites do not follow simple procedures in testing TV pictures (yet falsely represent themselves as being qualified to do so). After all in any assessment you need to have a baseline or reference point. As an experienced calibrator and someone who assesses large numbers of TVs for their actual picture quality, I am shocked with what most of these other outlets call a review. But, not that shocked. Having spent time at various press junkets it’s easy to see that the vast majority have no technical knowledge of the subject and blindly follow what the manufacturer tells them. And again it comes down to marketing materials and trying to sell product on the fact that the general public and these writers are ignorant to the full facts. Their excuse again is personal preference and brighter in your face colours are the order of the day. Sorry but the simple facts of the matter are that the material everyone watches on their TV is produced one way and should be shown correctly and ideally one way.  There are standards – and standards exist for a reason.  You can’t argue that – it is a fact.  Why wouldn’t you want the very best image quality from your TV that matches the material you watch?

Now if personal preference is the way that the majority of write ups on TV technology are going to go, then how will you ever know that the TV is any good? It’s a personal picture preference for one person, the writer, and in no way reflects either technical performance or the actual picture performance capabilities of the TV. What is their reference point? The actual quoted and widely followed picture standards? Or is it what they deem to be right to their eyes? It’s an approach that simply follows the status quo with an unsuspecting public and writers with egos to fulfil trying to sound knowledgeable about such things. Sadly the industry as it stands is a boys club full of people who have been doing it (wrong) for so long that they dismiss any question of objectivity. That’s not me being unprofessional either, but rather its time that the status quo was lifted and we started seeing genuinely truthful information and education of the public, so they get the best quality and correct information.

And that’s not AVForums trying to get its ego across either – we are simply trying to get the correct information out there so people can use it as they wish. We review and report on what we can gather as facts and evidence, not a hunch or copy from a press release. But when you have so much factually incorrect drivel coming not only from some manufacturers but the AV Press as its stands in general in this country, it gets depressing. And let’s not even go near the subject of sales advice in most stores in this country – that’s an entire feature on its own.

And finally the cost of ISF calibration.

In an ideal world there would be no need for the professional calibrator as every TV would come with one setting – accurate and that’s that. However, we know that’s not the case. Besides, if every TV was manufactured to show images correctly how would they sell any TVs? It would then come down to issues like picture processing and black levels, things they can hide with aggressive shop floor viewing modes.

Hiring a pro is expensive for a number of reasons. Travel costs, insurance, equipment costs and the time of the calibrator. Plus you are also paying for experience and that is the most important factor.

If you have a £400 LCD TV then I agree that the cost to get a decent image from a calibrator is not economically viable.

There are other options like learning how to do the basics yourself, or even get some enthusiast level training at one of AVForums Calibration workshops. You are then set for life in being able to calibrate all the displays you will ever own. But that doesn’t help the mass market.

The ideal goal would be that the cost of calibration would be included in the purchase of your TV – but the logistics of that would be massive and quality control would be hard – again we are talking about experience.

The final thing and one we keep pushing for – would be for more manufacturers to implement accurate presets in their TVs that just require a little adjustment by the user (through a basic set up procedure for brightness and contrast). That way, those who want perfection can calibrate or hire a pro, and others can have an image that gets as close as possible to how the material should be seen. And modes like Dynamic and Vivid are moved to the store settings and not available in home mode. Not only would that move people towards picture quality that matches what they watch, it is also a power saving option that would cut consumption.

And that brings us back to the basics. The TV image should be the same as what is on the disc or broadcast and not one that is messed around with by super bright and in your face presets.

And if you want to set things as you think they should be – fine, nobody will stop you, its your money and your TV, but be safe in the knowledge that what you will see is not what was intended and will not match the entertainment and experience that was intended. I’m willing to bet that even the most staunch of critics of correct image quality would soon be won over if they actually saw and knew what they were missing and how good their TV could be. And if it was free?

We will keep pushing our message of presenting the correct facts and for the best quality images available. We will also question manufacturers and the industry on what they say and produce and try and focus that on getting the best quality of image.  Winning over the general public is a pipe dream unless the manufacturers start to move towards producing accurate TVs.

Blog by Phil Hinton.

Phil is a fully trained and certified ISF Calibrator and THX Level 1 Professional.  He is the content manager for AVForums.com and lead reviewer for the site.  His opinions here are not those of AV Enthusiast or AVForums.

Phil Hinton reports on the first AVForums HD World event held at JVC UK.

On Saturday the 24th of October, around 48 AVForums members attended the first event of its type to preview new products at a Manufacturers showroom – ahead of the AV press.

You can watch a Video in HD covering the event here

The event was organised with the enthusiastic help of JVC who wanted to give AV enthusiasts a high quality demonstration of their new projectors and 3DTV technology. This was done without any sales pressure and in an open environment where the members could ask question and give their feedback freely. The JVC staff were extremely welcoming and provided the attendees with answers to questions, as well as some top quality food and drink. The atmosphere was relaxed and laid back with like-mind people all discussing the virtues of the AV hobby and the equipment on show.

The major attraction for the event was the UK launch of the JVC DLA-HD990 DILA projector, the company’s high-end, high spec machine. This was shown in the main cinema demonstration room alongside the DLA-HD950 and a 110” 2.37:1 DNP Supernova screen. The HD990 was fitted with the JVC anamorphic lens system and the HD950 was shown with a budget CAVX anamorphic solution. Feeding both projectors was a JVC BD player. The room used was light controlled so the projectors could be shown at their very best. Due to time constraints in setting up the demos it was agreed that both projectors would be used in the THX preset mode. This preset offers very accurate images towards the international TV and Film standards for playback. It would have been interesting to have had the time to do a full ISF calibration on both projectors, but on this occasion that just wasn’t possible. At least with the use of the THX mode, those attending could get a good idea of what the projectors are capable off in out of the box settings.

There were four demo groups of 12 members each with a 2 hour demo time window. This allowed the groups to have just the right amount of people in each room without feeling cramped. The day started with a presentation of the technology by Steve Carter who went through the new JVC products and their specifications. Once the members were up to speed they were taken to the cinema demo room to see both Projectors in action. Once satisfied with various Blu-ray clips and anamorphic demonstrations it was then on to the 3DTV room. In here were the WX70 professional LCD Monitor, the WX50 LED backlit LCD with it’s super slim looks and the 3DTV monitor which was a 42” LCD Panel. On the 3D TV the members were shown various clips ranging from U2, music videos, film clips and sports footage. The JVC technology uses polarising filters in the glasses and on the screen to provide the 3D effect. The final demo for most groups was the HD550 projector on a massive 140” screen in the main showroom area.

The event was a great success and the positive feedback on the products and the way JVC opened its doors has come thick and fast over on AVForums.

So what about the initial impressions on the DLA-HD990? Well, I expect our review sample will be with me soon, but in the meantime my initial impressions are very positive.

Forgetting about the price difference for a second (the HD990 will be around £9k), the actual picture performance is a slight improvement over the HD950 when using the THX modes. Looking at both projectors side by side (something I will do again when the review sample arrives) it was obvious that contrast and dynamic range had an edge on the HD990. Colours were pretty much the same as they should be and black levels have that subtle bit more again. The menus and functions are the same as the HD950, but its obvious that this more expensive machine is made for the high end market place, a fact also supported by its limited availability.

So it was obvious that the forums members had a great day out and our thanks to JVC for hosting us.

Russell Williams reports on the recent Inaugural National Audio Show – Whittlebury Hall, Northampton.

The spiritual successor to the Hi-fi News show at the Heathrow Park Inn,  Chester Group upped sticks and plonked it in the sprawling Whittlebury Hall Hotel & Spa next to Silverstone.  This new venue has the simultaneous benefit of being more central to the country as a whole and offering up considerably larger rooms for the exhibitors.  There were inevitable teething problems, the lack of signage being one;  The hotel is a building that has endured many phases of extension, each one appearing to add another courtyard of rooms and with (if the numbers are to believed) 180 rooms on one floor, it was quite easy to get turned around and find yourself confidently pacing down a corridor only to find you’d already done it twenty minutes before. Equally, some rooms took on a Hogwarts quality and once found could never be found again.  I exited a lift Ken Ishiwata had been lucky enough to share with me, only to find upon my return that the lift was no longer there. The map,  such as it was,  agreed it should be where I left it opposite the Naim room, but it had gone.  Weird.

Due to the sheer number of rooms, it was impossible to see/hear everything in a day, so I rationalized what I wanted to hear and what follows are the rooms that left the most lasting impressions. It’s pleasing to note that there is a huge price disparity represented by this selection, but equally depressing how little of it was British.

In spite of any number of large name companies being absent (KEF, B&W & Linn as British examples) there was plenty there to see and although a late name change from Hi-fi to Audio Show had been affected to encourage a broader audience, the emphasis was very much two channel. Plenty there was to see and hear all the same and in fact I think many people would benefit from treating their AV weary ears to more two channel stuff to hear what can be done with a simple source, amp and pair of speakers.

That said, there was multichannel AV rooms to rock your world and no doubt through lessons learned in more compact venues, it occupied rooms, remote enough to stop them from rocking everybody elses.

Arcam had a slightly underwhelming room. The AV888 and P7 were present being fed from a (omnipresent) Denon DVDA1UD, driving a selection of smaller Spendor floorstanders. To be fair, it sounded nice, but I suspect Arcam may have been caught out by the size of their surroundings and they weren’t alone. Quad were trying to prove that ESLs could work in a room smaller than my digs at college and failing too.

No, THE cinema room was filled by Canadians Anthem and Paradigm and how!  I’ll apologise for the lack of pictures, but the room was so resolutely draped and blacked out, turning the lights on didn’t actually raise illumination beyond dusk.  A further indication of how seriously they took the show was exemplified by the display kit, which they don’t even sell; A Sim2 C3CXe was shining through an Isco Panamorphic lens onto a huge (120”+) curved variable mask screen. That’s £50k before we even get to the audio. Gulp.  So, the rack topped by yet another A1UD, sported the EISA award winning D2V processor and the seven channels of required amplification delivered by the matching P2 (stereo) and P5 (5 channel) poweamps. Each channel is claimed as delivering in excess of a rated 350w and I heard nothing to suggest that those ratings are anything less than very conservative. The speakers employed were the stunning looking (in a good ’80s kind of way) Paradigm Signature S8s flanking the gargantuan Signature C5 centre, with the Signature ADP3 dipoles on surround duties. To cap it all, a pair of Signature Sub 25s with 15” drivers and 3000w of continuous power (7500w peak!) ‘filled in’ the LFE channel. That’s going on another £50k before cables. Heady stuff.

I’m sure Anthem/Paradigm will be pleased to hear I liked it. Actually scratch that. I’ve sat through a few demos, even been impressed by a few, but this was the first that absolutely delivered everything it promised and still felt like it was keeping something in reserve. The obligatory ‘Legends of Jazz’ Blu-ray sampler delivered the cleanest, deepest bass of the day at fearsome volumes and yet remained utterly composed and tuneful at all times. I’m not a multichannel music fan, because most of the time I feel it delivers an answer to a question stereo wasn’t asking but this, once the sense of awe had subsided, did deliver music with a wide (if not deep) and seamless sphere of sound. And I use the word ‘music’ advisedly, because it was worth listening to for the music, rather than the technological process that brought it to your ears. That was a multichannel music first for me.

The room (it sat 20 plus) was given a chance to request a movie demo piece and whilst the rest were being polite and English, I asked for the Tai Lun’s escape from Prison from Kung Fu Panda. In my modest room and system, this movie is a tour de force of surround channel steering and subtle bass effects without ever sounding overblown and I didn’t need asking twice for a chance to hear it. I’m glad I did, but kind of wish I hadn’t, because it will never sound that complete, simultaneously subterranean and subtle again. Clear, open voices without a hint of chestiness or sibilance, hung naturally between and free of the speakers, without losing any intelligibility to the cacophony of the effects which likewise, slid seamlessly between the superb tonal matching of centre, fronts and surrounds. Reference is a word used too often, but is entirely appropriate here.

Naim as one of the few large British manufacturers had a presence in a lot of speaker manufacturer’s rooms, but held back the newest products for its own. Their new DAC called the Naim DAC (no sleep lost dreaming that one up) was on demo and is yet to actually hit the high street, but of greater interest to me were the new Ovator S-600 loudspeakers coming in a tad under £6000. The interest is due their innovative use of a Balanced Mode Radiator (BMR) driver that replaces the tweeter and midrange driver with a single panel that is (if I understand it right) derivative of NXT technology. Okay, so it’s not quite their innovation, but use of it in a speaker at this price level certainly is, so kudos to Naim for being there, being British and pushing boundaries.

Naim Ovator

Unfortunately I have to temper this glee with the demo being typical of every Naim demo I’ve heard at a show. It was very so-so and from other experiences, I don’t know why this always is. I’ve heard Naim at friend’s houses ranging from a full active SL2/NAP500/NAC552/CD555 system, down to more modest CD/pre/power combinations and I have never less than thoroughly enjoyed them,  so what it is about shows that Naim can’t get their heads round,  I don’t know.   Hotel rooms are notorious for hard reflective surfaces and indeed most rooms employed room acoustic treatment, with varying degrees of aural and visual success, but the Niam sound is characterized by a life and vitality that drives music along, taking your mind off the mundane considerations like deep bass and super clean highs, although Naim don’t exactly struggle in this regard either. But, somehow within seconds of sitting down, the system had completely lost my interest. It’s a shame because a lot of people will leave wondering what, I believe, the well deserved fuss is about.

As I mentioned, other manufacturers had selected Naim as their electronics of choice with virtually every component getting an outing somewhere and the lower (please don’t read low) level XS Series in evidence to great effect.

One such user was Guru Professional who were using the newly updated CD5 XS and Nait XS to drive their already cult classic QM10.  These somewhat different but modest looking speakers were being demoed with and without the still prototype Dynamic Extension Module, or DXM – “It’s NOT a subwoofer!” The ‘D’ was actually added to the ‘XM’ whilst I was questioning them about it’s somewhat interesting modus operandi, or rather trying to understand why it wasn’t a subwoofer. The name change is to emphasize the intention of what the DXM is intended to do. Ironically, the QM10s have an unnaturally deep bass for such compact dimensions and extended listening showed that they use their slot loaded aperiodic enclosure and close coupling to the rear wall to very great effect, obviating the need for bass extension more than any speaker of that size that I’ve ever heard. All of that would be for nought if the bass weren’t tight and controlled and capable of delivering a tune, but they do that too and very well and it sounds clean into the bargain. This is quite a feat given that the tiny mid/bass driver is also asked to cover a slightly larger chunk of the upper midrange and low treble than normal, but it makes them an enormously communicative speaker for vocals without a crossover in the way to mangle expression right where it counts.

I can also happily report that whilst the DXM may yet be renamed again, as it’s still six weeks from production at the time of writing,  it certainly worked as advertised.  Yes,  it did deliver extra extension at the very bottom end and that’s not a bad thing after all, but the whole combination was made to sound altogether larger and more, err?  Yes,  dynamic.  Not in the lift you off the sofa way, but struck notes and plucked strings gained a more solid impact and sounded more full scale with added body and therefore a bit more satisfying.  The DXM, like the QM10 is designed to take advantage of close to wall positioning and as such, this combination of slightly left field appearance is very discrete in a room. Tom Tom Audio, the importers of these Swedish loudspeakers and indeed Ingvar Ohman the designer were very receptive to the idea of supplying a pair of QM10s and DXMs for review, so keep an eye on AV Forums Hardware Reviews for any developments and I’ll go into more about what makes these speakers thoroughly unique.

The French.  Love ‘em or hate them because they’re more like us than we’d admit, but if you want true speaker innovation, they’re the ones pushing the boundaries in the way that we did in decades passed.  In fact,  just like us,  one of their most innovative brands (Cabasse) has been sold to the Japanese (Canon) so maybe they’re following our model of selling out. In the mean time, they’re innovating in a way we’ve generally forgotten how to and producing genuinely unique products.

Cabasse had at least two rooms; One run by their British importer Coherent Systems, another reserved for systems fronted by Focal speakers and one reserved for their ultimate statement.  The former had the iO2 satellite and Santorin subwoofer driven by Belles pre/power from an Oracle CD player.  It was as convincing an argument for the imaging capabilities of a satellite, combined with the room tuning capability of a subwoofer as you will hear. I wasn’t quite convinced by their idea of subwoofer tuning, but their speakers delivered exceptional imaging from Cabasse’s entirely in-house take on dual concentric drivers, which involves what is best described as annular ring radiators of ever increasing dimensions depending on where you are in the range. The iO2/Santorin impressed a resolutely stereo speaker friend of mine enough that he is now investigating them further and knowing his personal preferences that is praise indeed.

The statement room though.  My word!  If there is a flagship product that encapsulates everything that a single manufacturer is aiming for, then La Sphere is it.  At a not inconsiderable and conveniently rounded £100k(ish),  La Sphere not only delivers speakers,  but the amplification and DACs to convert digital and analogue sources into an acceptable signal for the system.  Now,  if I’m remembering this right, then the La Sphere system converts everything to 16bit/44.1kHz which in this day and age sounds, in technological terms at least, a bit stingy.  The thing is,  good ole 16/44.1 is a mature and very well understood technology and done well,  it can still float a very considerable boat.  La Spheres sport a true coaxial, four concentric ring radiator drivers that start with a 19mm dome tweeter and ends in a 375mm bass driver all contained within an acoustically inert spherical cabinet of 1.4m (yes 1400mm) diameter, giving you a truly uncompromising product that as the pictures show,  will blend in in precisely no front room unless it’s the bridge of a star ship.

How do they sound?  Well, they’re not the deepest sounding speaker I’ve ever heard,  although what they do is tight and tuneful in a dry way that really tickles me,  but the seamless integration of the drivers and their true point source radiation makes for the most holographic imaging you are ever likely to hear.   As a result,  making absolute judgements is a little hard,  because you are continuously drawn to listening to the individual performers precisely hanging in pin point space within the soundstage.   As a tool for concentrating on certain parts,  or performers within a recording,  they are without parallel.   I’d love to hear them longer term to let the bunny-in-the-headlights effect wear off,  but if you’re lucky enough to get the chance,  do it.

Late in the day I finally managed to find one of the Hogwarts rooms that I’d walked past about five minutes after entering the show,  which was also one of the ones I’d really targeted in the first place.  The room was that of Artisan Audio mainly because of the Soundsmith Strain Gauge cartridge.  The  Strain Gauge (£6500 depending upon options) is one of those oddities that whilst not a new idea (there was one in the ’50s),  is the ultimate and lone expression of a technology.   Unlike a moving coil or moving magnet cartridge that generates a current from a traditional magnet/coil in response to the LP’s groove modulations, the Strain Gauge applies a current (from what would normally be considered a phono stage) across a resistor whose impedance is modulated by the stylus tracking the groove.  The difference is subtle,  but basically the cartridge has a dedicated phono stage that powers the cartridge and so is bought as a system and can act as a stand alone preamp for the truly dedicated vinyl addict.

Now,  it’s hard to differentiate the contribution of individual components within an unfamiliar system and room and as Artisan were also using the Nola Baby Grand speakers (£43k and worthy of a column on their own) that are far from ordinary in price or configuration,  I can only really add that this was one of the most musical rooms I had the pleasure of sitting in.  Like the Absolute Sounds room (see below),  it was one of the few that sounded right even as you walked in the door and much like the AS room,  it also lacked the heavy acoustic treatment so many were leaning heavily on.   It’s a personal feeling that the best rooms at a show tend to have the kit that performs well,  regardless of where it’s asked to do it and that’s a point worth noting at a show of any type and level.   It bodes well for the ability to work in real, imperfect rooms like the ones we live in.  I wish I’d been there earlier and had the time to be a bit more demanding of the material played,  but it was late and discretion was the better part of balshiness at that time of the day.

Krell and Wilson Audio as long term bed fellows had taken a room together and both had their senior marketing managers over from America to run a slick tickets only demonstration.  Krell were running their Evolution Series 600 Monoblocks, preamp, DAC and CD player, plus some 24/192 recordings off a laptop hard disk.   As a child of the ‘80s,  I normally go weak kneed when in the presence of Krell,  but it was the Wilson offering that had my attention this time.  The Sashas (£27k) are the heir to the mantle of the long running Watt/Puppy and this is the most complete revamp to date,  with every single component either revised specifically for the job,  or trickling down from the flagship Alexandria. The demo suffered,  like a few others,  from being slightly too loud and there was a definite hole in the middle of the stereo soundstage,  both of which might have been solved by me sitting further back,  but if no-one has the chutzpah to walk in a and sit front row,  dead centre,  then that’s where I’ll sit.   Regardless,  the ease with which the room was filled was extremely impressive, with the depth of the stereo image reaching back and out behind the speakers made it very easy to hear the fore/aft position of performers.   Immaculate detail from the Focal sourced tweeter was matched by almost subwoofer levels of depth and grip, linked via a transparent midrange in the way that only a good three-way can.

Further down the corridor the UK importer of both Krell and Wilson was beating a different drum,  with no less exotic equipment.   What would you expect from Absolute sounds? All-in-ones?  The front end was provided by a Metronome Technologie Kallista Reference CD transport (French) that would be worth it’s considerable £53k price tag for the sheer art of the engineering alone.   I was so taken,  I forgot to check the DAC used.  Amplification was from the Swiss Company darTZeel who as well as having a different way of using the alphabet,  produce amplifiers that amongst other things,  are designed to have a friendly face (really!) and avoid all switching components and fuses in the audio path.   The models in question were the NHB-18NS pre-amp and NHB-108 Stereo power amp pictured.   The picture cannoy convey the craftsmanship used,  but if you are lucky enough to see one, they fit it with a clear lid that drool should wipe off easily enough.   The business end was occupied by a pair of Magico V2 speakers that actually manage to look quite mundane in this company,  even with their hugely labour intensive vertically stacked baltic ply cabinets.   A quick word about the speaker cable may display my ignorance,  but it won the biggest cable of the show award.   I believe it was the Transparent Cables ONM which I’ll let you Google,  but it has a network of electronics mid run that actually warrants its own decoupling stand.

How did it sound?  Pure Music.  All of the usual hi-fi adjectives are found wanting,  so I’ll just say that they were playing an orchestral piece that I didn’t recognize when I entered, progressed though several other tracks that are of the type only probably ever aired at ‘audio’ shows and I sat slack jawed through the entire damn lot.  None of it was my bag,  but the communication of the essence of the pieces and the performers efforts were laid absolutely bare.   There may be louder,  deeper more accurate sounding hi-fi out there,  but this was entertainment.   Indeed,  the top panel of the V2s vibrated a surprising amount as I placed my hand on it and this would surely introduce a certain amount of colouration to the sound, but I’m not sure any of that matters any more.   Does this mean I prefer a coloured sound?  Possibly,  but I listened to music that I wouldn’t normally have given a fig for and it made me want to listen to it.  That’s what all systems need to achieve to be good hi-fi,  regardless of which specification boxes they tick.

Roll on 2010.

Blog by Russell Williams.

Russell is the Hi-fi and Home Cinema speaker reviewer for AVForums.com and his opinions here are not those of AV Enthusiast or AVForums.

We have just received the first full production sample of the new JVC DLA-HD950 DILA projector and are prepping the review room as we write.  This is JVC’s latest high-end DILA machine that comes with a new clear motion drive frame interpolation technology and is THX and ISF Certification.  Native contrast claims put it at 50,000:1 and we are itching to fully test just how good this new projector is compared to our resident reference HD750.  Stay tuned for updates and the full review which will be published soon…