Indholdsfortegnelse for February 2021 i Home Cinema Choice

Until recently I still thought of Ultra HD Blu-ray as a 'new' format. Then I discovered that this month marks the fifth anniversary of its arrival. As the saying goes, time flies when you're having fun, and these souped-up silver discs have certainly delivered fun by the bucketload – see p26 for more… In 2021, though, we know you're just as likely to get your cinematic kicks from streamed content, particularly when would-be blockbusters such as Wonder Woman 1984 (p98) are making an early internet-delivered dash to your living room, and SVOD platforms like Netflix (p114) are going out of their way to bring you content from around the world. But whether you're a Blu-ray believer or digital download diva, you still want a jaw-dropping AV experience. Judging from the…

Samsung EVERY JANUARY, LAS Vegas becomes the epicentre for new TV technology when CES hits town, but this year was inevitably rather different as the famed consumer electronics show went all-digital for the first (and hopefully last) time. Thankfully, this didn’t stop the world’s biggest brands from making a host of new technology pronouncements. And while we couldn’t get up close and personal to provide forensic scrutiny, some trends became quickly evident. Focus on features 8K resolution, which has been generating a buzz for several years, appears to have lost its lustre. Sure, manufacturers with skin in the game kept ranges intact, but there was no overt expansion nor 8K flag-waving. Instead, gaming technology moved into pole position, with HDMI v2.1 niceties like VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) and HFR (High…

WITH ITS LATEST generation, Sony is on a mission to prove that projectors can genuinely handle the high dynamic range pictures that have become such a key ingredient of the best AV sources. The laser-based Sony VPL-VW790ES we reviewed in HCC #316 got the ball rolling, bringing remarkable intensity to HDR images while still retaining strong black levels and a wide contrast. But with the VW790ES selling for £12,000, many home cinema fans will instead divert their attention to the VPL-VW590ES auditioned here. This model, available in both a traditional black livery and a more modern white finish, ditches laser lighting in favour of a standard lamp arrangement, but sells for a much more approachable £7,000. This doesn’t exactly make it a budget model, but neither is the rest of…

AMAZON’S FOURTH GENERATION Echo smart speaker trades the familiar cylinder shape for a stylish new spherical design, in the process relocating the Alexa notification light ring from top to base and offering a different driver configuration. In terms of features it’s just as smart as its forebears, making it an unassuming digital assistant that’s always on hand to offer tidbits of information and control your compatible Alexa smart home devices. It also features a built-in Zigbee smart home hub, for Zigbee control, and even boasts a temperature sensor. This Echo offers both Wi-Fiand Bluetooth connectivity, and there’s a physical 3.5mm jack onboard should you want to hookup a local source device. The new speaker arrangement combines a 3in woofer with dual 20mm tweeters. While this Echo looks like it should…

REVIEWED HERE IN 65in guise, but also available in 55in, 75in and 86in configs, LG's NANO906 is a direct-lit LED display that predates the Mini LED backlight models previewed at CES 2021, but still offers a forward-leading specification – including two 4K/120-enabled HDMI inputs, Dolby Vision HDR playback, and LG's slick WebOS UI. And while this 65-incher commanded a £1,500 ticket last Summer, it's now selling for about £1,000. Tempted? The design is rather anonymous, the surrounding micro-bezel a dark grey plastic, sat on two edge-mounted feet. Downfiring stereo speakers offer a fairly perfunctory audio performance. From the box, the default picture is Eco – we’d recommend immediately switching to Standard. Other options include Cinema, Sports, HDR Effect (for 'upscaling' of SDR content), Filmmaker Mode, and ISF settings. Filmmaker Mode…

THE LP5X IS a development of Japanese marque Audio Technica's earlier (and hugely successful) LP5, and is the only direct drive model in this roundup, which means its motor acts directly on the platter rather than via a belt. Its phono stage can be switched off if you already have one in your system, and it can also output a USB signal to a PC, so you can archive your records if you so wish. Speed selection is automatic, and even caters to 78rpm. The LP5x is fitted with a member of Audio Technica's VM95 moving magnet (MM) cartridge family, making a stylus change or upgrade nice and simple. Setting this deck up is straightforward. There’s no fiddly belt to fit and everything goes together in a satisfying way. It's…

TURNTABLE ALL-STAR PRO-JECT, founded in Austria in the early 1990s, seems to have a model for every occasion. Its Essential range fills the gap between the entry-level T Series and more sophisticated Debut line. The III Phono is belt-driven and the only model here where changing between 33rpm and 45rpm requires you to move the belt to another pulley. Its built-in phono stage can be bypassed via its line-level output, should you wish to add an external one. The Pro-Ject is our slickest-looking model thanks to its red, black or white gloss plinth (there's a walnut option too), and generally high standard of finish. Fitting the belt is easier than the Elipson but still fiddly, and some other aspects of setup might require recourse to the manual for beginners. One…

2020 WAS DIRE, wasn't it? We might as well not have had it and just skipped to 2021 – which, incidentally, is also how I feel about TV technology. Around a year ago I wrote about the lack of new innovations coming to TVs [HCC #309], and how I was more interested in the new Apple Pro Display XDR monitor than models from the major TV brands. And now, looking back, it's easy to see 2020 as a year of treading water, technology wise. But what do we have to look forward to in 2021? Well, it seems it’s going to be the year of Mini LED and Micro LED. It's worth outlining the differences between these two display technologies, even if the price gap from one to the other…

→ FRIDAY THE 13TH COLLECTION: DELUXE EDITION The inspiration for a murderer. A deformed backwoods wildman. A hockey mask-wearing psychopath. A copycat killer. A zombie. A body-hopping demon. A space-going cyborg. In the four decades since the first Friday the 13th movie, horror icon Jason Voorhees has adopted many guises. But one thing always remains the same: his unwavering desire to slaughter anyone who crosses his path. This epic 16-disc boxset from US label Shout! Factory allows fans to enjoy the ups and downs of the enduring franchise, bringing together all of its 12 films – including Jason’s 2003 showdown with fellow slasher Freddy Krueger and the 2009 reboot. There were some issues with the original pressings for Friday the 13th Part III, Jason Goes to Hell (Unrated) and Jason…

→ BLADE Before the X-Men, before Spider-Man, before the MCU… there was Blade. Marvel’s movie version of its too-cool-for-school vampire hunter enjoyed a decent budget, critical success and solid box-office. It was also the first comic book film to be headlined by an African-American – beating out Black Panther by twenty years. And what a headlining performance it is, with Wesley Snipes landing muscular karate kicks while simultaneously delivering memorable one-liners. He's ably supported by Stephen Dorff as the villain, and a grizzled Kris Kristofferson as Blade’s mentor, but this is Snipes’ film from start to finish and remains bloody good fun. Picture: This release uses a 4K scan of the original camera negative, is presented in the correct 2.39:1 aspect ratio, and often delivers razor-sharp images. Whether its clothing…

WHEN CORONAVIRUS RESTRICTIONS were lifted last Summer, installer Bespoke Home Cinemas' first project was this makeover of a 5m x 4m room previously featuring a wall-mounted TV and soundbar setup. The owner, who had no doubt spent more time than ever watching telly, had decided something more immersive was in order. Mocking up a 3m-wide 2.35:1 screen with black gaffer tape (and showing where 16:9 images would sit for console gaming), he was quickly convinced a projector was the way forward! The install was completed in a speedy five days, with work including a front-wall build, 'halo' lighting and blackout blinds, decor changes and installation of a 5.2.2 sound system and Epson 4K projector. Control 4 automation is used to fire up AV hardware (including an Arcam AVR550) and manage…

The affordable Marantz NR receiver could meet all your cinema and gaming needs, says Steve May A stablemate to, but considerably better specified than, the 5.1-channel slimline NR1510 (there's no sign yet of an NR1511). this seven-channel model is perhaps more akin to the full-sized SR5015, just not as powerful (it's rated at 7 x 50W rather than 7 x 100W). And it sells for about £200 less. Standing a shade over 10cm high, this slender AVR cuts a classic Marantz profile, with familiar curved fascia, twin dials and large display. A pull-down flap to hide its front-panel buttonry would make it even more slick, but you don't get one. Connectivity is good for the price. All six HDMI inputs support Dolby Vision, HLG, eARC and HDR10+, as well as…

Mark Craven enjoys the highs and lows of an SVS floorstander system off ering serious value for money Last year I looked at the newest Prime floorstanding speaker, the fearsome five-driver Pinnacle [HCC #312], and it was around then I realised I'd never actually had a play with its Prime Elevation models. Debuted in 2016, these compact, angle-baffle two-ways are designed to be a one-stop shop for immersive audio, bringing height channels to rooms that previously never had them. So auditioned here is a 5.1.2 setup that has the form factor to tuck into less-than-cavernous spaces (well, except maybe the subwoofer), but promises grown-up cinematic sonics. Old faithful Standing left and right in our array is SVS's Prime Tower (£900p/p), the range's venerable floorstander. And although now outgunned by the…

The CS415-2 EV, from German brand Dual, is – by a small margin – the costliest turntable we're auditioning, but it has a party piece none of the other models do. It's a fully automatic design, so once you pop a record on the platter, you press a button and it puts the arm on the record for you, and takes it off at the other end. The deck, which supports 33rpm and 45rpm speeds, is supplied with an Audio Technica AT-91 cartridge, which is the 'simplest' of the pickups used here but still a fairly good listen. Like Audio Technica's LP5x, Dual's turntable isn’t particularly pretty (and is fitted with a captive cable out) – but it is nicely made and the auto arm mechanism works well. One thing…

Each of these turntables has a compelling reason why you might choose them, and are proof that you don't need to spend megabucks to get a highly enjoyable vinyl experience. The Dual CS415-2 EV gives a little ground to the other models here in terms of absolute sonic performance, but the fully automatic operation is a delight – and tailor-made to novices – and it can sound brilliantly fun with livelier music. Elipson's Chroma 200 RIAA impresses from the off with its lovely industrial design, and up and running it does a sterling job opening out recordings and making them sound largescale and inviting. Some listeners might want a little more oomph, and there's no upgrade path to an external phono stage, but these issues aside it's a charming and…

HAVING CONCLUDED IN my previous column [HCC #316] that a projector and screen are always going to outgun a TV for that authentic home cinema vibe (the darkened room, the whir of the projector, a screen the size of a billboard, etc), I realised I was dimensionally challenged. At 5ft 8in, many people have said this before – yet, more specifically, things are rather bijou at the business end of my AV room. A width of 3.2m puts something of a limit on projector screen size if I want to install a decent-sized set of in-wall loudspeakers left and right of the screen, which is what I had intended. DALI's Phantom S-280 LCRs [pictured, see HCC #276] top my wishlist, but while they are described as compact that's more about…

Columbia Noir #1 & #2 Powerhouse Films’ Indicator label is releasing Columbia Noir #2, the second in its BD boxset series of film noir gems from the Columbia Pictures vault. Featuring extras-laden restorations of Framed (1947), 711 Ocean Drive (1950), The Mob (1951), Affair in Trinidad (1952), Tight Spot (1955), and Murder by Contract (1958), Columbia Noir #2 is available to own on February 15. We have one pair of the Columbia Noir #1 and Columbia Noir #2 boxsets to be won! Question: The term ‘film noir’ was first applied to Hollywood crime films by which critic? Answer: A) Nino Frank B) Pauline Kael C) Barry Norman The Nightingale Director Jennifer Kent’s provocative Australian western The Nightingale is the latest movie to join Second Sight Films’ feature-packed ‘Limited Edition’ Blu-ray…

SOFTWARE HIGHLIGHTS BILL & TED FACE THE MUSIC The Wyld Stallyns are back for another ride POSSESSOR Sci-fi thriller shows that violence runs in the family… WONDER WOMAN 1984 Does Diana deserve your Premium VOD dollar? THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH Edgar Alan Poe gets the Roger Corman treatment & MORE! Back when Wesley Snipes could open a movie, he took the starring role as Marvel comic book anti-hero Blade. Twenty-three years later, Warner Bros. has dug it out of the vault for an Ultra HD Blu-ray do-over. See p95… RATINGS KEY… All prices quoted are approximate and may have changed…

LOOKING FOR A NEW PROJECTOR? Our Top 10 guide is here to help HCC RATINGS KEY… TOP 15 Televisions Philips 65OLED935 → £2,700 Premium Philips set that uses its upfiring Atmos soundbar (designed by B&W) as its desktop stand. Impressively immersive sonics, while 4K HDR images benefit from the brand's processing expertise. HCC #314 Panasonic TX-55HZ2000 → £3,000 The HZ2000 'Professional Edition' OLED range commands a price premium over rivals, but buyers won't be disappointed. This 55-incher off ers best-of-breed imagery and immersive Dolby Atmos audio via upfiring drivers. HCC #315 Samsung QE65Q95T → £2,500 Fewer local dimming zones than on last year's Q90 model, but Samsung's top-flight 4K QLED still dazzles while hitting a lower price point. Brightness peaks at over 1,500 nits, and slick backlight management yields a…

JBL Synthesis SCL series→ www.jblsynthesis.com The first models from JBL Synthesis's new Product Council, which has collaborated with the custom install community to develop 'largescale' system solutions, are the SCL-1 LCR speaker (right) and SSW-1 subwoofer. The former, priced $15,000 a piece, features dual 12in bass drivers and a 3in compression driver outputted via the brand's HDI horn-loading tech; the latter ($7,500) wraps a 1inthick MDF/steel chassis cabinet around two front-ported 15in woofers and weighs in at around 150kg! ONLINE… For breaking AV news, blogs, features and reviews visit www.homecinemachoice.com Follow us on Twitter @hccmag Like us on Facebook facebook.com/homecinemachoice…

While TCL remains best known for its cut-price panels in the UK, the Chinese brand is a display powerhouse and always has something interesting to show at CES. This year it used the virtual expo (see p20 for more) to unveil its OD Zero Mini-LED technology. TCL's nomenclature refers to the set's slim profile and specifically the optical distance between the Mini LED layer and the LCD display, which has been reduced to 0mm. The TV(s) will land in the US and Europe later this year, with full specifications being kept under wraps until then – although it's expected HDMI 2.1 connectivity will feature as standard. TCL suggests the benefits of its Mini LED developments – it previously debuted an X10 Mini LED model last year in some markets –…

1 The devil's in the detail UK hi-fi marque iFi Audio has a new portable DAC/headphone amp. The battery/USB powered iDSD Diablo (£900) flaunts a red chassis, desktop/pocket-friendly dimensions and 'devilishly brilliant' performance from its dual Burr-Brown DAC architecture (supporting PCM 32-bit/768kHz, DSD to DSD512, and MQA). Headphone outs are 6.35mm and balanced 4.4mm Pentaconn. 2 Sky bags more movies Sky and film distributor Studiocanal have inked a deal to bring 'hundreds of hours of blockbuster movies' to the Sky Q platform and Now TV streaming service. Beginning this month, the satcaster will get first-show rights to Studiocanal's upcoming theatrical releases, plus its library of catalogue content. 3 No virtual show for Bristol The organisers of the Bristol Hi-Fi Show have announced tentative plans for a virtual version of the…

Cage fighting After 2018's Mandy and 2019's Color Out of Space, it seems the ever-present Nic Cage has found his metier in weird horror cinema. Indie flick Willy's Wonderland traps him in the eponymous funhouse with animatronic monsters for company. The film streams this month, with tongue firmly in cheek. youtu.be/v49ewBiBxgc When East meets West Produced as part of the BFI's recent Japan season, this scholarly 11-minute video essay looks at Hollywood's history of Manga adaptations, and wonders why so many of them struggle to make the grade. Ghost in the Shell, Detective Pikachu, Dragonball Evolution and Speed Racer all feature. youtu.be/TXYTYYMBI48 It's Milla time again Director Paul W. S. Anderson and muse/wife Milla Jovovich are back doing what they do best (making action/horror cinema) in Sony Pictures' upcoming Monster…

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ON FEBRUARY 14TH, 2016, the first wave of 4K Blu-ray discs was released (in the US at least, UK buyers had to wait until April). The titles chosen to kickstart the new state-of-the-art format were an odd bunch, ranging from the expected blockbusters (Mad Max: Fury Road, The Martian and The Amazing Spider-Man 2) to catalogue filler (Ender’s Game, Hitman Agent 47 and Salt). But the genie was out of the bottle, and owners of 4K TVs – which had been in the market since 2012 – at last had an upgrade on their silver disc collection. Specs appeal The 4K Blu-ray specifications were completed in May 2015 by the Blu-ray Disc Association (the BDA, an industry body comprising hardware manufacturers, film studios and technology groups) By and large, the…

A WINNING PROJECT in last year's CEDIA Awards, this loft-based cinema room, designed by UK installer Perfect Integration, combines projector-based bigscreen entertainment with a bar/kitchen area – and four subwoofers artfully hidden from view. Perfect Integration's MD, Chris Knight, told HCC that the owner was a hi-fiand vinyl fan 'who had never experienced a proper home cinema before,' but was technically minded and desired something high-spec and high-performance. Delivering on that brief is an eight-seat theatre with 7.4.4 immersive audio and 120in 4K HDR video playback. The footprint of the room is generous (8.5m x 6m) but as an attic space the installer had to contend with sloping walls, a low ceiling, a skylight and bedrooms below. Acoustic isolation was therefore crucial – a 15mm-thick multi-layer acoustic underlay was fitted…

John Archer samples the 9.1.4-channel theatrics of Samsung's flagship soundbar This might sound a trivial way to start a review of a £1,400 soundbar, but trust me: only being able to see the reams of useful information the readout can share if you stand up from your sofa and lean over the soundbar’s top is annoying. Presumably the ‘logic’ behind putting the display there has something to do with Samsung placing an on/off button for the soundbar’s built-in far-field mic (which supports Alexa voice control) on the Q950T’s top edge. Or, perhaps, the soundbar’s support for Tap Connect, where Samsung phones running Android 8.1 can be connected to the 'bar for Bluetooth music streaming just by tapping them against its bodywork. Yet neither of these explanations for the display trump…

Samsung joins the UST PJ party with its feature-packed LSP9T. Steve Withers bathes in the glow of its triple-laser light source The result is a projector that offers a genuine alternative to a bigscreen living room TV, arguably more so than any competitor. Naturally all this cutting-edge technology doesn’t come cheap, with the LSP9T priced at £7,000. That might sound toppy, but don't forget it's capable of delivering an image up to 130in across – and good luck finding a TV that big for similar wonga. Throwing a picture party The main benefit of a UST projector is the ability to produce such a massive picture from an incredibly short throw distance. The LSP9T projects 100 inches from only 11cm, and can fill a 130in screen from just 24cm. Crucially,…

BETTER KNOWN FOR its loudspeakers, French brand Elipson branched out into making its own turntables a few years ago, and the Chroma 200 RIAA is the entry-level model in its second generation. Entirely designed and built in house by Elipson (except for the OM10 cartridge from Ortofon), the RIAA has a phono stage built in, 33rpm and 45rpm support on an electronic speed control, and a unique tonearm that combines the bearing and antiskate arrangement into a single compact knuckle. A version without a phono stage (you cannot switch this model's phono stage off), and another with Bluetooth output as well as the phono stage are also available. The Chroma is very well made and finished and it looks attractive. Surely benefitting from its in-house design, it appears and feels…

USUALLY, JANUARY, FEBRUARY and March are the months when I really enjoy going out to the cinema. Sure the Summer blockbuster season, and its December counterpart (buoyed in recent years by the re-emergence of Star Wars), have their appeal, but it's in this quieter winter period that a different breed of movies is released. The Oscar-bait has been and gone, the tent-pole titles are still being touched up in post-production, and the multiplexes are filled with …well, men waving guns about and punching people. Okay, that's a vague catch-all for quite a diverse variety of films, but in the last decade or so I've had an absolute blast at the multiplex watching the likes of Book of Eli, John Wick 2, The Grey, Non-Stop, Creed and xXx: Return of Xander…

Manual labour Hi folks, and a belated New Year's greetings to all! I recently purchased an LG OLED48CX TV, and while I am more than pleased with the technology involved, the lack of an instruction manual leaves a lot to be desired! I contacted LG, and it gave me a download of the owner's manual, but this is more or less a list of specifications. I have managed through trial and error to figure out most of it, but surely, at £1,500, the inclusion of a set of instructions is not a big ask! My previous TVs were a Toshiba, a Panasonic and a Samsung, and all came with a comprehensive set of instructions. As previously stated, top marks to LG for a great TV. I just wish I didn't…

Welcome to the AV-Holic Hall of Fame – introduce yourself! Hi. I'm John Galvin, aged 50. I'm a Software Company Director, based in Dublin. How long have you been into home cinema? I've always loved movies and cinema, and pestered my dad back in the 1980s to buy a VHS video recorder so I could tape movies from TV to watch ‘on demand’. Ever since then I’ve bought all types of big TVs, surround systems, projectors, etc. When did you decide to set up your current cinema room? We moved to this house around six years ago and I'd always planned to convert the garage, but only got around to it (with my wife's permission) last year. How long did the garage conversion take? The project took about five weeks…

→ BILL & TED FACE THE MUSIC There's something to be said for a film that has no greater ambition than wanting to entertain, and goes about it wearing a smile on its face and its heart on its sleeve. Bill & Ted Face the Music is precisely that sort of film. If you believed Bill S. Preston Esq. (Alex Winter) and Ted ‘Theodore’ Logan (Keanu Reeves) fulfilled their destinies when Wyld Stallyns played a concert beamed around the world back in 1991 (the climax of Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey), think again. By 2020 the hapless duo still haven’t written the song prophesied to unite the world. Worse still, the world itself stands on the brink of a temporal collapse. Whisked off to the future by Rufus’s daughter, Kelly…

WHEN HE COLLECTED his award for Best Foreign Language Film at The Golden Globes, Parasite director Bong Joon-ho famously described subtitles as a one-inch-tall barrier to amazing films. But just who’s responsible for the barrier? Back when digital TV was dawning, and Sky Movies evolved from a single channel into a family, I asked one of the executives responsible if it would expand its offering to better reflect world cinema, given that it had more bandwidth to play with, and a multiplex of movie channels at its disposal. The executive thought about my question, before suggesting, yes it would. But the satcaster never did. Even today, with an infinite delivery pipe and the option of endless pop-up channels, its movie focus (with the occasional exception) remains mainstream English language. The…