Indholdsfortegnelse for Spring 2021 i Home Cinema Choice

All being well, the UK's cinemas will be reopening in late May, after more than a year – on and off – during which the industry has taken a huge hit. Within that time, movie studios have rethought their distribution models and streaming platforms have gained new custom. It's possible that we've witnessed a paradigm shift in the way Hollywood works. As a home cinema fan, you might think I'm ambivalent about the plight of multiplexes, but our hobby works better when the mothership is flying high. We get better quality films, for a start. Also, I'm partial to a night out of my AV den. The leaps the UK's premium cinemas have made in quality and comfort terms in the last decade or so are staggering. Even the snacks…

Fractured Visions began in 2016 as an annual film festival. How did that come about? To be honest it was just an excuse to share cool movies that I liked with fellow genre fans here in Cardiff. We didn’t have anything cool like FrightFest or GrimmFest, so it was a chance to bring films that would not receive a theatrical release to a big screen. When did you decide to move into film distribution? It was always the end goal, but the COVID-19 lockdowns helped speed that transition up. As we couldn’t do much theatrically, it felt like a good time to start sharing the Fractured Visions experience with the wider public via a label. [The film festival] was about celebrating the best in contemporary and classic genre cinema that…

In addition to its new 1000 Series Pro range (see p7), SVS has also launched a dual-driver compact subwoofer designed to deliver big bass without ruining your AV feng shui. The 3000 Micro, the latest SVS sub to trickle down technology from the brand's flagship 16-Ultra Series, tucks two 8in opposing drivers into a cabinet measuring 278(h) x 297(w) x 271(d)mm. Power comes from a new 800W-rated (RMS) Sledge STA-800D2 amplifier, the design of which SVS says was informed by the 16-Ultra Series project. The task of engineering a subwoofer capable of frequencies you can feel while maintaining effective thermal and energy management in a micro-sized enclosure has always posed a challenge to subwoofer designers,' says SVS. 'The 3000 Micro answers the challenge with a potent combination of advanced dualdriver…

SOMETIMES, SHOOTING IN HDR brings unexpected benefits. For cinematographer Ulf Brantås, and the production team on quirky Swedish rom-com Love & Anarchy, a Netflix original, they found it solved one of the country’s perennial conundrums – Swedish dress sense. According to producer Frida Asp, everyone in Sweden wears black during winter, and in SDR that means they more often than not look like black blobs, devoid of detail. With HDR, black clothes were suddenly exhibiting texture and structure. 'At last, finally, we could wear black!' Think Swedish telly and you’ll probably envisage Scandi noir, but Love & Anarchy is far lighter fare. The story of respectable married consultant Sophie, who embarks on an increasingly dangerous and flirtatious relationship with twentysomething IT bod Max, is laugh-out-loud funny. If you’re after a…

TIME FOR A confession. Originally we aimed to give our top-level system a £3,000 price limit, but with a self-imposed remit of Dolby Atmos audio and a 4K projector, we began to hit some buffers. It would be doable (more on that later), but we decided to borrow an extra £500 from the bank. We'll pay it back, promise. Anyway, the system here is what many will consider 'proper' home cinema, thanks to the use of a projector rather than a TV. Going large on visuals (in this case to 92in) adds another level to the home cinema experience. The 'bigger is better' adage really applies – not necessarily better in terms of pure picture performance, but in terms of wow factor. A Dolby Atmos sound system adds a bit…

Universal, 4K BD The film that reduced a generation of filmgoers to tears, this 1982 tale of a cute alien accidentally stranded on Earth, and the young boy who befriends him, finds Spielberg at his heartwarming best. Building the story out from a suburban world of divorced moms and childhood anxiety, he crafts a cinematic fairy tale that is magical, scary, funny, and exciting. It's a treat for children and adults, and only the most jaded viewer could fail to be moved by it. Unsurprisingly, there’s no better way to rediscover the delights of E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (the theatrical version, not the 'digitally enhanced' Special Edition misfire) than via Universal's 2017 Ultra HD Blu-ray release. While there are no new extras, the 4K presentation and upgraded DTS:X soundtrack are definitely…

Shining a light on HDR Optoma's UHD38 4K DLP projector promises a performance upgrade over last year's award-winning UHD30. Is this affordable beamer the one to beat? See p52 for more. HCC RATINGS KEY……

THE GENERAL TV trend these days is towards ever bigger screens. An interesting exception to this rule has emerged in recent months, though, in the comely shape of 48in OLED TVs. LG kicked things off last year with its OLED48CX (see HCC #315), but now Sony, too, is jumping into the market for smaller OLEDs with the KD-48A9. Sony’s debut 48in OLED really is a lovely little thing. An exceptionally thin bezel, and the way the screen sits right down on its silver stand, means you see hardly anything but picture when it's switched on. The chassis depth is just a handful of millimetres at its outer edges, too, and while a large central portion of its rear sticks out further than most TVs, Sony has managed to make even…

DOUBLE TROUBLE The Falcon and the Winter Soldier streams into action, p99 LG’s DECISION TO call the new higher-brightness panels in its 2021 G1 OLED TVs ‘Evo’ seems a bit odd. LG’s regular annual OLED updates feel like evolutions; using a radically different panel design for the first time in years, like the G1 series does – with a new green layer for improved colour purity, and new high-efficiency materials to deliver a tangible brightness boost without using more power – feels more like a potential revolution. On the OLED65G1, the Evo panel is housed in a ‘Gallery’ design similar to 2020’s GX range. This means it has a slim (2cm or so), flat profile specifically designed for wall hanging. There’s even a recess in the rear for the supplied super-slender…

IF I WAS asked to keep this review supremely short and to the point, I'd say Lumagen's new Radiance Pro 5348 is great, and you should go and buy it. But that would be ignoring a few things, one of which being the price tag – if all you have is a 4K display and an Apple TV box, this video processor is definitely not for you. It also really needs to be installed by an integrator (if your home cinema is advanced enough that you already have one of these people on speed dial, then you are probably a target customer). This is because to get the most out of the 5348 you need a lot of additional specialist equipment and software. Using a trained specialist will also mean…

TIME ON TEST: 18 months REVIEWER: Steve May WITH THE DP-UB9000, Panasonic set a high benchmark for Blu-ray players. When launched in 2018 it was unquestionably the finest Blu-ray disc spinner the Japanese manufacturer had made. Three years on it’s beginning to look a lot like a swansong for the format. The DP-UB9000 is the sort of hardware that swallows years of R&D time before production, only to cause considerable angst from marketing managers worldwide who have to guess just how many units they’ll shift. That this model even went on sale outside of Japan, which can be considered safe ground for this kind of AV exotica, strikes me as vaguely extraordinary. The fact that we’ve seen nothing to eclipse it since probably confirms it’s as good as Blu-ray players…

I WAS STARTING to wonder if THX had finally fallen off the home cinema sofa. Given its status as the must-have three-letter acronym in Lucasfilm's prime days, its solo career didn't look like it was working out since the split with George and the gang. But it transpires that it's recently been working on the tricky fourth certification, THX Dominus. While that is a solid 2021 Oscar nomination for 'Most Aggressive Specification Name' and is accompanied in my head by Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries, THX didn't exactly go to town on a red carpet launch in the UK. Indeed, it was one of its supporting acts, loudspeaker marque Perlisten Audio, that alerted UK press that THX was even still in business (the company is now owned by technology outfit…

Batt le Royale: Limited Edition Director Kinji Fukasaku's controversial near-future shocker follows a class of 42 Japanese high school kids taken to a remote island, strapped into exploding necklaces, and forced to fight each other to the death as part of a government scheme to tackle the rising tide of juvenile delinquency. Even after 21 years and numerous inferior imitators (yes, we’re looking at you, Hunger Games), Battle Royale remains a powerful and disturbing piece of cinema that must be seen to be believed. Picture: Battle Royale has been restored at 4K by Arrow using the original 35mm camera negative of its Theatrical version, and a 35mm dupe negative of the Director’s Cut. HDR10/Dolby Vision grading then brings it bang up-to-date. Bear in mind, though, that it was never a particularly…

ZACK SNYDER'S JUSTICE LEAGUE The story behind Zack Snyder's Justice league is almost as epic as this four-hour cut of the infamous superhero extravaganza: the movie’s original disintegration, brought about through studio interference, and then the director’s departure from the project when family tragedy struck, has all the elements of a grand corporate saga. Creative vision versus blind accountancy, heroes vs villains. The original theatrical release in 2017, from Joss Whedon, was little more than an incoherent, clumsy mess. In contrast, this fan-fuelled resurrection is a thrilling vindication of the director’s original vision. Auteur movie-making of the highest order, you can see Zack Snyder in every frame. He’s not producing a genre puzzle piece to order; there’s passion here, and for fans of the material, it's damn exciting to watch.…

Panasonic has announced its full OLED TV lineup for 2021, and the headline news is a 48in screen size, the use of its custom Master OLED panel design across two ranges, and the introduction of HDMI 2.1 features including VRR and HFR. Yet there's a wrinkle in the detail when it comes to the latter – Panasonic says these features will be supported by two HDMI inputs on all its OLED sets, but initially 'will only display half the vertical resolution' with 4K HFR and 4K/120Hz VRR. A firmware update will comes to the rescue regards the 4K HFR issue later in the year, and Panasonic says it will make a further announcement 'in due time' regards 4K/120Hz VRR. Other VRR resolutions will be supported out of the box 'without…

1 Disney rejigs MCU Phase IV Black Widow, the delayed standalone outing for Scarlett Johansson's high-kicking Avenger, will finally land in UK cinemas on July 9. However, Marvel owner Disney has also announced a 'Premier Access' (Premium VOD) release on the same day through its Disney+ streaming platform. The Mouse House has also confirmed new release dates for the rest of the 2021 Marvel slate: Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (September 3), Eternals (November 5) and Spider-Man: No Way Home (December 17). 2 Warner picks Cineworld Sticking with the cinema industry, Warner Bros. and Cineworld have inked a 'multi-year' deal that will give the latter an exclusive 30-day theatrical window on the former's releases (up to 45 days on some titles) before they move to streaming/PPV platforms.…

The £1,000 streaming setup Keeping it simple but effective with a TV, soundbar and media player CAN YOU ASSEMBLE an authentic 'home cinema' setup for a thousand pounds? Possibly yes, with some judicious second-hand shopping – but that's not what we're about here. Our focus is on buying new, which does put a limit on hardware choices. Yet while some AV doors are closed when you only have £1,000 to play with – an AVR/speaker-based system, for example, would take so much out of the budget that you'll be hamstrung elsewhere – others are opened. And there's good quality to be had too. Immersive home entertainment here we come! Wanna Vision Our starting point is a TV. There are obvious criteria here – it needs to be 4K HDR, and…

Team HCC raises a simple carpenter's cup to the man who's brought sharks, dinosaurs, aliens and killer trucks to our home cinemas It's hard to think of anyone who has had a bigger impact on cinema in the last half a century than Steven Spielberg. Since his feature debut in 1971 with Duel, his films have earned billions at the box office, birthed the concept of the summer blockbuster, pushed the envelope of CG effects, and scooped countless awards. But more importantly he's proven to be a master story-teller. Across sci-fiand horror, adventure and drama, historical biopic and kid-friendly fantasy, Spielberg always seems focused on engaging the audience. His films are technically astute without being tiresome; even when his stories are grand in scale they have a tight focus on…

Paramount, BD Having reshaped Hollywood cinema individually during the 1970s with Jaws and Star Wars, powerhouse movie-makers Steven Spielberg and George Lucas joined forces for this glorious throwback to the adventure serials of the 1930s and 1940s. One of those special films that seems to get better with every rewatch, Raiders of the Lost Ark is as perfect a piece of actioncinema as it's possible to imagine; a thrill-ride of frantic action, laugh-out-loud comedy and yucky scares that never puts a foot wrong. It doesn’t hurt that Indiana Jones finds Harrison Ford at his charismatic best (sorry, Star Wars fans, but it’s true). With Raiders… celebrating its 40th anniversary this summer, Paramount is finally bringing all films in the franchise to Ultra HD Blu-ray this June, with Spielberg-approved AV upgrades.…

THE LATEST ITERATION of Google’s Chromecast dongle is the strongest competitor yet to Amazon’s Fire TV stick and Roku players. Leveraging the new Google TV platform, it’s a one-stop smart interface for those looking to upgrade any not-so-smart TV, or serve as a more agreeable launchpad for less cerebral third-party smart systems. In use, it’s a more than capable rival to either competitor, but it's not without foibles. First impressions are good. This wireless gizmo is surprisingly tactile; a smooth pebble that connects to your TV using a flexible HDMI lead, which also makes it a more practical fit for tightly spaced HDMI boards on AV receivers. Power is via standard microUSB. This Chromecast ships with an ergonomically matching remote with in-built microphone for voice control. Both zapper and pebble…

PORTABLE WIRELESS SPEAKERS at this price often give you either a funky design or decent sound quality, seldom both together. LG’s XBoom Go PL7, however, delivers a big sound from a physics-defyingly compact body. Its 9in-long mostly cylindrical chassis has a speaker grille occupying one ‘side’, while passive radiators for boosting bass are nestled into each end. It sports a rubberised, splashproof finish, and some welcome fun comes from LED circles around the two bass radiators that can illuminate and pulse to the beat in an array of colours. It's a similar design overall to JBL's Charge 4 (see HCC #319), but more overtly playful. Audio inputs are Bluetooth and 3.5mm aux. There’s also a powered USB for charging connected devices, and USB-C to charge the PL7's internal battery, which…

LIKE A GOOD movie villain, black bars never die. They just keep reappearing, in a slightly different guise. These unused areas of my TV don't bother me in the slightest. But I appreciate that not everyone feels the same way. It was Zack Snyder's Justice League (see p98) that got me thinking about black bars and aspect ratios, as it's been screened by Sky Cinema/Now in the UK and HBO Max in the US in 4:3. This is the choice of its maverick director, but was apparently confusing for many viewers. Soon the internet was awash with 'Here's why Zack Snyder's Justice League has black bars down the sides' articles. To be fair, a few scratched heads among the audience is understandable, as the 4:3 aspect ratio (which to all…

A matter of inches I recently read Mark Craven's piece about being asked to help friends and family with their TV purchases [Digital Copy, HCC #319]. This is something I also get roped into doing. Last month my parents asked for advice on a new TV as their current model was showing signs of ageing (fading backlight in the corners). They also wanted a model with integrated video-on-demand apps (BBC iPlayer, Netflix etc). The issue I ran into was size. They have the TV on a cabinet in a corner alcove in their living room. This space is fine for a 32in set, but they wanted to go bigger. The problem is, anything much above 40in wouldn't fit. So I reasoned that a 37in or 40in model would be the…

Karloff at Columbia Eureka Entertainment celebrates a cinema icon with its Karloff at Columbia Blu-ray boxset. Limited to 3,000 copies, this sensational release features all six films Boris Karloff made for Columbia Pictures – The Black Room, The Devil Commands, The Man They Could Not Hang, The Man With Nine Lives, Before I Hang and The Boogie Man Will Get You – joined by exclusive extras. Karloff at Columbia is out now and we have five copies to be won! Question: Boris Karloff is best known for starring in which Universal horror classic? Answer: A) Frankenstein B) Dracula C) The Creature From the Black Lagoon Big Fish 4K Tim Burton’s enchanting fantasy drama Big Fish makes its 4K Blu-ray debut on May 3 courtesy of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. To…

Just deserts Monster Hunter ➜ Sony Pictures ➜ Ultra HD Blu-ray Milla Jovovich has a holiday to remember with Tony Jaa in Paul W.S. Anderson's adaptation of the long-running Capcom videogame franchise Monster Hunter. We set our subwoofers to stun with the US 4K BD on p93. All prices quoted are approximate and may have changed HCC RATINGS KEY……

Outriders People Can Fly ➜ Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS5, PS4, PC ➜ £55 So far in 2021 we've been relatively starved of triple-A games thanks to the pandemic. Many have been postponed for later in the year, even 2022, and schedules are looking thinner than usual. But without much competition, some titles that might have been overlooked now get a chance to shine. Outriders is one of those, and in current conditions it presents a more-than-decent distraction. That’s not to say it doesn’t come with caveats – People Can Fly is still a relatively small developer in comparison with the big-name studios, so there is a quirkiness to some of Outriders' presentation. However, there's also a sense of fun and freedom in the third-person shooter gameplay that will…

Falcon and the Winter Soldier Originally planned as the first Disney+ MCU series (before pandemic-related production complications), The Falcon and the Winter Soldier builds on storylines spilling out of the two Captain America sequels, as well as threads left hanging at the end of Avengers: Endgame. The main one being, who will carry the shield now that Steve Rogers is out of the picture? It doesn’t take long to discover the US government’s answer, and unsurprisingly it’s one that Sam Wilson/The Falcon (Anthony Mackie) and Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan) aren't happy about. Chuck in a group of anarchists jacked-up on the super soldier serum and our heroes soon have their hands full – and that’s when they’re not struggling with their own personal problems or bickering (hilariously) among themselves.…

01 Bowers & Wilkins 700 Series 5.1 ➜ £7,350 This array finds the larger models in the 700 Series proving their mettle with formidable power and precision, an expressive mid-band and detailed highs. Excellent. HCC #285 02 M&K Sound IW150 5.1 ➜ £8,550 The in-wall IW150 speakers offer the transparency and detail of a professional studio monitor in an enclosure that can vanish. This array adds driver-matched on-wall tripole surrounds and M&K's fearless X12 sub. The result is outstanding. HCC #289 03 Wharfedale DX-2 ➜ £450 The asking price of this 5.1 system will tell you it doesn't offer the last word in surround sound fidelity, but Wharfedale's package is compact, well made and faultlessly delivers on its home-cinema-on-a-budget promise. HCC #283 04 KEF R Series 5.1.2 ➜ £6,250 Put four floorstanders on front…

HOLLYWOOD HAS LOST the plot. Once upon a time, Tinsel Town would greenlight sequels at the drop of a hat. In fact, you didn’t even need to drop a hat. The dream factory churned them out regardless. Jaws 2 led to Jaws 3-D which led to Jaws: The Revenge. Of the latter [pictured], Michael Caine famously declared: 'I have never seen it… However, I have seen the house that it built, and it is terrific.' There was no clamour for this shoal of fishy follow-ups, no fan army demanding more fins, but we were served them anyway, It was a foolproof recipe, and cinemagoers tucked in. Hollywood in its heyday was an unapologetic money machine. Today, a different dynamic has taken hold. Turning a dime no longer seems second nature.…

Bass on a budget SVS SB-1000 Pro? www.svsound.com American subwoofer brand SVS has announced a new compact model aimed at bass-fiends shopping on a tight budget. Part of its new 1000 Series Pro lineup, the sealed SB-1000 Pro sells for £550 in black ash guise (pictured), increasing to £640 if you favour a black or white gloss wrap. Upgrades over the previous 1000 Series include a 'reimagined' 12in woofer, increase in rated amplifier power (to 325W RMS), plus control and EQ via smartphone app. For more SVS news, see p16… HCC 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…

Polk Audio's new Reserve loudspeaker lineup is the American brand's first to bring a Dolby Atmos model to the UK, in the form of the R900 upfirer. Eight further speakers complete a range that Polk says offers 'premium quality […] at accessible prices.' The Reserve Series sits between Polk's flagship Legend models and the more entry-level Signature E [see HCC #304], and borrows the Legend's Pinnacle ring radiator tweeter and distinctive Turbine Cone mid/midbass units. Exclusive to the new range, however, is 'Cabinet Resonance Control' point-to-point bracing technology, and Polk's new X-Port, which aims to improve lower mid-range performance via 'a set of closed-pipe absorbers precisely tuned to eliminate unwanted cabinet and port resonances.' The R900 Dolby Atmos module is priced at £500 per pair, and features a 0.75in Pinnacle…

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NOW WE'VE DOUBLED our budget, it's time to get serious. And by that we mean a more premium flatscreen, genuine multichannel audio, and an AVR. With £2,000 that should be easy, right? Sort of. As well all know, you can easily spend more than £2,000 just on a 4K TV – much more if you start looking at screens 65in and above. So, once again, we've had to curb our ambitions a bit, shop smart, and not blow over £1,000. We could have chosen an LCD TV, grabbing a big screen size at a good price, but we set our sights on OLED. This is the fan-fave display tech of home cinema fans because of its unrivalled black level performance and pixel-level colour and brightness control – traits that remind…

Disney, BD A much more confident and exciting slice of cinematic sciencefiction than the previous year’s A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Minority Report [2002] stands alongside Blade Runner as one of the best Philip K. Dick screen adaptations. Spielberg’s thought-provoking future noir thriller casts Tom Cruise as John Anderton, a cop in Washington’s PreCrime department who uses psychics to identify crimes before they happen. Anderton must go on the run himself, however, when he's accused of a future murder. Despite the fact a Spielberg-approved 4K master of Minority Report was created over a decade ago (reportedly using a 6K scan, with additional grading and clean-up done in 4K), the film has yet to be given a UHD disc release. The good news is the 4K scan served as the basis for the…

WHEN A JAMES Bond fanatic approached Portugal-based installer Consexto to create a luxury home cinema, he gave the company a licence to thrill. And he also wanted to show offhis Aston Martin car collection… After an extensive design and build process, the finished room rocks an 11.8.4 sound system, 4K HDR projection and an innovative seating arrangement that Q would be proud of. Premium Bond The hardware specification hints at a system price tag with plenty of zeroes (as does the overall aesthetic). JBL Synthesis's flagship Project Everest DD67000 loudspeakers (yours for £35,000 a piece) are used for the LCR channels, complemented by eight JBL Synthesis SCL-3s on surround duty and overhead channels via 'invisible' speakers from Stealth Acoustics. Then for the low-end, there's an eight-strong mix of in-wall subwoofers…

'It's called driving, Marcus!' proclaims Will Smith during the opening road race sequence of Bad Boys for Life. You could also call it a perfect demonstration of this Denon receiver’s ability to lift and separate high and low. After only a few seconds with this AVR, I was hooked. The AVR-X2700H turns this cop movie sequence into a Dolby Atmos symphony of screeching tyres, underpinned by Meek Mill’s thumping feel-good rap Uptown II. Every vehicle type appears crammed into the mix: police bikes rumble back to front, a chopper hives into view from stage left. We even get a finely spaced sand plume as Smith’s Porsche barrels onto the beach. I could swear I’m hearing every grain spatter against its paintwork. This plucky Denon delivers hard, fast transients like a…

FOR A WHILE now REL has favoured upgrading its subwoofer ranges rather than cooking up entire new ones. This makes sense when the likes of its Ti models have proved extremely popular. But a worthwhile upgrade obviously involves more than a tarted-up cabinet and a lick of paint – and thankfully the new Serie Tx gets both a make-over on the outside, and plenty of changes on the inside too. The Tx replaces the Ti range, which offered a more affordable bridge between REL's home theatre orientated Serie HT and the higher-end Serie S. The new line builds on the Ti’s earlier success, while giving the subs a more up-to-date look. Short and sweet The T/9x sells for around £1,300 (we expect the new lineup will also feature more affordable…

FOR A COUPLE of years now, I've had a bee in my bonnet about JBL's soundbar lineup. Generally, they sound good and offer great value for money, but I can never quite keep track of what's what. The new Bar 5.0 is a case in a point, as you might think, as I briefly did, that it's basically the Bar 5.1 model but without the external subwoofer. Then you remember that the Bar 5.1 was a soundbar with detachable speaker modules that could be used for 5.1 surround sound, and the model you were actually thinking of is JBL's Bar 5.1 Surround, which doesn't (oddly) come with dedicated surround speakers. And then you realise that the main soundbar part of the Bar 5.1 Surround isn't the same as the Bar…

I ONCE FOUND myself at the Riviera Country club in Los Angeles. I'd made the mistake of thinking I could play golf, but this would not be the only thing that day I ended up regretting. I was musing with my other players over the passing of the great actor Peter Falk when I suddenly felt a pain in my shoulder. I turned around to be berated by a gruff voice saying, ‘Rumours of my demise have been greatly exaggerated!’ and legendary TV detective Columbo himself waving a nine iron. I was at this point hoping the ground would open up and swallow me whole. How does my lack of golfing skills relate to the world of home cinema? Well, like Falk, rumours of the demise of physical media have…

I've noticed a lot of the TV reviews in the mag repeatedly discussing gaming performance and game-related formats over HDMI. Personally, I have no interest in this at all, and I wonder how many others do. Brian Phillipson Mark Craven replies: The development of HDMI 2.1 and the new frame rate skills of the Xbox X/S and PS5 consoles has been, probably, the biggest technology story in the TV world in the last year. The manufacturers themselves are flaunting their new toys, and aiming a lot of their marketing at the gaming 'community'. As such, we only feel it's right to keep abreast of what's become a bit of a minefield of HDMI standards, firmware promises, and new features. Hopefully the dust will settle this year and the specs of…

Welcome to the AV-Holic Hall of Fame – introduce yourself! Hi. My name is Peter Biddle. I'm 72 and am a retired publican living in Whitstable, Kent. How long have you been into home cinema? Way back in the 1980s I was a nightclub manager and it was a regular customer who introduced me to surround sound. I was hooked. Shortly after I opened my first pub in London and I had the space to set up a very limited system, which I added to over the years. When did you decide to set up your current cinema room? It wasn't until I semi-retired to Whitstable five years ago that I turned my garage into a designated cinema. With the help of my brother-in-law we set about fitting out the…

WONDER WOMAN 1984 Fittingly for a film set in the 1980s, this Wonder Woman sequel is a story of excess. From the sheer number of ideas struggling against one another and accompanying wild mix of tones, to the excruciating 151-minute running time, Wonder Woman 1984 is a bloated mess that feels light years removed from returning director Patty Jenkins’ excellent 2017 original. Gal Gadot continues to impress as the title character, but for such a lengthy superhero film, there’s a surprising lack of comic book action – and it doesn't help that the central wish-fulfilment theme mirrors that of Marvel’s WandaVision series. Picture: Shot predominantly on film (35mm and 65mm) with some additional digital inserts (3.4K and 6.5K) and finished as a native 4K DI, Wonder Woman 1984 cuts a…

MONSTER HUNTER Husband and wife duo Paul W. S. Anderson and Milla Jovovich team up for another video game adaptation (having previously struck gold with Resident Evil), and the result is the silly but strangely entertaining Monster Hunter. The simple plot involves a special forces squad led by Captain Artemis (Jovovich) teleporting into another dimension where nasty beasties are running amok. Artemis must win the trust of various allies, including Tony Jaa’s Hunter and Ron Perlman’s Admiral, as she valiantly attempts to defeat the monsters and get back home. Anderson is a director who unashamedly pays homage to his cinematic influences, so cue a sequence with demonic spiders that’s right out of Pitch Black, or dragon-like creatures reminiscent of Reign of Fire. Yet there’s also a degree of knowing self-deprecation…

DEMONS 1 & II: LIMITED ED. A group of people attending a private cinema screening find themselves trapped in the building with a horde of flesh-eating ghouls in Demons, a gaudy slice of 1985 Italian horror. Directed by Lamberto Bava, it's the sort of film where things happen simply because they’re cool rather than as the result of any narrative logic – such as a guy riding a motorbike through a cinema auditorium, wielding a samurai sword and hacking the heads off pursuing monsters. Utterly stupid, but great fun all the same. Sadly, the following year’s Demons 2 doesn’t find Bava hitting the same heights of insanity. Here the ‘Demons’ enter the real world through a TV in a high-rise apartment complex, but stripped of both any new ideas and…

01 Philips 65OLED935 ➜ £2,700 Premium Philips set uses its Atmos soundbar (designed by B&W) as its desktop stand. Impressively sonics, while 4K HDR images benefit from the brand's processing expertise – also reviewed at 48in. HCC #314/#318 02 Samsung QE65QN95A ➜ £3,000 Samsung's first Neo QLED (mini LED) TV makes a striking impression. 792-zone local dimming combines with high brightness and clever processing to deliver exquisite 4K HDR images with deep blacks – but no Dolby Vision support. HCC #319 03 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 offers best-of-breed imagery and immersive Dolby Atmos audio via upfiring drivers. HCC #315 04 Panasonic TX-65HZ1000 ➜ £2,400 Universal HDR playback is only part of the appeal here.…