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Sony VPL-HW55ES Three-Chip SXRD (LCoS) Projector

Chris Heinonen

In 2012, Sony produced my favorite projector of the year, the VPL-HW50ES. While many other projectors did certain things a little better, none has the combination of attributes that the HW50ES has. From movies to sports, bright rooms to dark, it managed to excel at everything I asked it to do. In 2013, we some improvements with the VPL-HW55ES, including longer lamp life, contrast ratio, and brightness.

Projectors

LG 55EA980 55″ Curved OLED HDTV

Ofer Laor

For the past decade, we've been hearing about a miraculous new technology called OLED that will reshape our lives.  Both Samsung and LG now produce and sell OLED TVs, which cost around $10,000 retail - in both flat and curved form factors.

HDTV

Samsung UN85S9AF 85″ 4K UHD LED Display

Ofer Laor

Reviewing the Samsung UN85S9AF 4K UHD TV is far from a simple task. The entire construct requires around 4 people to stand upright. This 85" behemoth is a self contained home theater experience – it stands on its own and although it can technically be wall mounted, this really breaks from its design statement. Apparently, Samsung discovered that many of its customers prefer to use the built in stand – which is why they've invested a great deal in the built-in stand designs. When Samsung first showed off this design at CES in Las Vegas, I really didn't like it. From afar, it looked like a folding beach chair or scissors. However, when the UN85S9AF is right next to you, the feeling changes. The design is elegant and looks much better in person than it does on the Vegas show floor or in pictures.

HDTV

JVC X55 Three-Chip D-ILA Projector

Chris Heinonen

With their updated e-shift technology, a full-featured CMS, and black levels that are untouched by other projector manufacturers, the new JVC X55 projector is capable of some truly stunning images. The kind of images that will likely have you painting that room, covering the carpet up with a dark rug, and putting electrical tape over the LEDs on your system components to prevent any little thing from entering the room to distract from its performance.

Projectors

Epson PowerLite Home Cinema 5020UBE 3D LCD Projector

Chris Eberle

Recently I reviewed Epson's new Home Cinema 3020e projector and found it to be a tremendous value in the under $2000 class. It offers killer 3D, wireless HDMI, and superb image for less than the price of a 60-inch TV. It was only natural that I should also check out its big brother, the Home Cinema 5020UBE.

Projectors

Dune HD – Base3D and TV-303D High Definition Media Streamers

Ofer LaOr

Streamers have been around for quite a few years. It took them quite a while to reach maturity. When this field was at its infancy, HD was just starting to get popular and Streamers offered a way to play back a DIVX or TS file without requiring a Home Theater PC in your living room. The beginning was very slow and tedious, early streamers were buggy and often had serious image, sound and build quality issues. Typically, you had to place your content in a hard drive inside the unit, or even burn a DVD containing your desired content - not exactly something that most people are prone to do.

HDTV

Mitsubishi HC8000D-BL 3D DLP Projector

Chris Eberle

Whenever I attend the CEDIA Expo, I visit all the projector manufacturers, both large and small. While Mitsubishi is a large company, their projectors are not as well-known as other brands. At the 2012 Expo, I had a chance to check out their all-new DLP models. In this review, we test the Mitsubishi HC8000D-BL single-chip DLP 3D projector.

Projectors

BenQ W1070 Projector

Chris Heinonen

I'll be blunt: I don't like 3D. I've never been able to justify paying extra to see it in the theater, and at home it has always left me cold. Most implementations give me a headache almost instantly with their crosstalk-filled images and ghosting the drives me crazy... Fast forward to CES 2013 and BenQ is in the South Hall showing off a pair of projectors that are very similar to the W7000, but scaled down: the W1070 and W1080ST.

Projectors

SunBriteTV 5560HD 55” Outdoor All-weather LCD HDTV

Stephen Hornbrook and Chris Heinonen

If you have been to any recent home and garden shows, you may have noticed the increase in outdoor entertainment areas. These usually consist of a covered patio, comfortable seating, fireplace/firepit, and anywhere from just a grill to a full outdoor kitchen area with pizza oven. Sounds like a home outside of your home. But where's the TV? SunBrite has the answer.

HDTV

Sony VPL-HW50ES Projector

Chris Heinonen

At a CEDIA that was big on 4K and sound bars, the introduction of the VPL-HW50ES went under the radar a bit. Slotting into their lineup above the HW30 and below the HW95, the HW50 comes with a few features from each of those, but also has its own unique features to set...

Projectors

Samsung PN51E8000 51″ Plasma HDTV

Chris Heinonen

Not long ago plasma and LCD were in a fierce competition for the flat panel market, but LCD has dominated sales the past few years. While the general public has moved to LCD for brighter images and more size choices...

HDTV

JVC X70 Three-Chip D-ILA Projector

Chris Heinonen

Just two years ago, 3D was the all the rage at the CEDIA Expo. Now 3D is in almost every display you buy and is not the hot, new thing. It has been supplanted by 4K, promising to offer so many pixels that we will never see them again, and out-HD our current High Definition. JVC took a half step onto the 4K platform with their e-Shift projectors, which use a slight pixel shift to potentially produce an effective resolution of 4K, though with only 1920 x 1080 panels and no 4K input capability. The JVC X70 is one such projector, and is reviewed here.

Projectors

Sony 46HX929 46″ Backlit LED-Array HDTV

Chris Heinonen

All LED LCD TVs are not designed the same. Manufacturers have two approaches they can take with an LED design: An edge-lit design that is thin and functions like a conventional CCFL backlight, or a backlit LED-array that isn't as thin, but allows for precise control over lighting individual areas of the screen. In this review, we take a look at the Sony 46" backlit LED-array HDTV, model 46HX929.

HDTV

Toshiba 55ZL2 4K LCD 3D Display

Ofer Laor

When Toshiba announced the idea of a glasses-free 3D display, I was less than enthusiastic. I have been seeing lenslet based 3D glassless displays for a few years (mostly in the B2B and Digital signage spaces) and they were far from ready for consumer prime time. Now, Toshiba has announced their 55ZL2, which is a 55" LCD 3D display that has 4K native resolution. It's a first generation produce. How did it work with 4K video material, and does native 4K resolution improve the clarity of 1080p?

HDTV