In the first of an ongoing series of TV reviews on HTG, calibrator David Abrams starts with a description of his studio environment and measurement and calibration process, followed by a detailed analysis of the Sony A1E OLED TV. We talk about the X-tended Dynamic Range control and what it does, then take a close look at the grayscale and color measurements in standard dynamic range (SDR) at different window sizes and settings of X-tended Dynamic Range. We also look at the grayscale and color measurements in HDR with a 10% window and X-tended Dynamic Range set to High. Plus, answers to chatroom questions and more.

Host: Scott Wilkinson

Guest: David Abrams

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Kaushik Sunder, research scientist at Ossic, talks about how humans hear in three dimensions. Topics include the anatomy of the ear, head-related transfer functions (HRTFs), and how they affect the spectral balance of what we hear based on the direction from which a sound comes as well as individual characteristics such as the shape of the outer ear and size of the head. He also discusses binaural recording, and we listen to a clip of such a recording he made in Bali; for more of Kaushik's binaural recordings, go to https://soundcloud.com/soundmaps_beingthere. Finally, he describes the Ossic X headphones and how they reproduce 3D immersive sound. Also, answers to chatroom questions and more.

Host: Scott Wilkinson

Guest: Kaushik Sunder

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Calibrator David Abrams, journalist Mike Heiss, and consultant Geoff Tully talk about what they saw and learned at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) 2017 convention this week. Topics include the first live 4K stream from space, the ATSC 3.0 UHD/HDR broadcast standard with a live demo at the show, how broadcast and studio reference monitors are getting larger and brighter, high dynamic range (HDR) in broadcasting, NHK's 8K demos and concept for a very large, flexible OLED screen, virtual reality, direct-LED displays such as the Sony CLEDIS and others, answers to chatroom questions, and more.

Host: Scott Wilkinson

Guests: David Abrams, Michael Heiss, and Geoffrey Tully

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Video guru Joe Kane talks about what he saw and learned at CinemaCon 2017, the trade show for commercial-cinema owners. Topics include the lengths to which theater owners will go to attract customers, such as augmented-reality lobby posters, first-class airline seating with meal and drink service in theaters, and the Barco Escape three-screen system. He also discusses the potential of direct-LED screen walls such as the Sony CLEDIS and Samsung Cinema Screen, the importance of bias lighting even with projectors, high dynamic range, answers to chat-room questions, and more.

Host: Scott Wilkinson

Guest: Joe Kane

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Ralph Potts, Blu-ray reviewer for AVS Forum, talks about his home theater system and his favorite Blu-ray and UHD Blu-ray titles, including some of the best titles for image quality in both HD and UHD, immersive audio, and 3D. He also discusses high dynamic range (HDR), wide color gamut (WCG), high frame rate (HFR), and how he divides his attention between the technical aspects of the presentation and the movie itself. Plus answers to chatroom questions and more.

Host: Scott Wilkinson

Guest: Ralph Potts

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Brian Markwalter, Senior VP of Research and Standards at the Consumer Technology Association, surveys the current landscape of the audio/video marketplace. Topics include highlights from CES 2017, the state of virtual reality/augmented reality (VR/AR), beginning work on VR/AR content-creation guidelines, similarities and differences with 3D, the adoption rate of 4K/UHD, high dynamic range (HDR), ATSC 3.0 UHD broadcasting and its integration with Internet Protocol (IP), wireless audio, high-resolution audio (HRA), answers to chat-room questions, and more.

Host: Scott Wilkinson

Guest: Brian Markwalter

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Technology consultant and historian Mark Schubin talks about the history of television, including how opera inspired the idea of remote listening and viewing. Next, he traces the development of TV technology, starting in 1843 with Alexander Bain's patent for a mechanical image scanner. Other topics include George Carey's early work on scanning cameras, the Siemens Artificial Eye from 1876, Boris Rosing's picture tube from 1906, Alan Campbell-Swinton's end-to-end system in 1912, and television demonstrations at the 1939 World's Fair. We end up discussing the current state of TV and what we might expect in the future, plus answers to chatroom questions and more.

Host: Scott Wilkinson

Guest: Mark Schubin

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With so much more to discuss than we could get to last week, host Scott Wilkinson continues his conversation with Paul Hales, founder of Pro Audio Technology. This week, he explains why he believes that audio science is relatively unrefined, leading to lots of dogma, misinformation, uncertainty, and inconsistency. Next, we dive into immersive-audio systems, including the importance of multiple subs, sophisticated bass management, and speaker directivity. Also, we talk about measuring sound pressure levels, answers to chatroom questions, and more.

Host: Scott Wilkinson

Guest: Paul Hales

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Paul Hales, founder of Pro Audio Technology, talks about room correction—or as he prefers to call it, room compensation. Topics include some of his fundamental principles of room EQ, sound directivity from various objects such as violins and speakers, how microphones do not capture sound in the same way that human ears do, how sound interacts with small to medium-sized rooms, target response curves (including the X-curve), how conforming to the X-curve causes the sound to be louder and more harsh than it should be, his suggested modification to the X-curve, answers to chat-room questions, and more.

Host: Scott Wilkinson

Guest: Paul Hales

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Journalists Chris Boylan from BigPictureBigSound.com, Caleb Denison from DigitalTrends.com, and Robert Heron from HeronFidelity.com join host Scott Wilkinson to talk about their recent trip to San Francisco for a deep dive into the 2017 LG OLED TVs. Topics include the improvements LG made compared with the 2016 models, a side-by-side demo of a 2016 E6, 2017 E7, and Sony X300 professional OLED monitor, HDR, Dolby Atmos immersive sound, the flagship W7's large soundbar/processor/input module, comments from our hands-on time with the W7, answers to chat-room questions, and more.

Host: Scott Wilkinson

Guests: Robert Heron, Chris Boylan, and Caleb Denison

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