Feature News Stories (636 Posts)

Building a Reference Grade Media Room on a Budget - Part One

Get an inside look at how Andrew Robinson built a custom home theater system to reference standards without blowing his modest budget. Tricks to save money on upgrading your own home theater abound here. Continue Reading

Some Networks Fear That Apple Is Going To Destroy Television

It seems that PC manufacturers aren't the only ones worried about Apple. Apple's announcement that it is bringing out the new Apple TV, which will make television episodes available for rental on an individual basis. This may further erode the live viewer base. Continue Reading

An Insiders Guide To DVD/Blu-ray Rental Services Like Netflix, Blockbuster & Redbox

With all those video rental companies out there, ever wonder and/or get confused by which one offers what? This exclusive HomeTheaterReview.com article is here to help you figure out who you want to rent from, depending on your specific needs. Continue Reading

What Really Happened With The Closing of Sound By Singer and Why They Will Be Back Soon

Sound By Singer is one of those AV retailers that has seemingly been with us since the days of Marconi and his radios so it was a shock when over the mythical AV airwaves came word that Sound By Singer was closing. Now, before you go off and light your candles in a collective moment of silence know that Singer's closing is nothing more than a strategic business ploy and not a sign of an audiophile apocalypse. Continue Reading

Will Private Label AV Brands Kill Off Specialty AV?

Back in the day all a specialty retailer had to do was open up a boutique shop, stock a few name brand products and be open a few minutes longer than then their local bank and sit back and watch the money flow. Nowadays, with the proliferation of brands like Vizio and their endless distribution chains that include Costco and Wal-Mart can the specialty AV retailer survive let alone compete. Continue Reading

AV Forum Home Theater Spot.com Acquired by Parent of HomeTheaterReview.com

HomeTheaterReview.com and HDTVetc.com are both online publications that offer professional, expert views of home electronics technology. Now the two magazines' parent company, Luxury Publishing Group, Inc., has acquired reader-content-oriented site Home Theatre Spot.com. Continue Reading

HomeTheaterReview.com Turns Two Years Old

Different species mature at different rates. For instance, a two-year-old human is still a toddler, but as HomeTheaterReview.com turns two, it is very grown up by online publication standards, with a Google Page Rank (PR5) and a sub-100,000 Alexa rating. Continue Reading

The ABCs of 3D: Key Terms You Need to Know

Wondering what the heck all the new 3D jargon like "auto-stereoscopic" and "holography" means? HomeTheaterReview.com is here to help you figure out what you want and need as TV enters a whole new era of multi-dimensionality. Continue Reading

The Best 3D HDTVs So Far

We know that bigger, better, brighter 3D HDTVs are out there waiting for us to catch up to them in the future, but there's no time like the present to give readers a Top Five list of what's available right now for those who want home 3D today. Continue Reading

Where Is All Of The 3D Content?

This is a really good question, given that it seems a lot easier to find a 3D HDTV than a 3D movie that actually runs in 3D on a home theater system at the moment. This article gives you the pros and cons of buying a system now, vs. waiting until later. Continue Reading

YouTube Now Offering 3D Content

Did you really think YouTube was all just song parodies, videogame previews and cats doing really weird stuff? Turns out the mega-site is now hosting 3D video. Moreover, YouTube allows you a surprisingly large choice in how you want to watch your 3D. Continue Reading

Is Today's Home Theater Equipment Too Good?

For those who have grown up or just lived in Southern California for a long time, the closing of Ken Crane's chain of AV stores is an especially painful (and for many, downright inconvenient) example of the toll the economy is taking on the home theater equipment market. Continue Reading

The Long Term Effect On Animals In Hollywood Movies

Plenty of human beings really want to perform in films, and even when they get the job, the work can take a real toll on their health and psyches. Animals are not capable of giving informed consent for acting work or anything else; when they are mistreated, the results can be deadly. Continue Reading

Beavis and Butthead To Return To MTV

Before Mike Judge made King of the Hill and Office Space, back when MTV not only stood for Music Television but actually aired it, Beavis and Butthead was the gold standard of brilliantly moronic and taboo-breaking cable animation programming. Continue Reading

YouTube Offers 4K Video Streaming

Ever sat waiting for the latest video of a cat playing the piano to load on YouTube and thought to yourself, if only this video clip could be in 4K. No. Well you're not alone but that hasn't stopped YouTube from announcing its support for 4K streaming video, which is superior to the 1080p video coming off your Blu-ray discs, but will probably choke your Internet connection something fierce. Continue Reading

Some THIEL Loudspeakers To Be Sold At Amazon - Some Specialty Dealers Not Pleased

THIEL has announced that Amazon.com will be carrying a number of their products, much to the dismay of audio specialty dealers. Among the items to be sold on the Internet retailer are smaller bookshelf speakers, architectural speakers and some subwoofers like the THIEL PowerPoint line and their DewPoint outdoor speakers. Continue Reading

Video Games Could Be 3D's Killer Application

Designers of video games are forever striving to make their creations more immersive. It would seem that the 3D format is ideally suited to serve this desire, as it would allow players much greater depth and breadth as they go from level to level. Continue Reading

Hulu Announces Pay Membership with Hulu Plus

In a move that can only be described as what are they thinking Hulu has decided to offer a package where by their loyal fans can now PAY for the privilege to watch programming that just a day prior was FREE. Claiming to offer better shows and more premium movies with fewer commercials, Hulu Plus is attempting to take a bite out of your cable/satellite bill. Continue Reading

Would Jimi Hendrix Use Auto-Tune If He Were Alive Today?

HomeTheaterReview.com publisher/editor Jerry Del Colliano takes on the controversy about auto-tune technology, and whether its use improves or desecrates rock classics by "fixing" notes that the original performers attempted but failed to hit. Continue Reading

NHL Hockey Could Be Key To 3D HDTV Success For ESPN

Hockey fans tend to be a particularly visceral bunch, so that, even more than other sports enthusiasts, they would seem primed to appreciate seeing the games in 3D - imagine pucks flying right off the ice right at your face. This might really benefit ESPN, which transmits the NFL games on TV. Continue Reading