TV & Home Theatre

I’ve had a variety of audio setups over the past seventeen years (it almost scares me to write that) from home theatre-in-a-box solutions to quality bookshelf options. Having the Definitive Technology BP-8060ST Bipolar Supertowers in my home was a unique experience… and that’s what we’re going to be talking about today.

Always be the life of the party with these portable Bluetooth speakers from Sony!

4K TV is all the rage today. You’ve heard about it, maybe even looked one over in a local electronics store, but you may be asking yourself why you’d want one. 4K TVs already have plenty of pros, and they’re only getting better.

Sharp and Insignia Roku TV models will be available for purchase this month at Best Buy stores in Canada and from BestBuy.ca. By becoming the default Smart TV software on these HDTVs, Roku OS  enables quick and easy access to tons of content and online services for connected TVs.  

Spring’s a time when we think about starting fresh. The weather starts to turn, things start to grow, and we start taking stock of our lives and our homes. Spring is also a time when many of us take a look around our houses and want to make changes. Our spring home remodel series is a great place to get some ideas for your next project, and this week, I’m going to look at how to jazz up (or create from scratch) a fabulous home theatre.

Upscaling and upconverting features, which help make non-native video look presentable on larger resolution displays, have been with us for a while now but have become more important considerations for 4K and Ultra HD TV buyers. With various models are coming down in price, there’s a greater range of display sizes available, making 4K and Ultra HD TVs more viable for consumers

            In Part 5 of our TV Features Explained series, we look at the importance of contrast ratio and black level … and whether you can trust the huge numbers manufacturers list for these specs.

So, you’ve just picked up that new TV you’ve been coveting. You’re beyond thrilled; and seeing as though you’ve spent the last several months pinning décor examples on Pinterest, you know exactly where it should be mounted. But before you jump headfirst into securing your new toy on the wall, there are a few things to keep in mind when selecting a TV mount. Here’s the skinny on the three key considerations you need to keep in mind.

TV resolution keeps getting better. We have gone from standard definition to high definition to now 4K. There are even 8K resolution “Full Ultra High Definition” TVs, although you would be hard pressed to buy one. Where will it all end and do I really need the higher resolution of 4K? Sure more resolution is always better than less resolution, but there are several circumstances where it doesn’t make sense paying more for all those extra pixels. It is good to know the finer points of resolution, no pun intended, so you don’t pay more for not much gain.

Refresh rates are marketed quite a bit with new HDTVs and 4K UHD TVs, using various branded jargon like “Motionflow 240” or “960 Motion Enhancement.” Higher numbers are bandied about making it difficult to understand or to make fair comparisons between TVs since there are no industry-standard definitions for these motion enhancement features. I will help you sort through this marketing muddle and let you know what you need to focus on regarding refresh rates.