If you\'re looking for the very best in home cinema and AV then Home Cinema Choice is the magazine for you.
Every issue, we test the latest in high performance hardware, from big screen TVs and projectors to surround sound systems and Blu-ray players, in a never ending quest to find the most exciting equipment in the land.
Home Cinema Choice\'s highly experienced reviewers are backed up by the HCC Tech Labs facility, ensuring fair and objective measurements are made of all equipment evaluated. In short, ours are tests you can trust.
We also report from the UK\'s finest home cinema installations, where high-tech AV is matched with astounding room design, and review the latest Blu-ray and DVD discs with the emphasis firmly on picture and sound quality.
If you love home cinema, you\'ll love Home Cinema Choice!
Steve May,
Editor
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CEDIA 2009: InFocus SP8602 projector breaks cover
Not one to do things by halves, InFocus revealed an interesting new look for its projector line-up at this week\'s CEDIA expo.
The \'still in pre-production\' SP8602 made its debut at the show and is a bit of a beast.
Forgoing InFocus\' usually curved design the heavy duty projector is 1080p (16:9), has a native contrast ratio of 5,000:1 and dynamic black contrast ratio of 20,000:1.
August release
The model will also come completed with horizontal and vertical lens shifting and has 1400 ANSI brightness (video optimised).
Specs-wise that\'s all we know about the model – rumour has it, it wasn\'t even meant to be at the show – but we do know that the SP8602 will be out in August in the US and will arrive in the UK soon after.
If you don\'t like the colour scheme which was shown at CEDIA, then do not fret, as the projector can be re-skinned for your liking. Well, if your liking is lacquer, wood effect or matte.
Price-wise, you will be looking at £3,000.
Exclusive: Optoma: 3D-Ready projectors \'out this year\'
Optoma gave TechRadar a demo of one of its pre-production 3D projectors at CEDIA today, and told us that we should see 3D-Ready projectors in the marketplace this year.
The demonstration was of the company\'s 720p HD65 projector, and included the use of some prototype shutter glasses.
The projector had been given a firmware update to handle 120Hz 3D projection and the results were certainly impressive.
"Projectors have a distinct advantage when it comes to 3D," explained Justin Halls, Senior Product Manager for Home Cinema at Optoma. "3D works best with large screens – the bigger the screen, the more immersive the experience."
3D for free
When we asked Hall about availability for the projectors, he told us "you will see the 3D-Ready version of the HD65 before the end of the year."
And what will it be called? Most likely Optoma is going to opt for the simple but effective moniker HD65 3D.
Usually with 3D technology, price is at a premium but Halls explained that this won\'t be the case with Optoma\'s range of 3D-Ready projectors.
"Currently the HD65 is selling for £549 and that will be the price of the 3D-Ready version. All we have to do is upgrade the firmware, so consumers will get the best of both worlds out of their Optoma projectors for no added cost."
Well, technically there is a cost, and that will be for the glasses. Although there is no fixed pricing on these, they should be available before the year is up for around £70 a pair.
3D gaming
Halls also revealed that Optoma hopes to make its whole range of projectors 3D-Ready in the near future.
Although it is unlikely that 3D movies will be forthcoming anytime soon, Optoma is hoping that 3D gaming will fill the gap, with the likes of Nvidia already releasing 3D-Ready graphics systems.
BBFC re-evaluates film classifications after Manhunt 2 saga
The BBFC has issued a new set of film classification guidelines, following the Manhunt 2 videogame saga back in 2007, leading the regulator to a clearer definition of \'harm\', following the High Court ruling on Rockstar\'s controversial game.
Manhunt 2, as you may remember, was initially refused an 18-rating classification by the BBFC.
The BBFC has taken into account the views of over 8,700 people across the UK from the age of 16 upwards in formulating its latest set of classification guidelines.
Public consultation
"The BBFC is committed to consulting the public every four years to ensure that the Guidelines we use to classify all works which are submitted to us not only take account of relevant UK legislation, but accurately reflect public attitudes and concerns," said David Cooke, Director of the BBFC.
"You would not expect there to be a massive shift in attitudes since the 2005 Guidelines, and there is sometimes an assumption that public attitudes are becoming more relaxed as time goes on, but that is not always the case," added Cooke.
"The BBFC is an open and accountable organisation and in order to bring about even greater transparency we have, in this new version of the Guidelines, gone into greater detail on how, why and when we do what we do."
Liberal or restrictive?
"There will always be people who think that we are either too restrictive or too liberal, but it is clear that as far as the vast majority of the UK public is concerned the BBFC is getting it right...Works which were clearly \'U\', or \'15\', or \'PG\' or \'12A\' under the old Guidelines would still be in the same category under the new Guidelines, but works which fell on the borderline between two categories previously could now find themselves being pushed into a different category."
The main changes to the BBFC\'s guidelines on film and DVD/Blu-ray classification are as follows:
- Clearer and more detailed information about what the Board takes into account when classifying works and when interventions will be made and on what grounds.
- A clearer definition of \'harm\', which results from the High Court ruling on the video game Manhunt 2
- The introduction of \'discrimination\' as a key classification issue in each of the categories covering race, gender, religion, disability or sexuality.
- Clearer and more detailed information about how the tone and impact of a film is taken into account, as opposed to simply considering what is actually shown on screen.
- At \'U\', the relaxation of the Guideline on references to drugs to allow for references which are both infrequent and innocuous. Under the old Guidelines a documentary which mentioned the Opium Wars between Britain and China had to be passed at \'PG\' for this single reference alone.
- At the \'12A\'/\'12\' category a tightening of the horror criteria. This is in line with the introduction of tone and impact and would mean that some films, like The Others, would be likely to be given a higher classification.
- At \'12A\'/\'12\' there will be a presumption against the passing of frequent crude sexual references. This is in response to concerns expressed by the public about films such as Date Movie, Meet the Spartans and Norbit.
- At \'15\', solvent abuse is now specifically mentioned as a classification issue and depictions are unlikely to be passed. This is in response, not only to public concern, but expert opinion
- At \'18\' the Board will continue to maintain the right of adults to choose their own entertainment unless material is in breach of the criminal law; or the treatment appears to the BBFC to risk harm to individuals or through their behaviour, to society; or where there are more explicit images of sexual activity which cannot be justified by context. As part of the research, respondents were specifically asked about explicit images of real sex in main stream films like 9 Songs and the clear message was that these images were acceptable at \'18\' because of the context in which they appeared.
You can see the full BBFC guidelines online via bbfc.co.uk (pdf link).
The BBFC was recently dropped by the UK Government from rating videogames, a job which is now solely in the hands of the games-industry-sponsored Pan European Game Information (PEGI) body.
Sony hopes MovieIQ is killer app for Blu-ray Live
Sony hopes that its new MovieIQ service will be the \'killer app\' for Blu-ray Live, serving up instant trivia and info to movie viewers at the push of a remote button.
Sony\'s MovieIQ launches in September on internet-enabled Blu-ray, where the disc being played at the time can grab all the relevant data from the web.
So if you really need to know exactly where a particular scene was shot, who sang the tune that\'s playing in the background or what movies the extras in the background of the scene have also been in, then MovieIQ will certainly be a bonus to you.
If, of course, you just want to watch a movie in high def uninterrupted by the small yellow icon appears on your screen whenever there\'s something to click upon. And you can hide the icon which pops up at the top of the screen each time info on the scene is available then you can just switch the service off!
Gracenote-developed
MovieIQ has been developed by Sony-owned Gracenote, the movie and music database specialists. Gracenote\'s Video Explore solution "allows users to search the online Gracenote video database, linking together related cast, crew, movies, TV episodes, franchises, seasons, DVDs, and Blu-rays. Gracenote\'s global Video database contains rich video information for North America, Europe, and Japan, including factual metadata, synopses etc."
"It has always been our goal at Sony Pictures to offer fans the ability to truly connect with their favorite movies using BD-Live," said Lexine Wong, Senior Executive Vice President of Worldwide Marketing at Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.
"We know many people interrupt their movie-watching experience to look up the filmography of an actor or to find out more about a song playing in the background. Now through movieIQ, movie lovers can dive into constantly-updated information about the movie they are watching without leaving their sofa, further enhancing the experience of watching movies in this always-connected age."
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