This month's leading news from the UK's busiest independent AV Forum
April 2012

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This is the April newsletter from AVForums. We send out one newsletter per month containing important news from our community and the editorial team.
As always, there's loads of Home Cinema Reviews, Home Cinema News, Blu-ray and Movie Reviews, Podcasts, Competitions and Hot Topics. For example, we've just reviewed the new iPad. Details follow - read on.

New home page is big on editorial coverage

With the new forum design comes a new and improved AVF home page which is your one stop shop for the latest reviews, podcasts, videos and news.
The new slideshow function gives users an instant update of the latest editorial articles published so you can dive straight into the content. This will also be enhanced in the next few weeks with interactive boxes covering Hardware, Games and Movies reviews, where you can see the latest and most popular reviews, plus those coming soon.
We recommend you bookmark the home page www.AVForums.com to get more features and make sure you never miss the latest content.

Gadget Show Live Success

Gadget Show 2012 was a tremendous success for AVForums.

We spoke to thousands of people. Some had already visited AVForums, some were members, and some had never heard of us but were glad to learn of the help we can give.
We signed up hundreds of people and gave away thousands of bags, pens, coasters and leaflets.

Thousands of people saw our demo. It was presented by Alan Roser's team and details of the kit are here. When I told people it was a £100,000 home cinema system and probably the best 3D they would ever see, most headed directly for the queue, which was quite long at times.

I sat in on the demo myself, of course. My favourite clip was the TinTin chase sequence (with the motorcycle) which was phenomenal both from a visual and audio perspective. The 3D was outstanding. Just breathtaking. And the audio was totally awesome. Anyone who knows me will tell you I love subwoofers and to be surrounded by three 4.5 Kw Paradigm Sub25s was bliss .
I want to say many, many thanks to Alan and his team for delivering a really special experience.

The leaflet we produced was a useful guide to help people set up their TV. (Although its title 'Top Ten Tips' did become a bit of an embarrasing tongue twister after the hundredth time of saying it ).
I asked lots of people whether they had adjusted the picture on their TV after they had bought it. The vast majority hadn't because they didn't know how. Many expected the TV to be correct out of the box.
The leaflet would inform people what the basic picture controls do (it's not what most people expect) and if followed, would very likely improve the quality of their TV picture.
The article can be found in full at www.AVForums.com/tvsetup/ and we will be expanding on it further over the coming days.

I have already sung Mathew's praises on both the build of the stand, and then maintaining it. I want to say again that he was fantastic, and I would definitely recommend LEO Exhibitions.

We handed out almost 10,000 of our bags. When offered them at the start of the show, people were happy to take them to pop their show guides in.
Luckily there weren't many exhibitors giving out bags. We handed out so many that they became fashionable and we soon had people asking for them. I'm sure the design has something to do with that.
One chap asked me if he could borrow one .
As we started to run out later on Sunday, we were reserving them for forum members, and a few people signed up to get them.
Check out the show video here which has shots of people carrying them

Inside the bags, we were dropping our leaflets and those from stand sponsors XTZ and Zavvi, as well as a CD full of brochures about the equipment in the home cinema demo.

We also gave away several thousand pens and coasters.

The coasters are a brand new design on rigid plastic with a clever high friction base.
The pens are the super soft ones like we used to have, but now all black in keeping with our new look.

If you want an AVForums coaster or pen then they will be available at future events such as product previews and focus groups we will be arranging.

I'm very happy that we managed to help some people with their technical questions. Phil, Steve, Russell and Greg were able to help in their roles as reviewers, but John, Mathew and particularly Keith and Andrew were able to share their AV knowledge and extoll the advantages of forum membership.

We even managed to 'kill two birds' by getting Russell, Steve, Mark and Phil round a table to record a podcast in person for a change (we usually use Skype since everyone is scattered around the country).
You can hear that home cinema podcast here.

And that's it for my personal thoughts on AVForums @ Gadget Show Live 2012.

Thanks to all those members who stopped by to say Hello. And to our new members, Welcome!

To our stand sponsors XTZ, Zavvi and TPS, we send our thanks for your invaluable support.
To everyone who helped on the stand, Vicki and I would like to extend our heartfelt thanks for your considerable commitment and effort to help make the AVForums Gadget Show Live stand a success. Thank you

And lastly on Sunday, to add the icing on the cake, we had a visit from Jason who despite being very busy, managed to find time to come and experience our demo (which he said was awesome) and let us snap a few photos. He left 14 minutes before being due on stage! Many thanks, Jason.

THX Video Calibration training returns to London

AVForums are again hosting the THX Video Calibration Training in the UK with a course to be held at JVC House, Brent Cross, London between the 26-28th of June 2012.
Last year’s event was a massive success with over 20 students gaining detailed hands on calibration training and passing the exams to become THX certified professionals.
If you are interested in the course and would like more details of how to sign up, go to our THX page here.
You can also see just how popular the last course was with our video report here.

April Prize Draw Madness!

We want to thank the following companies who sponsored a special prize draw this month for the Gadget Show: Panasonic, Oppo, Samsung and XTZ.
New members of AVForums in April are automatically entered into these prize draws. Everyone else can enter simply by completing the forms at these competition pages.

	Win a Panasonic TX-P50VT50B 50" TV Worth £2,400 Click here
	Win an Oppo BDP-93EU Blu-ray player Worth £499 Click here
	Win an XTZ MH 800 DSP Sound System for your computer Worth £400 Click here
	Win a Samsung DA-E550 Dual Audio Dock Worth £140 Click here

Home Cinema Hub by Phil Hinton

4K arrives at AVForums for review The first native 4K projector to hit the consumer market has just arrived at AVForums for review.  The Sony VPL-VW1000 is certainly a projector ahead of its time with a native 4K SXRD panel based on the same technology used in Sony’s cinema 4K Projectors. Steve Withers has put in a week long shift to fully test the projector and also compare it with our current reference review product, the JVC DLA-X70. So, does this £18,000 consumer model offer the future in your home now, or does a lack of native 4K material mean it will be nothing more than a Blu-ray upscaler for the foreseeable future? All will be revealed in the written and video reviews, coming very soon.
Featured hardware review
Panasonic TX-P50GT50B review Reviewed 4th April, 2012 by Stephen Withers Full-HD 1920x1080 Active Shutter Progressive 3D VIERA NeoPlasma Panel THX 2D & 3D Certification WiFi Built-in	Last year's GT30 was a very good and very successful TV for Panasonic, perhaps a little too good and too successful. Throughout 2011 the display won a boat load of awards and sold like hot cakes to consumers looking for high-end performance, without the high-end price. The reason for this was that the GT30 offered almost identical performance to the VT30, with the exception of the more expensive TV's black filter, and at a reduced price. Yes the GT30 didn't come with the single sheet of glass facia, the snazzy remote or two pairs of glasses but in terms of performance there was little to differentiate the two displays. The result of this was that the GT30 took sales away from the higher end VT30 and probably cost Panasonic in terms of lost margin in an already highly competitive market. Read the review

Latest AVForums Hardware Reviews

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Home Cinema News from Mark Hodgkinson

Power Ethernet Launches ‘PE Socket’ British technology start-up, Power Ethernet, has launched the ‘PE Socket’, the first product to integrate Powerline data networking technology directly into an electrical socket. It offers AV installers a simple and non-disruptive means of streaming video for home audio visual and digital signage installations. Power Ethernet has signed a distribution agreement with specialist AV connectivity distributor, Arktron for the UK and the ‘PE Socket’ has been in the market from January 2012. Based on the HomePlug AV standard for Powerline networking, Power Ethernet’s all-in-one PE socket combines four Ethernet network ports, a fully-managed network switch and a filtered power socket into a single socket which fits into a UK Standard 35mm double gang metal back box. The PE socket uses a buildings electrical wiring to create a high-speed and secure data network for connecting digital signage, Internet-connected TVs, digital STBs, CCTV systems, IP phones, home automation systems and other connected-devices. More... Arcam rolls out New drDock for iPad, iPod and iPhone Arcam has been producing 'iDock's' since 2007 and the time has now come for them to replace their irDock with the all new - and wonderfully named - drDock that they claim 'pushes the performance envelope even further', offering greater connectivity, wider compatibility and even better sound through direct digital connections to the docked iDevice. Thanks to a new shape and robust aluminium construction, the drDock is able to accommodate iPads as well as iPods and iPhones, allowing a wider range of music apps and services to benefit from Arcam’s sound quality. The drDock’s talents aren’t just limited to audio. An HDMI digital video output allows you to playback your favourite films and TV programmes directly to a suitably equipped TV or via an AV receiver. The drDock comes with its own IR remote handset but can also be controlled by the Arcam Solo neo and Solo mini music systems plus many Arcam AV amps and the T32 DAB Tuner via their handsets too. More... PS3 3DTV now Available to Order in the UK Originally slated for the back end of last year but held up due to stock shortages, Sony's new PlayStation branded 3D gaming monitor is about to start shipping in the UK. The ticket price of £449.99 seems rather steep when you consider it's a dedicated monitor - so no TV tuners - and only possesses 24inches of gaming screen estate. Consider you could pick up a 50" 3D Plasma for around the same price but at least the PS3 3DTV comes with 2 pairs of active shutter glasses, a HDMI cable and 2 'free' 3D games in Gran Turismo 5 and Killzone 3. More... BBC to Provide Extra HD Channel to Freeview for The Olympics Thanks to some newly-released digital space, the BBC will be broadcasting an additional high definition service on the Freeview HD platform over the Games period, it has announced. This will be a simulcast of the BBC's main Red Button service on Freeview, also available on channel 301, all delivered in sparkly hi-def. Capacity limitations mean they can't deliver the 24 streams to Freeview that the likes of TiVo viewers will get but this extra service will bring the number of high definition services available on Freeview HD over the Olympic Games period to three. The Beeb say it's worth noting that the Freeview red button service will be picking the best of the action from the sports not being covered on BBC One and BBC Three. For ease of navigation, Freeview HD viewers will be able to access the additional temporary high definition service directly via the red button from these channels and it will also be listed on the Freeview HD EPG at position 304 with the other BBC Red Button services on Freeview (301 and 302).meaning viewers with PVRs (Personal Video Recorders) will be able to record even more BBC Olympics coverage in high definition. More... SoundScene - On-Wall AirPlay Speaker System: Putting Art in to your Music We're told the new SoundScene speaker system is a totally unique product and we've no reason to disbelieve it. Not only is it the world’s first Apple ‘AirPlay’ enabled on-wall loudspeaker system, it’s also ‘invisible’ in the room because the ultra-slim system ‘hides’ behind a conventional picture frame. Imagine Acoustics products are distributed worldwide by Armour Home. Ashley Hutchinson, its channel director responsible for the brand, was asked how the SoundScene product differed from other ‘Art’ loudspeakers already in the market? He replied: “The new SoundScene is different in every way. Firstly it’s the only ‘AirPlay’ enabled on-wall loudspeaker, which means owners can enjoy their music, streamed wirelessly direct from their appropriate iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Mac or PC. Secondly it really does look just like a picture on the wall because, well that’s exactly what it is.” More... More home cinema news here... Get behind the scenes with Facebook and Twitter Did you know that we post information about what we are up to behind the scenes here at AVForums on twitter and Facebook? We regularly share what we are currently reviewing, live feeds from press events we attend as well as sneak peeks about what we think of the technology we get to see on a daily basis. So follow our Twitter and Facebook pages to further your AVForums addiction.

Click here to visit the news section

Blu-ray and Movie reviews

Featured movie review

Latest movie reviews

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol Blu-ray Review (USA) Blu-ray reviewed 16th April by Cas Harlow Accept this mission. Months before the release of the last Mission: Impossible movie back in 2006, Hollywood’s biggest star took his biggest jump – off Oprah Winfrey’s couch. It looked like it would seal his fate, breaking up a 14-year relationship with backing studios Paramount Pictures as a result. It also looked like it would end the Mission: Impossible series – or at least see it fall into the hands of somebody else. Brad Pitt’s name was being vaguely touted (the closest that he’d come to spy action thriller was perhaps Mr & Mrs Smith); and then the genuine news titbits started to come out: the title of ‘Ghost Protocol’, as well the casting of Hurt Locker’s Jeremy Renner. Was he the replacement lead, taking over the mantle from Cruise? Was the title indicating something of a splinter Mission: Impossible faction, a spin-off from the main franchise? Well you can rest assured, this is still – just about – Tom Cruise’s Mission: Impossible. [Read more]

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