Podcast: Panasonic OLED, PS5 Revealed, Sky HDR cost, Cinemas reopening, B+W Tom Hanks & More AV News

Phil Hinton

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A weekly roundup of home entertainment technology, movie & gaming news.

00:00:00 - Welcome
00:03:35 - Competitions
00:05:45 - Bowers & Wilkins news
00:13:34 - Ed's new Seat - we have FLAC and new Hi-Fi kit in for review!
00:18:52 - Welcome back Mark - what have you been up to?
00:20:20 - Fast food queues (& audio issue resolved)
00:22:35 - PS5 design opinion
00:32:50 - Premiere League is coming back
00:35:28 - Sky Charging £50 for HDR upgrade
00:41:45 - Panasonic adds HZ980 OLED TV to 2020 line-up
00:49:10 - What has Steve been up to? Watching Days of Thunder
00:51:29 - Nascar talk
00:52:50 - AMC cinemas opening in July - Are you going?
00:58:14 - 50 Great Live Albums For Easing Yourself Back Into The World
01:06:33 - Dolby Atmos via Tidal - Phil and Steve's opinions
01:17:43 - New movies available to stream and watch on Blu-ray
01:24:18 - Mark's TV favourites
01:25:28 - Q&A
01:45:30 - Best and worst Tom Hanks movies
01:59:24 - Thanks and goodbyes

* Panasonic adds HZ980 OLED TV to 2020 line-up https://www.avforums.com/news/panason...
* Sony PS5 design and first games finally revealed https://www.avforums.com/news/sony-ps...
* Sky upgrade to HDR compatible box to cost £50 https://www.avforums.com/news/sky-upg...
* AMC Cinemas in UK and US set to re-open in July https://www.avforums.com/news/amc-cin...

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Other news
* We will be assessing Dolby Atmos Music
* Ed set to publish his article 50 Great Live Albums For Easing Yourself Back Into The World

This week's hot topic: Our best and worst Tom Hanks movies. What are your favourites?

Win a copy of Doolittle on 4K Blu-ray. We ask the competition question in this podcast. Once you've heard the question, go to the competition page and answer correctly to have a chance of winning. The competition page is here: https://www.avforums.com/competitions... The competition closes this Thursday. Good luck!

Presented by Phil Hinton with Mark Botwright, Ed Selley and Steve Withers.

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Hi Phil,

really enjoyed this podcast, some good in depth stuff, particularly the PS5 part.

Also thanks for both the replies on the Film maker mode.

What I had intended to ask but didn't make clear was, after you have looked into HLG on Sky, you had previously said you would do piece on film maker mode. Will you be doing an editorial at any point?

I would say that from my perspective you have answered my questions clearly enough on the subject, but would still be interested in an editorial on it.

All the same really enjoying the podcasts and being able to interact live on the show.

Look forward to next week.

All the best
Gordon
 
Firstly thanks for replying to my question regarding Denon's AVC-X8500H vs Marantz's SR8012 Steve and Ed. :smashin:

Ok garrulous little me off I go again everyone.

As i've mentioned before on other threads (boringly no doubt) at the moment I have the venerable Denon AVCAllXV amp which I upgraded (to "A" status) and what a waste of money that was imo. Anyway it gives great two channel stereo (it got a 👍 from Hi-Fi News all those years ago for that) as well as excellent surround sound with all its, at that time, iterations . It's also THX Ultra 2 certified, although THX certification isn't a big deal anymore.

Now it's obvious that Denon will be upgrading the 8500 as replacements for the other AV amps (not interested in receivers) that have started to arrive, or they're probably going to be replacing it completely soon(ish) as it has been out now for well in excess of two years. As far as the Marantz SR8012 is concerned that has also been out for around the same period of time and that will probably be ready for replacement soon as there is no indication of whether that model is to be upgraded. I'm setup for 7.1.4. so the Marantz will be fine with regards to the number of surround channels.

Now it's a bit of a dichotomy for me because I prefer the aesthetics of the Marantz but I don't like the fact that all the information is hidden behind the front flap. One would need to bring this flap down to see the information plus it's made of plastic rather than metal as well as the rounded front side panels (cheeks) and at this price level I feel that's not great and lets down the side somewhat regarding its premium. The Denon on the other hand is all metal and the information is there for all to see as on my present AV amp. All you need to do to get rid of the info is to dim or switch it off. So my options are either wait for the prices of these two excellent AV amps to drop further in price or to see what upgrade (8500) or replacements come along probably within the next six months or so.

On a totally unrelated point; work for the London taxi trade is still bl***y awful and this is the start of the thirteenth week not working since I gave my rented taxi back to the fleet owner. On my last week in March, and working nine hour days, I came home (after expenses) with approx £30 per day in my pocket...... no thanks especially at 68. So spare money is somewhat short for luxury products like this at the moment even though I told wifey that the above is a necessity.... she er disagreed. 🙄 I will poke my nose out at the beginning of next month (July).
 
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Great Podcast again folks.

PS5 - the digital edition sounds interesting but understand it is a 850GB hard drive onboard, which has to be a worry size wise for storage. I prefer to buy digital editions of games for my PS4 and have had to add another drive. Adding another SSD to expand that storage will be expensive if possible and may impact the alledged super fast loading times.

I have tried Tidal Dolby Atmos on my Nvidia Shield. Works fine, but I am not sold on the sound quality or what it is being used for. I still prefer the stereo version (might be an age thing!). Live concerts on multi channel Blu Ray's etc. are much more preferable for me and thoroughly enjoyable.

Keep up the good work :)
 
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Nice shout out to Doug Demuro - look forward to hearing about the quirks and features of Ed’s new car over time.

Sky Q HDR and PS5 are clearly going to be the headline examples of early adopter tax. Not really interested in Sky as I don’t watch football, so dodged that one. Will be keen for PS5 eventually, but thoroughly underwhelmed by the games for launch, unless GT7 is in there. As with PS3 & 4, I’ll be waiting a year or two until the “slim” less ugly version appears.

Sony trumpeting remastered games at the launch of a new console is a bit pants as well. They were caught out within 24 hours of showing off a “new” Spider-Man game, which is actually an up-rendered quasi-sequel/add-on pack.
 
FAO, @SonOfSJ, can you get your question in. I'll have it to hand for Sunday.
 
Another great Podcast.
Fascinated with Steve's expressions during the Tom Hanks Segment when everyone else was discussing the Best & Worst; looked like so many times he wanted to make "A Comment" but was holding back! ;)
 
They were caught out within 24 hours of showing off a “new” Spider-Man game, which is actually an up-rendered quasi-sequel/add-on pack.

Despite being straight from the Head of European Business at Sony, that revelation got shot down just a couple of hours later by the developers, Insomniac.
Miles Morales is confirmed as a completely new game, though smaller in scope than the original.
So that's nice!
 
Thanks for the podcast guys.

The PS5 looks better on its side, yes, looks like a sandwich spilling out at one end but its unassumingly designed that way to stop it from sounding like a hairdryer (PS4/pro), they have mentioned the criticism regarding previous fan noise. While some may not like the design (Id prefer black as white ages quicker), once we see the games running and the difference in the I/O bottlenecks (Rachet and clank game being an example) compared to everything that has come before, many will eventually pay up.
Pricing will be interesting, I prefer physical (to sell on games), but I once said the same regarding cd's, cant recall the last one I bought now with streaming services...

I still think Denon are a bit mean on the 1 hdmi 2.1 input, saying most gamers only have one console and to then state the workaround of plugging the 2nd next gen console directly into the tv (and using eArc for audio when the AVR is usually the hub) was ridiculous. It's great there is that workaround (for those with tvs that have 2.1 ports) but still. I'm not talking about the 48 v 40Gbps issue, it looks like that will be the standard chipset going forward, I'm talking about those with wall mounted displays having to run another cable as the central hub (AVR) cant support more than one hdmi2.1 device. I'll assume next year we will see the marketing team stating "we have listened to you...now we offer 2 ports". If its a chipset supply issue, just be honest. Very frustrating for those who dont want to reinvest within the next 5 years... Hoping Yamaha don't follow suit in the next few months with their next hdmi 2.1 model.

I also enjoy the live pods, love the live q&a - great!
 
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The most exciting live music, where the audience reaction jumps out of the grooves: J. Lee Lewis, "Live at the Star club," Lousy sound but huge atmosphere. Saw him live just after this was recorded. R&R at it's finest, and most sweaty !
Anyone remember the Floyd at the Festival hall, where they had a reel to reel either side of the stage, playing an old American train which trundled out from stage left, right to the back of the hall, around and then disappeared out, stage right. Fantastic !
Jaws 4K: Only issue is with the alternating choppy and dead calm sea, in each scene, which was so obvious. Otherwise - fantastic. The UFO's were brilliant, too... Speilberg never mentioned this, in his commentary.
Roger Waters " The Wall" BD: Fantastic too.
Tom Hanks: No mention of "Castaway"....
 
Thanks gents for another good watch/listen.

Re live music, I will be buying Roger Waters' Us + Them when it's released on bluray ( hopefully with atmos ) in October. You can buy it now on Amazon Prime. I saw the film in the cinema and it was excellent.

 
@Phil Hinton mentioned outdoor cinemas. I am seeing lots of fb ads for reels and wheels, basically a drive in. But its bloody expensive for last years films
 
Great podcast as always, I try to listen live as much as I can but it’s right around the kids bedtime so I’m coming and going.

@Steve Withers @Phil Hinton - I don’t know if either of you are movie poster people but this Jaws one is the best I’ve ever seen (unfortunately it’s sold out though):
 
NETFLIX BANDWIDTH LEVEL ALERT SYSTEM

CC9BD08A-4EF9-418B-BC8F-DDE1897DDF69.jpeg
 
I don't understand the text of Level 3. "Between" normally has only two outer limits, not three.

I don't see how Level 2 differs from Level 3?

Still, I don't have Netflix, or Sky, or Amazon ....
 
I don't understand the text of Level 3. "Between" normally has only two outer limits, not three.

I don't see how Level 2 differs from Level 3?

Still, I don't have Netflix, or Sky, or Amazon ....
Don’t shoot the messenger. Level descriptions are published after first seeking guidance from Consultants and following the Science. Anyway it is World Beating performance.
 
Thanks gents for another good watch/listen.

Re live music, I will be buying Roger Waters' Us + Them when it's released on bluray ( hopefully with atmos ) in October. You can buy it now on Amazon Prime. I saw the film in the cinema and it was excellent.


@Toon Army Thanks for the clip of "Another Brick in the Wall". I remember going to see Pink Floyd perform "The Wall" at Earl's Court in either 1980 or 1981. What strikes me on watching your clip is that many, if not most, of the audience were not even conceived in 1981. So many of them look in their early 20s.
 

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