AVForums Podcast: Episode 215 - 26th March 2018

Phil Hinton

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This week:
00:00:24 – The Beast from the East and a blast from the past
00:02:06 – Current competitions
00:04:23 – Steve attends LG’s European 2018 TV demonstration
00:18:17 – How smart is your home?
00:26:47 – Do we really need Dolby Atmos when Dunkirk sounds so good in 5.1?
00:32:55 – Ed’s album, vinyl release and playlist of the month
00:35:28 – Upcoming Reviews
00:40:25 – Cas reviews Tomb Raider
00:44:15 – Films of the month
00:46:22 – Films opening this week – Ready Player One
00:48:34 – Discs of the month
00:56:53 – Disc releases this week – Justice League, Wonder and Britannia Season 1
01:01:18 – TV shows of the month
01:08:13 – Goodbyes

Presented by Phil Hinton with Steve Withers, Mark Hodgkinson, Ed Selley and Cas Harlow

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Time: 01:09:28 | File Size: 100mb | Direct Link

The podcast will return on the 9th of April 2018
 
2018 advancements in Calibration for the new LG OLED’s sounds impressive.



THANK YOU TO STEVE W FROM AVFORUMS FOR STERLING JOB IN CALIBRATING MY 2 x LG OLED TV’s.


I am extremely satisfied with the Calibration of 2 x LG OLED55C7 TV’s


When I initially was purchasing these OLED TV’s I had decided that they will be Calibrated eventually. No need to explain the value and benefits of calibration as my background is in Product Marketing for Print Industry where Calibration of both Printer and Monitor is absolutely essential for Graphic Art and CAD related Applications. In fact calibration is carried out as frequently as weekly depending on the Application.


Interestingly both my OLED TV’s required different settings post calibration where one TV had too much/little of one colour and the other had too much/little of another.

On one TV if I switch between a calibrated mode to uncalibrated mode I can easily see that the uncalibrated mode has too much hulk like green on faces - a big difference, not a subtle change.


Many thanks to Steve W from AVFORUMS who Calibrated both TV’s on the same day.

Utilising Industry best Calibration equipment and software. Even the equipment used is frequently calibrated with a state of the art ‘KONICA MINOLTA’ Calibration device. Post calibration I received via email, reports on the calibration which clearly outlined the difference in performance and detailed the full (picture/cms/white balance) settings. If for some reason my TV is reset to factory default picture settings I can use the calibration documents to punch in the calibration settings for each TV. It was an educational experience and I am now reassured that both my TV’s picture performance is targeting Hollywood colour standards post the Calibration.


If you have a LG OLED TV I strongly recommend getting them calibrated, and the same for any other premium performance TV.


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On the vw760 review , would be good hear comparison to JVC 7000/7900, is the Sony worth the £9000 more, what are the benefits/negatives.

Kevin
 
Another top show and I am looking forward to the in-depth Sony 760 Laser Projector review, (Even though it’s out of my range) as it got a Best Buy Award in last month’s HCC Magazine. (Even at £15,000 gasp)

Have a good Easter

Bill
 
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It has arrived so I'll be working on it all this week. I have a JVC X7000 so can compare with that.
 
Great podcast - always look forward to it on my Monday dog walk - can't believe you're not doing one over Easter :(
Good to hear the X Files mentioned too. I've loved the X Files from day one but the 'event' series put me off somewhat and I think I'd have preferred to eat my own arm then watch it again. This time they seem on the whole to have gone back to their roots - although also for some reason the acting seems to have got worse! I'm enjoying this season.
 
Good to know Cas has an actual voice, anyway enjoyable poddy as usual guys. Ok now onto "Alexa", wifey bought one and I asked it.... "Alexa is Robin Hood real".... answer "yes". I then asked it.... "how old is Robin Hood" damn and bu**er, ahem "Alexa how old is Robin Hood".... answer.... "she's 53". What a waste of £49 and wifey missed out when it was reduced to £39, and it's been reduced again on "Amazon's" Easter deals. :censored: What I should have asked was.... "Alexa when is your bleedin' priced being reduced". :cool: Have a good Easter break LT. :rolleyes:
 
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I'm a new listener to the podcast, even though I've been a lurker on the forums for sometime. This is my second episode in a row and I'm really enjoying the great content so far.

On to home automation:

I'm a sucker for any new tech that I can afford within reason. However, the Amazon Echo family started when some great friends of ours purchased an Echo dot for me and my wife for Xmas 2016(iirc). At first it was a slow start with the device, getting use to how to ask the device in a certain way for requests. It then started to grow with the Philips hue bridge and some bulbs for automation. The light automation now includes the outdoor light and two lights in the living room turning on at sunset, and then the living room lights turning off one by one as it gets closer to 10pm. As I have a habit of just staying up late and not even realising the time while watching movies/playing games. (So this is a gentle reminder to go to bed and also turns off the lights)

A few weeks ago Argos and Currys/PC World had some voucher/discount deals. So I picked up two extra bulbs from Currys/PC World and the kitchen & Dining room is now smart bulbed. Argos reduced Echo Show from £199 to £139.

I've really enjoyed the Echo Show purchase as I feel it is a quicker way to retrieve things I need to know/watch etc.

Watch Movie trailers (for testing the new device out)
Music & Music videos (Plays lyrics during requested songs)
Weather displayed for the week
Video calls/drop in on other alexa users (I know this is available for other none alexa devices, but I don't have access or need for them) - I use this as to check in on my mum who suffers from ME and has done for the past ten years.
Wife uses it to listen to the radio/music
Add events to the calendar

Since the Echo Show purchase, I moved the first Echo dot into the kitchen and that one is now used for requests in the kitchen, especially cooking timers and lights. The Echo Show is in prime location in the living room. We've had to change our wake words to "Echo" as we have a child and the child was getting rather confused as the wake word of "Alexa" is close to the child's name. So we changed the wake word to "Echo".

The amazon alexa app was also made available for some Sony TV's. However, I was inpatient and I found the apk on reddit and side-loaded it myself to the XD93 and it worked. So I voice control my tv to turn it off, adjust volume control and switch hdmi input. It is quicker than using the remote. However, turning the TV on option stopped working all of a sudden.
 
Thanks for this week's podcast and good to hear from Cas - loved his opening comments about Tomb Raider.

I'm with Ed on the home automation front and whilst I embrace and frequently purchase new technology, I really can't see the value of current products. Hopefully Mark's forthcoming article will include costings and running costs to provide further perspective. In the meantime, I remain a human version of Alexa for the kids!
 
Smart Speakers big advantage to Manufacturers:

1. Google Smart Speakers. Allows Google to better understand your profile so that Google can better sell targeted Ads to you. Ad selling is Google’s core business.

2. Amazon Smart Speakers. Always listening devices. Allows Amazon to better target you for Amazon purchases. Amazon 10-20 year plan is to become the number 1 transactional retail Company. So far they are hugely successful in gradually achieving this strategic goal.

3. Apple. They keep your data private as much as they can as selling data is not Apple’s business. Apple make profit on the devices and services which is their core business. However currently the HomePod is not as smart as Google/Amazon but is exceptional brilliant for Music and as a HomeKit device. Much better than Google/Amazon especially for HomeKit usability.
 
Listen everyweek. Thanks for podcasting. Can I ask that you somewhere,maybe at the end of the podcast, mention what movie the quote comes from? Or even put it in the episode thread?
Thank you!
 
Thanks again for another good listen.

I have an amazon echo because the wife wanted one. My only use for it it to play specific music that i want to hear right there and to use it as a BT speaker for my phone when im in the kitchen. I don't have any smart light bulbs or anything else smart, so i end up turning it off quite a lot.

i think the novelty has even worn off for the kids. For some reason they asked for a south park song (they've never watched it) and it played "all you need is a bag of weed", which they then sang for a week. Not really appropriate for 6, 8 or 9 year olds...

Brooklyn Nine-Nine is the funniest comedy i've seen for years and the latest series (especially the jail scenes) is just as funny as ever.

Have a good Easter folks !

MB
 
A common oversight is not planning ahead for home automation and then you can end up with too many third party hubs connected to the router.

To explain: you could end up with Philips Hue Hub for lightening and then another Hub for heating such as Hive and then something else for Motion and another for Door Locks.

The good news is that we are seeing better full functionality [lighting + heating + room motion sensors + cameras], such as HIVE. This full functionality solution with a single HUB is better for the home wifi network as you don’t want to compromise internet speed and reliability by having too many HUBS. HIVE is only one example and is supported by British Gas in the UK for heating.
 
@Mark Hodgkinson - that was really interesting to hear about your smart home. I'm slowly doing something similar, but unlike you, I'm starting from the central heating.

Which smart hub is it that you have? Apologies if you mentioned on the podcast; I've only listened partially but I will finish it and listen again. (Been binge-listening the past two months' worth so there's a lot to take in).

Also good to hear Cas. :)
 
We could do with more Cas. A bit overly sharp at first but settled in to be witty and smart. Very enjoyable.
 

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