The Amazon-developed Fire TV Omni is now available with mini-LED backlighting, with up to 1,400 nits of peak brightness and up to 960 dimming zones, depending on the screen size. Known as the Fire TV Omni Mini-LED Series, the models also offer Dolby Vision IQ, HDR10+ Adaptive and, for the first time, built-in Dolby Atmos. Amazon is also promising that a future software update will enable a new version of its Ambient Experience that uses onboard sensors to react in real time to movement in the room.
The Fire TV Omni Mini-LED Series are available starting November 14 in four screen sizes: Buy at Amazon ($820), Buy at Amazon ($1,090), Buy at Amazon ($1,500), and Buy at Amazon ($2,100).
Amazon says the QLED mini-LED displays can respond to your room lighting conditions. The TVs combine artificial intelligence, which identifies, analyzes, and optimizes scenes in real time to fine-tune picture details like landscapes, buildings, sports, and more, with light and color sensors, which adjust brightness and color temperature for optimal viewing.
These same sensors are used by Dolby Vision IQ, and HDR10+ Adaptive when viewing content presented in these HDR formats.
Gamers will appreciate the mini-LED Series support for AMD FreeSync Premium Pro and a 144Hz refresh rate when in gaming mode — two more firsts for an Amazon-built Fire TV.
But perhaps the most interesting aspects of the new Fire TV Omni Mini-LED Series are two future additions: a responsive ambient experience and hearing aid-compatible dual audio.
Instead of a screensaver that shows static photos (like Google TV) or cinematic video (like Apple TV 4K), the Fire TV OS uses its Ambient Experience to show helpful information combined with artwork when the TV isn’t being used for streaming. That mode will soon use the TV’s new “high-fidelity radar sensor” to make onscreen animations (like fluttering butterflies, swimming koi fish, and colorful tiles) react as you move in front of the TV. You may have seen similar reactive projections in art galleries or other public venues.
Dual Audio lets people with Audio Streaming for Hearing Aids (ASHA)-enabled hearing aids to get high-quality audio delivered directly to their hearing aids while others simultaneously listen through the TV’s speakers.
Speaking of speakers, the new models now come with a pair of stereo speakers and a built-in subwoofer. The 85-inch size gets two built-in subwoofers.
Finally, you’ll get better wireless connectivity: The Omni Mini-LED Series TVs add support for Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2. If you have a Wi-Fi 6E router, you’ll get faster, smoother, and lower-latency streaming.
Instagram is making its way to yet another screen, and this time, Apple TV is getting a taste of the Reels rabbit hole. The company has launched a dedicated Instagram app for Apple TV, bringing Reels, longer videos, and live shows to the big screen. So, if watching one quick clip on a phone somehow turns into an hour of scrolling, there's now a much larger screen for that.
Instagram brings Reels and more to Apple TV
Audio-Technica, a brand well known for making some of the best studio and professional headphones on the market, has just come out with the ATH-AWX7000, which the company itself claims to be its "finest headphones ever." The new flagship closed-back headphone has debuted at an eye-watering price of $3,799. It combines hand-finished Japanese woodwork with a newly developed 58mm driver.
The earcups are made from Kiso cypress, a prized wood historically used for Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples. Each housing is finished by hand with traditional Echizen lacquer, which brings out the grain and is expected to darken over time. The frame and sliders are finished in a deep navy kachi-iro shade traditionally associated with samurai.
This post is brought to you in paid partnership with Best Buy.
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