After being quiet for some time in the TV space, JVC announced a new 50-inch E-LED HDTV in its BlackCrystal with the R Series BC50R, which is also the largest screen size model in the line produced thus far.
The new flat-panel has an edge-lit LED screen, 120Hz CrystalMotion video processing and JVC’s own XinemaSound 3D post-processing audio technology. The latter of those features is designed to add acoustic and digital signal processes to push out better sound than is typically heard from built-in speakers on HDTVs. JVC even says the sound is good enough to negate the need for an outboard audio solution.
In fact, the audio quality has been said to offer the kind of crosstalk-cancelling technology found in high-end soundbars for better channel separation and something akin to a surround sound effect. XinemaSound 3D also applies something called an Equal Loudness Contour to the audio signal, for what is supposed to amount to a more natural sound across the sonic spectrum. Clear Dialog processing is inside to adjust the level of dialogue just enough so that every word can be heard clearly.
“Today’s television is, by and large, bifurcated into two distinct classes: the upper end, which boast superior picture quality and enhanced smart streaming connectivity; and the value-oriented end, which lacks both,” said Drew Pragliola, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at AmTran Video Corp. “With the BlackCrystal line, we’re offering consumers a middle alternative—stunning video and audio performance, but without the built-in apps and media streaming that is redundant in many consumers’ AV systems. And with the addition of the BC50R, we’re delivering it all at a new large screen size, with a gorgeous new ultra-slim, narrow-bezel design to boot.”
Previously, the BlackCrystal line was limited to a range between 32- and 47-inch screens, so JVC is playing this one up as its largest and premier model. It has a 6.5ms response time, 20,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio (not true contrast ratio, of course) and a viewing angle of 178-degrees. Consumers with an AV receiver can make use of the HDMI 1 input, which has ARC (Audio Return Channel) inside to replace the need for an extra optical cable.
It should also be noted that JVC doesn’t actually manufacture TVs anymore, after having licensed the BlackCrystal line out to AmTran in North America. This is the same company that manufactures TVs for the Vizio brand.
The BlackCrystal BC50R will be available from retailers this month for about $$800.
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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