There are tons of huge announcements coming out of the CEDIA 2018 expo, but one of the most exciting is the IMAX Enhanced program, a collaboration between IMAX and DTS that certifies all sorts of A/V gear to promise that they deliver the best audio and visual experience possible. Denon and Marantz announced earlier this week that they would ship IMAX Enhanced A/V receivers, and now Sony is embracing the program as well with announced support in recent TVs as well as the debut of three new IMAX Enhanced projectors.
The true star of the new projectors is the VPL-VW995ES, which uses the All Range Crisp Focus (ARC-F) lens, an 18-piece glass lens that makes for the crispest picture possible. This model also includes a Digital Focus Optimizer that Sony says provides heightened image quality and focus without distortion. This is one of Sony’s most powerful projectors to date, pumping out up to 2,200 lumens of brightness.
While the aforementioned model may be the top of the line, the VPL-VW695ES will be of more interest to your standard home enthusiast as it is dramatically more affordable, yet still pricey and very high quality. This model boasts 1,800 lumens of brightness and a 350,000:1 contrast ratio. It also comes with features like Picture Position Memory, allowing the user to quickly adjust the image to fit their screen, including 16:9 and Cinemascope.
Finally, the VPL-VW295ES is Sony’s most affordable 4K projector, and does still deliver high dynamic range (HDR), as all of these new projectors do. This model features 1,500 lumens of brightness and comes with many of the features found on the more expensive models. Both this model and the VPL-VW695ES are compact, making them easy to install and use.
Sony also announced IMAX Enhanced certification for many of its recent flagship TVs. The Master Series, which was priced last week, is among these, with the A9F OLED and Z9F both certified. The older A8F Bravia and A1E Bravia, as well as the X900F, are certified as well.
None of these newly announced projectors come cheap. The VPL-VW295ES, the most affordable of the above models, retails for $5,000, while the step-up VPL-VW695ES will sell for $10,000. The top-of-the-line VPL-VW995ES sells for $35,000, meaning it will only be of interest to those who take their home theater experience very seriously.
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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