Friday, July 3, 2015 METRO 35

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Its time to ditch your DVDs. 4K TV and 3D sound are the next big thing in home cinema, says Steve May

H O M E C I N E M A TIMELINE

PRESENTATION

VHS tapes were the way to watch movies at home in the 1980s and 1990s, when high

street rental shops were open.

LaserDiscs offered better pictures and sound than tapes but they had to be turned over

half way through a film!

DVD wowed everyone with digital image clarity and surround sound when it

launched in the UK in 1998.

Flat plasma screens led to the demise of square tube TVs in

the 2000s but they were made obsolete by LED TVs.

HD TV started in the UK in 2008. Today, 4K TVs

promise pictures four times as sharp...

HOME cinema is booming. Large-screen TV sales are on the rise (more than 34million sets were sold in Europe

last year) and surround sound systems are reaching new heights literally.

According to research giant GFK, average screen size has more than doubled in the past decade, to 39in. Everyone, it seems, wants the grandest possible cinema experience at home, and a cutting-edge movie room is fast becoming de rigueur.

Home cinema rooms, along with swimming pools, are the things making the difference in the high-end property market right now, confirms Phil Cotton, director of custom installation specialist Finite Solutions. Eighty per cent of all enquires are

about installing dedicated cinemas. If youre prepared to part with 2million and have a spare room measuring 10 sq m, you can even have your own IMAX private theatre. But theres no need to spend a fortune to super-size your film fun. Early home cinema

enthusiasts watched VHS tapes on bulky 36in tube TVs. Today the buzz is all about streaming video and immersive audio and there are plenty of ways to get in on the action.

38 METRO Friday, July 3, 2015

TIT FOLLOWS GOOGLES

THE EYE IN THE SKY JUST GOT LARGER,BUT DO WE REALLY WANT THAT?

THE FUTURE OFMOBILE MAPPING

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Must-have kit: Sonys projector, Amazons HDMI stick, Onkyos amplifier, a 4K TV and quality speakers all create an immersive experience

IMAX out your ho Continued from Page 35

Home cinema made easy THERE are three things you need for a decent home cinema: a large HD TV, a powerful sound system and loads of movies to watch.

Deciding how big your next TV should be is a perennial puzzle. Experts have all sorts of complicated rules when it comes to viewing distances and screen height but heres some simpler advice: decide on the telly size you think suits your room best and then buy the next size up.

Super-thin TVs look stylish but they tend to sound rubbish because theres no room inside for decent speakers (Sony is a lone exception here as it does offer a range of TVs with proper, forward-facing drivers). A soundbar or sound base TV pedestal is a good solution. The 799 LG Musicflow HS9soundbar and subwoofer package is a 700w whopper that also supports Google Cast music streaming from your smartphone.

When it comes to movies, a pay TV package from the likes of Sky, BT or Virgin Media will ensure you never run short of blockbusters. However, if you want to go contract-free, consider the 35 Amazon Fire streaming HDMI stick. This plugs directly into your TV and streams movies and shows from Amazon Prime Instant and Netflix, as well as catch-up from BBC iPlayer and YouTube.

The version for enthusiastsIF you want to take your home cinema up a notch, buy a 4K (also referred to as Ultra HD) TV and a home cinema receiver and speaker package. 4K TVs offer four times the resolution of standard full HD sets, which means pictures look sharper and more cinematic than anything thats gone before. The latest industry figures suggest a million 4K TVs will be sold in the UK this year. Forty-inch 4K TVs start at around 600. The screens do a

great job of upscaling regular HD but really come into their own with native 4K content. Netflix offers 4K shows (Daredevil, House Of Cards, Marco Polo and more) on select 4K TVs, and the improvement in picture quality is dramatic. Youll need a fast fibre broadband connection (greater than 15mbps) to get it though. Check your preferred TV offers Netflix 4K, as not all support the service.

Its not just movies that benefit from 4K. BT will launch BT Sport Ultra HDin August, the UKs first dedicated 4K TV channel. The Community Shield will be its first broadcast.

To really appreciate the extra resolution offered by 4K TV, audition screens measuring 55in and above (65in is the real sweet spot).

Obviously you need to partner your 4K mega-telly with some serious home cinema amplification. The latest receivers typically come with built-in wi-fi, which makes connecting to online music services a doddle, as well as Bluetooth for streaming. The new Sony STR-DN860 AV receiver (399) boasts seven channels of amplification and has been tuned to

Life of Riley:

Design-led audio:Amina Technologies installs speakers hidden behind plastered walls

Friday, July 3, 2015 METRO 39

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me comforts J U ST H O W G O O D I S D O L B Y AT M O S 3 D AU D I O ?ITS been called 3D for your ears but does Dolby Atmos pass muster? I tested the system at home and it does sound amazing provided you set it up correctly.

To date there have been more than 150 movies mixed in Dolby Atmos, including American Sniper (pictured) and Marvels Ant-Man, and theyre just

beginning to appear on Blu-ray disc.

The technology will soon debut on games, too. Star

Wars: Battlefront will be the first video

game with Dolby Atmos audio when it launches in November.I used the 999

Onkyo TX-NR838 seven-channel amplifier. As

Atmos dispenses audio from on high, ceiling speakers

would seem a requirement. But as most of us dont have any, you can buy cute upward firing models that bounce sound effects off the ceiling. A pair of small Onkyos sell for 129. It took me a while to get them in the right position but when I did, magical things began to happen. Rain pitter-patters from above and insects buzz (annoyingly) around your head.

The downside is that its a faff to set up. Most of us will want things made a little easier before we go Atmos-pheric. SM

make the most of high-res downloads. However, to future-proof your cinema, look for an amp thats compatible with Dolby Atmos, a revolutionary new audio system that offers a height channel, as well as surround sound. The Onkyo TX-NR646 AV receiver (549) is Dolby Atmos-ready.

Youll also need seven loudspeakers and a subwoofer. Theres a veritable forest of loudspeaker choices, with brands such as Bowers & Wilkins, Monitor Audio and Q Acoustics, to name but three, offering multichannel speaker packages.

The ultimate home cinemaIS money no object? Then why not build a home cinema to rival a professional theatre? For the latest in TV display technology, consider LGs huge, curved 77in OLED 77EC980V. Unlike LED TVs, OLED technology renders black perfectly, which creates incredible contrast. Theyre also unfeasibly thin

and very, very pricey. LGs giant OLED can be yours for 25,000.

Alternatively, opt for a 4K video projector. The Sony VPL-VW300ESdelivers a big-screen cinema experience for 5,800 (factor in roughly the same for a 120in screen that drops down from the ceiling).

Having a room full of loudspeakers might rightly be seen as a turn off. But architectural loudspeakers can be recessed into the walls or ceiling. You can even make your home cinema speakers vanish entirely. Amina

Technologies sells loudspeakers that can be installed behind

plaster. Typically used in design-critical high-end residential interiors, once skimmed over they are invisible yet still produce a crisp, clear sound.

And launching in time for Christmas is a new version of the Blu-ray disc format, able to play movies in 4K resolution for the first time. Its going to be the must-have gift for any home cinema fan.