Color from Glossy Black

Whatever you do, don't touch the PD8150. This is not, as you're certainly expecting, because it will bite you. Once your installer mounts it and wipes it off, leave it alone. This is because the stylish, gloss black case attracts fingerprints like a Hummer attracts scornful glances. There's even a handy cloth in the case to clean it. But once it's up there (out of reach), the color that comes out of it is something to behold.

Bringing a Splash of Art Home

ArtScreen, from Vutec are more than just pieces of artwork.

In fact, each one serves a dual purpose. ArtScreen products transform and cover everything, including LCDs, video projection screens, plasma TVs and speakers with beautiful art. They add a splash of color and flair of to any home’s décor palette.

But which one to choose?

Our 10 Best Gear Awards

The best gear of the year.

Projector's Friend

Projection screens are often overlooked, despite being looked at. Whether you're looking for a motorized screen or fixed screen, gray or white, matching your projector with the right screen can improve its performance, and perhaps the performance of your entire theater.

Dynamic Duo

Of all the storied American audio brands established after the Second World War, perhaps none has the rich history associated with the McIntosh marque.

Founded and run by engineers, the company produced audio components that stood out from competitors with their trademark cut-glass front panels, highlighted with blue-lit meters and a green-glowing McIntosh logo—a trade dress that continues to this day.

Standard Bearer

Best known for his Digital Video Essentials series of test discs, video guru Joe Kane is often called upon to consult with display manufacturers looking to improve the overall video performance of their products. He also works with the Hollywood film and television industry, and is a singular driving force for better-looking HDTV pictures.

His latest collaboration with Samsung is their new SP-A800B 1080p DLP front projector (he had previously contributed to their earlier 720p DLP model a few years ago).

Of all the new gear that has moved in and out of my home recently, the Stewart CineCurve ultra-wide projection screen has elicited the most enthusiastic raves from friends and out-of-town guests. When I play a widescreen high-definition movie on Blu-ray or HD DVD, I take a moment to pause the movie right at the opening scene, and point out the black bars at the top and bottom of the picture that are almost always there.

“You have reduced my film to a postage stamp!” So said director David Lean upon seeing the first video transfer of his epic film Lawrence Of Arabia. Back then, virtually everything was “panned and scanned”; widescreen images were chopped down to a squarish 1.33:1 aspect ratio to fit the TVs of the time. The advent of widescreen 1.78:1 (or 16:9) TVs in the 1990s helped matters, but most motion pictures have even wider aspect ratios, ranging from 1.85:1 to 2.40:1. Show these films on a 1.78:1 screen, and you get black bars at the top and bottom of the picture.