Home Cinema Choice Autumn 2020

Ardent collectors of new-release Blu-rays will have found their shelves looking bare this Summer as the flow of 2020 titles hitting disc nearly completely dried up. But while we mourn the delayed releases of Black Widow, No Time To Die and others, the new movie drought has shone fresh light on studio back-catalogues. And with vaults unlocked, the 4K Blu-ray format in particular has probably never looked healthier. This issue we let our jaws drop at the collective brilliance of War of the Worlds, Pitch Black and Flash Gordon, all repurposed for 4K HDR home entertainment. It's the latter that arguably stands out the most – a florid fantasy flick without a CGI pixel in sight that looks …well, out of this world. I'm not saying I'm thrilled to bits…

John Archer: The experienced TV tester cut his teeth as an early HCC staffer Jon Thompson: Film producer and post-production expert delves into Hollywood and AV Steve May: HCC’s former Ed. is one of the UK’s most respected AV journos Anton van Beek: Our avid movie watcher and disc collector cut his teeth on Total DVD Richard Stevenson: Former Editor of the UK CE trade journal ERT Ed Selley: Audiophile Ed mixes his home cinema passion with a love of vinyl Steve Withers: Movie fan, display calibrator and object-based audio obsessive…

Audio Pro goes low Audio Pro SW-10 www.audiopro.com Swedish manufacturer Audio Pro says its new SW-10 subwoofer is 'designed to impress' both visually and sonically. A suggested partner for its recently launched A26 bookshelf and A36 floorstanding stereo multiroom speakers – but also intended for integration in a home cinema – the 200W Class D sub features a front-firing 8in bass driver and dual side-facing 9in passive radiators, for a rated low-frequency reach of 33Hz. Pricing is £360 approx. HCC ONLINE… For breaking AV news, blogs, features and reviews visit www.homecinemachoice.com Follow us on Twitter @hccmag Like us on Facebook facebook.com/homecinemachoice…

Marantz has followed stablemate brand Denon in releasing its first AV receivers with 8K (and 4K/120Hz) video passthrough. The new SR series begins with the seven-channel SR5015 (£900) and culminates in the 11-channel SR8015 (£2,800, pictured), which offers processing to 13 channels and compatibility with DTS:X Pro via future firmware. All models in the four-strong range use discrete amplification and Marantz's proprietary HDAM circuitry to deliver 'stellar sound quality.' Tosh bigscreen, small price Toshiba has a new top model in its TV lineup. The UK4B, available at 43in (£330), 50in (£370) and 58in (£400), is the brand's first flatscreen with integrated Amazon Alexa, via a microphone built into its bezel. Specification highlights include Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos playback, Freeview Play tuner/catch-up, and proprietary TRU Picture Engine processing. Says…

Digital sales of film and TV content surged in the UK this Spring as Britons forced to stay at home during lockdown camped out in front of their TVs. Data collected by the British Association of Screen Entertainment (BASE) and the Official Charts Company shows an 87 per cent year-on-year increase in spend through digital retailers for the 12-week period from March 28. In total, £113m was splashed out on digital downloads from platforms including Rakuten TV, Sky Store, CHILI, Google Play Store, Apple TV and Amazon Prime Video. And this doesn't include rented content. The growth in spend meant that outlay on digital film/TV accounted for 51 per cent of the transactional home video total, with 49 per cent coming from physical disc sales. During the same period in…

Sonic the Hedgehog (4K BD) Entertaining game adaptation races onto 4K BD with pulse-pounding Dolby Atmos sonics. Gangs of London (BD) Gareth ‘The Raid’ Evans' explosive crime series packs a bigger punch on BD with punishing DTS-HD MA. The Hunt (DVD) Denied a UK Blu-ray, this satirical update of The Most Dangerous Game is worth a look on DVD. Swamp Thing: The Complete Series (BD) Cut down before it could take root, all ten episodes of this superhero eco-horror are now available to enjoy on disc. Deathstroke: Knights & Dragons (BD) DC Comics’ assassin with a moral code takes centre stage in this stylish, enjoyable and (very) violent animated action romp.…