dnp Supernova $2,109 as reviewed, 16:9, 84" diag., wall-mount. Prices start at $979, final price dependent on size and configuration Specified gain: 2.0 The rub for a lot of people with front projection is the iron-tight control that needs to be exerted over the ambient light in the room. Black out drapes just don't cut it for a lot of people. And it's a tricky thing to figure out how get a screen to reject ambient room light while accurately reflecting and applying gain to light from the projector. dnp's Supernova screen combats ambient light in innovative way, rejecting light that hits the screen from off-axis angles while efficiently reflecting light that hits on-axis, such as that from a properly installed projector. While it doesn't have the contrast of a standard white screen in a darkened room, the Supernova unequivocally does improve the image substantially with a reasonable amount of room light, and doesn't degrade resolution. This screen will allow some of you to have your front projection cake, and turn some lights on while you eat it too!
	Screen Innovations Visage $1,799 as reviewed, 16:9, 60" diag., wall-mount. Prices start at $1,799, final price dependent on size and configuration Specified gain: 2.0 Screen Innovations' Visage simple aim is to "take projectors out of the dark." Nothing puts the "theater" into home theater like front projection, but no other component requires as many lifestyle compromises. Projectors need to be used in rooms with tight control over the room light, a requirement that holds a lot of people back from going front pro. Screen Innovations licenses the Visage's innovative screen technology from dnp, manufacturers of the Supernova screen that UAV also reviewed and recommends. The Visage has high reflectivity with on-axis light from the projector, with strong rejection of off-axis light such as ambient room light. While no screen will allow you to open the windows and let the sunshine in, the Visage makes a substantial improvement in image quality with a reasonable amount of room light without degrading image clarity or resolution. Enough to make front projection a more livable proposition for sure!
	Screen Research ClearPix2 $$3,700 as reviewed, 16:9, 96" wide, fixed wall mount; power retractable version $5,200 Specified gain: 0.95 The ability to place loudspeakers behind a front projection screen has obvious aesthetic appeal. If you don't' believe me, ask your significant other. But until now, the only way to accomplish this has been with perforated screens that compromise both the audio and video experience of home theater more often than not. Screen Research's ClearPix2 has a unique solution that uses microscopic fiberglass strands that are coated in vinyl and then woven into a patented knit design. The ClearPix2 has a very low gain (by our measurements only 61% that of the Stewart Studiotek 130) and so the combination of the screen's size and the projector's light output must be matched carefully. With a proper match the ClearPix2 provided outstanding image quality and uniformity on -axis and off, at the sacrifice of just a little softened image detail. And not only was the ClearPix2 acoustically transparent, it actually made the audio image across the front of the soundstage more cohesive and solid, since the three front speakers could be placed at equal height. With the right projector, the option of placing the speakers behind the screen is a viable choice with the ClearPix2.
	Stewart Filmscreen Studiotek 130 Standard prices start at $1691 for 16:9, 72" wide, wall-mount screen with deluxe frame, custom sizes available, final price dependent on size and configuration Specified gain: 1.3 Stewart Filmscreen's Studiotek 130 is a classic pure and simple. This white, 1.3-gain screen is the standard against which all others are measured (literally). Its resolution, uniformity of color, focus and light output are all as good as it gets, and this screen has served as a reference for video professionals and videophiles alike since back when CRTs ruled the home theater world. Now that digital video projection has caught up in black levels and contrast without the help of gray screens and other trickery the Studiotek 130 is again the screen of choice for those willing to take some steps to control room light. TJN, SB, FM, JB, and SS use this industry stalwart in their own reference projection systems. "Nuff said?

Room and speaker optimizing devices have come a long way since the old 10-band graphic equalizer.

	Alchemy2 D2L Digital Delay Line $400 Alchemy2 continues Audio Alchemy's tradition of offering smart little boxes that fix little problems for a fair price. This D2L is the cure for video processing delays causing the audio and video to out of sync, which makes all your movies look like badly lip-synced Kung Fu theater. While more surround pre/pros and AVRs are offering AV sync delay, even those sometimes don't offer quite as much delay as you might need to solve your problem. The D2L can process Dolby Digital and DTS signals, plus PCM up to 192kHz (and all stops in between), and lets you dial in as much as a full 1.34 seconds of delay. That's a lot of milliseconds! Our review sample was a little sensitive to static discharge, but that was corrected in a subsequent sample. It works as advertised. A square deal for $400!
	Lexicon MC-12 V4 Room EQ Upgrade Kit $$2,995, plus $795 for microphone kit This is a more limited recommendation as it can only be used and installed in Lexicon's MC-12 processor. For your $3800 you get a DSP card, a demo CD, a kit of four microphones, and a CD-Rom that requires connecting to a Windows PC to install the new software into your MC-12 (your dealer should be able to do this for you if you have the good sense to not be a Windows guy). Once installed, this system allows automatic calibration of the MC-12's level and delay settings and EQ's every channel from 19Hz-250Hz at seven different frequencies. Not only does it effectively clean up those troublesome room nodes for more neutral, less-colored sound, unlike many other such systems it's a simple pleasure to implement. Highly recommended for current or future MC-12 owners.

	APC S15 Battery Power Conditioner $1,499 A fixture in the computer and IT industry, battery backup manufacturer APC is now in the home theater market, big time. In addition to offering a battery backup that allows users to power down their systems gently in the event of a power failure, APC's S15 has twelve outlets with surge protection, filtering and EMI/RFI rejection. The outlets are divided into four electrically isolated filter banks of three outlets. Virtually all of its functionality is programmable, including the threshold (in volts) at which the battery backup kicks in. While it might be different in your house with your system, we can't give the familiar song and dance about the APC lifting veils away from our audio or video systems. But we can say that the S15 performed exactly as advertised as a battery backup and that it does no harm to the pure performance potential either. And it does so without charging the outrageous prices that many PLC manufacturers do, and that's good enough for us.
	Richard Gray's Power Company 400 Pro and 1200 Custom $400 Pro- $795, 1200C- $2,195 RGPC's staple device is the four outlet 400 Pro, and it stands out in a very densely crowded category as a no BS product that actually works. Inside each RGPC is a large inductor core, or choke, and a fast-blo fuse. Unlike so many of the surge protectors or line conditioners out there the RGPC is wired in parallel with the incoming AC, which means there's no current limiting, and components don't have to be plugged directly into the RGPC units to receive the full effect. The RGPC simply has to be plugged into an outlet on the same circuit as your gear. Several RGPC units can be "star clustered" in groups for improved performance, and the 1200 Custom is in fact two 400 Pro devices in a single box with 12 outlets. Inductive power filtering is becoming very popular in many high-end products, and the results that can be reaped from the RGPC devices with both audio and video systems can be noticeable, if not staggering (especially with power hungry components like CRTs and plasmas screens). RGPC devices are the only PLC devices in SB's reference system.

You say you want to calibrate your television or audio system? You'll need more than a screwdriver and good intentions to do it right.

	ATI SPL Meter $69 We swiped this one from Mikey Fremer's Analog Corner in Stereophile. Radio Shack discontinued the classic analog sound pressure level (SPL) meter, and ATI brought the rights to it and improved its frequency response (ATI the pro accessories company, not the power amplifier/processor company). Although the price is now $69 this is an indispensable tool for any audiophile or home theater enthusiast. Some of us still trust this little baby more than any of the newfangled automated, microphone driven auto calibration features now showing up on virtually all AVRs and pre/pros.
	Avia Pro DVD Set $400 This is an expensive multi-DVD suite of tools, but the 16:9 Video Test Patterns disc alone is worth the price of admission. Over 1000 digitally generated and mastered signals on this one disc alone. Oriented toward calibrators in the sense that frequently used patterns are smarty bunched together, this set has quality as well as quantity. More than you need or just more than you expect? A perfect tool for the video professional or the dedicated amateur enthusiast.
	Digital Video Essentials $25 The latest iteration of video expert Joe Kane's Video Essentials, the DVE DVD is already an industry standard. Revised and updated, DVE has everything you need to dial in your home theater, and more than a few patterns we use in our reviews at UAV to evaluate the performance capabilities of source components and displays. In addition to providing the test patterns, it also tells the less initiated how to go about making adjustments in a clear, concise fashion. For just $25 you can elevate the performance and accuracy of your entire system.
	ISF HDTV Calibration Wizard $30 The Imaging Science Foundation teamed up with Monster Cable for this setup DVD, which is designed to allow even novices to adjust and setup their HDTVs without fear of techno-intimidation. In other words, although the ISF is involved, this isn't a test disc made by and for ISF calibrators. It's a quick and easy to use tool for the average Joe to simply and easily take his TV as far as it can go short of a full ISF calibration. Educational, effective and relatively easy to use, even for non-techies who want to get the most out of their movie and TV watching at home.

A couch potato's best friend, the newest of the breed will practically remote control your lifeÑor often as many as 8 or more lives.

Logitech Harmony 676 $230 Logitech's Harmony 676 actually is what all "universal" remotes aspire to be by treating your system as a cohesive whole, basing its functionality around your activities and not just your components. The 676 is configured online, where user profiles are created that include both the components in your systems and the main activities you wish to carry out by remote, such as watching TV, listening to CDs, or watching movies on DVD. Once those parameters are defined the appropriate commands are downloaded into the remote and you're off to the movies (or music, or TV). The Logitech also sports sophisticated sync functions for both powering components on and off and cycling through source inputs for gear that requires them. And of course, the 676 delivers the ergonomic goods, with smartly placed buttons, and perfect balance for one –handed operation in a darkened room. Isn't it time your remotes stopped controlling you?