Home Cinema Choice – September 2018

This issue’s cover star is Philips’s 55OLED803, a super-powered 55in OLED Ambilight 4K TV packing the brand’s advanced Perfect Natural Reality picture processing. Does this flatscreen deserve a place in your home cinema setup? We give our verdict. Also on the test bench this issue is M&K Sound’s high-performance in-wall/on-wall IW150 5.1 loudspeaker array and its monster subwoofer. We also run the rule over TCL’s affordable 55DC748 55in Ultra HD LED TV; Polk’s dialogue-boosting Magnifi MAX SR soundbar system; Panasonic’s flagship TX-55FZ952B OLED flatscreen; Sony’s HT-ZF9 3.1-channel soundbar with Dolby Atmos processing; Optoma’s £550 Full HD projector bargain; Amazon’s Alexa-enabled Echo Spot smart assistant; and more. Whatever your budget, we’ve got you covered. On the software side, we check out new Blu-ray and 4K releases including A Quiet Place, Mission: Impossible 1-5, The Complete Sartana and Ghost Stories, plus a HD upgrade for Doctor Who: Season 12. And if you’re looking for something to show off your new 4K TV, don’t miss our round-up of the 20 best-looking Ultra HD Blu-rays. We also scour the cinematic wasteland for the most entertaining post-apocalyptic movies. Elsewhere, we talk to the 3D Film Archive about the stereoscopic format’s past and future; go behind-the-scenes at Focal; check out a bespoke home cinema for a pair of film fanatics; report on a blockbuster year at the box office; and remember the glory days of movie novelisations. Plus: all the usual opinions, news, disc reviews and competitions. Enjoy the show!