The Avett Brothers scheduled a “full band” New Year’s Eve concert performance livestreamed from Charlotte via the nugs.net website, featuring unannounced special guests and a countdown to 2021. The live webcast was to begin at 8 p.m. EST and remain available on demand for 48 hours. Pricing was $39.99 for the 1080p version. A 4K option was $10 more.

LG’s Signature premium sub-brand will contribute $10,000 to the American Ballet Theatre’s Rise (Representation and Inclusion Sustain Excellence) program, said the tech company Friday. ABT Rise “will support organizational partnerships, artistic endeavors and educational initiatives that further its commitment to advance diversity, equity and inclusion on and off the stage,” said LG. Signature recently sponsored “highlight filming” of The Nutcracker in 8K, viewable on the ABT and Signature YouTube channels.

The UHD Alliance and Digital Entertainment Group plan a Sept. 30 virtual event, “Filmmaker Mode: Redefining the Home Entertainment Experience,” to discuss the “progress and impact” of the TV movie-watching feature, and “its potential for direct-to-consumer services.” Filmmaker Mode, introduced a year ago at the urging of prominent directors, is the ease-of-use TV picture setting free of the image processing that creators disdain for rendering their movies in the living room as if they were shot on high-speed video rather than film (see 1908270001). LG, Panasonic and Vizio were early brand supporters. Kaleidescape, Samsung and TP Vision added their backing at CES (see 2001070034).

Konka made its U.S. debut through regional retailers with three Android TV series launched at CES. Nebraska Furniture Mart (NFM) showed several “on sale” models Wednesday on its e-commerce site, starting with a 32-inch 720p H3, shown as 41% off for $139; a 40-inch version is $199. The 4K U5 line ranges from $239 for a 43-inch set to $449 for a 65-incher, with built-in Google Assistant, a voice remote control and four HDMI inputs, said Konka. NFM didn't carry the Q7 quantum dot QLED series, comprising 50-, 55-, 65- and 75-inch models. The flagship 75-inch Q75A QLED TV has a minimum advertised price of $1,199; the QLED line also includes a 50-inch model ($369), a $429 55-inch set and $629 65-inch unit, emailed Scott Ramirez, Konka senior vice president-sales and marketing. The TVs are being assembled in Juarez, Mexico, said Ramirez, saying COVID-19 supply chain issues caused a “slight delay” of less than 30 days. The TVs also will be available at Conn’s Home Plus and retailers in the NATM and Nationwide buying groups, he said. Konka TVs will launch “soon” at Amazon and other outlets to be announced later, he said. Ramirez credited Konka’s “global buying power” for the company’s ability to achieve such low price points. He sidestepped questions on target competition.

Kaleidescape is “thrilled to be a part” of the Filmmaker Mode initiative because “it’s driven by the same belief system that drives Kaleidescape,” emailed Vice President-Engineering Mark McKenzie Monday. “Movies are best enjoyed with cinematic experience, and a big part of that is seeing and hearing the movie as the artists intended,” he said. The UHD Alliance debuted Filmmaker Mode last summer as the ease-of-access TV picture setting free of the image processing that creators disdain for rendering their content as if it were shot on high-speed video rather than film (see 1908270001). LG, Panasonic and Vizio were the first consumer-brand “launch partners,” and UHDA added Kaleidescape, Samsung and TP Vision backing at CES (see 2001070034). Kaleidescape will roll out Filmmaker Mode support in all its Strato movie players through a “software update,” said McKenzie. “I don't have a firm date yet but it should be within the next two or three months.” The players will activate Filmmaker Mode automatically through metadata detection “during movie playback for televisions and projectors that support” the feature, he said. “The television or projector can inform the customer when the mode is activated, in much the same way that many displays indicate when HDR is active.” Filmmaker Mode support within the CEDIA channel “was significantly enhanced with the addition of Kaleidescape,” emailed UHDA President Mike Fidler Monday. “We have been in discussions with many home theater projector suppliers and do expect to have some new members on board supporting Filmmaker Mode that address that market segment.”

The UHD Alliance scored coups for its Filmmaker Mode initiative Monday at CES when it announced Samsung and TP Vision as new TV-maker adopters. Kaleidescape also signed on as a supporter. Filmmaker Mode is the ease-of-access TV picture setting free of the image processing that creators disdain for rendering their content in the living room as if it were shot on high-speed video rather than film (see 1908270001). TP Vision makes and markets Philips-brand TVs in most world markets outside North America. IHS Markit pegs Philips among the top five TV brands in Europe where its presence is strongest. Adding “global powerhouse” Samsung and “European market leader” Philips to the roster that previously included LG, Panasonic and Vizio “brings much greater impact” to the global effort to boost Filmmaker Mode adoption and awareness, UHDA President Mike Fidler told a Mandalay Bay news conference. “We now really do have that broad, strong worldwide presence,” said Fidler. LG is committed to including Filmmaker Mode in every new model of 4K and 8K TVs it introduces in 2020, said Tim Alessi, head-home entertainment product marketing. “We intend to aggressively promote Filmmaker Mode at retail as these products come to market.” Filmmaker Mode got “official endorsements" from the Directors Guild of America, the Film Foundation, the National Cinematographers Guild and the American Society of Cinematographers as "the preferred way for watching movies and episodic television," said UHDA Chairman Michael Zink. It’s the only picture setting "that has received such endorsements to date" from "such a broad variety of the creative community," said Zink.

LG Electronics is teaming with multimedia artist David Van Eyssen on a collection of Ultra HD digital artwork using LG’s CineBeam ultra-short throw 4K laser projectors its C9 OLED TVs, said the manufacturer Friday. The collection will be open to the public Friday and Saturday at the 508A Gallery in Santa Monica, said LG. The artwork consists of a sequence of eight original “large-scale still fragmented art portraits” and “motion triptychs merged with high-frequency interference patterns,” all created by Van Eyssen, it said. The collaboration will showcase how LG’s OLED TVs and 4K projectors “can elevate the home entertainment environment above and beyond what is normally expected," said Michelle Fernandez, who heads home entertainment consumer marketing at LG.

LG launched its first ultra short throw 4K projector for the U.S. market, it said Wednesday. The $5,999 LG CineBeam AI ThinQ 4K Ultra HD laser projector can project a 120-inch image when placed 7.2 inches from the wall, said the company. The HU85LA is said to be the first projector with Google Assistant built in, and LG’s ThinQ AI solution allows control and content discovery via voice commands. When a user searches for content, the projector automatically connects to streaming services such as Netflix, YouTube and Amazon, or to broadcast TV through the smart TV platform, LG said. The supplied LG Magic Remote has a motion-based user interface and backlit functions.

The average U.S. home owns 2.6 TVs, nearly the same number as was reported five years ago, reported the Leichtman Research Group, pegging the total U.S. TV installed base at 320 million. For the 15th straight year, more than 20 percent of adults said they got a new TV set in the past year, demonstrating that TVs are a “recurring purchase item,” despite the proliferation of screens capable of displaying video, said LRG. 4K TV has grown because of the ongoing purchase of TVs in general and dropping prices for 4K. In 2014, it said, about one in every 200 TV households had a 4K TV, growing to about one in every six households in 2019. Netflix was the most common source cited for watching 4K content, named by 40 percent of respondents with a 4K TV, it said. Only a third of those respondents reported having the Netflix Premium plan, the only tier offering 4K content, suggesting that “a large number of Netflix subscribers may believe that they are watching 4K content when they are not,” it said. Though some consumers may be confused about whether they’re watching various types of 4K content, the study found 59 percent of 4K TV owners strongly agree that the picture quality on a 4K TV makes everything look better even when not watching 4K content, it said, while 7 percent disagreed. Roughly 48 percent of non-4K TV owners planning to get a new TV in the next year said they're very interested in getting a 4K model and 41 percent of current 4K owners said they’re interested in getting another 4K set, it said. Only 11 percent said they're interested in getting an 8K set over a 4K model, said LRG. Among those that bought a TV in the past year, average reported spending was $621 compared with $671 in 2014 and $622 in 2009, it said.

Stacey Spears and Don Munsil have released a Blu-ray Disc of test and demonstration tools for calibrating and evaluating Ultra HD displays with a focus on high dynamic range. The Spears & Munsil UHD HDR Benchmark disc, designed for professionals and enthusiasts, gives users display information, identifies weak links in hardware and software, and suggests optimal settings for equipment, said the creators. It “changes the game” for test and evaluation discs “by making use of all of the features and range that HDR and wide-gamut standards can offer,” said Spears, saying almost every pattern is encoded in multiple versions, with metadata and peak levels adjusted for a variety of HDR display technologies. “HDR represents a new way of thinking about video,” said Munsil, “with a completely different approach to transfer functions, or what we used to call ‘gamma,’ and that meant that a bunch of old patterns just plain didn’t work anymore.” Video is now encoded for very-high-brightness devices, Munsil said, and “has to be remapped by the display to fit that display’s actual capabilities.” Every display does that differently, and the disc will let users see “exactly what the display does when it makes those important remapping decisions,” he said. The $39 disc is available at Amazon.