Home Cinema Choice – September 2019

SEPTEMBER 2019 HOME CINEMA CHOICE

Synology NAS goes compact Meet the 'mini matrix'

Aimed at 'entry-level

or fi rst-time' users,

Synology's new

DS419slim NAS

(Network Attached

Storage) device

features four drive

bays for (additional)

2.5in HDDs or SSDs – with a maximum

total capacity of 20TB. A compact cube

measuring 15cm across, it's designed to

sit on a desktop and runs Synology's

DiskStation Manager operating system. RAID

5 and RAID 6 confi gurations are supported.

It's available now, priced around £330.

http://www.synology.com

CYP has launched a

new smallscale 4K

signal distribution

box with an

integrated stereo

amplifi er. The

MA-421 (priced £1,200), partners its quartet

of 4K HDR HDMI 2.0 inputs with a twin

HDBaseT output matrix (one with mirrored

HDMI) and a bundled HDBaseT receiver. It's

driveable via CYP's new Control app, which

also handles connected display and source

devices, and the company says it off ers the

same 18Gbps, 4K/60p, 4:4:4 passthrough

specifi cation as its larger siblings.

http://www.cypeurope.com

UK broadband speeds up

Ofcom data says average download rate now passes 50Mbps

Good news for 4K streaming addicts. UK
broadband speeds are continuing to increase year
on year, according to research by industry regulator
Ofcom, and were boosted by over 20 per cent in the
last 12 months.
The survey of nearly 5,000 domestic UK
broadband users, achieved via monitors installed in
home routers, found the average download speed
has, for the fi rst time, exceeded 50Mbps (reaching
54.2Mbps). By way of comparison, Netfl ix
recommends a 25Mbps broadband connection
for its UHD streams.
Upload speeds continue to lag behind, but
have also increased by 15 per cent to an average
of 7.2Mbps. 'Both download and upload speeds have
more than doubled in the last fi ve years,' says Ofcom.
Coming out on top of the report was the Vivid 350
cable broadband package from Virgin Media, which
off ered average 'peak time' speeds of up to
360.2Mbps. Trailing in
second spot was BT's
300Mbps full-fi bre
package, which delivered
an as-advertised peak
average of 300.6Mbps,

while also claiming the best average upload speed

(48.8Mbps).

While such high-end packages and other

superfast options are becoming more commonplace,

many households remain on connections that

aren't capable of handling data-heavy streaming

platforms. Only 10 per cent of UK homes with

'basic, copper broadband' were able to stream

content in UHD, Ofcom found. And it says that some

may not realise they're missing out. 'Many on

standard broadband could improve their streaming

experience by upgrading, often without paying more

than they do now.'

Full steam ahead

Looking to the future, Ofcom says it is introducing

measures to help providers develop 'full fi bre'

broadband (where fi bre connections run from

the local exchange to the end user),

replacing copper-based networks.

Its report noted that full-fi bre packages

performed better than equivalent

copper-based packages in almost

every measure.

'Broadband comes in lots of fl avours

these days: copper, superfast, cable and

full fi bre,' says Ofcom's Strategy and

Research Group Director, Yih-Choung

Teh. 'Which kind you choose can

really aff ect your online experience.

So we're encouraging people to visit

our dedicated Boost Your Broadband

website to fi nd out how they could get

faster broadband, for the same or less

than they pay now.'

Eighty per cent of UK homes now

have a fi xed broadband connection, says

Ofcom, and 12 million households now

use video streaming services.

Fast broadband is needed to
handle 4K VOD platforms

Playlist...

Team HCC spins up its disc

picks of the month

Captain Marvel

(Ultra HD Blu-ray)

While waiting for the disc

release of Avengers:

Endgame (see p14),

Disney's 4K outing for

this superhero origin

movie is keeping

us happy.

The Terminator (BD)

James Cameron's offi cial feature

fi lm debut still astonishes 35 years

later, and this 'remastered' 2012

Blu-ray release is solid.

Domino [2019] (BD)

It's no return to form, but we'd

rather have a new Brian De Palma

thriller than not have a new Brian

De Palma thriller.

Wild Rose (DVD)

Jessie Buckley shines as a single

mother with dreams of making

it big in Nashville in this superb

musical drama. Shame there’s

no Blu-ray...

Puppet Master: The

Littlest Reich (BD)

Enjoyably gory killer puppet

reboot with an unapologetically

provocative script by Bone

Tomahawk director S. Craig Zahler.

BULLETIN 9