spinph99 Elias Cato scores 23 as Central Arkansas tops UNC Asheville 92-83 in double OTStock market today: Wall Street rises with Nvidia as bitcoin bursts above $99,000

The opening season of the San Pedro Volleyball Indoor Tournament will conclude this Sunday, December 8th, at the Angel Nuñez Auditorium. The final rounds of matches will feature teams competing in the Junior category, followed by COED, and finishing with the Senior divisions. The games will start promptly at 4PM. In the second round of the semi-final matches held on December 1st, the Jr. Female division featured a matchup between Isla Bonita Girls and Island Academy Girls. In the Male division of the same category, the Island Boyz faced off against ACES Boys. In the COED division, the Warriors competed against SPHS, followed by a match between Barbos and SPHS Sharks in the Seniors category. The results of the final games will feature ten teams competing for the championship in their respective categories. In the Jr. Female division, the Island Academy Girls will face the SPHS Jr. Sharks. In the Male category, Rompe Pechitos will take on the Island Boyz. In the COED division, the championship will be contested between the WD 20s and the Warriors. In the Seniors category, SPHS will compete against Wildsets in the female group, while in the male division, the Barbos will aim to win the championship by defeating the Vikings. Erick Santizo, the organizer, President of the San Pedro Volleyball Association , and Sports Coordinator at San Pedro High School (SPHS), is excited about the upcoming volleyball final. This marks the eighth year of organizing the tournament, and he extends his gratitude to all the teams and supporters for their participation in another year of competitions. Santizo invites islanders and volleyball fans to the auditorium at San Pedro High School to cheer on their favorite teams. After the event, the San Pedro Town Council will provide the winners with their medals and trophies. Looking ahead, Santizo is eager to host another tournament in 2025.

( MENAFN - IANS) New Delhi, Dec 24 (IANS) In today's digital age, smartphone displays serve as our window to a world of content, entertainment, and connectivity. As our reliance on mobile devices grows, the quality and design of these displays have become paramount in shaping our user experience. The evolution of smartphone screens has been marked by continuous innovation, with manufacturers pushing the boundaries of design to deliver more immersive viewing experiences. Among these innovations, bezel-less quad curve displays represent a significant leap forward in smartphone design aesthetics and functionality. By minimizing the frame around the screen, these displays maximize the viewing area while maintaining a compact form factor. The curved edges not only enhance the visual appeal but also contribute to improved ergonomics, making the device more comfortable to hold and operate. This design approach effectively transforms the entire front of the device into an uninterrupted canvas, offering users a more engaging and seamless interaction with their digital content. The quad-curve display represents a significant advancement over both flat and dual-curved displays. This design makes the device appear lighter and thinner, while enabling smoother touch interactions when swiping from any edge. Advanced AI anti-mistouch technology reduces mistouch rates by 25 per cent, ensuring precise control whether in portrait or landscape orientation. Leading this display innovation, the realme 14 Pro 5G sets a new benchmark in display technology with its revolutionary bezel-less quad-curve design. Boasting India's slimmest bezels measuring just 1.6mm on all four sides, this engineering marvel achieves an impressive 93.8% screen-to-body ratio. The result is an almost borderless viewing experience that transforms how users interact with their content. Building on this borderless design, the expansive 6.83-inch display is enhanced by a precise 42-degree golden curvature on all four sides, creating an aesthetic that's both visually striking and ergonomically sound. The thoughtful design of realme 14 Pro series ensures comfortable handling despite the generous screen size, while the premium Crystal Armor Glass provides robust protection against accidental drops. The implementation of cutting-edge FIAA technology, typically reserved for flagship devices, ensures superior colour accuracy at the edges, effectively eliminating the common green fringe issues seen in traditional curved displays. Visual excellence is at the heart of this display, featuring a crisp 1.5K resolution that brings content to life with exceptional clarity. The 120Hz refresh rate ensures smooth scrolling and fluid animations, while the 2500Hz instant touch sampling rate delivers ultra-responsive touch interactions - a combination that particularly elevates the gaming experience. The impressive 1500 nits peak brightness ensures excellent visibility even under bright sunlight, while the industry-leading 3840Hz PWM dimming technology reduces eye strain during extended viewing sessions, especially in low-light conditions. The development of this advanced display technology represents a significant R&D investment, with extensive engineering solutions for complex challenges like module lamination and durability. Through customized lamination fixtures and comprehensive simulation modeling, realme has achieved a robust and reliable display that maintains its integrity even under demanding usage conditions. The realme 14 Pro 5G's display technology marks a significant step forward in smartphone innovation, where every millimeter has been optimized for an unparalleled viewing experience. From the precision-engineered bezels to the advanced eye protection features, each element has been crafted to enhance how users interact with their digital world. Stay tuned for more updates on additional features that make the realme 14 Pro 5G a true game-changer in smartphone technology. -IANS na/ MENAFN23122024000231011071ID1109025696 Legal Disclaimer: MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.For those pondering a contribution to your stock portfolio , we are closing in on one of the seasonally strongest investing weeks of the year -- as if the holiday season weren't festive enough! Seasonal investing trends should never trump fundamental analysis for the long-term investor. However, it might not hurt to at least be aware of what parts of the year tend to be weak or strong for the stock market, especially if one is thinking about buying or selling stocks in the near term. Here's how often this aptly named year-end investing trend proves out and how much investors can expect to gain from it. Santa Claus is coming to town The final trading week of the year and the first two days of January historically see stocks rise more frequently than any other time of the year. This curious phenomenon is often referred to as the Santa Claus Rally . Yale Hirsch first coined the term in the Stock Trader's Almanac back in 1972, so this phenomenon has been occurring for a long time -- likely a majority of the modern American stock market era. According to Carson Investment Research, from 1950 through 2022, the Santa Claus period sees a rise in the S&P 500 ( ^GSPC 0.25% ) about 80% of the time, with an average gain of 1.32%. That may not sound like much, but it's actually quite a hefty gain for just one week. In fact, the Santa Claus week has the third-highest historical return of any seven-day period, and it's the week with the highest frequency of gains. Why does the Santa Claus rally happen? The causes of seasonal patterns in the stock market, including the Santa Claus rally, aren't known with precision. Once established, trends may be somewhat self-fulfilling, as investors buy into known strong periods and sell into weak ones. However, there are several possible causes of the Santa Claus rally phenomenon: If Santa doesn't come? Meanwhile, if Santa doesn't come, that could be a sign that the following year may turn into a lump of coal. Again, according to Carson Research, of the mere six times over the past 30 years that there wasn't a Santa Claus rally and the final week of the year had negative returns, January was subsequently lower five times. Moreover, the following full year had negative returns four out of those six times. That said, a Santa Claus rally is also no guarantee of an up year, either. While most years that follow a Santa Claus rally are positive, it's also true that the stock market has positive returns roughly 70%-75% of the time. But there are exceptions. For instance, at the end of 2021, there was a Santa Claus rally, but the market went on to see a brutal 19.4% market decline in 2022. Should you play seasonal trends? While this knowledge may be helpful, seasonal trends shouldn't necessarily influence your long-term investing plan. The stock market is inherently unpredictable, and as noted in the example above, there are always exceptions -- potentially big ones. If one does attempt to time the market , investors should also take into account whether stocks are expensive or cheap, the state of the economy, and a host of other fundamental factors. Moreover, over the long term, stock market investors tend to do well if they stick with a set strategy. While the S&P 500 is up 75% in all years since 1928, there can also be long stretches, as in the 1930s, 1970s, or 2000s, with negative or flat returns. That said, the longer you stay in the market, the higher the probability of positive returns. If you invest in the S&P 500 and hold on for 10 years, the probability of a positive return rises to a whopping 94%. And if you stick with the S&P 500 for 20 years, those odds rise to 100%. That's right -- based on history, S&P 500 investors have seen positive returns every time they held the index for 20 years or more, even when entering the market at the worst possible time. This is all the more reason to develop a process-driven, unemotional method of investing for the long term. That said, if your process does dictate a contribution to your portfolio in the near future, you may want to do so before Christmas.

Future of holidays revealed with incredible mountain beaches, ZERO airport queues and tech-free trips by 2054Is Advanced Micro Devices Stock Underperforming the S&P 500?

Published 5:24 pm Friday, December 6, 2024 By Data Skrive The Carolina Hurricanes (17-8-1) visit the New York Islanders (9-11-7) at UBS Arena in Elmont, New York on December 7, 2024, starting at 5:00 PM ET on ESPN+. The Hurricanes are third in the Eastern Conference (35 points), and the Islanders are 13th in the Eastern Conference (25 points). Sign up for ESPN+ today to watch 1,000+ out-of-market NHL games, ESPN+ Hockey Night & more. Watch 1,000+ out-of-market NHL games, ESPN+ Hockey Night & more streaming all season on ESPN+. Looking for NHL tickets? Head to StubHub today and see your team live. Rep your favorite players with officially licensed NHL gear. Head to Fanatics to find jerseys, shirts, hats, and much more. Get tickets for any NHL game this season at StubHub.Dejan Kulusevski cannot wait for the opportunity to play against Manchester City again after Tottenham ran riot at the Etihad Stadium. The Sweden midfielder hailed Saturday’s 4-0 thrashing of the champions as the best game of his career. The 24-year-old delivered an outstanding performance as Spurs shattered the champions’ 52-game unbeaten home run, helping start the rout with a superb cross for James Maddison’s opening goal. Kulusevski said: “I believed (we would win) this because in the past years, we’ve come here and played really well. “So this is the game I look forward to most in the year and, once again, it happened – glory to God. “I’d say it’s the best result ever in my career. It’s a big night for the whole club, for the coach, for the players. “Because City have a lot of the ball sometimes, we can rest when we defend. There’s also so much space up there, we play one against one and then it’s always dangerous because we have a lot of quality. “It’s always great to play great teams because they always want to play football. When you play lower teams, sometimes it’s not. There’s not much football played because they are a lot of fouls, a lot of injuries and it’s slow going.” Maddison stole the show with two goals in quick succession in the first half while Pedro Porro and Brennan Johnson later got on the scoresheet. Kulu-chef-ski cooked 👨‍🍳 📊 — Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) Yet Kulusevski’s performance was also eye-catching and the player himself believes there is plenty more to come from him. Asked if his form made him feel “unstoppable”, Kulusevski said: “I feel like that. I feel very good and I’m trying to keep this way. I’m very happy, I’m trying to improve. “I started the season good but there is over half of the season left and I hope I can do much better. “I think I have something that no other player has. With my engine, with my heart – I don’t get tired – I feel like I can do a lot still in my career.” Spurs have won more matches against Pep Guardiola's Man City than any other side 👀 — Premier League (@premierleague) Tottenham’s scintillating performance marked a spectacular return to form after their dismal loss to Ipswich in their previous Premier League outing. Kulusevski said: “We have to be much more consistent. It’s not a turning point. We just have to be better in other games. “This game suited us perfectly but we have a lot of improvement to make in the other games.”

By CLIFF BRUNT The College Football Playoff committee took SMU’s wins over Alabama’s strength of schedule, picking the Mustangs for the final at-large spot Dec.8 after a furious public debate and days of lobbying and arguing over which teams should make the 12-team field. SMU (11-2) showed it could compete against a traditional power, losing to Clemson 34-31 on a 56-yard field goal on the final play of the ACC championship game. The late-game rally probably did the trick. “I just think America saw SMU belongs,” Mustangs coach Rhett Lashlee told ESPN after his team got in. “We’re a team that has a chance to compete for this championship. And to some degree, I think we’re a little bit America’s team after last night.” The Mustangs, seeded 11th, will visit No. 6 seed Penn State in the first round. The bracket was expanded from four teams this season, but that didn’t help Alabama or save the committee from controversy that began over the past two weeks as the CFP rankings — and “data points” — were parsed and criticized. The squabbling wasn’t limited to who should be in the field but also who should get consideration for first-round byes. The Crimson Tide (9-3) had quality wins against Georgia and South Carolina in their first season under coach Kalen DeBoer. Losses at Vanderbilt, Tennessee and Oklahoma proved costly. The 24-3 loss to Oklahoma was too much to overcome. The Sooners, who finished 6-6, rushed for 250 yards against the Crimson Tide and dominated despite having several key injuries. Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne said the committee’s decision was not good for college football. “Disappointed with the outcome and felt we were one of the 12 best teams in the country,” Byrne said in a social media post. “We had an extremely challenging schedule and recognize there were two games in particular that we did not perform as well as we should have.” All of Alabama’s losses came in conference play. Still, Byrne said he now will reconsider how his program schedules nonconference games. For now, the Crimson Tide will settle for playing Michigan in the ReliaQuest Bowl on Dec. 31. Several teams with strong seasons were left out besides the Crimson Tide, including Miami (two losses), South Carolina and Mississippi (three losses each). Committee chairman Warde Manuel explained that strength of schedule was valued — a comment that didn’t sit well with Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin. “Is this fake news??? he didn’t actually really say that ....” Kiffin wrote on a social media post, tagging both the Alabama and SMU football accounts. SMU actually increased its strength of schedule from the previous season by switching from the American Athletic Conference to the ACC. The Mustangs’ only regular-season loss this year was a nonconference game at home to 10-win BYU in the third game of the season. The Mustangs won nine straight before the loss to Clemson. That didn’t make the waiting easier on Sunday. SMU was the last qualifier announced. “Until we saw SMU up there, you know, you’re just hanging, hanging on the edge,” Lashlee said. There was more controversy. Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark said he didn’t believe any Group of Five team should get the bye over a Power Four champion, citing strength of schedule. Mountain West Commissioner Gloria Nevarez pushed back hours ahead of the bracket announcement. “Participation in the College Football Playoff isn’t about entitlement,” she wrote on social media. “It should not be contingent upon a conference patch or the logo on the helmet. ... Boise State’s body of work this season, including an 11-game win streak, has earned it one of the top four seeds ahead of the Big 12 champion.” In the end, Boise State of the Mountain West got the No. 3 seed ahead of Big 12 champion Arizona State, which was seeded fourth. But both got first-round byes.

Christopher Rinaldi bowled his third perfect game of his Whitman career in Game 1 of his 781 series, adding games of 233 and 248 afterward to lead Whitman boys bowling to a home 26-10 win Thursday over West Islip in Suffolk I. Jose Duarte added a 657 series for Whitman. BOYS BASKETBALL Half Hollow Hills West 81, Copiague 80: Ethan Saintjean had a layup and a winning free throw with 5.1 seconds left, leading Hills West to a win in its season-opener in non-league Friday. Saintjean finished with 30 points, and Mason Reisch and Vince Corso each added 12 points. Ray Bradley scored 26 points and made a layup with 16 seconds left to give Copiague an 80-78 lead. Mount Sinai 69, Amityville 63: Dominic Pennzello had 18 points and 10 rebounds, and Brian Vales had 17 points and 12 rebounds to lead Mount Sinai in non-league. Brock Kolsch added 15 points, four rebounds and four assists. Amir Dickerson scored 34 points for Amityville. Thursday’s games Carey 50, East Rockaway 47: Kevin Colvin had 10 points with two key blocked shots in overtime to lead Carey in its non-league season opener. Antonio Buzzetta from East Rockaway hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer to force overtime. Newsday's weekly newsletter takes you on the field and inside the high school sports scene across Long Island. By clicking Sign up, you agree to our privacy policy . Babylon 46, Shoreham-Wading River 43: Jake Ostertag’s 15 points and eight rebounds helped lead Babylon to a triple overtime non-conference victory. Tyler Lieure led Shoreham-Wading River with 12 points. GIRLS BASKETBALL Farmingdale 43, Oyster Bay 34: Molly McNamara had 15 points and 14 rebounds for Farmingdale in the final of the Oyster Bay Holiday Tournament. Kaitlyn Quinn had 12 points. Ruby Seaman had five assists and five steals. Kaleigh Jones led Oyster Bay with 12 points.A role reversal doomed the No. 22 Xavier Musketeers in their only loss of the season, against Michigan at the Fort Myers Tip-Off on Wednesday. Normally a team that avoids committing turnovers and pressures its opponent into making them, Xavier (6-1) will try to recapture its early-season winning form when it hosts South Carolina State on Sunday in Cincinnati. Through their six wins, the Musketeers had just 58 turnovers while forcing 82 by their opponents. But against the Wolverines, they lost the turnover battle 19-10 and the game 78-53. The Musketeers committed 14 turnovers in the first half and fell behind 41-30. Xavier head coach Sean Miller credited his team for typically playing an up-tempo style while avoiding mistakes, while also acknowledging that the turnover bug really bit them against the Wolverines. "We lost to a really good team; no shame in that," Miller said. "We, on top of that, didn't play well." "And that (avoiding turnovers) is something you (usually) do well? That's going to be hard to overcome against a quality team like Michigan." Leading scorer Ryan Conwell (17.6 points per game) gave the Musketeers a boost with 19 points. Zach Freemantle, second on the team at 15.4 ppg, added 14 points and 10 rebounds. Problematically, however, they also contributed to the turnover problem with three apiece. "We didn't play well enough to win the game," Miller said. "The game got out of hand. It's not like our guys quit. Their depth just continued to wear on us." The Musketeers also get 11 points and a team-high 4.4 assists per game from Dayvion McKnight. The guard had just one turnover against Michigan, but he also made just one of his eight shot attempts. Xavier may have an opportunity get right in the turnover area against the Bulldogs (4-4), who are No. 207 in the NCAA in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.11. South Carolina State is fresh off an 82-53 road loss to Marshall on Wednesday, in a game in which turnovers weren't a huge problem. But assists and made shots were hard to come by for the Bulldogs. Leading scorer Drayton Jones (12.0 ppg) again paced his team in points with 10 vs. Marshall, but the Bulldogs as a team managed just six assists and shot terribly at the 3-point (18.8 percent) and the free-throw (47.1 percent) lines. Jones is also the team's leading rebounder with 5.1 a game, but no Bulldogs player is averaging more than two assists. It's all part of the learning process for coach Erik Martin, whose first team went 5-26 in 2022-23. The Bulldogs improved to 14-18 last season, including 9-5 in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. "The only way you can grow sometimes is by failure or by struggling," Martin said this offseason. "You have to fail in order to learn how to deal with failure and move on and become the person you're supposed to be." --Field Level Media

The Buffalo Bills (10-2) will attempt to extend a seven-game winning streak when they visit the Los Angeles Rams (6-6) on Sunday, December 8, 2024 at SoFi Stadium. What channel is Bills vs. Rams on? What time is Bills vs. Rams? The Bills and the Rams play at 4:25 p.m. ET. NFL STATS CENTRAL: The latest NFL scores, schedules, odds, stats and more. Bills vs. Rams betting odds, lines, spread Bills vs. Rams recent matchups Bills schedule Rams schedule NFL week 14 schedule This content was created for Gannett using technology provided by Data Skrive.THE future of holidays has been revealed with incredible mountain beaches, zero airport queues and tech-free trips by 2054. For the first, picture man-made beaches at alpine lakes and fresh, cool mountain air. 3 Popular summer destinations may be swapped for traditional winter ones Credit: getty 3 Futurologists say airport queues will be abolished Credit: getty Travel Counsellors, a Manchester-based travel company and futurologist Tom Cheesewright predict that typically hot destinations will be replaced with cooler ones. Along with an end to airport queues as we know them - no more snaking lines or cumbersome security checks. With multi-spectrum sensors and biometric scanning, your face, heart rate, and even breathing rates can be analysed on the go. But this is where advanced tech remains, as the holiday of the 2050s will focus on stepping away from technology to embrace human connections. read more in travel trends HOT STUFF Lonely Planet's top 2025 holiday hotspots include underrated English region TAKING OFF Top trending European destinations 2025 include little-visited Spanish city A typical hotel visit might entail a written signature instead of tapping a screen upon check-in. Plus, no TV in your room, just books, along with candles for lighting and real keys over electronic key cards. Other top trends revealed by Cheesewright included supersonic airlines and electric jets, longer holidays, and travelling to space. Supersonic airlines could provide long-haul travellers with unparalleled speed and convenience. Most read in News Travel WORLD VIEW A Place In The Sun made me move abroad - but when I got there it made me cry COUGH UP Motorhome park owner shuts after guests leave without paying using shock trick ROCK OUT Dolphins, gin, super sundaes and duty-free drinks make Gibraltar a winner HIGH ON MORZINE I visited chocolate-box resort in EU with husky-sledding and igloo villages By using sustainable aviation fuel, journeys will also be more environmentally friendly and quieter. Short-haul flights could also be transformed by electric jets. Little known Med isle is a wonderful escape from winter woes As battery technology improves, capacity is expected to double every five to seven years. With this, new, compact airports could be developed in city centres. Cheesewright also believes the traditional two-week holiday will be replaced by a six-week trip filled with meaningful experiences as people make more of their leisure time. He said: “We’ll bend our careers around our desire to travel, working away, or taking short sabbaticals to gain new experiences. “With companies increasingly battling for the best talent and recognising the shift to more creative work driven by the adoption of AI, employers will be keen to support such endeavours. "And they will accept that a few weeks away is the price to pay for recharging the mental batteries of their most valuable staff.” The last trend is truly out of this world - Space Travel. Since the 1960s, the cost of putting something into orbit has decreased massively - from £100,000 per kilogram to as little as £10. He explained: "Not only will it be cheaper to put satellites and structures into space, but it will also be cheaper to carry humans too." Of course, space travel may require some G-force training, but the whole process - from take-off to touch-down recovery - could be a multi-week trip. Speaking about the findings, Steve Byrne, CEO of Travel Counsellors, commented: “It’s exciting to envision the future of travel and the ways these advancements could transform our experiences. "While technology plays a strong role in creating seamless, cutting-edge ways to discover the world, people’s desire to make the most of their leisure time, along with the need for authentic human connection, remains just as essential - both in the holiday experiences themselves and in the personal touch that travel professionals provide. Read more on the Scottish Sun LAST RESORT Jeff Stelling blasts Scots hotel over 'rip-off' charge SCOTT PROPERTY Celtic legend Scott Brown splashes out £2million on luxury pad with pool “Holidays are a chance to create lasting memories, explore new locations and step outside our comfort zones. "At Travel Counsellors, we’re dedicated to making these moments possible in our focus to deliver truly bespoke services, driven by our commitment to care and innovation.” 3 No airport queues could be revolutionary Credit: getty

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On today’s episode of You Asked: What are the differences between HDMI 2.1 , 2.1a, and 2.1b? Are older OLED TVs compatible with the PlayStation 5 Pro ? Why 4K Blu-ray-quality digital downloads don’t exist? What screens sizes are best for achieving a cinematic experience at home? Plus, TCL’s Bruce Walker joins Caleb in the studio to discuss TCL’s giant TVs, holiday deals, and what might be coming at CES 2025. HDMI 2.1 vs. 2.1a vs. 2.1b Kbarso who writes: What is the difference between HDMI 2.1, HDMI 2.1a and HDMI 2b?. Is a 2019 OLED TV (with standard HDMI 2.1) good for the PS5 Pro that has HDMI 2.1b? So, short answer: Yes, your LG C9 is a great match for a PS5 Pro. Here’s why. HDMI 2.1 — without the A or B — includes just about every modern HDMI feature you could want. That includes up to 48 gigabits per second bandwidth, Auto Low Latency Mode, 4K 144Hz, 8K 60Hz — almost all the stuff that you want out of the latest HDMI version. HDMI 2.1a added support for source-based tone mapping. Source-based tone mapping allows a device like a game console or PC to dynamically adjust the HDR tone mapping based on the TV’s capabilities, which takes the tone mapping out of the TV’s control without — and this is the key — without the user having to do any calibration. But, the PS5 Pro — and prior versions of the PS5 — allow you to use HGiG tone mapping, where you do a quick calibration on the PS5, and that controls the tone mapping rather than the TV. The only difference is that it requires a bit of input from you. HDMI 2.1b basically added some stability fixes for the source-based tone-mapping feature that came with HDMI 2.1a. So, again, the LG C9 will work great with the PS5, and you’ll get the best HDR picture possible by doing that manual HDR calibration. 4K Blu-ray-quality digital downloads Michael Grundle writes: Hi, are there any digital stores that sell Blu-ray-quality digital downloads? I couldn’t find any. It seems like this is the solution to physical media’s slow demise. I understand that Blu-rays are massive storage-wise, but we live in a world where you buy to own games that you download, why can’t we have this for movies? It would be cool to own digital versions of Blu-rays including menus and special features. Thanks for your question, Michael. I’ll start by saying that I wish this were a thing as well — I’d love to be able to just buy a 4K Blu-ray-quality version of a movie as a digital download, or maybe pay extra on top of the disc price to get that. Unfortunately, this does not exist — not as you and I are envisioning it, anyway. The closest thing to owning the digital download version of a 4K Blu-ray is through Kaleidescape — they make high-end home theater movie servers. But those downloads are proprietary, and so is the equipment you must use to play back those digital files. It’s not like you can play it back using your PC or through a media server like Plex. Outside of that, the closest thing is streaming your digital movies through iTunes, Fandango at Home (that’s what VUDU has become), or Movies Anywhere. You can also rip your 4K Blu-rays and make your own copies, which is legal so long as you own the movie on disc and don’t distribute or otherwise screen that movie for commercial purposes. But, yeah, with storage getting less and less expensive, I think it would be cool if we could move toward purchasing digital versions of our movies that are at that quality level. It would still be expensive, but it seems like a low lift for production houses, so why not? They would for sure make more profit margin by not involving disc manufacturing and distribution. Cinema experience at home Will writes: You recently covered some really big TV screens. In your experience, considering typical domestic room sizes and average viewing distances, what screen size really starts to feel like a cinema experience? Well, Will, I’ll do my best here. The thing is, I’m just not sure what the typical domestic room size is anymore. I mean, in the United States alone, the room size in which someone is watching their TV and, by some extension anyway, the viewing distance, seems super varied. In my own life, I’ve been anywhere from 8 to 12 feet away from my screen, but I’ve seen some homes with so-called great rooms where folks are 15 feet or more away. I think we can simplify this by relying on a tried and trusted calculator to get us started. THX suggests that you take your viewing distance in inches and multiply that by 0.835 to get the screen size, in inches, that will come off as cinematic. So, if we take a viewing distance of 10 feet — that’s 120 inches — and we multiply that by 0.835, we get about 100 inches. I think that is a good starting point. I think a 98-inch TV, viewed at about 10 feet away, is awesome. From there, you could go a little bigger and be OK, and you can go a little smaller and still have a great experience. Now, that calculator isn’t concerned with resolution or whether you can see pixelation or any of that stuff — it’s about occupying your field of view in a manner that is similar to what you might experience in a commercial movie theater. But keep in mind that even in a commercial theater, there is a sweet spot, sure, but you may be farther away than “ideal” if you sit in the back, or closer than ideal if you’re sitting in the front. I think that calculator is a really solid starting point for someone whose main goal is to try to get the most cinematic experience possible. Now, if we take the largest TV screen size available now — 120 inches, which is also a very popular projector screen size — and we work backward, that means the “ideal” viewing distance would be 12 feet. This section is sponsored by TCL Interview with Bruce Walker of TCL North America Speaking of huge TVs, I’m excited to bring in Bruce Walker, Product Evangelist at TCL – the company responsible for bringing us massive TVs like the 120-inch QM891G as well as the 98-inch Q6 and 98-inch QM7. Time to learn a little more about how TCL is doing what it’s been doing, and I’m gonna see if I can squeeze a little bit about what we might see at CES 2025 out of him, too. Caleb : Bruce Walker, thank you for literally flying across the country this morning to join us in our studio. This is the first time that we’ve hosted a guest here in the studio. I’m honored. And, yeah, I mean, you literally flew across the country. Thank you for doing that. Bruce : Thank you for hosting me. I’m very excited to be here. Excited to talk to you and your audience and talk about exciting TCL stuff. Caleb : Look, I feel like we need to talk about the TCL story because, from my seat, I mean, we’ll go back to the first TCL TV I reviewed. It was a 6-series TV. What was the model number? The P607. That really started it all right, because that TV landed in my testing lab, and anybody who goes back and watches the review will see that we were shocked. Like, it kind of came out of nowhere for us. What was that like for somebody in your seat? Because previously, let’s be honest, TCL was more of a budget-oriented brand that you might find at Walmart or wherever and now you’ve got this TV that’s competing with the best out there. What was that like for you guys? Bruce : It was really fun. It was a watershed moment for us. You know, when we were talking to members of the media and people at CES, saying, This is going to be one of the brightest Dolby Vision TVs on the market this year, the general response was, “Yeah, right. We’ll see.” And it really paved the way and allowed customers to believe in TCL as a premium offering. Caleb : From my seat, it seemed like that set off a bit of a shift in the product planning. So, what was that like at TCL? Bruce : Yeah, it was a fun domino effect. We started getting better placement at retail partners, so people could see premium TCL TV sets. Then we were able to leverage all the things we do great in terms of innovation. You know, we introduced the world’s first big-screen quantum-dot TV back in 2015. I’m very excited that many of the reviews we see now — back when the P605 came out around that time, it was all about value, value, price, value, value, price. Oh, by the way, it performs pretty well too. Now, we’re shifting that narrative. So many of the reviews we see don’t even mention price until maybe as a footnote: This TV compares with this, this, and this from the big three. Oh, by the way, it’s also really good value. Caleb : Something a lot of people might consider inside baseball, but it actually has everything to do with how TCL makes its TVs and how you make engineering decisions. TCL is a vertically integrated company, right? What does that mean, and what does that allow TCL to do that other manufacturers maybe can’t? Bruce : So, the overarching picture is that we make every component that goes into a TV set. Your audience, the tech-savvy people out there, might say when they see a TV, “Who makes the panel for that TV?” All the stuff we’re talking about, we do. We make the panel, the backlight, the processors, the feet. We make every component that goes into a TV set. And there are a whole host of benefits that go with that. If we control the entire manufacturing process, we can control the quality. We can make sure that component A works perfectly with component B when it’s all put together. And they’re going to last a long time and be a good-quality product. Then that dovetails into the value story: Why can I get a 75-inch TCL for the same price as a 65-inch and have all the same features? If you look at the reviews, they’re comparable. It’s part of that vertical integration story. Caleb : So, does that mean because you’re buying less parts from other manufacturers, you’re not paying the markup on those parts Bruce : The middleman markup? Exactly. Because we’re making it ourselves. Our panel manufacturing facility, CSOT, makes our panels for all the TVs we talk about. Because we make it ourselves, we can pivot and say, “Oh, 98-inch TVs are hot now.” We can make 98-inch panels and now we make more 98-inch panels than any other panel manufacturing facility in the world. And because we make it ourselves, we’re not paying a middleman markup, and we can bring incredible value to the market. Caleb : See, it’s all starting to make a lot more sense for me now. I don’t think I was aware of that. Is that also why you’re going to see more consistency in the panels across the different sizes? Because, I mean, we look at some other brands, and you might get a VA panel in one size and then an ADS Pro in another size. But you’re consistent across the board. Bruce : We make our own high-performance VA panels, and on our QD-LED lines, it’s actually a new HVA panel, which improves the contrast within the mini-LED ecosystem. Caleb : Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe TCL was the first brand to release a mini-LED television, right? Bruce : Yes! Mini-LED has really reinvented LED TV technology. We introduced the world’s first mini-LED TV in 2019, the 8-series. Caleb : It’s been that long? Bruce : Yeah. And now, it’s everyone’s flagship TV. It’s mini-LED. All of our flagship TVs this year are QD mini-LED. We just want to make sure people understand that that’s an important distinction in the marketplace because, unfortunately, when you talk about mini-LED, there isn’t really a definition for it. A mini-LED is a small OLED? If you took it to the absurd, you could make a TV with one mini-LED in the back of the backlight, and we’d call it a mini-LED TV. You know, not all mini-LED is created equally, and when you see QD-LED, you can be assured that it’s going to give you top-tier performance. Caleb : So what we’re seeing here, on the right-hand side, first of all, you made this, right? Tell me the story about how you made this thing. Bruce : Most of the cuts have healed, but these are actual, backlights. The TCL QD mini-LED backlight is from a QM8 TV. The other mini-LED backlight is an off-the-shelf backlight, cut up into pieces, sent up to an amazing company in California and made these for us so that we, really put, you know, kind of a face to the name of what is QD mini-LED. And you can see in there, the things that make our secret sauce, as it were. And with QD being LED, you get things like our own HEXA mini-LED chips for incredible brightness. But also, Pirelli famously once said, “Power without control is nothing.” So we make all this incredible brightness, but we’ve also got our own in-house designed and manufactured UWA ultra-wide-angle lenses that take all that light and steer it to the front of the cabinet. So it comes out through all the layers of the TV. But it’s our own HVA panel, which does a very good job of, when there’s no light, it closes up to give you deep, rich blacks. And when it opens up, you get a super-bright picture on that panel type. Caleb : I feel like that’s kind of important because I’ve noted in my reviews in the past that, let’s say, the number of mini-LEDs, the number of zones that were involved — everything else — let’s say those were more or less equal. The TCL ends up coming out on top in terms of the black levels. And now I’m hearing part of it is because of the VA panel that you’re making. That makes sense because you can actually see it. Bruce : And then the last part of the equation that I find really exciting is, you know, processing. Candidly, in our industry, people talk about processing and motion handling. It’s Sony, and then everybody else. To their credit, this year, we have not only one processor but a family of AiPQ processors starting in our S-Class TV. And when we get to our QD mini-LED, we have our AiPQ Pro processor. With that powerful backlight — again, with control — you get up to about 65,000 levels of gradation. So you not only get incredible bright whites, but you’ve measured specs that outperform what we claim they do: deep, rich blacks. You get an incredible grayscale, so you get great shadow detail. Caleb : But I do want to get back to this prop because, on the right-hand side, what you’re seeing, if I’m not mistaken, are three mini-LED lights that are kind of hiding behind this sort of dome lens. And what you notice is that they’re spaced fairly far apart, so there’s a decent amount of gap in between those. And then on the left, we’re looking at the TCL QD mini-LED, where you’re using individual mini-LED diodes, and they’re spaced much more closely together. Bruce : Yep. Very densely packed. You get better uniformity. You get better brightness. Because there’s so many and so densely packed, you can have better zone control — all the benefits that come from doing that. And great picture performance. Caleb : From the backlight level, I think what we’re seeing here is that, rather than use a tight cluster of mini-LEDs and then use some kind of lens to broaden it out, you’re using individual mini-LEDs. And if I heard you correctly, you can individually address every single one of those mini-LEDs, right? So it’s not like you put a cluster on one board and can just turn that board on and off. You can actually turn each individual light on and off. Bruce : That’s very exciting. Caleb : Now we’re starting to understand how it’s actually done. Bruce : We’re in the golden era of TV sets. And the fact that we’re now producing products that compete with the best of the best — we are proud of the fact that we think that, compared to an OLED (perfect blacks, infinite contrast ratio), we think in the dark man-cave environment, sets like our QM7 and QM8 compete very well. But then, in the arena of a normal lighting environment where most people watch their TVs, is really where we kind of stand apart. When you’ve got 5,000 nits of peak brightness on our flagship TV sets, we think it’s the best choice for most people. Caleb : And also, like, no burn-in, right? Bruce : With the TCL TV, the official TV partner of Call of Duty, if you’re a gamer out there, you can game all day and all night and not have to worry about it. Caleb : And I’ve seen this question from viewers more times than I can count. How is TCL actually doing that? I’m starting to get the sense that it’s about that vertical integration, right? Bruce : Yep. But it also boils down to that manufacturing. You know, the fact that — you look at that 98 inch Q6 — it’s our backlight, it’s our panel, it’s our processor. Caleb : We’re back to the whole, “There is no middleman charging markup on all these different parts.” You can actually make it in a way that others simply can’t. Bruce : And it’s just been a resounding success. You know, through the end of last year, we were No. 2 in sales for five years in a row. Caleb : All right, so I know that you don’t have a crystal ball, but, like, how big do you think we’re going to go here? I mean, 98 inches is — I still think — is a larger size than most people are currently prepared to accept in their home. But obviously, we’re seeing those sell. So that’s changing. It used to be 65 inches was a huge TV, and now it’s kind of like if you don’t have it, it’s not a huge TV. That’s like the No. 1 size in the U.S. right now. Is going big a big priority for TCL? Bruce : It’s big for us. And I have to say — sorry — it’s a huge growth part of the market. The fact that I mentioned earlier — we make more 98-inch panels than anybody out there. So a lot of the marketing we’ve been doing is, you know, giving people the permission to get a TV that big in their house. And once you do, I say your childlike wonderment — talking about these, you know, 115-inch screens and watching — it’s just so much fun. It’s a whole different ball of wax watching. Caleb : I know that you can’t talk about CES — nobody can. It’s a super-secret thing. But how excited should I be about what TCL is bringing? Bruce : It’s going to be another fun year. I mean, our 2024 product is the best that we’ve ever made. I know we’re going to be showing some great stuff next year as well, and we’re going to be talking about it before we know it. Caleb : Yeah, I know. It’s coming up super soon. And that’s when I’m going to see you next — is down in Las Vegas. Well, listen, man, thank you so much for coming all this way to give us some insight into it. It’s all starting to make a bit more sense now because it all seemed kind of, “How do they pull it off?” Now I think I understand a little bit better. And hopefully, the audience does as well. Obviously, TCL is a remarkable choice. And look, the holiday shopping season is not over, you know? Yeah. And so, I imagine that a lot of folks are going to be looking to do that big upgrade. Bruce : Measure that wall. Measure that stand. Find room for it. You’ll be happy you did.By Noam N. Levey, KFF Health News Worried that President-elect Donald Trump will curtail federal efforts to take on the nation’s medical debt problem, patient and consumer advocates are looking to states to help people who can’t afford their medical bills or pay down their debts. “The election simply shifts our focus,” said Eva Stahl, who oversees public policy at Undue Medical Debt, a nonprofit that has worked closely with the Biden administration and state leaders on medical debt. “States are going to be the epicenter of policy change to mitigate the harms of medical debt.” New state initiatives may not be enough to protect Americans from medical debt if the incoming Trump administration and congressional Republicans move forward with plans to scale back federal aid that has helped millions gain health insurance or reduce the cost of their plans in recent years. Comprehensive health coverage that limits patients’ out-of-pocket costs remains the best defense against medical debt. But in the face of federal retrenchment, advocates are eyeing new initiatives in state legislatures to keep medical bills off people’s credit reports, a consumer protection that can boost credit scores and make it easier to buy a car, rent an apartment, or even get a job. Several states are looking to strengthen oversight of medical credit cards and other financial products that can leave patients paying high interest rates on top of their medical debt. Related Articles Some states are also exploring new ways to compel hospitals to bolster financial aid programs to help their patients avoid sinking into debt. “There’s an enormous amount that states can do,” said Elisabeth Benjamin, who leads health care initiatives at the nonprofit Community Service Society of New York. “Look at what’s happened here.” New York state has enacted several laws in recent years to rein in hospital debt collections and to expand financial aid for patients, often with support from both Democrats and Republicans in the legislature. “It doesn’t matter the party. No one likes medical debt,” Benjamin said. Other states that have enacted protections in recent years include Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Washington. Many measures picked up bipartisan support. President Joe Biden’s administration has proved to be an ally in state efforts to control health care debt. Such debt burdens 100 million people in the United States, a KFF Health News investigation found . Led by Biden appointee Rohit Chopra, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has made medical debt a priority , going after aggressive collectors and exposing problematic practices across the medical debt industry. Earlier this year, the agency proposed landmark regulations to remove medical bills from consumer credit scores. The White House also championed legislation to boost access to government-subsidized health insurance and to cap out-of-pocket drug costs for seniors, both key bulwarks against medical debt. Trump hasn’t indicated whether his administration will move ahead with the CFPB credit reporting rule, which was slated to be finalized early next year. Congressional Republicans, who will control the House and Senate next year, have blasted the proposal as regulatory overreach that will compromise the value of credit reports. And Elon Musk, the billionaire whom Trump has tapped to lead his initiative to shrink government, last week called for the elimination of the watchdog agency . “Delete CFPB,” Musk posted on X. If the CFPB withdraws the proposed regulation, states could enact their own rules, following the lead of Colorado, New York, and other states that have passed credit reporting bans since 2023. Advocates in Massachusetts are pushing the legislature there to take up a ban when it reconvenes in January. “There are a lot of different levers that states have to take on medical debt,” said April Kuehnhoff, a senior attorney at the National Consumer Law Center, which has helped lead national efforts to expand debt protections for patients. Kuehnhoff said she expects more states to crack down on medical credit card providers and other companies that lend money to patients to pay off medical bills, sometimes at double-digit interest rates. Under the Biden administration, the CFPB has been investigating patient financing companies amid warnings that many people may not understand that signing up for a medical credit card such as CareCredit or enrolling in a payment plan through a financial services company can pile on more debt. If the CFPB efforts stall under Trump, states could follow the lead of California, New York, and Illinois, which have all tightened rules governing patient lending in recent years. Consumer advocates say states are also likely to continue expanding efforts to get hospitals to provide more financial assistance to reduce or eliminate bills for low- and middle-income patients, a key protection that can keep people from slipping into debt. Hospitals historically have not made this aid readily available, prompting states such as California, Colorado, and Washington to set stronger standards to ensure more patients get help with bills they can’t afford. This year, North Carolina also won approval from the Biden administration to withhold federal funding from hospitals in the state unless they agreed to expand financial assistance. In Georgia, where state government is entirely in Republican control, officials have been discussing new measures to get hospitals to provide more assistance to patients. “When we talk about hospitals putting profits over patients, we get lots of nodding in the legislature from Democrats and Republicans,” said Liz Coyle, executive director of Georgia Watch, a consumer advocacy nonprofit. Many advocates caution, however, that state efforts to bolster patient protections will be critically undermined if the Trump administration cuts federal funding for health insurance programs such as Medicaid and the insurance marketplaces established through the Affordable Care Act. Trump and congressional Republicans have signaled their intent to roll back federal subsidies passed under Biden that make health plans purchased on ACA marketplaces more affordable. That could hike annual premiums by hundreds or even thousands of dollars for many enrollees, according to estimates by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a think tank. And during Trump’s first term, he backed efforts in Republican-led states to restrict enrollment in their Medicaid safety net programs through rules that would require people to work in order to receive benefits. GOP state leaders in Idaho, Louisiana, and other states have expressed a desire to renew such efforts. “That’s all a recipe for more medical debt,” said Stahl, of Undue Medical Debt. Jessica Altman, who heads the Covered California insurance marketplace, warned that federal cuts will imperil initiatives in her state that have limited copays and deductibles and curtailed debt for many state residents. “States like California that have invested in critical affordable programs for our residents will face tough decisions,” she said. ©2024 KFF Health News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.PANDEF hails Tinubu’s decision not to withhold Rivers allocationEl Salvador's Congress on Monday approved a bill promoted by President Nayib Bukele to roll back a ban on the mining of gold and other metals, dismaying environmentalists. The small Central American nation became the world's first country to outlaw metal mining in 2017, warning of the harmful effects of the chemicals used, like cyanide and mercury. The move by Bukele's predecessor, former left-wing rebel Salvador Sanchez Ceren, reflected a growing rejection of mining by rural communities in the region. But last month, Bukele, who is popular at home for his crackdown on street gangs, signaled that he wanted to change course. The bill to bring back metal mining was approved by 57 deputies out of a total of 60, said Ernesto Castro, head of the legislature -- which is dominated by the ruling party -- as environmental campaigners protested nearby. Critics fear that mining will pollute the Lempa River, which runs through a potential mining zone proposed by Bukele and supplies water to 70 percent of the inhabitants of the capital and surrounding areas. "This wretched mining will punish the people, it will contaminate our waters and rivers and that's an attack on life," activist Vidalina Morales told reporters. Bukele said last month that El Salvador, a country of 6.6 million people, had "potentially" the largest gold deposits per square kilometer in the world. "God placed a gigantic treasure underneath our feet," he wrote on social media, arguing that the mining ban was "absurd." "If we make responsible use of our natural resources, we can change the economy of El Salvador overnight," he said. The new law stipulates that the state will be the only entity authorized to search for, extract and process mined metals. However, the government may do so through companies in which it is a shareholder. The bill prohibits the use of mercury in mining operations, which may not be carried out in protected natural areas or places with important water sources. A survey by Central American University published on Monday revealed that 59 percent of respondents do not consider El Salvador "an appropriate country for metal mining." Since El Salvador dollarized its remittances-reliant economy in 2001, it has registered average annual growth of 2.1 percent. Twenty-seven percent of Salvadorans live in poverty, according to the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, and 70 percent of the workforce operates in the informal sector. Elsewhere in the region, Costa Rica and Honduras have banned open-pit mining, and Panama declared a moratorium on new mining concessions last year after mass protests over plans for a huge copper mine. ob/fj/dr/jgc

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