Are you and your TV ready for the Super Bowl this Sunday, Feb. 2? If you’re not among the lucky fans who get to watch the game in person at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, you’ll probably be among the 100 million-plus people watching it on a TV, whether streaming or via cable. And you’re in for a treat because, for the first time ever, you can stream the game in 4K HDR, for improved image quality on those big 4K TVs.
Many people use the Super Bowl as an excuse for buying a new TV, but most of you will be sticking with your existing model. In either case you’ll want to make sure your TV is ready for the game, especially if you’re hosting an epic party. Here’s how.
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Go big
Football is a complicated visual experience, with lots of wide-angle views where big swaths of the field are visible at once, often studded with all-too-tiny players. More so than most TV programs, it’s best suited to larger screens. You’ll get a better experience watching on as large a TV as you have available, especially for a party.
If your TV is smaller, you can get a similar effect by sitting closer. High-def and 4K images often look great even from close distances, so it might be worthwhile to move your seat closer to the TV for the game. That is, if doing so won’t obscure the screen for your friends.
Check the setup: HDMI, high-def, 4K and Wi-Fi
The first thing you want to do is make sure the TV is set up correctly. If you have a high-definition cable or satellite box, make sure it’s connected via HDMI. You’ll also want to make sure you’re tuned to the high-def version of the broadcast — available on Fox. Most cable and satellite providers in the US carry both HD and standard-definition channels, and HD will look much better.
If you’re streaming on busy Super Bowl Sunday, your internet connection is crucial.
Tyler Lizenby/CNET
This year the Super Bowl is also available to stream live online from more places than ever. If you’re streaming the game, you’ll want to have plenty of bandwidth. Make sure other devices in your house beyond your TV — like the kids streaming 4K Netflix upstairs — aren’t using the Wi-Fi at the same time. You can also try moving stuff around, going with a wired Ethernet connection or, if all else fails, upgrading your internet speed. For more, check out how to improve TV streaming.
Those tips go quadruple for the 4K version of the game, available via the Fox Sports app for free. They recommend an internet speed of 25Mbps, which isn’t chump change. If you’re not sure how fast your connection is, download a speed-test app for your smart TV or media streamer and test it, preferably during a busy evening. Super Bowl Sunday will be a busy one on the internet and depending on your provider you might experience drop-outs or buffering. It pays to have a backup plan in the worst-case scenario, for example hooking up an antenna to watch Fox’s over-the-air broadcast.
A soundbar is a smart move to improve the game’s audio beyond your TV’s crappy speakers.
Sarah Tew/CNET
Sound matters
You should definitely get your audio set up correctly too. If you’re using the TV speakers for audio, set your box or device to output stereo as opposed to 5.1 surround sound (Dolby Digital). But hopefully you’re using an external audio system or soundbar, which can not only deliver real or simulated surround sound — perfect for that Miami crowd noise — but also much better dialogue.
Maybe you’re the kind of person who prefers to listen to the crowd and turn down the announcers. If that’s the case, try playing around with the sound controls. Many TVs and external sound systems have a multiband equalizer that lets you decrease certain frequencies independently of others, quieting those sounds you don’t want to hear. If your equipment doesn’t have an equalizer, try experimenting with a sound mode or even the basic bass and treble controls.
And if you happen to be listening to the surround-sound broadcast on a surround system, you can turn down the center channel to minimize the dialogue from the announcers. Conversely, if you’d rather hear them over the crowd, turn down the other speakers (left, right and surround) and turn up the center.
If the most accurate picture mode isn’t bright enough, try a couple of user adjustments.
Sarah Tew/CNET
Picture settings: Bright ideas
At CNET, we calibrate the picture settings of every TV we review to get the best picture quality. If you happen to own one of the TVs we’ve reviewed, you can actually try our calibrated settings yourself. Search our picture settings forum for your TV to find out if we, or another reader, has posted settings for it.
Our calibrations happen in a dark room, but with a kickoff time of 3:30 p.m. PT, West Coast watchers will get the beginning of the game during the day — and that often calls for a brighter picture. If the picture seems too dim, try increasing the backlight control, which boosts the power of the illumination (typically LEDs) behind the LCD screen. If you have an OLED TV, try increasing OLED Light instead. Also, be sure to disable any room lighting sensors, automatic brightness controls or energy saver controls.
Depending on your TV, you might also have a picture mode designed for a bright room. Look for something like “Brighter” or “Calibrated bright” to get a brightness boost without the terrible color of a Vivid or Dynamic mode. If your TV doesn’t have a mode like that you should choose the Movie or Cinema mode and again, if it seems too dark, bump up the brightness as described above.
Accurate color is worth celebrating.
Sarah Tew/CNET
Not easy being green
During our calibrations we attempt to get the most accurate color possible. For football, the most common color you’ll see is the green of the field, and if it’s not accurate, it’s pretty easy to see. The human eye is sensitive to green, and you can usually tell if it looks too brownish or dull, or too yellowish or vibrant.
If you don’t have access to our picture settings, one of the best ways to assure accurate colors, including green, is to engage the Movie or Cinema preset. Yes, it sounds counterintuitive, but Movie usually provides a more accurate color green than Sports or other picture modes. Those are often punched-up and oversaturated-looking, with greens that are much more intense than in real life. If you like the punchy look, on the other hand, maybe you’ll prefer one of those modes to a more accurate one.
On some TVs, Movie settings will look too dark, even if you turn up the backlight all the way. If that’s the case, choose a different picture mode and look for a control called “color space” or something similar. There, you’ll want to choose the “HD” or “Auto” or “Rec 709” setting, not the “Native” setting. You may also be able to get the grass looking more natural by decreasing the color control. For more advice, check out how to set up a TV by eye.
Our advice with the soap opera effect and football: it pays to experiment beforehand.
David Katzmaier/CNET
If you have a TV equipped with smoothing or dejudder (aka the soap opera effect), you may want to do some experimenting with those settings as well. Look for a setting called Auto Motion Plus on Samsung, TruMotion on LG, Smooth Motion Effect on Vizio and MotionFlow on Sony TVs. Football can sometimes benefit from the blur-reduction effects of those settings, but on the other hand, you may notice artifacts, for example trails behind fast-moving objects like a ball during a quick pass or goal kick. If you notice these effects, try turning the setting off completely.
Final step: Kick back and enjoy
If you won’t be making the trek to Miami or buying a new TV, at least you now have some ideas for getting your TV into game-time shape. Now feel free to redecorate your home theater in 49ers or Chiefs glory, invite your buddies over and scream at the screen.
Originally published last year. Updated for Super Bowl 2020.
The federal government is ordering the dissolution of TikTok’s Canadian business after a national security review of the Chinese company behind the social media platform, but stopped short of ordering people to stay off the app.
Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne announced the government’s “wind up” demand Wednesday, saying it is meant to address “risks” related to ByteDance Ltd.’s establishment of TikTok Technology Canada Inc.
“The decision was based on the information and evidence collected over the course of the review and on the advice of Canada’s security and intelligence community and other government partners,” he said in a statement.
The announcement added that the government is not blocking Canadians’ access to the TikTok application or their ability to create content.
However, it urged people to “adopt good cybersecurity practices and assess the possible risks of using social media platforms and applications, including how their information is likely to be protected, managed, used and shared by foreign actors, as well as to be aware of which country’s laws apply.”
Champagne’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment seeking details about what evidence led to the government’s dissolution demand, how long ByteDance has to comply and why the app is not being banned.
A TikTok spokesperson said in a statement that the shutdown of its Canadian offices will mean the loss of hundreds of well-paying local jobs.
“We will challenge this order in court,” the spokesperson said.
“The TikTok platform will remain available for creators to find an audience, explore new interests and for businesses to thrive.”
The federal Liberals ordered a national security review of TikTok in September 2023, but it was not public knowledge until The Canadian Press reported in March that it was investigating the company.
At the time, it said the review was based on the expansion of a business, which it said constituted the establishment of a new Canadian entity. It declined to provide any further details about what expansion it was reviewing.
A government database showed a notification of new business from TikTok in June 2023. It said Network Sense Ventures Ltd. in Toronto and Vancouver would engage in “marketing, advertising, and content/creator development activities in relation to the use of the TikTok app in Canada.”
Even before the review, ByteDance and TikTok were lightning rod for privacy and safety concerns because Chinese national security laws compel organizations in the country to assist with intelligence gathering.
Such concerns led the U.S. House of Representatives to pass a bill in March designed to ban TikTok unless its China-based owner sells its stake in the business.
Champagne’s office has maintained Canada’s review was not related to the U.S. bill, which has yet to pass.
Canada’s review was carried out through the Investment Canada Act, which allows the government to investigate any foreign investment with potential to might harm national security.
While cabinet can make investors sell parts of the business or shares, Champagne has said the act doesn’t allow him to disclose details of the review.
Wednesday’s dissolution order was made in accordance with the act.
The federal government banned TikTok from its mobile devices in February 2023 following the launch of an investigation into the company by federal and provincial privacy commissioners.
— With files from Anja Karadeglija in Ottawa
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.
LONDON (AP) — Most people have accumulated a pile of data — selfies, emails, videos and more — on their social media and digital accounts over their lifetimes. What happens to it when we die?
It’s wise to draft a will spelling out who inherits your physical assets after you’re gone, but don’t forget to take care of your digital estate too. Friends and family might treasure files and posts you’ve left behind, but they could get lost in digital purgatory after you pass away unless you take some simple steps.
Here’s how you can prepare your digital life for your survivors:
Apple
The iPhone maker lets you nominate a “ legacy contact ” who can access your Apple account’s data after you die. The company says it’s a secure way to give trusted people access to photos, files and messages. To set it up you’ll need an Apple device with a fairly recent operating system — iPhones and iPads need iOS or iPadOS 15.2 and MacBooks needs macOS Monterey 12.1.
For iPhones, go to settings, tap Sign-in & Security and then Legacy Contact. You can name one or more people, and they don’t need an Apple ID or device.
You’ll have to share an access key with your contact. It can be a digital version sent electronically, or you can print a copy or save it as a screenshot or PDF.
Take note that there are some types of files you won’t be able to pass on — including digital rights-protected music, movies and passwords stored in Apple’s password manager. Legacy contacts can only access a deceased user’s account for three years before Apple deletes the account.
Google
Google takes a different approach with its Inactive Account Manager, which allows you to share your data with someone if it notices that you’ve stopped using your account.
When setting it up, you need to decide how long Google should wait — from three to 18 months — before considering your account inactive. Once that time is up, Google can notify up to 10 people.
You can write a message informing them you’ve stopped using the account, and, optionally, include a link to download your data. You can choose what types of data they can access — including emails, photos, calendar entries and YouTube videos.
There’s also an option to automatically delete your account after three months of inactivity, so your contacts will have to download any data before that deadline.
Facebook and Instagram
Some social media platforms can preserve accounts for people who have died so that friends and family can honor their memories.
When users of Facebook or Instagram die, parent company Meta says it can memorialize the account if it gets a “valid request” from a friend or family member. Requests can be submitted through an online form.
The social media company strongly recommends Facebook users add a legacy contact to look after their memorial accounts. Legacy contacts can do things like respond to new friend requests and update pinned posts, but they can’t read private messages or remove or alter previous posts. You can only choose one person, who also has to have a Facebook account.
You can also ask Facebook or Instagram to delete a deceased user’s account if you’re a close family member or an executor. You’ll need to send in documents like a death certificate.
TikTok
The video-sharing platform says that if a user has died, people can submit a request to memorialize the account through the settings menu. Go to the Report a Problem section, then Account and profile, then Manage account, where you can report a deceased user.
Once an account has been memorialized, it will be labeled “Remembering.” No one will be able to log into the account, which prevents anyone from editing the profile or using the account to post new content or send messages.
X
It’s not possible to nominate a legacy contact on Elon Musk’s social media site. But family members or an authorized person can submit a request to deactivate a deceased user’s account.
Passwords
Besides the major online services, you’ll probably have dozens if not hundreds of other digital accounts that your survivors might need to access. You could just write all your login credentials down in a notebook and put it somewhere safe. But making a physical copy presents its own vulnerabilities. What if you lose track of it? What if someone finds it?
Instead, consider a password manager that has an emergency access feature. Password managers are digital vaults that you can use to store all your credentials. Some, like Keeper,Bitwarden and NordPass, allow users to nominate one or more trusted contacts who can access their keys in case of an emergency such as a death.
But there are a few catches: Those contacts also need to use the same password manager and you might have to pay for the service.
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Is there a tech challenge you need help figuring out? Write to us at onetechtip@ap.org with your questions.
LONDON (AP) — Britain’s competition watchdog said Thursday it’s opening a formal investigation into Google’s partnership with artificial intelligence startup Anthropic.
The Competition and Markets Authority said it has “sufficient information” to launch an initial probe after it sought input earlier this year on whether the deal would stifle competition.
The CMA has until Dec. 19 to decide whether to approve the deal or escalate its investigation.
“Google is committed to building the most open and innovative AI ecosystem in the world,” the company said. “Anthropic is free to use multiple cloud providers and does, and we don’t demand exclusive tech rights.”
San Francisco-based Anthropic was founded in 2021 by siblings Dario and Daniela Amodei, who previously worked at ChatGPT maker OpenAI. The company has focused on increasing the safety and reliability of AI models. Google reportedly agreed last year to make a multibillion-dollar investment in Anthropic, which has a popular chatbot named Claude.
Anthropic said it’s cooperating with the regulator and will provide “the complete picture about Google’s investment and our commercial collaboration.”
“We are an independent company and none of our strategic partnerships or investor relationships diminish the independence of our corporate governance or our freedom to partner with others,” it said in a statement.
The U.K. regulator has been scrutinizing a raft of AI deals as investment money floods into the industry to capitalize on the artificial intelligence boom. Last month it cleared Anthropic’s $4 billion deal with Amazon and it has also signed off on Microsoft’s deals with two other AI startups, Inflection and Mistral.
