Unfortunately, Sony's screen was of the acoustic type, which allows sound through from the cinema's speakers behind, and which means our close-up images are riven with tiny holes.
Microsoft, for example, has been developing software that takes advantage of the different times an acoustic wave arrives at each microphone in an array around the screen of a computer.
On the screen of his MacBook, Evan Lowenstein watches singer-songwriter Jason Manns strumming an acoustic guitar in his apartment, where the only audience member is a snoozing dog.