Dec 05 2006

News - Samsung HL-S5679W 56-inch LED DLP HDTV

Not the cheapest (which is normally a benefit of going rear projection) but it does get rid of the dreaded "rainbow effect" while still giving you a great picture. Overall, I'd say they like it...but in that $4000 price range, you've got a lot of options anyways, so may want to rethink this one.

Besides its exotic light engine, the Samsung HL-S5679W 56-inch LED DLP HDTV is a full-featured set that delivers crisp high-def pictures with rich, satisfying color — and no rainbows. You're bound to find other DLPs that offer similar picture quality at a lower price. But if you're itching to own a forward-looking TV — and LED is sure to play a big role in TV's future — Samsung has your ticket to tomorrow.

Read the rest at Sound & Vision Mag

samsungdlp
Dec 05 2006

News - CERWIN-VEGA! Unveils CVHD Speaker System

Cerwin-Vega! has unveiled the newest addition to its home audio/video product line with the introduction of the CVHD Series home entertainment 5.1 and 2.1 home speaker systems. The performance of the CVHD has roots all the way back to when Cerwin-Vega speakers made plaster fall from the roofs of theaters nationwide while delivering the rumbling bass of Sensurround for the movie Earthquake. The new CVHD Series is true to this legacy and redefines the home entertainment landscape with its sleek design, performance driven engineering, and very attractive price point. CVHD utilizes many state-of-the-art techniques such as its Linear Dispersion Speaker Technology™ (LDST), custom designed high efficiency Cerwin- Vega! drivers, neodymium magnets in the woofers and tweeters, and highly damped polymer enclosures with proprietary high frequency waveguides, all of which contribute to the ability of the CVHD to deliver a stunning home entertainment experience...

Read the rest of the Press Release

Dec 05 2006

News - Sharp XV-Z20000 1080p DLP projector: Short Take

1080p Resolution...in a projection unit....for only 12 grand? Count me in for one! Heck, how about 2! Wink

The Sharp XV-Z20000 is the third 1080p single-chip DLP projector to pass through our doors. At $11,999 it bucks a growing trend to less expensive, high resolution projectors. But it's far lower in price than competitors such as the $20,000 Marantz VP-11S1 or SIM2's $15K HT3000. And it offers a lot for the money.

1206sharp2000

Read the rest at Ultimate AV

 

Dec 04 2006

News - Harmony Solutions Maestro LSX; Not Just Another Pretty Interface

No, not Logitech's Harmony. Another one. The company is actually called Harmony, and their software the Maestro LSX is apparantly special enough to get an award at the upcoming CES. Their software does appear to be cool enough, but their website seems like it's stuck in 1999...GOOOOO BIG FLASH INTROS!!! Innocent

In addition to the all-in-one control of lighting, irrigation, awareness cameras, and thermostats, Maestro was designed with the family as its prime concern. A plethora of family-friendly features give Maestro its “whole home” appeal. For example, when Maestro is not in use, it becomes a digital picture frame displaying all the pictures in a slide show format which are normally sentenced to isolation on the family’s digital camera.

Read the rest at eHomeUpgrade

Dec 04 2006

News - An InFocus Projector and Screen for Under $600

Are you looking for a very budget orientated front projector and screen? Well, InFocus has you covered! For the small sum of $599, you get a projector and a screen. This is all after mail-in-rebate of course. The IN72, that is part of the bundle, is a EDTV (854X480) projector and is 720 ANSI lumens. Also part of the bundle is a 92" screen. Does anyone else thing this would be perfect for a bedroom?

From the article:

Ok here’s the break down of the deal ; the IN72 retails for $799, purchase the IN72 from the InFocus on-line store  between 11/19/06 and 12/31/06, use coupon code HOME92 at checkout and you’ll receive your free 92” screen. After purchasing your IN72 + free screen bundle, send in this rebate form (warning PDF) for your $200 rebate.

Heck of deal in my estimation. No, the IN72 isn’t a HD projector but at 854x480 (EDTV) and 720 ANSI lumens you’ll still get a big, bright, sharp image. I’ve never personally seen an IN72 but I did own a SP4805 from InFocus, which I found to be a great budget projector and by all reports the IN72 is a better projector. Something like this would be ideal for a second theater, maybe a kids room, gaming room, or even the bedroom.

 

Dec 04 2006

News - Sony Ships Blu-ray Player

And there was much rejoicing! Sony, the main driver behind the Blu-ray standard, has finally started to ship their player. The specs in this article are a little week. I am not sure how it is going to handle the next gen HD audio formats and 1080p/24f. If you stumble across the specs, please post them in the comments of this article:).

From the article:

 

The unit compliments the company’s lineup of full 1,080p capable displays and source devices, including BRAVIA flat-panel LCD and Grand WEGA SXRD rear-projection televisions to the new PlayStation 3 game console, BD-ready Vaio computers and PC drives.

“I’m thrilled that it’s here just in time for the holidays,” said Randy Waynick, Sony Electronics’ home products division marketing senior VP. “Combining a Sony 1,080p HDTV set and our new BD player with an HDMI-enabled A/V receiver and surround sound speakers provides the epitome of the high-definition lifestyle.”

 

Dec 04 2006

News - From Crawlspace to Home Theater

I have the itch.. the itch to transform every available room into some sort of Home Theater/Listening Area. That may not happen, but God willing, I hope to buy a house with a nice basement and transform it into the HT of my dreams. Until then, I will read about stories like this one about converting dingy basements to an awesome HT. 

From the article:

But the Holmes family was already shelling out top dollar to make the basement livable. “We had to be careful about keeping the cost of the system down,” Smith notes. That didn’t mean skimping on quality but rather designing the space in a slightly different manner than he had originally planned. “Fixing the screen to the wall rather than motorizing it to lower from the ceiling was a huge cost saver, as was using a $350 handheld remote control instead of a $4,000 touchscreen-style controller.” Choosing a single-chip DLP projector instead of a three-chip model also helped save Jim and Jannette more than $10,000

Dec 04 2006

News - Verizon to Offer Live NFL Network Programming Over Broadband

Being from Canada, I never truly understood how big of a deal the NFL is until I moved down here. I have seen coworkers discuss the games for over an hour on Monday morning. Verizon is making a smart move by getting in the NFL mix. I am sure it cost them a pretty penny.

From the article:

Customers who subscribe to video and broadband with Verizon can now enjoy live NFL action on their TVs, PCs and laptops, both at home and away from home," said Bob Ingalls, chief marketing officer of Verizon. "NFL Networks already is a premier part of our video offerings, and we're delighted to add it to our fast-growing roster of top-quality online entertainment programming. This reflects our commitment to providing consumers more and better choices in video and online entertainment."

Through a separate agreement, Verizon provides the NFL Network TV channel to subscribers of its 200-channel all-digital FiOS TV Premier package.
 

Dec 03 2006

News - OPPO Digital Takes The Lid Off High Performance DVD Player

I think I posted about OPPO's new DVD player a week or so ago, but they have made such a splash in the community with their previous players it is worth a mention. The DV-981HD features Faroujda DCDi de-interlacing, 1080p upscaling, SACD, DVD Audio, and DivX playback.

Via About.com 

Product Page: 

Video Up-Conversion Features:

  • High definition up-conversion with film-like picture quality to up-convert 720x480 interlaced video encoded on DVD discs to 480p/720p/1080i and 1080p
  • DCDi by Faroudja video processing technology with progressive scan, film mode detection, TrueLife™ enhancement and motion adaptive noise reduction.
  • Video is analyzed on a single pixel granularity to detect presence or absence of angled lines and edges, which are then processed to produce a smooth natural looking image without visible artifacts (jaggies)
  • High-quality pure digital video and audio through a single HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface) cable
  • Multiple high definition video formats through HDMI output: NTSC: 480p/720p/1080i/1080p; PAL: 576p/720p/1080i/1080p
  • Compatible with HDTV, HD-Ready TV, HDTV monitors and projectors with an HDMI or DVI input
  • Direct PAL/NTSC disc and TV compatibility and system conversion
  • For more information about DVD video up-conversion, please read our white paper article Getting the Most out of DVD on an HDTV Display
  • Supports screen aspect ratio 4:3 (standard) and 16:9 (wide-screen)
  • User adjustable video controls: Sharpness, Contrast, Brightness, and Saturation
  • Composite video and S-Video outputs (standard-definition output only)

 

Dec 02 2006

News - Mvixâ„¢ Wireless HD Media Center

Mvix has just added HD and wireless capabilities to their latest extender. It looks good on paper, but I have yet to see screen caps of the GUI.

Mvix Website:

The new generation of Hi-Def Multimedia Playback is finally here ! Experience a hi-definition media file playback and take your audiovisual experience farther than ever before. The Mvix™ High-Definition Wireless Multimedia Center (MX-760HD) provides an unprecedented file format support and literally puts life back in your digital media content. This hard drive-based multimedia center, built around linux-based architecture is a true home-theater PC offering endless possibilities.

The Mvix™ Hi-Def 802.1G Multimedia Center links to your home network and plugs all your digital media content directly into your TV. You can now access all your multimedia files (music files, videos, and photos) and play it on your large-screen plasma or HDTV. It features the wireless 802.11g technology with WEP infrastructure to deliver maximum wireless signal rates (of up to 54 Mbps) for streaming digital media. The Mvix™ player supports over two dozen media formats, including high-definition video (WMV-9 or MPEG-4 format). The media center is capable of accessing files no matter where they are stored - on it's internal hard disk drive (not included), on your Personal Computer, External USB Storage or even a Network Attached Storage (NAS) box. It provides an easy way of viewing your digital photo files or a slide show with background music. It is even programmed for automatic decoding and convenient bookmarking (playlist) of multiple files within a folder.

Dec 02 2006

News - Panasonic PT-61DLX76 61-inch 1080p DLP

We are all pretty excited to see 1080p become the resolution standard for TV's. I would have to guess that sometime in the next year it will be the dominant solution. Adding these numbers will be Panasonic's PT-61DLX76 61" DLP. It looks great on paper with all the right features in place such as dual 1080p HDMI, lower price, and CableCard. However, it appears it falls short in the PQ category.

From the article:

Panasonic is a respected name in the world of flat-panel plasma TVs, but when all is said and done, the Panasonic PT-61DLX76 61-inch 1080p DLP HDTV is a mediocre offering in a crowded field of similar TVs. The company clearly put some effort into equipping this HDTV with a solid feature pack, including 1080p resolution, at a relatively low price. Unfortunately, its picture quality falls short of its considerable competition, making it less of a bargain than it appears.

Dec 02 2006

News - Acer Delivers First Viiv-Verified TV

As the title mentions, Acer is the first company to have a TV ViiV certified. What exactly does that mean? I really have no idea at this point, I am sure they verified it takes standard HD resolution and timing. Is it a Vista extender? This really means nothing to even a geek like me.

From the article:

"Acer's AT3705 is the first LCD TV that integrates digital TV with media gateway functionality," said Jim Wong, president, IT Products Business Group, Acer Inc. "It provides customers with an integrated digital experience via the range of practical and convenient applications. We envisage a true Digital Home experience to converge information with entertainment, then, we may claim the arrival of the Digital Home era." Viiv is based on industry standards such as DLNA, UPnP, and DTCP-IP. The AT3705 LCD TV allows playing back content such as recorded digital broadcast TV programs and protected content 

Dec 01 2006

News - Wal-Mart online film service has more method than madness

The Register has a bit of an editorial on Wal-Mart's foray into the digital download world. They seem to think this is the retail giant's attempt and dipping their big toe into this new arena.

From the article:

But there’s more to this than meets the eye. In the process of getting portable copies of the first video, Superman Returns, Wal-Mart has got customers to download its download manager. That’s a neat trick, just as iTunes got customers to download iTunes because they wanted to use the store, now consumers have less interest in downloading other people’s software just to see a store. So Wal-Mart has to get customers to do it for a different reason. In this case it’s in order to create a small audience of beta testers for the Wal-Mart software, and in each case they have to create an account with Wal-Mart.

Dec 01 2006

News - DViCO FusionHDTV5 Express

geogecko sent word that Fusion has recently released a HDTV PCI-Express tuner card. The specs do not say if it is QAM capable or not nor was I able to track down if anyone has reviewed this product yet. It is good to see PCI-Express cards finally hitting the market, it was very frustrating to have no use for those slots.

Fusion's Website: 

Next Generation Express interface & Latest chipset

- High performance HIGH DEFINITION ATSC/NTSC TV reception card
- High bandwidth PCI-Express 1x slot utilization (250MB/s Bandwidth)
- Superb Conexant CX23885 chipset & LG 5th generation tuner.
- Supports Windows Vista™ 32bit and 64bit, XP x64™ Edition

 

 

 

 

Nov 30 2006

News - Peer-to-Peer Movie Service Goes Legit

The movie studies seem to be a bit waffly these days when it comes to alliances they choose. BitTorrent has rocketed to heights of legitmacy with their deals with several major studios. Do I smell a dud? Nothing turns people of quicker then turning a free service into a pay service.

From the article:

The popular peer-to-peer file-sharing service has signed deals with a number or studios and networks, including MTV, Paramount, Lionsgate, Fox and Palm Pictures. They currently have other deals with Warner Bros. and a few others.

BitTorrent’s millions of current users account for an estimated as much as 40 percent of all worldwide Internet traffic.

 

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