Home Entertainment
Criterion Collection's new reference Blu-ray player: a PlayStation 3
The PS3’s credibility as a Blu-ray player has received another boost with the news that the folks at the Criterion Collection – the distributors of “important and classic and contemporary films” – use the PS3 as their reference Blu-ray player in their new HD home theater. The news might come as a surprise to those that would assume a stand-alone player would trump a game console/Blu-ray player in the picture quality department, but the PS3 has consistently received favorable reviews of its Blu-ray playback capabilities after overcoming some early teething problems...
Leon Speakers introduces Profile 404-X-A on-wall speakers and A3-SUB subwoofer
August 12, 2008 Leon Speakers, established in 1995, is a world leader of high performance, on-wall loudspeakers. The company's new Profile 404-X-A speakers allow you to set them up on, or against a wall. The shallow profile (3.25-inches deep) helps them blend with their surroundings, and a choice of veneers and finishes (including paints) are available to finish the look.
High-resolution, high-end projector system from Meridian
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Comprising the 810 Reference Video Projector and the 810 Reference Video Scaler, the new US$185,000 flagship front projection system from Meridian is capable of a resolution of 4096 x 2400 or 9.8 megapixels, boasts a a native contrast ratio of 10,000:1 and is designed to optimize both High and Standard Definition inputs.
LG announce BD30 Network Blu-ray player with Netflix streaming capability
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August 4, 2008 In January, prior to the 2008 International CES, LG Electronics and Netflix announced their intention to team up and provide a set-top box for streaming movies and TV episodes from the Internet to the TV beginning in the second half of the year. Now, true to their word they’ve announced the LG BD30 - the first Blu-ray disc player that can stream movies and TV episodes from Netflix’s library of more than 12,000 choices directly to your TV. It also plays Blu-ray discs and up-converts standard DVDs to 1080p.
How to choose the right speakers for your amplifier or AV receiver
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August 4, 2008 Of all the equipment we use in our hi-fi and home theater systems, the thing that’s changed the least over the past 20 years is the speaker. After all, there’s only so many ways you can move air to produce sound. With that in mind, matching speakers to an amplifier should be easy, right? Well...it’s not rocket science, but there are a few key specifications that affect their overall performance. Our AV expert Tim LeFevre explains.
GOOD Magazine on Vampire Energy
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July 30, 2008 Power wastage associated with standby modes in consumer electronics devices makes up a staggering 1% of global carbon dioxide emissions, and costs the average household the equivalent of one months bill every year. GOOD Magazine has dubbed this wastage "vampire energy" and assembled a compelling graph that shows the average yearly cost of standby modes in common household devices - with the increasingly common plasma TV costing a whopping $159.76 per year to leave on standby.
Dell shipping their 24-inch, HDMI-equipped S2409W LCD monitor
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July 30, 2008 Dell's new 24-inch LCD monitor has an HDMI input and a native resolution of 1920 x 1080, making it a perfect fit for Blu-ray and video game consoles.
GEAR4 DUO 2.1 iPod speaker system
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The GEAR4 DUO is a 2.1 home stereo speaker system made for, yes you guessed it, the iPod. The versatile design of the DUO speaker system, which comprises the Bass Unit and the Satellite Speaker, means both can be used together as a home stereo speaker system, or the Satellite Speaker can be un-docked resulting in a portable unit for music around the house, garden or on your travels. While docked, the Bass Unit charges up the Satellite Speaker’s rechargeable Lithium-Ion battery, making it permanently ready for portable use.
Industry leaders back AMIMON's Wireless Home Digital Interface technology
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July 25, 2008 AMIMON, Hitachi, Motorola, Samsung, Sharp and Sony have formed an interest group to develop a standard for multi-room connectivity using AMIMON's Wireless Home Digital Interface (WHDI) technology.
Samsung unveils flagship Series 9 LED-backlit LCD HDTV
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July 24, 2008 Samsung's new flagship Series 9 LCD is the second generation of HDTV to use their LED SmartLighting technology, achieving a 1,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio and "actual" black levels thanks to its ability to completely shut off the light source of each pixel.
Sony’s HT-IS100 BRAVIA Theatre Micro System features golf ball size speakers
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July 22, 2008 No, that’s not a giant strawberry in the accompanying picture – it’s a mini speaker. The Sony HT-IS100 BRAVIA Theatre Micro System is a 5.1 channel system delivering 450 watts (RMS) of power through a subwoofer with integrated 32-bit S-Master digital amplifier and five incredibly small speakers roughly the size of a golf ball. Designing the system at people who don’t want their home theater system to overpower their décor Sony says the “HT-IS100 packs all the power of a conventional home theater system in five discrete speakers that practically disappear in your living room.”
Open Air Cinema’s CineBox Backyard Home Theater Kit
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July 22, 2008 Movie nights are always a great way to have a good time with family and friends and you could really "wow" them this summer by leading them through the house and outside to your personal open-air theater in the backyard. Open Air Cinema's CineBox backyard home theater package includes an inflatable movie screen, projector, powerful speakers and DVD player to make your movie night under the stars a real cinema experience.
Kodak’s Theatre HD Player with gyroscopic remote
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Kodak’s new Theatre HD Player is a Wi-Fi-enabled set top box that connects to your HDTV. Kodak describes the unit as, "An interactive device displaying personal content - pictures, video, podcasts, music - and Web-based content on a HDTV, while wirelessly connecting to a household's private Wi-Fi network.” The Wi-Fi connection allows the unit to connect to websites such as Kodak Gallery and Flickr for photos, YouTube for video content, and RadioTime for streaming audio. Jumping on the Wii bandwagon the Theatre HD Player also includes a gyroscopic remote, which allows users to navigate the on screen menus with a wave of the hand.
Batman Begins now available on Blu-ray
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Directed by Christopher Nolan (Memento) with Christian Bale as Batman, Batman Begins saw a much needed return to the darker feel of the comics and Tim Burton's 1989 film. This week sees the release of the film on Blu-ray, in standard and limited editions.
The Godfather Collection gets release date for Blu-ray
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The original Godfather film is widely regarded as one of the best films ever, with a #1 position on the top lists of both IMDB and Metacritic - and now it's coming to Blu-ray bundled with its two younger brothers.
Man vs Machine foosball
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Up until now foosball aficionados have had to find another living, breathing human being to engage in rod spinning combat. Not anymore, thanks to a highly competitive automated foosball table capable kicking human opposition ‘off the park’.
What's new in high-definition content?
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Hard up for high-definition content? Amazon has opened pre-orders for Transformers on Blu-ray, and knocked at least 30% off the price of the eight Blu-ray movies released this week - including Persepolis, The Spiderwick Chronicles and 10,000 B.C.
Panasonic launches new Blu-ray/DVD range
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The DMR-BW500i can record up to 72 hours of Full High Definition 1080p recording onto the built in 500GB Hard Disk Drive (HDD) or 6 hours 40 min on a 50GB double layer Blu-ray Disc. In addition to video, it can record 5.1-channel Dolby Digital surround sound broadcasts and Blu-ray movies are played in studio-master quality at a frame rate of 24 frames per second.
Pre-order Iron Man on Blu-ray
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It's one of the best super hero movies ever, even more so for gadget enthusiasts - meaning there's a boatload of early adopters out there who will be glad to add Iron Man to their Blu-ray collections once it hits shelves. Unfortunately there's no release date set, but Amazon is now taking pre-orders for the "Special Collector's Edition" Blu-ray release.
What's new in high-definition content?
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Hard up for high-definition content? HD Cheaply brings news of 10 HD DVDs available for under $10, the Blu-ray Starter Set and all three seasons of Weeds available on Blu-ray starting at $20.
Arpro packaging turns into a TV stand
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Concerned about the high volume of non degradable waste which makes up most consumer packaging, UK designer Tom Ballhatchet has developed an innovative idea for re-using the box your television comes in as a durable stand.
82-inch, ultra-HD display heads Samsung's SID line-up
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May 20, 2008 Samsung has showcased an ultra-high definition, (3,840 x 2,160 pixels), 82-inch LCD panel for 120Hz television sets at the Society for Information Display (SID) 2008 International Symposium, Seminar and Exhibition which is running from May 18 to 23 in Las Vegas. The world’s largest LCD panel supplier said the panel uses a red/green/blue LED backlight, which has been added to raise true color saturation to 150 percent, based on the NISC standard of 100 percent. It displays ultra-definition (UD) resolution at 120 frames per second, minimizing the blurring that is sometimes experienced at 60Hz.
Camouflage speakers for the great outdoors
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Hooking up an outdoor sound system for your backyard can be unsightly with big black speakers unable to blend in with the surrounds. This line of camouflaged outdoor speakers from Niles Audio Corporation is designed to address these issues and look like common backyard items.
Pioneer releases BonusView Blu-Ray Disc Player and Elite A/V receiver
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May 8, 2008 Pioneer has announced the Elite BDP-05FD and Pioneer BDP-51FD Blu-Ray Disc players and Elite SC-07, SC-05, VSX-03TXH and VSX-01TXH A/V receivers designed to give users that true theater experience in their own homes. The Elite BDP-05FD and Pioneer BDP-51FD BonusView Blu-ray Disc players support next generation high resolution audio and video formats, feature picture-in-picture interactivity and a redesigned platform. The new players work in tandem with Pioneer’s KURO displays and new Elite A/V receivers.
Television 2.0 offering from Sezmi promises personalized, on-demand viewing
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May 2, 2008 The way people watch, and indeed interact with their televisions is undergoing a fundamental shift - a shift from mass entertainment to a personalized, targeted, interactive entertainment (and advertising) platform. Sezmi Corporation (formerly known as Building B, Inc.) has seen the writing on the wall and is hoping to be a major player in what has been dubbed Television 2.0. The company has announced that it is commencing trials in pilot markets in preparation for commercial launch with broadband service providers and national retailers later this year.
Orb Audio's handmade, modular speaker system
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April 28, 2008 Orb Audio’s line of handmade compact speakers promise to deliver a sound usually reserved for much larger units by using state-of the-art components and high carbon steel housings in a modular and easily upgradeable package.
The ultimate loungeroom golf simulator - now including online tournament play
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March 17, 2008 High flying, deal-making business and the leisurely sport of golf have gone hand in hand for decades, the high-class country club being an exclusive refuge for the wealthy and powerful. With so much money behind it, golf is one of the few sports that can support blue-sky, no-expense-spared technology like the Full Swing Golf simulator. Built into a wall in your home, office or place of business, this immensely popular boys' toy allows you to play over 50 of the world's most famous courses, from the Old Course at St. Andrew's to Pebble Beach, using your own clubs and never losing a ball. A new online mode allows you to play over the Web against your buddies... Provided they have the US$50,000 to $80,000 you need to set yourself up with a system!
Meridian releases MF10 High-Def Projector
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March 17 , 2008 High-end projector specialists Meridian has released its latest high-definition video projector, the MF10, which offers extraordinary black reproduction capability, with 30,000:1 native contrast ratio achieved without the use of a dynamic iris, thus ensuring true black reproduction without loss of brightness.
Sony’s TP2 - the living room PC
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March 6, 2008 The Sony VAIO is a fully functioning PC that integrates HDMI connectivity, a bundled HD TV tuner and Blu-ray playback capability to turn a HD TV into a high definition PC monitor and form the hub of digital entertainment in the home.
Xyber Technologies' silent, fan-less PCs
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February 28, 2008 Consumers who use PCs for high-end gaming or media work can invest in a top-of-the-line computer and still be held hostage by a ticking time bomb cooling system. While fan-based systems are slowly corrupted by dust, and liquid cooling systems face the problems of evaporation and highly damaging seeping, Xyber Technologies offers an alternative that it claims is quieter, more efficient, and more stable.
It's official: HD DVD is dead
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Toshiba has officially announced what was only a matter of time - the discontinuation of their HD DVD businesses. They have already begun reducing shipments of HD DVD players and recorders, and expect the phase out to be complete by March.
HD DVD vs Blu-ray: The Endgame
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The last week has seen multiple nails added to the HD DVD coffin, with official price drops, extended Amazon clearance sales, and both Netflix and Best Buy announcing they have made the decision to back Blu-ray as the HD format of choice. Read on for a brief history of the HD format war, recent developments, our advice to consumers, and more bargains.
HD DVD, Blu-ray bargains at Amazon
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Amazon has launched a massive HD DVD sale
Outlaw LCR loudspeaker optimized for vertical or horizontal placements
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February 3, 2008 Outlaw Audio has introduced the Outlaw LCR, a flexible home theater loudspeaker that is the first to include the company's exclusive Main/Center Optimization, (MCO), selectable crossover technology. This allows the speaker's acoustic radiation pattern to be optimized for use as either a left or right front speaker or as a horizontal center channel speaker simply by flipping the MCO switch. Designed and hand-built in the USA to audiophile-grade performance standards, the Outlaw LCR features two long-throw 5-1/4" SEAS woofers flanking a custom designed 1-inch ferrofluid-cooled soft-dome tweeter, giving it improved bass performance and enabling the flexible MCO crossover circuitry. It is this circuitry that enables users to select between two crossover configurations to optimize the speaker's output for either center channel (horizontal) or main channel (vertical) placement.
JVC unveils new Everio hard disk camcorder line for 2008
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January 21, 2008 JVC’s new G series of Everio hard disk camcorders announced at CES 2008 offer new functions that make operation simpler and more intuitive and feature a new, super-slim design that’s some 20 percent smaller than last year’s entry-level model. The new, colorful five-model Everio G lineup for 2008 consists of four 680K-pixel models and one 7 Megapixel model. The four 680K-pixel camcorders include two 30GB models and two 60GB models, while the lone 7 Megapixel model comes with 30GB of recording space. All models feature a new Laser Touch Operation user interface – moving a finger up or down a touch-sensitive illuminated scroll bar just to the left of the LCD monitor screen allows users to browse through and select video clips to view or edit, and operate menus for camera set-up. The 2.7-inch widescreen LCD’s high-resolution GUI is linked to Laser Touch movements, but the feature eliminates the risk of smudging or damaging the screen that users face with a touch-screen interface.
