About Electronics

I4U News: Panasonic has announced another new home theater projector called the PT-AE2000U which delivers 1500 lumens of rightness and a 10000:1 contrast ratio. The projector is capable of full HD 1080p resolution.

Using a Pure color Filter, Panasonic says the projector can reproduce movies just as you see them on the big screen. The filter achieves higher purity of the three primary colors and allows for deeper blacks as well.
Also used is Panasonics Smooth Screen technology that reduces black lines between pixels to improve image quality further. A 16-bit digital signal processing system allows for reproduction of more colors and hues and the projector incorporates next generation HD LCD panels.

read more

Electronista: Yamaha yesterday refreshed its Digital Sound Projector line for home theater enthusiasts without the space for hardware surround setups. Each new model refines the company’s spatializing technique to widen the overall sound field and lets users personalize the surround effect beyond the default 5.1-channel Dolby Surround and DTS processing methods. Two new models also add two HDMI inputs and one output for routing audio to an HDTV, with the mid-range YSP-3000 relaying video unchanged and the top YSP-4000 upscaling analog video to either 720p or 1080i.

read more

The Register: LG Electronics has created a home cinema system with enough power under the hood to ensure you could start holding screenings in your own front room. The HT902TB boasts 1000 watts of listening power and is also sleek and stylish to boot.

The system includes four stand-alone tallboy speakers, each dipped in a glossy black paint, and a sub-woofer. An XTS Pro digital amplifier is also thrown in, which LG said will deliver rich and crystal clear sound by creating five virtual speakers to replicate a 10.1Ch sound effect. It reckons this allows sound to travel “more smoothly” around the room.

The HT902TB’s controller unit-cum-DVD player connects to HD-ready TVs via an HDMI cable and provides 1080i resolution, although some only consider 1080p to be the true HD resolution. The unit is compatible with DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW and DVD+RW, but there is no mention of HD DVD or its rival Blu-ray.

Peripheral audio devices, such iPods, can be connected to the unit through its portable audio 3.5 Stereo In jack and it also features a USB port as well. For your other peripheral devices, the unit also supports WMA, MP3 and JPEG files as well.

LG’s HT902TB home cinema system is available in the UK now and retails for around €340.

read more

HiddenWires: Onkyo unveils four THX-certified AV receivers – step-up models are the world’s first with onboard Silicon Optix’ HQV Reon-VX 1080P video processingOnkyo is proud to reveal its next wave of sector-leading home cinema receivers, a quartet of new THX-certified 7.1-channel models incorporating a range of high-end features and core technological improvements designed to deliver the highest levels of performance possible. Available in black or silver, the models are the…

TX-SR705 – THX Select2-certified
TX-SR805 – THX Ultra2-certified
TX-SR875 – THX Ultra2-certified
TX-SR905 – THX Ultra2-certified

All four home cinema receivers offer full HDMI 1.3a compatibility, including internal decoding for DTS-HD, Dolby TrueHD and Dolby Digital Plus. Each also features a sophisticated set of internal video processing capabilities, with the two upper models boasting a world first with the inclusion of Silicon Optix’s acclaimed HQV Reon-VX processing, the first time this leading-edge technology has ever been seen in an home cinema receiver.

read more

AVZombie: THX will introduce a new volume control technology, dubbed THX Loudness Plus, as part of the latest iteration of its post-processing certifications, THX Ultra 2 Plus and THX Select 2 Plus.

The quality-control company says that the technology ‘maintains the integrity of audio content when listening at lower volume levels.’

While the Reference Level used to mix most surround soundtracks may be fine for playback in cinemas, THX accepts that this is just too loud for most homes.

And when these soundtracks are played back at a lower level, surround effects and ambient sounds can be lost.

Warren Mansfield, director of consumer technology at THX explains “With THX Loudness Plus, home theater enthusiasts have the option of cranking the sound, or turning the volume down and still hearing the ambient detail in movies, video games or music soundtracks just like they were mixed in the studio.”

read more

Engadget: Hot on the heels of Universal Remote’s MX-810 comes the oh-so-versatile MX-980, which aims to allow “professional installers to more quickly and efficiently customize and automate” sophisticated home theaters and entire home AV systems. The wand-style device sports a 320 x 240 resolution display, RF capability, an open programming architecture, and the ability to be programmed by any Windows-based machine with a USB port.

Other subtle niceties include a motion sensor that automatically turns on the display when the remote is picked up, blue backlighting for all the buttons, a small integrated speaker, rechargeable Li-ion, and built-in compatibility with the firm’s MSC-400 Master System Controller. If you hadn’t already recognized, URC is clearly aiming for the high-end crowd with this one, and it’s safe to say the €435 pricetag further substantiates that very point.

read more

Akihabaranews: Sharp looks like it will be the first to market with a THX-certified television.

Dubbed the T-series, the new lineup features a 65-inch and 52-inch LCD. Support for THX means the screen will sport the best match of brightness and contrast with home theater level quality.

The T-series LCDs feature 350cd/m2 brightness and a 2,500:1 contrast ratio. Besides that, the HDTVs will sport 1,920 x 1,080 120Hz ASV panels with 3x 1080p HDMI, 1x DVI, 2x Firewire, IrSS, and Ethernet.

read more

Slashgear: Where you might want to stick a 2 speaker surround sound system. It seems surround sound virtualization and DVD upscaling are the two popular buzz words for the home theater industry as several products keep popping up involving one or the other or both.

This one has both. The upscaling is good for up to 720p or 1080i. The virtual surround sound is provided via Sony’s S-Force PRO Front Surround technology.

Other features include 480 watts of power and the option to upgrade with a Bluetooth adapter allowing music to be streamed between another Bluetooth device and this system.

read more

Engadget: Little known fact: THX was founded by Star Wars director George Lucas in 1983 to help theater owners adjust their auditoriums for maximum impact — and in doing so became an iconic brand for AV technology, even if no one really knew what THX is or does.

Well, the company is now using that expertise to take on a new home theater challenge: automatically balancing audio and video levels. While THX-certified receivers, screens, and speakers are nothing new, what THX has under development could help ensure even the least technology-savvy users get the most from their gear. While details are slim at this point, think about how HDMI connectors can send technical details between source units and televisions to set optimal resolutions or audio formats.

read more

E-Gear: If you thought that a front projection video system was too expensive or too complicated, then Epson is out to prove you wrong. This fall (around November) the company will begin selling its Ensemble 1080 system, which is basically a whole home theater in a big box. This isn’t merely a set of speakers and a controller.

The Ensemble includes an Epson Powerlite Cinema 1080 projector, projector mount, a 100-inch powered screen, an integrated Atlantic Technology 5.1 speaker system and a processor/controller/DVD component with HDMI upconverting all for €5100. The company even throws in a little shelf stand for the controller and sub.

read more

Coolest Gadgets: If you’ve got the money to have a dedicated room as your home cinema, and you want to make the cinema experience complete (and then some), you need these, Oscar Home Cinema Seating.

Don’t let others stop you from enjoying the films any longer, with the Oscar Home Cinema Seating. Create your very own home theatre using these extremely comfortable and luxurious seats. Available in a three seater version or a single seater version in black leather or red microfibre each comes with a beverage cooler/warmer, motorized wall-a-way incliner, spring cell core, storage box, anti slip footrest and massage system.

read more

Tech.co.uk: Projectiondesign has finally released UK details for the M25 – the world’s smallest Full HD home cinema projector. The M25 has the same footprint as an A4 sheet of paper. And yet manages to deliver full 1080-line progressive images that wouldn’t disgrace projectors three or four times the size.

The Projectiondesign M25 uses the latest Texas Instruments DMD Dark Chip 3 DLP processor. It features 24fps film support, a 5,000:1 contrast ratio and 1,000 ANSI lumens brightness. It also includes Texas Instruments’ BrilliantColor technology for an improved colour gamut, and an HDMI 1.3a input – ideal for getting maximum picture quality from and HD DVD players.

read more