17
Nov
2006
So you’ve got yourself a high-tech 1080p projector. You luuuuve home cinema, but you prefer not having a giant screen in your living room. What to do, what to do? Easy: buy some Mighty Bright and paint your screen on the wall.
(via Bright.nl)
15
Nov
2006
Gizmodo: Projector Central just hooked up the Sony VW50, affectionately dubbed “The Pearl” and they’ve come back with some positive results. But it ain’t the king.Sure, it is one of the only 1080p projectors coming in at less than five grand. But the image is softer than they’d like at full res. What it’s great at is shooting a contrasty image (15,000 to 1 ratio), having deep black levels, and being vewy vewy quiet. Oh, its a bit portly, and without a horizontal lens shift, you have to place it dead center to your screen or deal with digital resizing of the picture (blurry time).
So, it earns second place in their rankings for 1080p sets under $5000. I know you’re dying to know which they liked more. Suplise! Mitsubishi’s HC5000 looks like the better deal.
It’s sharper, and brighter. It has less contrast, but has a sharper image. It comes in a few hundred cheaper at $4500 (about 3520 euro). And has both vertical and horizontal lens shifting for placing the projector off center, and still getting an even image. It does not have a snappy nickname like the pearl, however.
15
Nov
2006
T3: Packing a native contrast ratio of 15,000:1, the projector’s capable of slapping true blacks all over your wall without denting picture brightness. It’s a real boon for film and TV lovers, and means moody scenes look better than ever.
We’ll get our hands on JVC’s new baby next month, although it’s already available in the Far East, clad in a slinky white shell and with a price tag of around £3,500 (about 5150 euro).
13
Nov
2006
Newlaunches: When we think of buying a home theatre system what exactly do we picture? a few towers speakers or maybe stylish stands and a subwoofer and some more pieces of technology strewn here and there in our living room.
But then, not all of us who can afford those jumbo entertainment systems or live in houses large enough to accommodate all the equipment.
The Philips One Piece DVD Home Theater System showcased at CES 2007 is the solution to the problems of such. Providing all the assets that home theatres provide, in a single unit (save the independent subwoofer), it includes a DVD player with a HDMI output and a 1080p upconversion. It provides mind blowing surround sound with Sonowave speakers (that are conveniently in-built).
The Philips One Piece DVD Home Theatre system is brilliantly sleek to look at and is blessed with a very futuristic styling and finish.
A very covetable piece indeed but then there hasn’t been much say about pricing and the date of release. So let the desire to own this one burn on and on (or at least till the system makes its grand entry into our markets).
06
Nov
2006
AVZombie: Projector specialist SIM2 has unveiled the world’s first three-chip 1080p DLP projector at The Best of Stuff and What Hi-Fi Sound and Vision Show.
The Grand Cinema HT5000 (pictured) features the latest TI .95-inch 1080p DarkChip3 chipset, and has a quoted contrast ratio of 5000:1. It will be made available in either a single or dual lamp configuration and can be ordered with or without SIM2’s DigiOptic Image Processor.
“Three-chip DLP front projection is the ultimate expression of home theater performance,” says SIM2 CEO Maurizio Cini. “Now, through the implementation of the newly introduced 1080p DMD chipset into our three-chip HT5000 projector system, SIM2 will deliver the most engaging and realistic cinematic experience performance ever available in this market.”
30
Oct
2006
T3: This stylish unit boasts more bells and whistles than a Notre Dame May day parade. Look at the spec: HDMI output with video upscaling, a 6.1-channel surround sound set-up and wireless – yes, wireless! – rear speakers.
The Philips HTS9800W system boasts flat-panel speakers, a compact, wall-mountable main unit with blue-tinted, touch-sensitive controls and a slot DVD drive. It’s reminiscent of the sort of thing you’d get from Bang & Olufsen a few years ago, basically – reassuringly expensive-looking.
Pros: Rock-solid video and 6.1 audio performance, Modish looks, Rear speakers are wireless
Cons: No digital audio input, Multiple cables to the main unit “hub” look messy
Verdict: Cool performance, even cooler design… and not too expensive either (600.00 GBP, about 900 euro).
Performance is impressive. The 6.1 speaker configuration gives you an extra rear-centre channel (which either works independently, with DTS ES or Dolby Digital EX discs, or belts out a mix of the rear left and rights). As a result, the sea battle in Pirates of the Caribbean turns into a cacophony of shivering timbers, screaming shipmates and cannons booming at you from all sides.
The system also plays Super Audio CDs and can “upconvert” normal CDs as well. It’s not going to have audiophiles trembling in their polo necks, but September by Earth, Wind and Fire sounds undeniably firey (and windy and earthy).
Using the HDMI output, DVDs can be upscaled to 720p or 1080i resolutions. It’s a detailed but noise-free image – even misty scenes look smooth in Pirates – and a big improvement over RGB Scart.
Our only gripes are the lack of a digital audio input and the slightly complicated cabling for the main unit and subwoofer. Other than that, it’s a fantastically versatile and smart-looking system, well worth its asking price (600.00 GBP, about 900 euro).
20
Oct
2006
AVZombie: InFocus is introducing a new 720p projector. Its Play Big IN78 employs Texas Instrument’s DarkChip3 DMD, uses Pixelworks DNX image processing technology and comes pre-calibrated to D65 colour mastering standards. It will ship in the UK this December, priced at 2,000 pounds (2980 euro). Distribution is by CSE.
20
Oct
2006
Akihabara: The YSP-1100 is a new version of the Yamaha speakers with virtual 5.1. This time, the speakers come in 40” and 42”, instead of 32” for the previous versions. They support the entire range of Dolby, DTS, etc, and also offer an IntelliBeam feature to improve the sound depending on the room you install the speakers in. The YSP-1100 outputs 120W (20Wx2 + 2Wx40).
19
Oct
2006
About: With rising feature film costs and lower profits, coupled with the growth in home theater, George Lucas is changing his emphasis away from big-budget feature films and will concentrate on entertainment for the home screen. Some observers feel that as home theater increases its penetration into the homes of average consumers, the future of going out the local cinema could become a thing of the past. For a further look into how George Lucas sees the change in how we experience film and video, check out the post from TV Predictions.
18
Oct
2006
Wired: The main problem with the video iPod is that there’s no video equivalent to headphones, as Steve Jobs has pointed out before. I’ve tested goggles that let you watch movies on a virtual widescreen TV; not only can they make the viewer nauseus, but their “space age” appearance can have a nauseating effect on those around the viewer as well.
I’ve long said that the solution is the ultraportable video projector. Slap one of these on the back of a video iPod, point it towards a white wall, connect the sound to some speakers, and you could be up and running. (…)
We’re one step closer to this scenario, now that palm-sized video projectors such as the $700 (550 euro) Toshiba TDP-FF1AU have become available. “Using light-emitting diodes instead of a traditional bulb, the 1.1-pound projector is small enough to fit in a hand and lacks a noisy cooling fan. It also sips power so that it can run on an included battery pack for up to two hours,” says Toshiba.
12
Oct
2006
TechDigest: Bang & Olufsen have launched their HDR-2 hard disc recorder with a 250GB hard drive. It can be set up to record TV programmes in a series and automatically delete the oldest watched episodes to conserve space.
It features much of what you’d expect from a PVR: pausing live TV and simultaneous recording and playback.
It also lets you create TV libraries which lets you store content in up to 8 different groups, named as you like. Recordings can be split, trimmed and renamed to save space and group similar programmes together.
The 250GB drive will store up to 110 hours of standard quality or 60 hours of high quality (not high definition) content.
It features 2 SCARTs, Y/C input, and aerial connections.
Price is yet to be confirmed.
02
Oct
2006
Engadget: If you’re a gadget freak on a budget, and/or someone who prefers to archive your recorded shows in DivX format so you can cram more of ‘em onto a single DVD, then Toshiba has the product for you.
Their new ¥14,000 (93€) SD-580J DVD player will handle those DivX 3/4/5/6 files and serve ‘em all up via beautiful HDMI.
Or if you’re too cheap for that, then you’ve got your normal array of secondary options: optical sound, composite video, or S-Video.
