about-electronics.eu

Home Theatre in a box Review: Yamaha has announced four new home theatre in a box systems. The YHT-791 and YHT-591 are 7.1 and 5.1 systems respectively and while they don’t include a Blu-ray player, they do offer HD audio decoding.

The YHT-491 and YHT-391 are more value-oriented 5.1 systems that don’t skimp, each tosses in an 8″ 100 watt subwoofer. All four HTiB systems are designed to be easy to use and include features like Yamaha’s Scene Modes, which let consumers press a single button to instantly fire up the system and select the proper input and surround sound combinations.

They all also work with Yamaha’s optional iPod dock and wireless Bluetooth receiver.

The flagship is a 7.1 channel system that pushes 90 watts per channel to the two-way satellite speakers while delivering 100 watts to the YST II powered 10″ subwoofer. The receiver features four 1080p compatible HDMI inputs. Supporting those is HD audio decoding that supports Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio, Dolby Digital Plus and DTS-HD High Resolution Audio. The system also features 1080p upscaling and Auto Lip-Sync compensation to make sure the audio and video align perfectly. The YHT-791 also comes with the YDS-11 iPod dock.

Retail is around $649.95 (around €516)

read more

Engadget: Sony has just come clean with the Profile 2.0 BDP-S360 and BDP-S560, the latter of which includes integrated WiFi for tapping into BD-Live content and downloading future firmware updates sans an Ethernet cable.

Also, the unit is fully DLNA-ready, handles DVD upscaling, bit-streams audio via HDMI, decodes Dolby TrueHD / DTS-HD Master Audio and plays nice with external media loaded up on a USB drive.

As predicted, the lower-end BDP-S360 is essentially the same player sans WiFi.

Moving on, we’ve got a new pair of 5.1-channel Blu-ray HTIB systems: the BDV-E300 and BDV-E500W. Both bundles include a BD-Live-capable (Profile 2.0) Blu-ray player, while the BDV-E500W sports integrated S-AIR wireless audio capabilities. In other words, your rear speakers will get their signal sans cabling, and those who opt for the BDV-E300 are getting a kit that’s S-AIR-ready, meaning that you can add modules in the future to get the same wireless support.

Both sets also include Sony’s Digital Media Port for controlling peripherals like Apple’s iPod and Sony’s own Walkman line, and the BRAVIA Sync technology ensures that HDMI-CEC lovers are taken care of.

read more

AVReview: US firm VIZIO has unveiled its new VSB210WS Sound Bar for teaming up with your home cinema set-up.

The VIZIO uses SRS TruSurroundHD to make the most of your Hi-Def soundtrack with SRS TruVolume to balance out the volume levels.

Internally we’re listening to four three-inch mid/bass transducers and two one-inch aluminium neodymium tweeters, backed by the subwoofer’s 6.5in long throw high excursion driver working wirelessly on the 2.4Ghz frequency.

read more

EngadgetHD: Anyone who’s even casually compared front projectors knows there’s a lot more to performance than just the number of lumens spilling out the front lens.

It turns out that seemingly simple metric is skewed as well, and Epson is going to adopt a Lumita-developed measurement called “Color Light Output” to get a better handle on things.

Projector brightness is measured from a white field, which means that for models that use more than just RGB primaries for image formation — like 4LCD projectors — the white field can be quite a bit brighter than the sum of the red, green and blue fields and give a misleading representation of white brightness relative to color brightness.

The new “color illuminance” figure is the sum of the red, green and blue brightness only and will appear alongside the traditional white brightness.

read more

EngadgetHD: Panasonic’s latest crew of beamers may not boast the highest resolutions, but they’ve got longevity that’s second to none.

Announced at ISE 2009 in Amsterdam, the four member PT-D6000 series is designed to be installed where around the clock operation is either needed or preferred.

The durable, long-lasting DLP projectors sport a dual-lamp design and an Auto Cleaning Filter while offering resolutions from XGA (PT-D6000S) to WUXGA (PT-DZ6710) and brightness levels between 6,000 and 6,500 lumens.

read more

HDTV UK: Optoma has announced its latest DLP-based home high definition video projector. The ThemeScene HD82 features a 20,000:1 contrast ratio (680:1 ANSI contrast), and naturally is able to handle full HD 1080p.

It can project up to a whopping 150 inches (12.5 foot) diagonal and uses a range of technologies including PureMotion to insert frames to reduce motion blurring and judder, PureColour for vivid, balanced colour reproduction, and PureDetail for a pin-sharp picture.

The unit features two HDMI inputs, three RCAs, SCART, DVI and VGA, so it’s well connected. Lamp life in standard mode is around 3,000 hours.

The HD82 comes in a stunning gloss black design and is the first of a range of new home projectors Optoma will be launching this year.

read more

Home Cinema Choice: The latest universal remote control from One For All, XSIGHT, combines advanced functions, control of up to 18 devices from over 1,000 brands, and easier setup features.

There’s no manual provided – you use on-screen prompts on the remote or a PC to select the device types and brands.

Other features include the ability to programme up to 72 favourite channels with channel logos, profiles for up to six different users, and 12 presets for regular activities such as watching a DVD.

The XSIGHT remote controls will be available from major electrical retailers and online.

read more

HDTV UK: Epson has announced that it is to start using the Colour Light Output (CLO) measurement on its projectors.

Developed by Lumita at the end of 2007, CLO works on the same principle as the white light brightness measurement.

Three RGB colour patterns are divided into nine separate areas.

The luminance of the nine areas is then measured for each pattern, and an average value taken for each of the patterns. Finally, the Colour Light Output is calculated by adding the average values of the three patterns.

read more

OhGizmo: Logitech’s Harmony 1100 is an upgrade to the 1000 model, and features a 3.5 inch color touch screen that’s complimented with a set of ’soft’ buttons on the sides, and dedicated volume and channel buttons to the right.

Now these buttons technically duplicate functionality already found on the touch screen, but I like the fact that you can adjust the volume and change the channel without having to look away from the screen.

And like with all the Logitech Harmony models, programming the 1100 to replace up to 15 different remotes is easy thanks to their guided online setup that currently supports more than 225,000 devices from over 5,000 brands.

But if things get too complicated, the UI on the large touch screen can also be re-configured to show only the commands you want to see, even to the point of choosing a custom icon for each one.

The Logitech Harmony 1100 is expected to be available in February.

read more

Electronic House: For those not keeping score on the year’s tradeshows, Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) is next week. We don’t expect the same kind of turnout as CES, but projectiondesign from Norway is planning to show off its F32 projector line.

According to About Projectors, that line includes three models that can hold up in “harsh environments.” At almost 28 pounds, the F32 sx+ has a 1400 x 1050 resolution. The F32 1080 features a 1920 x 1080 resolution and two HDMI inputs. Last, but not least, the F32 wuxga has the same resolution as the 1080, but adds in 5700 ANSI lumens.

read more

Electronic House: Klipsch announced three new home theater packages. All three are 5.1 systems, which include left, center and right front channels, two surrounds, and one powered subwoofer.

The HD Theater 1000 has five identical speakers, each with dual 2.5-inch fiber composite woofers and a MicroTractrix Horn-loaded 0.75-inch aluminum dome tweeter. Standing 8.6 inches tall, each one includes a stand or can be wall mounted.  

Nestled in the middle of the line is the HD Theater 500. Each of the front and rear speakers has a 2.5-inch IMG woofer and a MicroTractrix Horn-loaded 0.75-inch aluminum dome tweeter inside. The center channel, however, has dual woofers.

Last, but not least, is the HD Theater 300. That setup’s main and surround speakers include a 2.5-inch IMG woofer and a 0.75-inch MicroTractrix Horn-loaded textile tweeter in each. The center channel is almost the same, except it’s magnetically shielded. 

read more

Electronista: Toshiba recently introduced two new Vardia-series DVRs, including the 500GB-capacity RD-G503 and the 300GB RD-E303. Both sport also sport a DVD burner and are capable of recording video in MPEG-2 TS and in H.264/MPEG-4 AVC formats.

The Vardia DVRs are capable of upscaling standard DVDs to near-HD quality, while a built-in ground and BS/110 degree CS digital tuner are built-in to receive TV programming. The delete function can be set to erase partially recorded TV programs that get cut when the power goes out to prevent wasting hard drive space. Dual-layer and rewritable DVDs are compatible with the Vardia DVRs.

The integrated video DAC is a 10-bit/148.5MHz unit capable of supporting 1080i or 720p resolutions, while the simpler 10-bit/108MHz supports 480i/480p resolutions.

The G503 is available in both white and black, while the smaller capacity E303 will only be offered in black.

read more