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Big Picture Big Sound: Not content to rest on their 7.1-channel Surround Sound laurels, Dolby is exploring a new dimension in surround sound — height, that is — with their new matrixed surround sound codec Dolby PRO LOGIC IIz (PLIIz).

Dolby used their demo time at CES this year to show off the possibilities of PLIIz with a computer game demo segment featuring a helicopter which was audibly flying over the audience’s heads thanks to an additional pair of height speakers added to the system (near the ceiling) and Dolby PLIIz decoding.

Because the technology is matrixed into existing 5.1-channel or 7.1-channel soundtracks, it requires no new codecs or standards be added to videogames or Blu-ray Discs in order to work. Onkyo’s upcoming TX-SR607 home theater receiver is expected to be among the first to support Dolby PLIIz decoding.

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TWICE: JVC used its CES showroom to formally kick off its entry into the Blu-ray Disc market this year by offering its first stand-alone BD-Live-ready model and an LCD TV/Blu-ray Disc combo player.

The company is also showing a revamped 2009 television line, which will be highlighted by a 360-degree-designed, 42-inch, second-generation, super-slim LCD monitor, and an expansion into combo LCD/video players and smaller screen size LCD TVs for greater placement options.

The new stand-alone Blu-ray Disc player, model XV-BP1, is BD-Live compatible, but will require additional memory (1GB minimum) to perform most BD-Live functions. The flash memory can be added using a USB thumb drive connected to the player’s USB port. An Ethernet port is added to connect with an in-home broadband network.

JVC also unveiled the LT-42B300 combination LCD TV/Blu-ray player, offering a 42-inch screen size with Full 1080p resolution and a built-in Blu-ray Disc player with BD-Live support.

In total, JVC’s 2009 TV line announced to date includes 18 models across five series. Screen sizes include: 19, 32, 42, 46 and 52 inches. Among the highlights is a 42-inch super-thin LCD monitor with 1080p resolution, 120Hz Clear Motion III technology and enhanced black-level performance using JVC’s specially developed CCFL backlighting system.

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T3: Sharp has unveiled the world’s first LCD TV with a Blu-ray drive built-in, the Aquos BD Series at CES.

We’ve seen plasmas equipped with Blu-Ray players before, but this is the first LCD.

The side-loading drive also plays CDs and DVDs, as per regular Blu-ray players.

A spokesman claims this is because people want more from their products given the credit crunch. “More than ever consumers are looking for value,” said Bob Scaglione, Senior Vice President of Sharp.

And while the company has reserarched other technologies like OLED, it claims LCD is still the best for TVs.

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Tech Digest: Do you like jigging your leg when you watch the TV? Then Sony have the perfect TV for you.

Their new Eco Bravia line has a 40% reduction of power usage compared to standard models, through a number of environmentally happy features, the most bizarre of which is undoubtedly the Presence Sensor.

When the sensor fails to identify movement in the room, it will automatically switch itself off. How long does it wait? How sensitive is it? They’re not telling, but for maximum amusement, I’m hoping the answer is two minutes and not very, respectively.

The Eco range will come in the form of the 52-inch KDL-52VE5, the 46-inch KDL-46VE5, and the 40-inch KDL-40VE5.

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DVICE: After the full day of press conferences preceding the opening of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), there’s one big trend that keeps coming up from every electronics company hawking their wares to the press corps. They all are cranking out TVs that can easily link up to the web.

While we’ve seen a trickle of attempts, plans and half-hearted hookups to the internet in the past couple of years, this year at CES, that trickle has turned into a torrent. Web connectivity is at the top of the hype list for Samsung, LG, Sony, Panasonic, Sharp, and Toshiba. Why are they all so eager to make it easy for TV viewers to access online content from their living rooms?

That’s easy: because viewers want it. A Toshiba executive told that of all the consumers able to connect to RSS services using Toshiba’s Internet-connected TVs, an astonishing 25% of them connected and began receiving feeds. That’s a remarkable acceptance rate for technology that didn’t even exist a couple of years ago. Because of such heightened interest, we think in a matter of two to three years, it’ll be hard to find a TV that doesn’t have these web-enabled features.

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EngadgetHD: Technical Audio Devices (TAD), a subsidiary of Pioneer, has a little something to show audiophiles that may lure them away from their CD transports yet — a new 2-channel audio format for Blu-ray discs that it unapologetically claims “rivals 2-channel analog sound.”

We’re not sure if that means reel-to-reel or vinyl is in the crosshairs, but the company is putting its apparently-unnamed format up for demo at CES.

The demos are being hosted by none other than audiophile classic Sheffield Labs recording engineers Bill Schnee and Doug Sax, who have picked out some choice cuts to be played on pro-level TAD Compact Reference monitors and associated electronics; no word on if whiskey is part of the demo.

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CrunchGear: Victor JVC has today unveiled a next-generation 32-inch LCD display that is the company’s thinnest (7mm) and the world’s lightest (5kg).

A first prototype will be showcased during the CES at the Victor / JVC booth this week.

The company claims it takes 50% less material resources and 10% fewer LCD module parts to manufacture the display.

There is no information about features or the model name of the screen available at this point (other that it offers full HD resolution).

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NetworkWorld: Samsung Electronics plans to unveil a flat-panel TV that’s as thin as just 6.5-millimeters at this week’s International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

The TV set, few details of which were immediately available, is between 6.5mm and 7mm across its width and has an LED (light emitting diode) backlight.

The Samsung TV stands at present to be the thinnest LCD TV yet demonstrated.

Until now that record was held by Philips, which unveiled an 8mm prototype LCD television at the IFA electronics show in Berlin last year. At the same event Sony took the wraps off a 9.9mm set that has already gone on sale and is the thinnest LCD TV available in retail stores.

CES begins on Thursday. Samsung has scheduled a news conference for Wednesday at which the TV set is expected to be first shown.

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I4U News: Sharp is apparently planning to bring their Aquos HDTVs with integrated Blu-ray Player onto the US market. When Europe will follow is unknown.

The company is supposed to exhibit the new Blu-ray HDTVs at the CES 2009.

Sharp has already introduced HDTVs with Blu-ray Players and Recorders in Japan in October.

According to Wired Sharp will offer a 32 inch and 42 inch Aquos LCD TV with integrated Blu-ray player starting right after CES 2009.

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TWICE: New television and video products slated to be unveiled at the 2009 International CES, will get considerably greener, if not more profitable, based on show trends predicted by TWICE. Among those on the floor, several first-tier manufacturers are expected to emphasize new eco-friendly TV designs this year with full ranges of products scheduled to conform to the Energy Star 3.0 guidelines at a minimum.

At the same time a number of top-tier LCD TV model lines are expected to shift to the use of new back-lighting systems, such as LEDs, to reduce power consumption while boosting contrast and color saturation performance levels significantly.

A number of plasma makers are expected to get into the power-savings act with models that significantly reduce draw levels in big-screen displays, taking away another advantage often cited by LCD TV competitors. Also expect to see a number of companies introduce plasma sets with thin-panel depths.

Blu-ray players are expected to be everywhere at this year’s show, with most new models making BD-Live interactivity virtually a stock feature. Price points should also continue their inevitable downward spiral, opening up adoption to a much wider audience.

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Cdfreaks.com: During the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) next month, several companies will discuss at least four different wireless high-definition TV standards.

A panel discussion between vendors and representatives of the following formats will take place:  AMIMON, a WHDI supporter; Pulse-LINK, HDMI supporters; SiBEAM, wireless HD supporters; and ProVision, the 802.11n backer.

Out of the four standards, only 802.11n “is the only standard capable of cost-effectively transmitting interactive wireless HD video across all rooms within a home,” said Professor Andrew Nix.

Broadcom, Hitachi, Motorola, Samsung, Sharp, and Sony joined the WHDI Special Interest Group (SIG), in the hope of creating and promoting a new 5 GHz platform. Intel, Panasonic, LG Electronics, NEC, Toshiba, Samsung and Sony also are supporting a 60Hz technology used by Wireless HD.

“SiBEAM has recently completed a new round of fundraising, successfully securing the participation of two major backers, Panasonic and Samsung,” ABI Research analyst Steve Wilson said in a statement.  “Broadcom has also joined the consortium.  Meanwhile Mitsubishi has announced its choice of the Amimon chipset.”

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