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A Pair of Home Theater Systems From OnkyoIn addition to their solid, but perhaps prohibitively priced Blu-ray player, Onkyo has announced a pair of home theater systems that look very competitive. [/teaser] As they’re much better known as audio specialists than generalists, the HT-S7200 and HT-S6200 are right in Onkyo’s wheelhouse. Both packages include receivers with 130 watt per channel amplification, and featuring Dolby’s new IIz processing. The S6200 includes four 1080p capable HDMI inputs, while the S7200 boasts one additional input as well as the ability to upscale composite and component inputs to 1080i. Adding to the package is a grouping of seven speakers including four surround speakers, two front speakers which upgrade to tallboys for the S7200, a horizontal center channel and a 230 watt bass reflex sub with a ten inch woofer. A bevy of connection options are available as well, including a simple iPod/iPhone dock which integrates audio and video playback, and a one cord hookup to their optional HD Radio tuner. The S6200 runs $699, the S7200 sells at $899 and the speaker package is available separately at $499.Posted Thu Jul 30, 2009 at 11:00 AM PDT by: -
Onkyo’s $450 Profile 2.0 Blu-Ray Player[teaser]The DV-BD507, shipping now, is the latest offering from Onkyo. [/teaser] Only the second Blu-ray player from the long standing consumer electronics company, the BD507 looks to be a pretty solid player, but a $449 price tag could make it quite a bit less attractive. Onkyo’s player offers BD-Live support, outputs video to HDMI 1.3a at Full HD, and will play back AVCHD files stored on SD cards. It also have an Ethernet slot, but is not wireless out of the box, a wireless adapter needs to be purchased separately. The press release can be found here.Posted Thu Jul 30, 2009 at 09:00 AM PDT by: -
Dreamworks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg Excited About 3D In The Home[teaser]Speaks on Blu-ray, autostereoscopic displays, and 3D integration at the theater.[/teaser] Jeffrey Katzenberg spoke recently at Fortune’s Brainstorm: Tech conference on the 3D format for both movies and in the home, and not surprisingly, he’s largely for them. While 3D technology in the home is still up in the air, Katzenberg is optimistic, stating "Blu-ray is a fantastic platform for 3D." He commented as well on autostereoscopic displays, the 3D displays that don’t need glasses. While at last year’s CES the offerings were largely unwatchable from any point except for the exact sweet spot, Katzenberg believes it’s only “a handful of years” before the technique is perfected. As far as 3D in the theater goes, integration is going very smoothly. Initially there was a large push from both Dreamworks and Pixar for theaters to integrate 3D movies into their lineup, but as more movies are being released, more theaters are rushing to adapt. In a conference call on Tuesday, Katzenberg proudly stated “3-D performances are kind of off the chart, so pretty much throughout the world, exhibition is now chasing this, as opposed to us chasing them”.Posted Thu Jul 30, 2009 at 07:00 AM PDT by: -
Sonos Has Plans For Home Theater[teaser]Sonos, the company well known for its multi room music systems, has confirmed that it will soon be making a move towards the home theater.[/teaser] Thomas Cullen, co founder of Sonos, spoke on the current state of home theater systems with a fairly simple question "Why is Home Theatre so complicated?" With countless different connectors found on amplifiers today, it’s no wonder he’s looking for a solution. While the project is still in the natal stage, Cullen, in a conversation with Pocket Lint, did comment on a simple audio solution "We could pull the audio out via an Ethernet connection and make it better" While they do plan on bringing something to market as early as two and a half years from now, no solid plans are yet in place. Curiously, they appear to have no desire to work with video, which seems like the next logical step.Posted Wed Jul 29, 2009 at 12:00 PM PDT by: -
A look Inside Sony’s Blu-ray Factory[teaser]From beginning to end, a visual tour of the Blu-ray manufacturing process.[/teaser] The Australian website News.com.au posted a fantastic gallery detailing the inner workings of Sony’s Blu-ray disc factory. The photo journal takes a trip through the factory as a future disc would, starting as a handful of polycarbonate granules. Much of the process is automated, with only a few technicians overseeing the process. Perhaps most surprising though is the amount of precautions engineers must go through to ensure cleanliness of the plant. Going first through a chamber which blows loose dust off of their clothing, they then don full jumpsuits which cover everything but their faces and hands. Even the shoes the technicians are seen wearing in the plant are provided, and are not to be worn, or taken outside the plant. The photos, taken by Charlie Brewer can be viewed at News.com.auPosted Wed Jul 29, 2009 at 10:00 AM PDT by: -
Panasonic Bringing HDMI 1.4 To The Table[teaser]Expected in late August, Panasonic will be shipping HDMI 1.4 cables out to Japanese retailers.[/teaser] While there isn’t yet a need for the cables, early adopters can get their hands on them at the end of this summer. Prices vary by length from a 1 meter cable running about $42 to a 10 meter cable at over $200. While certainly the new HDMI standard will bring features formerly unavailable, such as capabilities for 3D content, as well as 4k and 2k resolution support, it’s unnecessary until such technologies hit the mainstream market. A few products this holiday season will accept the new cables, and surely we’ll see plenty at CES. There’s no word yet on plans to bring these cables to the states.Posted Wed Jul 29, 2009 at 07:00 AM PDT by: -
Panasonic’s New 2TB Blu-ray DVR and More[teaser]According to Akihabara News, Panasonic is releasing a new line of DVRs this September.[/teaser] The lineup is set to include six different units ranging from the very high end to the low. Consumers will have several size options, from 320 gigabytes all the way up to 2 terabytes. The new DVR line will also feature units with built in VHS and Blu-ray recorders. While it is unclear which DVRs will have which features, it seems likely that the VHS player would be integrated into the lower end models, leaving the higher end to house the Blu-ray recorders. We'll keep you posted as more details come in.Posted Tue Jul 28, 2009 at 09:00 AM PDT by: -
Bluetooth Tech Integrated Into LG Digital Televisions[teaser]Looks like audio streaming and wireless transfers are just the beginning.[/teaser] Broadcom has announced in a press release that the new line of LG televisions will be shipping with Bluetooth capabilities, letting the TV interact with a cell phone or headset. Initially, the technology will enable users to transfer digital media such as pictures and music to the television, as well as stream audio to a Bluetooth capable headset. More features are coming soon though, and Broadcom sees some exciting things on the horizonm including letting the cell phone act as a remote control, or even a QWERTY keyboard. This could open many options for future widgets, as they won’t have to limit the application to what can be controlled by a standard remote. “The increasing adoption of Broadcom Bluetooth technology into digital televisions and other consumer electronics devices is driving an emerging connectivity ecosystem,” said Craig Ochikubo, Vice President & General Manager at Broadcom “[this is] allowing existing products with Bluetooth connectivity like cell phones and wireless headsets to play new roles”Posted Tue Jul 28, 2009 at 07:00 AM PDT by: -
Are Digital Copies All They’re Cracked Up To Be?[teaser]Nick Broughall of Gizmodo Australia posted a story today about his experience trying to use the digital copy on Zack & Miri Make a Porno. [/teaser] Needless to say, things did not end well for Nick, who ran into some pretty big problems. One of the major difficulties, non-compatibility with Macs, could have easily been solved with a sticker on the front of the case, but perhaps more trying is the issue of Digital Rights Management. His copy of Zack & Miri came with only one format option, WMV, which of course is incompatible with a great deal of portable devices including the iPhone and iPod. To add to this, the extremely limiting DRM makes transferring to multiple devices not only an annoyance but a hindrance. There are obvious questions to be raised here, but the one that needs to be answered by consumers as well as publishers is this: Does ultra restrictive DRM end up creating pirates out of paying customers?Posted Mon Jul 27, 2009 at 11:15 AM PDT by: -
Lexicon Launching THX Certified Blu-ray Player[teaser]With most companies racing to release inexpensive budget priced Blu-ray players to market, Lexicon sees an opening at the top.[/teaser] Coming in at a cool $3499, their new BD-30 is geared towards CE pros and high end consumers. Lexicon is looking to marry it with the MC-12 Cinema Processor at retail to appeal to a consumer that wants top of the line performance. While the full specs on this player aren’t available yet, we do know that it will use Anchor Bay VRS technology and has a reporting loading time of less than 5 seconds for non BD-Live enabled discs. CE Pro reports that this player will be fully detailed at the CEDIA expo in September.Posted Mon Jul 27, 2009 at 10:15 AM PDT by:
