All Products Filed in Blu-ray

Tuesday, September 07, 2010

In the world of high-performance home theater Kaleidescape has established its product line as a go-to source component to provide users with an easy and reliable way to manage and playback their music and movie files.

On Sept. 2 the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based manufacturer of residential entertainment servers announced its new iPhone application. Kaleidescape says the app will allow users of its products to more easily shop for movies.

The app scans a DVD or Blu-ray disc barcode and then notifies users if they have that title in their content libraries and what format the video is stored. The app also provides users with information from its Movie Guide feature, which includes movie descriptions; who directed and starred in the movie, aspect ratios, running times and ratings.

Michael Malcom, chairman and CEO of Kaleidescape, says new iPhone app provides users with another tool that enhances their home theater experience. "This new app broadens the value of the rich information in our exclusive Movie Guide by making it available to our customers when they are shopping,” he says.

“It also extends the elegance and simplicity of the Kaleidescape experience beyond the home.”

Kaleidescape dealers and their clients can go to Apple's iTunes web site to download the app.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

There's no question that powerline technologies have advanced far beyond the Clapper.

A good example of how far the technologies have advanced can be found in Western Digital's WD Livewire Powerline AV Network kit.

Western Digital says the product is compatible with the HomePlug AV powerline networking standard and it allows CE Pros to retrofit a home with network connections by using its existing electrical outlets.

The Lake Forest, Calif.-based computing company says the system offers 200Mbps of data transfer speeds and enough ports to support the connection of seven networked devices, which could be anything from a console gaming system, to a Blu-ray Disc player with BD Live technologies.

Western Digital adds the powerline solution also supports 1080p video streams and its set up is plug-and-play to facilitate quick installations.

Monday, August 23, 2010

Pioneer Electronics has earned respect for its line of mainstream consumer electronics products that balance, cost, performance and value.

The company's Elite line of Blu-ray disc players have been cited as some of the best products on the market and now with the latest generation of Pioneer Elite Blu-ray players hitting the market, the company has built upon the performance of the players by adding Web streaming and wireless connectivity.

Pioneer Elite's mid-level BDP-31FD incorporates the company's PQLS jitter reduction technology for use with a companion Pioneer Elite receiver, as well as other installer-friendly features such as RS-232 for third-party control system integration, iPod Touch/iPhone control apps, BD-Live support, and the ability to stream Web-based content from media sites like Netflix.com and Youtube.com.

Installers can set up the Web-enabled BDP-31FD by connecting a traditional Ethernet cable to its Ethernet port, or in a retrofit situation, employ Pioneer's optional wireless AS-WL100 USB wireless adapter, which provides installers with the ability to integrate the player's Web functions with a homeowner's existing wireless network.

Monday, August 16, 2010

It's amazing how fast the market for 3D televisions is developing. About this time a year ago 3D televisions were wildly expensive when compared to traditional flat-panel televisions, but today with companies like Panasonic pushing down the price points for 3D televisions, the technologies are becoming more approachable for a wider group of consumers.

Panasonic's newly announced additions to its VIERA GT25 Series of plasma televisions provides consumers with a choice of two affordable 3D televisions. The 42-inch TC-P42G25 and 50-inch TC-P50GT25 both offer users the company's 600Hz Sub-field video processing technology, 1080p resolutions, VIERA Image Viewer (for viewing still photos), 24fps (frame-per-second) compatibility, active-shutter 3D, and VIERA Link for the streaming of Web content from Netflix, Amazon On-Demand, Pandora and Twitter.

Henry Hauser, vice president of merchandising, display group for Panasonic, says that Panasonic has been at the forefront of the 3D market and now with the release of these two new 3D televisions, consumers will now be able save money while purchasing state-of-art televisions. "From the beginning, Panasonic has led the charge into the immersive world of 3D home entertainment by offering end-to-end 3D home entertainment solutions, including full HD 3D VIERA plasma TVs, 3D Blu-ray disc players, professional and consumer 3D camcorders, the nation's first suite of 3D TV channels with partner DirecTV, and the authoring of 3D Blu-ray movies in cooperation with the Hollywood studios," he says.

"The debut of our VIERA GT25 Series of full HD 3D TVs further expands our portfolio of 3D offerings and makes it even easier for consumers to join the immersive world of full HD 3D for the home."

The televisions also include the ability to convert 2D content to 3D, and the TVs, which are priced at $1,700 and $2,100 respectively, also require consumers to purchase 3D glasses separately to view the content.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Throughout the history of the custom electronics market, there's been a handful of brands that have supported the channel's growth.

One of those companies is Runco, and recently, the luxury manufacturer of projection and flat-panel video displays introduced two new projectors: the Signature Cinema SC-50d and SC-60d.

Runco has engineered the projectors to reproduce bright, rich pictures through its use of dual UHP lamps and three-chip Texas Instruments' (TI) DLP 1080 chipsets. In addition, the company also includes its external DHD video processor and CineWide with AutoScope technologies for noise-free, aspect-ratio correct image reproduction.

The Ore.-based manufacturer also says the projectors are 3D ready to support both passive and active 3D technologies, and through the use of Runco's Smart Lens system and ISF calibration provisions, installers can calibrate the projectors with preset lens and iris memory for use with masking screens.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

With the world of residential audio/video expanding rapidly, the applications in which custom installers find themselves using HDMI diversifies everyday.

Kordz's new EVS 7-15m line of HDMI cables is designed to help CE Pros deal with the many installation situations they have to deal with in order to complete an installation.

The company says line addresses longer HDMI cabling runs through the implementation of Redmere Technology's active EQ solution that permits the transmission of data at rates up to 10.2Gbps.

Kordz manufactures the cable with a flat geometry, which allows installers to run it under carpets and tuck it into baseboard trim when in a retrofit environment. Ensuring that connections remain secure after the cabling is pulled, the Australian manufacturer also builds the cables with its firm-fit connectors to help the cables stay in place once they are installed.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

With the release of the new TX-NR1008, TX-NR808 and the TX-NR708, the consumer electronics company Onkyo is providing budget-conscious consumers a trio of A/V receivers that provide everything necessary to assemble a modern home theater.

All three receivers offer HDMI 1.4a connections to support 3D video playback, and they also offer video Faroudja's DCDi upscaling and processing technologies. Other features packaged into the receivers include Ethernet connectivity to stream a variety of digital files such as MP3, FLAC, WAV, AAC and LPCM. The Windows 7 and DLNA 1.5-certified receivers can also play content from Pandora, Rhapsody, vTuner and Sirius Internet Radio to enable installers to network the receivers for connectivity throughout a home.

Onkyo differentiates the receivers through some higher end performance options such as secondary zone functions. The TX-NR708 requires a powered second zone, while the 808 powers the second zone and comes equipped with pre-outs for zones two and three. The TX-NR1008 takes it a step further by providing amplification for zones two and three, while also providing users with an extra HDMI output.

Additionally, all three receivers offer Audyssey room equalization, and lossless Dolby TrueHD and DTS Master Audio audio processing.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

For about a decade the California consumer electronics company Oppo Digital, Inc has gained a steady following of performance-driven, budget conscious consumers and throughout this time it's also been building a loyal dealer network.

Back about a year ago the company released one of the first universal disc players that included Blu-ray disc playback, the BDP-83, and it was praised from all corners of the electronics market. Recently the company upped the performance ante of the BDP-83 when it introduced the BDP-83 Special Edition unit, which addresses the analog multichannel outputs of the player.

The company started by upgrading the player's power supply before moving on to its digital-to-analog converters (DACs), which the company replaced with higher performing Sabre DACs from ESS Technology.

Using an eight-channel Sabre Premier (ES9006) DAC chip for the unit's 7.1 analog outputs in tandem with an alignment that features four of ESS' Sabre Ultra (ES9016) DACs per channel for the player's analog stereo output, the player is able to achieve a signal-to-noise ratio of 117dB, which bests the standard BDP-83 by 7dB.

Just like the standard BDP-83, the SE offers Blu-ray, DVD, SACD, HDCD, DVD Audio disc playback. The BDP-83 SE can play back blank discs in the AVCHD, CD-R/RW, DVD+/-R/RW, DVD+/-R, BD-R/RE and Kodak picture formats for added entertainment flexibility.

Other standard features include VRS by Anchor Bay video processing and upconversion, BD-Live 2.0 functionality, zoom-mode processing for 2.35:1 stretch applications and built in Dolby True HD and DTS Master Audio.

Thursday, July 15, 2010

When there's no substitution for a wired connection, like when someone wants a switch or a network attached storage (NAS) device, powerline network connections are a viable alternative.

Plaster Networks' new AV200 is the latest addition to the powerline networking company's line of products and it's designed to provide a less expensive means of powerline network connectivity to homeowners.

According to the company, installers can lower the costs of their retrofit network installations by combining the AV200 adapter with the company's PLN3 unit and they can employ multiple AV200s throughout the home as the client needs additional connections.

Plaster is offering a start-up powerline networking kit that combines one PLN3 adapter and one AV200 adapter for a total of $130, with an additional $65 for each AV200 adapter.

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Vaulting ahead of the other media server companies, the N.J.-based Windows Media Center (MCE) company, S1Digital has updated its product line through the addition of 3D video playback, lossless audio and the announcement of its new P250 MCE client.

S1 had addressed its ProLine Series, which includes the S800, P600 and P500 by adding 3D Blu-ray disc playback capabilities and HDMI 1.4 connections.

The company has also added 10 terabytes (10 TBs) of internal storage with six hot-swappable RAID drives, along with the latest Intel Core i7 processor and Microsoft's Windows 7 64-bit operating system (OS) to its flagship S800.

Beyond the 3D options for the P500 and P600, S1 has added DTS Master Audio and Dolby TrueHD lossless audio and HDMI Deep Color video capabilities to its mid-level Media Center machines. On top of those additions, the N.J.-based manufacturer has added RAID-enabled internal storage, Intel Core i5 processors, and the Windows 7 OS to the P500 and P600 to ensure the products' performance.

Rounding out its product line is the P250 client. This unit supports HDMI 1.3, the Dolby and DTS lossless audio formats, 1080p video resolutions, and seamless network access to the company's ProLine Series of products to allow the device to playback Blu-ray, music, videos and photo media.

Wednesday, July 07, 2010

Over the years Extron has built a reputation as a premium manufacturer of commercial audio/video equipment.

The company's new SSP 7.1 Surround Sound Processor should continue to reinforce its reputation through its inclusion of many installer-friendly features.

Highlighting some of the processor's features are a seven-channel, nine-band parametric equalizer, operating modes like "Live" and "Emulate" with file saving capabilities, 100ms of lip sync correction, a full choice of Dolby and DTS surround processing modes, RS-232 and the company's 2.0 setup software.

Extron designed the rack-mountable processor for use in commercial and corporate environments, and it's included a full selection of inputs to provide installation flexibility.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

With the lines blurred between the world of A/V and traditional networking, products like Pakedge Device's new SW5-GW 5-Port Gigabit Ethernet can serve to facilitate the relationship between Web-based technologies and a traditional A/V system.

The high-speed switch is compact with dimensions of 4.75-inches by 3-inches by 1-inch and when combined with its wall-mounting brackets, installers can place the unit in a choice of spaces to accommodate a client's needs and wishes.

Pakedge says the network compliant, plug-and-play switch is equipped with five auto-speeds sensing 10/100/1000 Mbps ports, and installer friendly features like the ability to negotiate network speeds and duplex to help ensure reliable signal transmission between all connected devices.

Monday, June 21, 2010

Right now it's one of the most heated debates within the consumer electronics industry: high-performance Blu-ray players.

Boulder, Colo.-based Ayre Acoustics is the latest company to enter the high-performance BD (Blu-ray) disc category with the release of its DX-5 Universal Digital Engine.

Building upon the foundation of an Oppo Blu-ray disc player, Ayre gutted the unit's internal components and replaced them with upgraded features like linear analog power supplies for the audio and video sections of the component. From the the company galvanically isolated the video circuitry with high-speed opto-isolators, it replaced the player's audio circuit by implementing its EquiLock circuit, which it says stabilizes the operating point of each active gain device to ensure maximum performance for the zero-feedback, fully balanced design, it upgraded the player's analog-to-digital converters (DACs), it implemented its digital MP digital technologies, separate master clocks and it added a dedicated HDMI audio output that features a low-jitter crystal oscillator.

The component is capable of playing back DVD-video, DVD-Audio, SACD, CD and Blu-ray discs and with the inclusion of the company's aynchronous USB input technology, CE Pros can connect their clients' home networks home network to the component for the playback of digital audio files that reside on their clients' computers.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

These days it seems there are many values in the home theater market for installers to offer to their clients and arguably one of the biggest value categories installers can show to their clients is the A/V receiver category.

Products, like the affordably priced Yamaha RX-V567, which incorporates a full list of features that include high resolution Dolby TrueHD and DTS Master Audio decoding, the company's YPAO automatic calibration system, video upscaling to 1080p, Apple iPod integration options, and 3D support for the side-by-side (half) and top-and-bottom formats that broadcasters are adopting, as well as for current 3D Blu-ray content through upcoming firmware updates.

In addition to the RX-V567, Yamaha also offers several other competitively priced home theater A/V receivers with similar feature sets.

Monday, April 19, 2010

Low-level noise is an intangible element that separates good audio products from great audio products, and with the release of its new Cinema Rhapsody Mach IV B home theater preamplifier/processor, Audio Design Associates (ADA) is providing CE Pros a way of lowing a system's noise floor without adding extraneous, unused features.

The company's newly launched pre/pro incorporates balanced (XLR) outputs to enable installers to sell their clients into a higher performing option that's proven to produce higher levels of detail and transparency.

In addition to the XLR outputs, the Mach IV B also includes eight HDMI inputs, two HDMI outputs, HDMI equalization for each input and output, a secondary crossover setting, which allows CE Pros to set up the pre/pro with full-range speakers, while sending low-frequency data to a system's subwoofers, a built-in multi-band parametric equalizer, and a full selection of home theater processing modes.