All Products Filed in Digital Media

Friday, February 03, 2012

Runco has established its top level, 73d projector as arguably one best performing 3D projectors in the entire residential market. The company's latest projector, the newly announced LS-12d maintains many of the 73d's performance characteristics, but at price levels that are considerably lower than its flagship product.

The LS-12d is an active-shutter, three-chip DLP projector that Runco says can be used situations in which homeowners want a high-performance projector that aesthetically doesn't detract from their home's interior design. To ensure the projector's visual compatibility with today's modern home designs, Runco dresses the projector with its LightStyle industrial design and backs it with its FinishPalette color program that allows consumers a full choice of exterior color choices.

Runco ships the LS-12d projector with is 2U outboard DC-300 controller unit, which provides authorized installers with a convenient means to setup and calibrate the projector, and three pairs of active-shutter 3D glasses.

Thursday, February 02, 2012

Over the past several months the momentum behind the HDBaseT transmission technology has grown with several manufacturers adopting the format and releasing new products into the marketplace.

The latest company to launch a new HDBaseT product into the professional electronics market is Audio Authority. The Lexington, Kentucky-based manufacturer's new HBT200KIT is a HDBaseT solution that electronics professionals can use to address long-range signal transmission issues in commercial and residential system environments.

Audio Authority says the HBT200KIT is capable of sending uncompressed HD video, lossless audio, IR and RS-232 control signals distances as far as 330 feet with a single Cat-5e/Cat-6 cable. The company says the kit includes a transmitter and receiver and the components are compliant with HDCP/EDID protocols to ensure the system's compatibility with a variety of displays and source components.

Wednesday, February 01, 2012

In the world of networking it's not too often that a custom installer can say that there's a networking component specifically for the custom electronics industry.

In the case of the newly released Pakedge S8W 8-port gigabit switch however, electronics professionals will find a networking device with home theater, security and traditional networking in its DNA. Pakedge says the switch is equipped with eight auto-sensing 10/100/1000Mbps ports and it can be implemented without any preconfiguration. The Foster City, California-based company also says the high-speed, compact switch is compliant with all of the latest networking protocols to ensure its compatibility with all of the latest networking technologies.

Pakedge ships the 8-port gigabit switch with a wall-mounting bracket and it incorporates custom installation features such as the ability to automatically negotiate network speed and duplex mode with connected devices. The company adds the switch is made with a metal enclosure that can be placed on a table, in a rack or hung on a wall.

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Ludacris is one of the sharpest and most successful entertainers in both the world of music and in movies. The entertainment mogul's latest venture is SOUL by Ludacris, which is a line of headphones and other audio accessories, and recently the line was upgraded with a new pair of headphones that are as sharp as the man they are named after.

The newly released SL150CS chrome silver Limited Edition headphones build upon the basic feature set of the company's SL150 products with the addition of a sharp chrome finish. The headphones are trimmed with black padding on the headpiece and gloss black accents along the ear pieces to provide music lovers, DJs and sound engineers with a stylish sound solution that also rocks.

SOUL by Ludacris has engineered the speakers to produce a balanced, full sound and the headphones can be used for a variety of applications. The headphones work with Apple's iPod, iPhone and iPad products, as well as other portable devices, including Android products, and the SL150CS headphones ship with two cables and 1/4-jack accessories to allow music fans to use the headphones with traditional stereo components.

Monday, January 30, 2012

Beyond the obvious attraction of the four major sports leagues (NFL, NHL, MLB and NBA) it's surprising that Americans can get their competition fix through seemingly innocuous activities such as eating or video games.

Oddly enough however, there are competitive eating leagues and video gaming leagues. Unlike the competitive eating events which could be potentially messy and hazardous to the participants' health, competitive gaming doesn't burden those athletes digestive tracks. All gaming participants need are nimble thumbs and state-of-the-art computer displays. BenQ's new XL Series monitors can't help competitive gamers improve their gaming controller clicks-per-minute times, but these new monitors can help them resolve the action better. The company's XL2420T and XL2420TX are designed to provide users the highest levels of performance with features such as 120Hz refresh rates, 2ms GTG response times and dynamic contrast ratios as high as 12M:1.

BenQ worked with famous gamers such as Emil "HeatoN" Christensen, Abdisamad "SpawN" Mohamed and Michael "ahl" Korduner to engineer the products to meet the requirements of the competitive gaming community. The monitors incorporate BenQ's proprietary color engines, unique display modes and customized memory settings to store specific calibrations for specific games. The XL240T is NVIDIA 3D Vision 2 ready for those that want an upgrade path to 3D and the XL2420TX offers an embedded 3D IR emitter and two pairs of active 3D glasses.

Friday, January 20, 2012

Bang & Olufsen (B&O) is one of the most recognizable and unique manufacturers in the entire world of consumer electronics, and the Danish company is well known for its sleek industrial designs and pursuit of high performance.

The company's new BeoSound 5 digital music system is the company's latest product and it enables homeowners in new construction or existing structures to enjoy the benefits of whole-house audio without the need to pull cables. The BeoSound 5 incorporates B&O's proprietary playlist technologies, as well as a built-in CD ripper that allows homeowners to rip their CD collections into a digital library for easy access and management.

In addition, the BeoSound 5 can be used with one of the company's Encore components to create a whole-house audio system that employs wireless technologies to transmit audio and control signals. The BeoSound 5 can be wall mounted, stand mounted or it can be used as a tabletop unit.

Friday, December 16, 2011

With the home entertainment market rapidly adopting computer-based technologies, there is an increasing amount of ways in which electronics professionals can introduce their clients to the benefits of a digitally based whole-house A/V solution.

Recently the New york-based manufacturer Autonomic announced that it has redesigned its MMS-2 server. Externally the company redesigned the appearance of the unit by rounding the curves of the component to make sleeker and more compact. Internally the company added a new, faster processor and a choice of Toslink and HDMI outputs.

Autonomic also says it has bolstered the product by adding Amazon Cloud compatibility to go along with MP3 Tunes and iCloud options. In addition, the company is also working with Savant to ensure compatibility with the Cape Cod-based company's App Programming Interface (API) to enable the product to seamlessly integrate into Savant's control and automation systems. Autonomic already offers modules for compatibility with solutions from AMX, Control4, Crestron, RTI, URC, and Apple iOS devices.

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

As much as Apple's competitors may try they've been unable to supplant the Cupertinio, California-based company as the top mobile music player manufacturer. Remote Technologies Inc.'s (RTI) new RTiDock provides the millions of Apple iPod owning homeowners a solution that controls and syncs their iPod with their entire iTunes library.

RTI says its new dock provides installers with the ability to sync with iTunes over a network and it provides full control and navigation capabilities through a video display. The product can be installed in a rack mount environment or on a desktop, and the dock offers full RTI control system integration via IR, RS-232 or IP. RTI says the unit can be controlled by homeowners by using one of its handheld devices or by one of its wall mounted interfaces, and its graphical user interface (GUI) and component video output are designed to facilitate content navigation through the use of a video display or television.

The Minnesota-based manufacturer adds the product is designed to provide dealers with a reliable and convenient iPod integration solution for whole-house audio and home theater system installations.

Thursday, December 08, 2011

Approximately five years ago the California-based speaker company Magico debuted its V3 loudspeaker, which was critically accepted with the audiophile press and adored by music lovers.

Recently the company announced that it is retiring the V3 and replacing it with its new S5 floorstanding loudspeaker. The new three-way floorstanding speaker employs a multi driver array that features the company's new dual 10-inch hybrid Nano-Tec woofers along with a 6-inch Magico M380 midrange driver and 1-inch Magico MB30 tweeter. The company houses the speaker's driver array and crossover network in a curved enclosure that incorporates 1/2-thick 16-inch extruded aluminum walls, which Magico says helps to minimize the effects of diffraction and internal resonances. The speaker is finished in a black anodized exterior that can be painted to help the speaker blend into a variety of home environments, and the company also offers the speaker in a choice of its gloss and satin finish M-COAT finishes.

Magico rates the 4-ohm speaker's sensitivity at 90dB and its frequency response at 22Hz to 50kHz. In addition, it says the speaker is capable of playing at volume levels as high as 118dB to support its use with a variety of content, which includes rock music and home theater.

Wednesday, December 07, 2011

It's almost unbelievable to think that for years people listened to the awful sound produced by their TVs' built-in junky speakers. Now however because of the physical limitations of flat-panel TVs and the sound of these products being degraded from bad to worse an increasing amount of people are upgrading their TV sound to include some type of external speaker to compensate.

The latest speaker product from Energy fulfills the public's desire to upgrade the sound of their flat-panel TVs and it adds more options such as wireless subwoofer connectivity and Dolby Digital processing. The newly launched Power Bar Elite is designed as a "plug n' play" audio product to improve the sound of a flat-panel TV and the package includes a wireless, side-firing 10-inch subwoofer that is said to automatically link with the soundbar once it is plugged in. The matte black finish integrated speaker product also incorporates a two-way design and connections for 1.5m optical and analog RCA.

Other features bundled into the speaker include the company's 3D Surround Mode that creates a more spacious soundstage, a small, "credit-card" size remote control, and a template for wall mounting.

Monday, December 05, 2011

The Cerritos, California-based video company Elite Screen has developed a reputation as a value-minded manufacturer of projection screens that offers a product for just about any application.

Elite's latest product is the PowerMax electric roll-up screen and the company says the screen is designed to provide homeowners with an elegant solution that blends into a variety of home decors. The affordable screen solution is available in a choice of sizes that range from 90 inches to 165 inches, and Elite offers the roll-up in in a choice of either 16:9 (1.78:1) or 4:3 (1.33:1) aspect ratios. Elite incorporates a 1.1 matte white gain screen that's backed with fiberglass or offered with a tensioned material. In addition, other standard features include a 14 RPM tubular motor with a 4.4-pound lift capacity, standard power connections and an inline up/stop/down toggle switch.

The Power Max is also designed to install quickly with a set of sliding wall brackets, and Elite offers an IR/RF with 12-volt trigger control package to further enhance the custom installation applications of the product.

Thursday, December 01, 2011

Back in the day there were two ways to listen to music: vinyl and the radio. Today however, vinyl and the radio are just two of the choices music fans have, and in fact many people start with a record or the radio and move on to a CD, DVD, Blu-ray, SACD, DVD-Audio, streaming Internet radio, a streaming service or their iTunes software before they are done with their music listening activities.

NuForce's new Dia digital integrated amplifier is a compact all-in-one solution that supports a music enthusiast's ability to tap into all of today's formats without having to invest the time, space and money of owning a rack full of gear.

The Dia incorporates 24-bit/192kHz DACs, as well as an amplifier section that is rated to deliver 18 watts per channel into an 8-ohm load and 24 watts per channel into a 4-ohm load. The unit also includes two Toslink inputs, a digital coax connection and a 3.5mm line out connection. NuForce says with the small footprint solution electronics professionals can connect a traditional A/V source like a disc player, along with devices such as an Apple TV and Airport Extreme to utilize the latest in audio entertainment.

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

The momentum for computer- and Apple-based audio has been building for a couple of years now and as more people realize the potential of digital audio the more the concept will gain in popularity.

A good example of how the concept is being noticed can be found in the new Antelope Audio Zodiac digital-to-analog converter (DAC). Antelope Audio is a professional audio manufacturer whose line of master clocks are used throughout the world of recording, and with its line of Zodiac DACs it is taking the technologies it has developed for sound engineers and packaged in a form factor that enables end users to enjoy the sound quality generated by these technologies.

The DAC incorporates USB connectivity for integration with both PC- and Apple-based computers and it delivers resolutions as high as 192kHz. Internally the unit employs the company's 64-bit Acoustically Focused Clocking (AFC) and Oven Clock clocking technologies, as well as its PC/Mac software control panel. In addition, Antelope also includes in the device its Ultra Linear Dual Stage Headphone Amps, a level display for volume control, and Antelope says the Zodiac has a dynamic range of 129dB.

Monday, November 28, 2011

For a while it seemed like interest in the home theater category had flattened out. New technologies like streaming audio and old technologies like vinyl had stolen the home theater market's thunder, but now with the retrofit home theater market maturing existing homeowners have new options to enjoy the latest industry technologies without incurring a ton of added expense.

Driving this renewed interest in home theater are companies like Belkin and its new products, which include its ScreenCast AV 4 line of wireless accessories. The ScreenCast AV 4 line of products enables electronics professionals to setup a fully HD and surround sound compatible solution that supports 1080p, 3D and 5.1 channels of audio. The ScreenCast AV 4 line of products can transmit and receive wireless A/V signals from as far as 100 feet and with these products installers can wall mount TVs and other A/V products in rooms that aren't equipped with wired cabling connections.

The ScreenCast AV 4 line of products includes the AV-to-HDTV Adapter (F7D4515); the Universal Wireless HDTV Adapter (F7D4555) and the Universal Wireless AV Adapter (F7D4550), and these products range in price from $80 to $250.

Monday, November 21, 2011

For the most part the powered speaker category has mostly been the domain of the professional audio community that uses these products for a variety of sound recording and mixing applications. Lately however with the computer audio market gaining a significant amount of momentum the consumer electronics community has been increasingly embracing the concept of self-powered speakers for home use.

The latest consumer electronics manufacturer to introduce a powered speaker is the Benicia, California-based company NHT. Using product concepts from its SuperZero 2.0 NHT passive consumer electronics speaker the company engineered its new, small footprint powered monitor for use with portable media players, computer-based audio systems and home recording systems. The two-way speaker incorporates a 4.5-inch long-throw woofer and a 1-inch silk dome tweeter and these drivers are housed in an acoustically sealed enclosure that's finished in a high-gloss black laminate.

Internally the speakers feature a 90 watt amplifier, and the company says the speaker has the ability to play down 72Hz while producing SPL levels as high as 111dB. In addition, NHT supports the speaker with its optional $59 SuperPower DeskStand speaker stands and its $99 PVC PC passive volume control, which allows for easy control of the speaker's volume and it facilitates the integration of an optional NHT Super8 subwoofer.