All Products Filed in Video

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

It's easy to take electricity for granted, until of course power is lost. Even little things such as having the proper amount of power outlets can be taken for granted until the amount of outlets are used up and no more are available.

The Florida-based company Tributaries has added to its line of power products through the introduction of its new T10X power extension bar. Tributaries says the T10X is a 10-outlet product that is UL-approved, and it provides electronics professionals with a competitively priced solution that offers surge suppression and line filtration. The rack-mount friendly device is designed for horizontal positioning with a choice of three locations, and it includes six outlets on its front panel and four on its rear panel.

Other convenience options built into the T10X power extension bar include 12-volt triggers that allow for either a remote turn-on of the unit by a component with a 12-volt trigger or its 12-volt trigger can be used to turn on connected components.

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

The subject of surge protection is always a tough topic of conversation for electronics professionals to introduce to clients that don't see the benefit of the products until something bad happens.

Bell'O's newly announced ASG3008 8-outlet Audio/Video Green Surge Protector can't help installers ease into the surge protection conversation, but it can provide the necessary protection homeowners need at a reasonable price. The ASG3008 surge protector is a slim-profile device with a high-gloss finish and it incorporates EMI/RF noise filtration, fireproof MOVs, status indicators and a power safety shutdown.

Another of the ASG3008's features that homeowners may find appealing is its inclusion of green-friendly power saving options. In addition, it also offers a built-in eight-foot power cable, and Bell'O backs the product with a $400,000 connected equipment warranty.

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Before it entered the market a few years ago the Berkeley, Calif.-based video manufacturer Wolf Cinema wanted to examine some of the most common problems that affect the quality of home cinema in order to better serve its dealers' ability to meet their clients needs.

What Wolf found was that many projectors didn't have proper ventilation and that many consumers didn't care for the aesthetics of having a projector with an external lens. What the company did in turn was to develop a full line of products that incorporates provisions for proper cooling and a unique approach to anamorphic aspect ratios. Building upon that foundation Wolf Cinema recently updated its product line through the introduction of two new flagship products: The REF-700 and the REF-1000. These new products are powered by Cermax Xenon arc lamps, three-chip DLP light engines, and the Central California company offers a choice of six of its VariScope lens solutions.

The projectors can be used for 3D and traditional 2D, and to ensure the products produce smooth looking and vivid 3D graphics the projectors incorporate triple-flash 3D imaging technologies. The projectors also incorporate IR and RS-232 options, nearfield IR emitters, and Wolf ships the projectors with four pairs of 3D glasses.

Monday, May 14, 2012

Throughout the commercial and residential A/V industries, if there's one common thread that electronics professionals share, it is a disdain for the HDMI format.

The Bromfield, Colo.-based manufacturer AVocation Systems can't do anything about the market perception of HDMI, but it can provide its authorized dealer base with a new range of solutions that can ease the pain of working with the HDMI protocol. AVocation Systems' new Mountain Series 8x8 HDMI Matrix Switch (HX-0808H) is the first of several new products the company plans on releasing on in 2012.

AVocation Systems says the 8x8 Matrix Switch distributes as many as eight sources to eight displays and its built-in EDID/Key managment features are designed to eliminate latency between inputs and its switching functions. The company adds the unit is HDMI 1.4 compatible so it supports advanced technologies like 4K video and 3D, and it also provides 12-bit Deep Color with resolutions up to 1080p at 60Hz (225MHz). In addition, it includes control options for IP, RS-232, USB and IR, as well as provisions for rack mounting to allow installers to utilize the product in a number of varying A/V environments.

Thursday, May 10, 2012

The Italian video manufacturer SIM2 has always approached the high-performance video market a little differently than its competition. Some of the ways the company has gone about things a little differently include its emphasis on industrial design and its use of proprietary light engine designs.

SIM2's latest product, the NERO 3D projector incorporates many of the company's recent flagship technology developments in a package that brings the price of ownership down tens of thousands of dollars. The NERO features Texas Instruments' (TI) single-chip DLP technologies along with SIM2's ALPHAPATH light engine design and high-quality optical glass lenses to provide homeowners with a high-performance video solution.

The unit also incorporates active 3D technologies, SIM2's PureMovie, PureMotion and PureMotion 3D 120Hz video processing technologies, a choice of inputs, and a choice of custom installation calibration options. In addition, the Italian manufacturer says the unit is capable of producing brightness levels up to 2,000 lumens to facilitate its installation in great room/media room environments.

Tuesday, May 08, 2012

Whether its competition wants to admit it or not, Bowers & Wilkins (B&W) is a market leader in the specialty consumer electronics category.

Recently the British company reaffirmed its position as a market leader when it introduced its third headphone product: the P3. B&W offers the compact P3 in a choice of black or white, and the headphones incorporate features such as custom-made, lightweight acoustic fabric covering the headphones' ear pads and speaker diaphragm terminals that have been positioned in a manner to ensure airflow. B&W says this positioning results in a more linear response from the headphones and less distortion. When this design attribute is combined with B&W's use of neodymium magnets and driver dampening techniques, the P3s are said to produce a high quality music listening experience.

B&W ships the iPod, iPhone and iPad friendly P3 headphones with a hard carrying case and a choice of cables that support the headphones' use with a variety of non-Apple smart phones and other personal electronic devices.

Monday, May 07, 2012

For years people have been able to download their favorite songs as ringtones, but unless a homeowner owned an exotic electronics system they were never able to treat their home's doorbell answering system with the same level of customization.

The security manufacturer Swann is now providing homeowners with the ability to customize their doorbells with the same level of fun and uniqueness that phone owners enjoy with downloadable ringtones. Swann's new MP3 Doorbell is a wireless doorbell that plays music when a visitor presses a home's doorbell button. Swann says the solution is able to transmit a wireless audio signal up to 165 feet, and it is able to play music stored on SD cards that range up to 32GBs in size. In addition, the company also offers USB connections to allow homeowners the ability to play music stored on their computers.

Other options bundled into the MP3 Doorbell include the ability to use the doorbell as a speaker, as well as a portable audio player. The speaker incorporates built-in controls and Swann packages the solution with music editing software to allow installers or homeowners to manage their music.

Thursday, May 03, 2012

From the consumer perspective one of the great things about being a home theater enthusiast is the rapid cycle of product and technology development. Besides the obvious improvements in quality and performance with these technology cycle changes, another benefit that consumers almost certainly enjoy is that prices typically fall with the introduction of each new product release.

Yamaha's latest product introductions are symbolic of the improvement in performance and quality, and the lowering of product costs. The company's two new receivers: The RX-V573 and RX-V473 provide budget minded home theater enthusiasts with a choice of full-featured products that combine the latest in network DLNA friendly technologies; state-of-the-art home theater surround sound processing and compatibility with Apple's popular array of iOS devices. The RX-V573 incorporates 7.1 channels of amplification, while the RX-V473 offers 5.1 channels of amplification, and both products employ Yamaha's proprietary YPAO system calibration options.

Both products also incorporate provisions to accept future technologies such as 4K video, as well as niche technologies such as 3D and Audio Return Channels (ARC). In addition, the receivers are engineered to be energy efficient through the inclusion of Yamaha's ECO Mode that can reduce the receivers' power consumption by as much as 20 percent.

Monday, April 30, 2012

Shure is one of the most well known manufacturers in both consumer and professional audio. In the world of consumer audio the company is respected in analog circles for its line of phono cartridges, and in the world of pro audio Shure products like the sm57 dynamic microphone is arguably the most popular microphone ever made.

Another product category that Shure is respected in is headphones and the company's latest product, the SRH1440 Professional Open Back headphone is engineered to provide home and professional recording engineers, and audiophiles with an affordable headphone solution. The SRH1440 headphone is specified to provide a frequency response of 15Hz to 27kHz and a sensitivity rating of 101dB. Internally Shure employs a set of 40mm dynamic drivers that feature neodymium magnets, and the company builds in an array of comfort options that includes an adjustable headband and replaceable ear pads.

Shure ships the headphones with a fitted carrying case, extra cables and ear pads, and a 1/4-inch adapter for professional monitoring applications.

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Apple's impact on the world of music has been so great that it redefined on how music is listened to, consumed and now it's impacting how music is being made.

Beyond that massive scope of influence, the Cupertino, California-based company is also impacting the consumer audio market. The audio manufacturer Griffin Technology has introduced its new Twenty amplifier that combines a Class D amplifier with Apple AirPlay friendliness to provide homeowners with a simple way to stream their iTunes content to traditional passive loudspeakers. The Twenty incorporates a 20-watt Class D amp, digital inputs, a subwoofer output with a set crossover point of 80Hz in a device that can be easily hidden behind a speaker or placed on top of a speaker.

The Twenty has provisions to power a stereo pair of speakers and it's designed to work with an AirPort Express to provide instant Apple AirPlay iOS compatibility. When used with apps such as Pandora, Spotify or any other music service app that resides on an iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch, consumers can have a choice of music services to listen to in combination with their iTunes content.

Monday, April 23, 2012

Unless someone is biased to the point where they are wed to one particular technology or format, 2012 is a great time to be a music fan.

Antelope Audio's latest product release is engineered to cater to the diversity of music fans that don't care if their music is digitally based or recorded and released via an analog format such as vinyl. The Santa Monica, California company's new Rubicon Atomic AD/DA Preamplifier is an audio solution that integrates the latest digital audio technologies and state-of-the-art analog audio technologies to provide music lovers with a preamp that is equally adept at handling digital and analog audio. Headlining the list of included technologies in the Rubicon preamp is the inclusion of a Rubidium atomic clock that is claimed to be 100,000 more stable than a traditional crystal oscillator. Antelope says the combination of a Rubidium atomic clock with its 64-bit based clocking technologies help the preamp and its built-in DAC to achieve an unprecedented level of jitter management. Augmenting the versatility of its digital capabilities are DLNA compatibility and 384kHz USB streaming that enable users to enjoy networked digital audio connectivity.

The Rubicon's analog capabilities are driven by a transformer-based, low-noise, discrete JFET phono preamp that provide a quiet and efficient means of audio reproduction. Antelope says the unit offers one set of RCA phono inputs, three RCA analog inputs, one RCA HiZ input, and one combo balanced input with 1/4-inch and XLR options. The unit's digital inputs include two S/PDIF, two TOSLINK, one AES/EBU, one word clock input and one Ethernet port. It's outputs include one set of balanced XLR, one set of RCA, and two de-jittered S/SPDIF outputs.

Thursday, April 19, 2012

At one time the electronics market could be characterized by big and bulky coffin-like speakers and plain-old black box electronics components.

Today however style is just as important as circuit designs, and it's now imperative that electronics systems complement a home decor. Salamander Designs' newly announced additions to its Chameleon Collection provide electronics professionals with a choice of seven A/V furniture solutions that are engineered to complement the aesthetics of the modern American home.

In total the company has introduced four quad cabinets and three corner cabinets, and Salamander says the new products are engineered to safely support the installation of flat-panel televisions on the top of the cabinets with a variety of electronics integrated into the storage areas of the units. The quad units feature four-door designs that are designed to supplement larger TV products, and the corner units are capable of supporting smaller screen sizes, along with center-channel speakers.

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Those authorized Seura dealers will want to forget the old Reo Speedwagon song and instead think about the Mark Wahlberg movie from the early 1990s "The Perfect Storm" when evaluating the company's latest product release.

The Wisconsin-based company's new Storm line of outdoor LCD HDTVs is engineered to provide installers with the ability to put up more points than Seura's home town Aaron Rogers' led offense. The line offers a choice of three products: a 42 inch, a 47 inch and a 55 inch model, and each of these HDTVs are designed to withstand temperatures as cold as -30 degrees and temperatures as hot as 140 degrees. The weatherproof televisions employ waterproofing techniques based on concepts developed in the automotive industry and the products are said to produce brightness ratings as high as 700cd/m2, which Seura says is more than enough to view a television in a bright environment.

Seura says the televisions have a full array of connectivity options and they also incorporate the company's exclusive Activ cooling technologies, as well as its LuminOptics anti screen glare technologies that minimize screen glare in bright environments.

Monday, April 16, 2012

When the HDMI format was first introduced into the consumer electronics market several years ago it was a solution designed to transmit digital data over short lengths.

Collectively since the format's introduction however, manufacturers have worked diligently to improve the capabilities of the technology, including its ability to transmit high resolution, data intensive signals over long distances. Validating the work the cabling industry has put into the development of the HDMI format Metra Home Theater has recently rolled out its new 8-meter HDMI cable that carries DPL certification.

To achieve DPL Labs certification the cable must pass tests such as the eye pattern mask margin and inter-pair skew test, as well as tests for jitter, bandwidth, impedance, noise, five-volt reliability and current. Metra says the cable is able to pass a 1080p signal and 24-bit color depths to provide electronics professionals with a cabling product that can be used for installations that involved rack-mounted electronics and projectors.

Friday, April 13, 2012

The New York-based company URC has one of the most loyal dealer bases in the entire world of custom installation and the company annually ranks among the best in terms of product reliability, dealer support and overall quality.

With its entry into the whole-house audio category the company is venturing into a new market that's outside of its core control expertise. Through the launch of products like its new SNP-1 Networked Media Player the company is proving it can deliver products that rival its control solutions. The SNP-1 is a device that electronics professionals can use to stream audio from websites such as Pandora, Rhapsody, Sirius XM and other Internet radio sites, and it can be combined with the company's PSX-2 iPod dock, as well as traditional legacy sources to provide clients with a complete and diverse whole-house audio solution.

The SNP-1 joins a growing list of URC whole-house audio components, and like those other components the SNP-1 can be controlled via a choice of URC two-way network devices, including the TRC-780 remote control, the TKP-2000 in-wall touchscreen and the TKP -100 in-wall keypad.