Home Theater and Consumer Electronics News - MAY 2004

05/31/04
New InFocus $1500 DLP Home Theater Projector
Video projectors are quickly becoming an affordable home theater option for consumers. With that in mind, Infocus introduces its latest video projector targeted at entry-level consumers. The ScreenPlay 4805 utilizes a new 16x9 DLP chip from Texas Instruments with a 3,000:1 contrast ratio. In addition, the light source outputs 750 Lumens with a bulb life of 3,000 hours. Video inputs include standard composite, S-Video, component, and a DVI-HDCP input for high definition sources. For additional details, check out the report from Audio Revolution. Also, for information on video projector basics, check out my article: Video Projectors - What You Need To Know.

Panasonic Introduces New Flagship DIGA DVD Recorder
Panasonic introduces a new flagship DVD-R/DVD-RAM recorder, the DMR-E95H. The DMR-E95H also incorporates features such as a 160GB hard drive, TV Guide On-screen programming guide, digital camera memory card slot, DV input, 2-channel DVD-Audio disc playback, and 12X or 24X high speed dubbing from the hard drive to DVD-RAM or DVD-R disc, respectively. For additional details on the DMR-E95H, check out the official press release from Panasonic.

05/29/04
Samsung Reveals 1080p DLP, CableCard Plans
Samsung has established itself as a leader in integrating DLP technology in rear projection televisions. Its newly announced HL-P6197W 61-inch projection television utilizies a new Texas Instruments DLP chip that produces a native 1080p resolution and sports a contrast ratio of 3,000:1. This unit also has an integrated HDTV tuner. For more information on the HL-P619W and other DLP projection televisions coming your way from Samsung, including pricing and availability, check out the report from TWICE. For more information on what DLP technology is, as applied to rear projection televisions, check out my DLP Projection Technology Overview.

05/28/04
Velodyne Introduces DSP-Controlled Subwoofers
If you are a subwoofer fan, you might just check out two newly announced subwoofers from Velodyne, the DSP-10 and DSP-12. What makes these subwoofers different are their digital DSP control settings that allow for customized settings, including crossover, compression, and bass modes for Rock, Jazz, Classical, video game, and a special night mode. For additional information, including pricing and availability, check out the report from Audio Revolution.

05/27/04
Want Fries With That DVD?
If you haven't realized by now that DVD is EVERYWHERE, here is a news item that may finally convince you. Fast food giant, McDonald's, is test marketing DVD rentals, via vending machines, in Denver. If successful, such machines may appear in McDonald's restaurants around the country. For more specifics, check out the report from AfterDawn

05/26/04
In Wal-Mart era, Upscale Electronics Stores Hurt More
Big mainstream retailers, such as Wal-Mart and Best Buy, have had great success in bringing hi-tech products, such as DVD and digital televisions, to the average consumer. However, the rising profits and market share of these retail giants may be taking away choices for consumers in the long run. As consumers' tastes eventually evolve into purchasing higher-end products traditionally offered by regional and independent retailers, there may be less of these dealers available. For an interesting perspective on how "walmartization" of the consumer electronics market may affect what consumer electronics products you may actually be able to buy, check out the report from Reuters/Forbes.

05/25/04
Pioneer Introduces VCR/DVD Recorder
While most consumer electronics manufacturers are reducing their VHS VCR product offerings, Pioneer, who hasn't made a VCR in two decades, jumps on the DVD/VCR recorder combo bandwagon with its own unit, the DVR-RT500. The DVD section records in the DVD-R/-RW format and offers progressive scan DVD playback. It can also play back standard CDs as well as MP3-CDs, WMA-CDs, and JPEG Photo CDs. The VCR section is a 4-Head a HiFi stereo unit. The DVR-RT500 has an MSRP of $499. For additional details on this, and other new DVD recorder product introductions coming this summer from Pioneer, check out the report from TWICE.

05/24/04
Plastic, Not Glass, To Spawn New Breed Of Thin, Flexible Displays
Right now flat panel LCD and Plasma TVs are all the rage as consumers buy'em up as fast as they reach store shelves. However, it might not be too much longer that flat and thin also becomes even thinner as well as flexible. It seems that plastic may just replace glass as the main component of television screens. If you think TV is everywhere now, someday you will go to the store to buy some tomato soup and on the can may just be video instructions on how to cook it. For additional details on what this new technology may bring, check out the report from EE Times.

05/23/04
Home Entertainment Show 2004
The semi-annual Home Entertainment Show is being held at the Hilton New York Hotel in New York City this weekend. This series of shows highlights cutting edge audio and video products, many of which were displayed at CES this past January, but unlike CES, it is open to both consumers and industry professionals. This year, high end audio and video products are in the spotlight, with both independent and mainstream manufacturers showing off their latest innovations. Examples of products demonstrated this year are vacuum tube amplifiers from Antique Sound Labs and Silverline, speakers from Tetra, and a Turntable from Kuzma. On the video side, Integra unveiled a new DVD changer with enhanced progressive scan video performance as well as audio processing circuity usually found only on high-end audio components. For additional details on both audio and video products presented at Home Entertainment 2004 - New York, check out the reports from Stereophile and Ultimate AV Magazines. Lastly, if you live in the Western United States, the next show will be held in San Francisco on November 5-7.

05/22/04
Kenwood NHT-815DV Home Theater-In-A-Box
One the easiest ways to get started in home theater is which a home theater-in-a-box. These systems come with everything you need, including an AV receiver, speakers, subwoofer, and many come with a DVD player. Although such systems are great for the novice, most don't have the features and performance of separate components. However, Kenwood's new NHT-815V bucks this trend by offering a system with many higher-end features. This unit has a receiver with 6.1 channel processing, a 100-watt subwoofer, dolby headphone surround, a digital camera card slot, and an ethernet connection for downloading audio and video files from the internet via a PC. The DVD player section not only has progressive scan output, but can play JPEG photo CDs, MP3-CDs, and WMA-CDs as well. For information on additional features, as well as pricing and availability, check out the report from Audio Revolution. Also, for some things to consider when buying a home theater-in-a-box system, check out my article Home Theater - The Easy And Inexpensive Way.

05/21/04
Samsung Debuts The Largest LCD TV On The Market
Up until recently, LCD televisions have mainly dominated the 30-inch and smaller flat-panel television market, while Plasma screens have dominated the 42-inch and larger flat-panel market. This may begin to change as Samsung unveils its new 46-inch LTP468W 16x9 LCD television. This unit is not only the World's largest LCD television available for the general consumer, but is also fully HDTV compatible, with a native pixel resolution of 1920x1080. This means that this television can display the highest HDTV resolution images without having to rescale them down to 1280x720, or lower, as is common on most LCD and Plasma televisions. For more details on additional features, specifications, availablity, and pricing, check out the report from Widescreen Review.

05/20/04
V,Inc. Ships New BRAVO DVD Player And HD Tuner
V-inc has just announced two new products that that can enhance your home theater. The first is their new Bravo D2 DVD player, which has the ability to upscale standard DVD images to 720p or 1080i, through either its component or DVI outputs. The D2 is an update of the popular Bravo D1, which, along with the Samsung DV-HD931, are the first of a new breed of DVD players with HD-compatible upscaling. If you have an HDTV, the new Bravo D2 may be a DVD player to consider.

The other new product announced by V-inc, is its new, affordable, HDTV tuner. For those that receive their television channels via antenna, rather than cable or satellite, this tuner will be able to pull over-the-air local HDTV channels.

05/19/04
Toshiba Unveils DLP TV Lineup
If you are planning to purchase a big screen TV later this year, you might want to consider a new line of DLP-based projection televisions announced by Toshiba. Although not as thin as Plasma TVs, DLP projection televisions are much thinner than a standard projection televisions, and are typically less expense than Plasmas. All of Toshiba's DLP televisions are 16x9 widescreen sets offering HDTV compatibility. For further details on features, pricing, and availability, check out the report from TWICE.

In addition, for more information on rear projection television technology, including DLP, check out my article: Rear-Projection Televisions - What You Need To Know.

05/18/04
More Satellite-Radio Boomboxes Roll Out
If you are looking for a great gadget for the summer, you might consider a getting a satellite radio boombox. Initially developed as a means of providing more radio listening options for drivers via a monthly subscriber fee, satellite radio products are now starting to include additional portable options, as well as home units. For additional details on satellite radio boombox products incorporating either XM or Sirius satellite radio service, arriving in time your summer outdoor needs, check out the report from TWICE.

05/17/04
Matsushita To Build World's Biggest Plasma Screen Plant
The heavy demand from consumers for Plasma screen televisions, coupled with the desire for manufacturers to embrace new technology, is causing a hot competition between companies to vastly increase their Plasma screen production capacity. It seems that every month, another manufacturer announces it has, or is building, the World's largest capacity Plasma screen manufacturing plants. How does this benefit the consumer? With increased supplies of the stylish sets, shelf prices will continue to come down as manufacturers and retailers compete for the consumer dollar. For a report on Matsushita's (Panasonic) plans to compete for their share of the Plasma pie, check out the report from Channel News Asia.

05/16/04
'Hee Haw' Returns With Pickin', Grinnin' On VHS, DVD
Episodes of past TV shows on DVD are definitely a hit with consumers, as evidenced by the DVD success of shows like the "X-Files, Babylon 5, and Sex In The City". However, it is time to really expand the space you have allocated for your growing DVD collection, as all the episodes of the "Hee Haw" Television show are being released on DVD. Your home theater viewing will definitely enter a new dimension! For all the details, including a brief interview with Roy Clark himself, check out the report from Jacksonville.com/AP.

Kenwood Introduces 7.1-Channel THX Select Receiver
Kenwood introduces a new line of home theater receivers, headlined by the VR-8070, the first 7.1 channel receiver with THX certification at the $600 price point. Other features include, a 7-channel amplifier that delivers 100 watts per channel, Dolby Prologic IIx, THX-Surround EX, and DTS-ES decoding, HD-compatible video inputs and outputs, and up-conversion of standard video input to S-Video output. For information on additional features and availability, check out the report from Audio Revolution.

05/14/04
Digital Video Recorders On Fast-forward Growth
After struggling for a place in home entertainment for several years, the DVR (Digital Video Recorder) is finally gaining favor amongest consumers, as the innovative hard disk video recording technology is being incorporated into cable boxes, satellite receivers, and even in combination with DVD recorders, in addition to previously marketed standalone units. For an update on this, check out the report from CNET.

05/13/04
Groups Seek Legal Copying of DVDs
The controversy regarding the legality of making copies of DVDs has been a hot one for both DVD fans and the movie studios. Basically, it is technically illegal to bypass the anti-copy codes on a DVD movie in order make a copy of it. It is also legal for the movie studios to place anti-copy encoding on DVDs. On the other hand, it is not illegal for a consumer to make a copy of any recorded material for personal use, provided anti-copy codes are not bypassed in the process.

At issue; the rights of the movie studios to safeguard copyrighted DVD material versus the right of the DVD purchaser to play and share owned property. For the latest update on this continuing debate, check out the report from AP/ABC News.

05/12/04
Pixa Introduces...All-in-One...DVD/DLP Home Theater Projector...
Here is one for all you video projector fans out there. PIXA has just announced a DLP video projector that also includes a built-in DVD player, digital camera memory card reader, TV tuner, and also will accept optional wireless speakers. The price for all this gadgetry is only $1,999. Is it too good to be true? For all the details, check out the report from Widescreen Review.

05/11/04
Cablevision’s VOOM Garners 8,000 Subscribers
The VOOM HDTV satellite service burst on the scene at CES his past January as the THE solution for consumers that demanded more HDTV programming. However, despite a huge advertising push, it has been slow going for the upstart satellite TV provider; as of the end of April, only 8,000 subscribers have signed up. For more details, check out the reeport TWICE

05/10/04
Oregon Inmates Enjoy New Flat-Screen TVs
At first this seems like another example of political correctness and prisoner coddling gone amok, however, there seems to be some practical reasons why flat screen TVs are making their way into prison cells. Regardless of how you feel about prisoners having the right to access television at all, you may still want to read the interesting report from Newsday.

05/09/04
XM Eyes 2M Subs By Next Quarter
XM satellite radio is experiencing steady subscriber growth, and hopes to reach the 2 million subscriber mark by mid-year. With the continued unveiling of new products and promotions with its retail partners, XM hopes to sign up 2.8 million subscribers by the end of the year. For additional details, check out the report from TWICE.

05/08/04
Switch To Digital TV May Cost Comcast $2 Billion
The conversion to digital TV not only requires the consumer to make a new television investment in order to get the full benefit of increased video and audio quality, but cable systems around the country have to make large investments in new infrastructure in order to bring digital and high definition programming to DTV/HDTV owners. For a report on Comcast's plan to bring new video and other cable services to its subscribers, check out the report from Rock Mountain News.

05/07/04
Thomson Unveils 11 ‘Digital Cable-Ready’ TVs
Thomson, in partnership with China's TCL, may be poised to become the largest maker of televisions in the World when it starts operations later this year. In the first year of this new partnership, TTE plans to introduce a very comprehensive line of televisions, including several DLP rear-projection sets with built-in HDTV tuners. For more details on TTE's product plans, check out the report from TWICE.

05/05/04
Analog Camcorder Market Shrinks Before Digital Surge
If you need to replace that old analog 8mm or VHS-C camcorder, you should probably do it sooner, rather than later, as sales of digital camcorders are dominating the consumer market. Just as DVD is replacing the VCR, miniDV and DVD camcorders may quickly replace those old analog models. For a perspective on this trend, check out the report from TWICE.

05/04/04
CE Sales Reach $106.6B For Top Chains
While some see a gloom-and-doom economy, it is obvious that many consumers have no qualms about reaching into their wallets for the latest high-tech gadgets as retail consumer electronics sales topped over $100 Billion in 2003; with Best Buy holding the top sellers spot. For a run down on the top consumer electronics retailers in 2003, check out the report from TWICE.

05/03/04
2000th Super Audio CD Released
There are now 2,000 SACD (Super Audio CD) titles available, but how many consumers are buying and listening? For more information on the current state of SACD, check out the report from High Fidelity Review.

05/02/04
Don't break the bank to buy that DVD player
The DVD revolution is in full swing in South Africa, but many consumers are confused as to what player to buy and what else they need to get to really enjoy those DVDs. For a very interesting perspective on the current state of the DVD market in South Africa, check out the report from IOL

05/01/04
Onkyo Puts Stylish One-Piece DVD Receiver At Heart Of HTIB...
Onkyo's new LS-V955 home theater-in-a-box system offers both a stylish design and great performance. The centerpiece of the system is a DVD/Receiver with progressive scan output and DVD/CD/CDR/CDRW/MP3 playback options. The Dolby Digtial/DTS Receiver section is equipped with a 5-channel amplifier that delivers 40-watts per channel. In addition, the LS-V955 come with a 150-watt subwoofer and all need satellite speakers. For further details, inlcuding price and availability, check out the report from Widescreen Review.

For additional News Stories check out my Home Electronics Industry News Archives.