January 30th, 2008

The Sony VPL-VW40 is the latest video projector using the famous Bravia engine for visual quality, coupled with the Sony SXRD technology (Silicon X-tal Reflective Display) and good for 1080p @ 24 fps.
Other figures include a 15.000:1 contrast, 2.5ms of response and 22dB. It comes equipped with a couple HDMI plugs.

 

Source akihabaranews

January 29th, 2008

Aquavision has announced to unveil the waterproof LCD TV of the future,Dubbed AVF 57-4LCD.It has Full HD 1920 x 1080 resolution, analogue and digital tuners, two HDMI inputs and a claimed 2,073,000 pixels. Oh, and two remote controls, one of which is waterproof.When the TV is off, the screen turns into a mirror when it’s for your morning make-up. Hope you have a plenty of space inside your bathroom to house the waterproof beauty. Anyway, you can hang it almost anywhere, say your swimming pool or living room.

Source topblogposts

January 27th, 2008

Samsung’s 40" LN-T4061F LCD delivers the full brilliance of HDTV with décor-enhancing style –and industry-leading value. Enjoy the incredible detail of 1080p resolution, the endless color range of 16-bit processing,the finely nuanced tones of a 10,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, and the quick motion of an 8ms response time. With the amazing SRS TruSurround XT™ system, full-bodied sound comes from two bottom speakers. Three HDMI ports, USB 2.0 and full connectivity lets you add DVDs, camcorders, PCs and a range of other digital devices; HDMI-CEC capability lets you control all CEC-compatible devices with one remote.

Read the rest of this entry »

January 24th, 2008

Competition is a good thing, and now that the Apple TV is actually turning into a solid offering in its space, Vudu is cutting the price on its box to stay relevant. Originally launched at $399, you can now snag a Vudu to rent your movies and TV shows straight into your living room for $295. The best news is that if paid the full price for one of these things in the past 30 days, you can call up Vudu and get a $100 movie credit. Who knows if it’ll be enough to mitigate the aggressively-priced and now competitively-featured $229 Apple TV, but it looks like consumers are winning already.

 

Source Engadget

January 24th, 2008

This afternoon Sharp invited us to the launch of their new line-up of LCD TV with the AQUOS X Series, E Series and D Series.
While the E and D series are somehow common we will focus our attention to the stunning X Series which is available in 37, 42 and 47” and has a thickness of only 3.44cm !
All X Series TV are of course Full HD (1920×1080), has a Double-Speed LCD (120Hz), offer an amazing contrast ratio of 15000:1 and 12-bit BDE color value rendering, a 1Bit Digital amplifier and 3 1.3a HDMI input.
Anyway here you are over 30 pictures of this press conference !

 

More photo at  akihabaranews

January 22nd, 2008

Every so often, we see a firm go out of its way to let loose not just one or two new products, but enough fresh kit to totally overwhelm anyone trying to digest it all. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on perspective) for us all, Panasonic has done just that with a smattering of televisions. Up first is the 17-inch TH-17LX8 LCD TV, which will be available in five different hues and offer up a 1,366 x 768 resolution, HDMI input, VIERA Link and built-in SD slot. Next in line, we’ve got a trio of new LCD TVs in the LX series ranging from 20- to 32-inches in size, all featuring a 1,366 x 768 resolution and an analog / digital tuner to boot. Lastly, we’ve got three new plasmas (37-, 42- and 50-inches) with lackluster resolutions, a 15,000:1 contrast ratio and a bevy of inputs (including an SD slot and Ethernet port). The whole lot is slated to land in mid-February, so be sure and tag the links below if any of these just happened to tickle your fancy.

 

More info at Engadget

January 21st, 2008

The idea behind the WHT6024 is a popular one - a small satellite speaker-based system that will blend easily in a family room or den, but without the hassle of running speaker wires to the rear surround channels.  Acoustic Research achieves this with the WHT24, a 2.4 GHz wireless system combined with their HT60 satellite 5.1 speaker system.   

The WHT24 contains a transmitter, and two receivers that are built into the base of each of the included wireless speaker stands.  The packaging resembled an oversized pizza box, and assembling the two stands reminded me of the college days when I was putting together the halogen torch lamps that were essential to 80’s single-guy decor.  You have the base, a threaded bottom pole and a smaller upper pole, with speaker wire running through the interior.

 

More info at audioholics.com

January 18th, 2008

The Japanese government has announced plans to bring Super Hi-Vision (a.k.a. Ultra High Definition) to life as a broadcast standard by 2015. With its 33 mega pixel (7,680 x 4,320) resolution and 22.2 channel surround sound, challenges so far have included building a camera that can record it, and equipment to transfer the 24Gbps uncompressed stream. Fortunately, some forward thinker in Japan’s Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry — that we are strongly considering as a write in candidate for the presidential elections — is beginning a joint project with private companies to make this happen, beginning with a research investment of about $2.7 million this year alone. I feel this will be the perfect companion to play games at ULTRA High Definition, wonder if Sony plans to have the next PlayStation featuring Hector like speeds of 63 million calculations a second that would make gaming wee bit more fun. If you’re still confused as to how much more res this is than anything you currently own look at the chart in the following image.

Source Newlaunches.com

January 18th, 2008

The BBC’s iPlayer service - that was condemned at launch for only being operational on Windows computers - may soon be available through Apple’s recently revamped Apple TV service.
Ashley Highfield, director of Future Media & Technology for the BBC, has expressed an interest using the home cinema device, that will now not need a computer in order to operate, and can download rental content, as part of the Mac platform for the service.
iPlayer was not available to Mac users at all at launch, but a recent re-jig of the service means that those using the Mac operating system can use the BBC-run website to stream recent programming while Windows users can also download shows to watch at their convenience.

 

Source pocket-lint.co.uk

January 17th, 2008

As demonstrated at this year’s CES, ultra—short throw projectors like the Hitachi CP-A100 and the Sanyo PLC-XL50 are all the rage. Epson is following the trend with two new projectors: the EMP-400We and the EMP-400W.

The EMP-400We features an ultra-short 1.8 feet throw distance — to put that into perspective, it is capable of projecting a "sharp focused 60-inch picture from a distance of just 65 cm (about 2 feet) from the projection surface." It also features WXGA (1280 x 800) resolution, 1800 ANSI lumens, a 16:9 native aspect ratio, a 500:1 contrast ratio, and a password feature that theoretically renders the device useless if it is stolen.

The EMP-400W is basically the same device as the 400We —sans the security features. It is also priced at £999 or around $1962 —which will certainly be more affordable than the 400We and the super beefy ultra-short throw projectors seen at CES.

 

Source Gizmodo