Home Theater Focus : Previews/Rumors

Onkyo Moving in Stereo

Wed, 09 Aug 2006 16:35:00 GMT

You thought stereo was dead, didn’t you? At a time when manufacturers are moving to nothing but multi-channel systems aimed at home theater, Onkyo has introduced a different idea. We hear about new HTiB systems and more channels being tacked on to further the multi-channel experience it seems many manufacturers forgot about high end sound. Onkyo brings us a throwback to the days when two good channels sounded so much better than seven mediocre ones. But there’s a twist, Onkyo’s new two channel stereo integrated amp is built with digital amplifier technology.

Onkyo calls it a high end integrated amplifier that will showcase its new VL Digital power amp technology. The A-9555 Integrated Amplifier reflects a steady shift from Onkyo in its transition to digital amplifiers. The move to digital amplification is becoming more common in budget minded multi-channel receivers. But Onkyo says it has designed its new stereo amplifier with all the style and elegance of classic stereo systems of old.

Onkyo’s 4^th generation of VL Digital amp graces the interior of the A-9555 Integrated Amplifier. It’s an implementation of the hybrid class ‘D’ amplification. It’s a highly efficient design delivering 100 watts RMS per channel into 8 ohms. The strengths of digital amplifiers are low power consumption, low heat with surprisingly high output from a relatively small chassis compared to other amplifier classes. Although class D amps are known for higher levels of distortion there is no THD specification available for Onkyo’s A-9555 on its North American press release. Onkyo’s press release only offers that its hybrid class D amps offer “remarkably low distortion”. Less than 1% is generally considered too low for the human ear to detect but we’ll have to wait for specs to be released. Onkyo Europe has a pdf posted with some specs that give the A-9555 a .8 THD which should be acceptable.

Whether or not you’re skeptical of digital amplification being equated to anything ‘audiophile’ the design of Onkyo’s new A-9555 sure appears to be going for that old time hi-fi look. With its silver finish and large fat finger friendly knobs it looks like the finer Onkyo equipment from a bygone era.

Integra NVS-7.7 with ViiV

Wed, 02 Aug 2006 17:21:00 GMT

Integra is a front company of Onkyo that ships higher end versions of its Onkyo counterparts.

Now Integra has brought its "high end" approach to HTPC which is a bit of a surprise. Integra is known for components like DVD players. The company's highly popular players are generally considered quite worthy in its price category by most reviews.

Integra's NVS-7.7 Integrated Media Center is a slick looking HTPC built on Intel's ViiV chip. The difference with this unit is that it's not a full featured HTPC, it doesn't try to be a PC at all but takes many of the features of HTPC and stuffs it into a home audio component little larger than many DVD players. Integra hopes to avoid many of the usability headaches with its straightforward design, or so Integra's press releases says. But as with any effort to make the PC experience more linear it runs the risk of becoming stripped down.

According to Integra:

"Our goal was to make it as easy to set up and use as any of our other AV components. With the NVS-7.7, Integra tames the convoluted configuration and programming process, giving installers a complete product that delivers the most powerful source and integration features ever available, yet is no more difficult to set-up, install, and maintain than a high end A/V receiver. And with Integra's acclaimed dealer support and training programs behind them, dealers can feel confident about specifying media servers into every job they do."

The high end audio treatment means the NVS-7.7 was treated to Wolfson DACs with its proprietary Vector Linear Shaping Circuitry. It also includes 400 Gigs of storage means you'll have plenty of digital media to throw at Wolfson's DACs.

Integra NVS-7.7 Integrated Media Center Includes

Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005
2.8 GHz Pentium 4 Dual 820 Processor
1 GB DDR Ram
400 GB HDD
SD/MS, MS_Pro, Smart/Flash memory card reader
4 USB 2.0 ports
Onkyo's NetTune Internet Radio

The system has Ethernet capability but no mention of Wi-Fi. It's available in that uncomfortable time when you think to yourself:

"Do I buy into a mature DVD player technology or try the waters with the new disc formats?" No HD DVD or Blu-ray and no Wi-Fi. With a steep MSRP of $3000 it's just too bad you'll be left behind on emerging Wireless N bandwidth and streaming HD multi-channel content. But that might be asking for too much.

Sony Design AV System TAV-L1/R

Wed, 26 Jul 2006 20:02:00 GMT

Personally, I don't see what the big deal is but … This is a new all in one Home Theater system coming up from Sony this summer. Model TAV-L1/R combines a Bravia 32" LCD screen with some integrated audio components designed for HT. The audio portion includes a DVD player that is compatible with CD and SACD. It's a nice touch to include SACD playback but built in components give me the willies. Oh, waitaminute, what are willies?

The audio components don't stop at a simple DVD player. You could after all, scrape a budget HDTV off the shelf of the local big box store if you wanted second rate DVD player integration. But the TAV-L1/R also includes Sony's S-Force Pro front surround technology. It's a fancy name for yet another DSP - yawn. It's also got an integrated 100Watt subwoofer and stereo speakers.

This and That

S-Master Digital Amplifier
Motorized Audio Unit with DVD/CD/SACD
2 HDMI interface inputs
480i, 480P, 1080i, 720P compatible

Here comes the slick part of this unit that is actually pretty cool, even if only for the first few times you use it. The amp and speaker grille section of the TV slides up and down to hide / reveal the 32" Bravia LCD screen. Touch sensitive automation is definitely slick. But the only real use I could see for this might be if you had an extra room that screamed for a second TV and some music. The audio components appear to have respectable specs. The amp delivers 50 watts RMS through each of its two channels. So, you've got a stereo sound system with decent numbers that can playback SACD and double as an HDTV. I've seen pictures of it in white and the black you see here. Sony says it will have: "Designer color speaker covers available October 2006.

The unit goes on sale from Sony in August for about $4000.

Comment on this post

Fatman iTube iPod Dock

Thu, 29 Jun 2006 23:38:00 GMT

The acoustic quality of digital audio players is a controversial topic on the best of days, but so are the merits of tube amplifiers. Some old school audiophiles swear by them claiming tubes provide warmer, richer sounds than a transistorized amplifier. But many hi-fi fans simply swear at tube amps damning them for higher power consumption and distortion levels than transistors.

But of you're of the group that might consider a tube amp with your digital audio player this new iPod accessory might interest you. A UK based audio company has come up with a product that docked the most popular digital player of all with the warm amber glow of tube amplifiers with its new iTube iPod Dock. Yeah, yeah, I too am getting sick of iPod accessories, but this one has the greatest potential of any I've seen come along in awhile. I'd love the looks of something like this on my desk at the office.

Many claim the best sound quality of all iPods can be achieved from its fourth generation. These were being sold only about a year ago just before the iPods Nano and Video were released. The reason for the 4th generation's preference is its Wolfson WM8975 DACs only used in that particular model. Wolfson is a respectable brand of Digital Analogue Converter chip, a key component in reproducing sound from any digital source. Wolfson's DACs can be found in many respected names in consumer electronics including Arcam whose DVD players are among the highest rated in the Secrets of Home Theater's Benchmark. Using Apple's lossless codec through a docked 4th gen iPod connected to a high end amplifier surprised many of the most jaded golden ears at a demo by Wilson Audio at CES 2004.

Many have gone to extremes in the quest for better sound quality from the iPod. RedWineAudio provides mods for your iPod, for a fee of course. Their website details all the modificiations they'll make to squeeze every last drop of acoustic bliss from your Wolfson WM8975 by eliminating key "offending" components in the signal path. What you'll get back from RedWineAudio may arguably provide the best audio sound an MP3 player can provide, but it'll look like something crawled out of the Borg Collective.

Fatman's iTube iPod Dock is the stylish way to bridge the gap between digital and analogue audio technology with the coolest looking iPod accessory to come along in awhile. The iTube is compatible with every iPod except the shuffle, it'll even let you control sound and video through its included remote control.

Features

  iTube Vacuum Tube Amplifier
  iTube Docking Station
  Brush / Glove for cleaning
  Power cable
  Audio cable to connect Docking Station and Amplifier
  Banana Plug speaker cables
  Aux source audio cable for connecting CD player etc
  Video cable to connect from docking station to TV

Specifications

  Power Output 13Wx2
  Frequency Response 20Hz – 20KHz (±1.5Db)
  Harmonic Distortion 0.5%
  Signal-To-Noise Ratio 86Db
  Input Impedance 100K
  Output Impedance 4ohm, 8ohm
  Valve Type 2x6N1(ECC85) 1x6E2(EM87)
  Power Supply AC100~120V/50~60Hz AC220~240V/50~60Hz

Dimensions

  Amp (LxWxH) 260x145x130mm
  Dock (WxDxH) 155x130x123mm
  Weight 4.3KGs

No word yet on exactly how good the iTube sounds until I can find a hands-on review. But at about $550 the Fatman isn't cheap so you may want to hold out for Jake's yet to be announced iPod dock.

Is an Xbox Portable in the works?

Tue, 06 Jun 2006 16:45:00 GMT

"Microsoft has been waiting on the sidelines until its gaming console and software business reaches sustainability…" says Thomas Wolf of The Diffusion Group, a media analyst think tank. The Diffusion Group believes Microsoft is only waiting to see the Xbox console and software titles further embedded into the public conscious. Meanwhile they're studying what's working and what's not among the existing players.

The Diffusion Group believes Microsoft will make its move sometime in the next two years with the kind of vigor they employed when entering the console games market back in 2001. Do Microsoft original titles like Halo have the strength to convert to portable system sales? Microsoft will gauge its chances to compete on the success of upcoming games like Halo 3 and Gears of War. Selling a few smash hit exclusive titles for their own hardware will make an Xbox Portable a real success.

There are differences between the handheld console market and the home console. Namely technology and features aren't as important. To this day no portable game system has been more popular than Nintendo's original Gameboy with over 120 million units sold. Modest pricing and recognized game franchises seem to be what equate to success. Sony's PSP is making waves with the same brute force marketing the company is using with PlayStation 3. The Japanese giant branded a whole new disk format in Universal Movie Disk (UMD) and then cut the cost of the PlayStation Portable to compete with Nintendo's DS at a loss. The jury is still out on whether or not Sony has been effective in overturning Nintendo as the incumbent in this generation of portable game consoles. The UMD was off to a great start but now - word is they're collecting dust on store shelves. Studios will now begin to release fewer UMD titles.

TDG's report suggests Microsoft may not produce the hardware themselves. Instead Microsoft could go with a business model that is very familiar to them by producing the operating system that runs on other people's hardware.

The Diffusion Group is a market research firm dedicated to digital media. Their website is full of insights on the consumer electronics market place. Full reports are a bit costly though so if you're interested in the intimate details of the console games market it'll run you $1495. If you thought game consoles were kid's stuff, it's serious business.

Sony Vaio XL2 or wait 'til Blu-ray?

Wed, 31 May 2006 13:35:00 GMT

On the eve of Sony's own Blu-ray revolution Sony just released its latest Windows XP Media Center 2005 based super-system the Vaio XL2. This is Sony's follow up to last year's XL1 and has a few key improvements. The new Vaio will give you the full all-in-one Media Center treatment acting as TiVo, CD/DVD player and digital media server and is sure to keep HTPC buffs on the couch for weeks. Like most of the Vaio line it sports a distinct futuristic design, split into two elegant black and silver boxes. One box houses its powerful Media Center PC and the box is a 200 CD / DVD changer. The disk changer will easily absorb better part of the most people's CD collection. It will then rip your CDs to its 320 Gig hard drive conveniently cataloguing and organizing them with ID3 tags.

Vaio XL2 Highlights

Wireless 802.11b/g
320 Gig HDD
Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005
FireWire/i.Link Support
200 CD/DVD changer
Wireless mouse / keyboard
HDTV Tuner
nVidia GeForce 6600GT Graphics Engine
Viiv - compatible dual core Intel CPU
HDMI Connection for HDMI/DVI HDTV

Early reports from a shining review from PC Magazine say this new Vaio is quieter than earlier efforts from Sony and even quieter still than last year's XL1. With an HDTV tuner and video capture card the 320 Gig HDD seems a little light. But you might not record as much HD content as you'd like since you can only record HD over air broadcasts. If you subscribe to Satellite or digital Cable TV you can't record any of its HD programming unless you're employing a hack to a digital boxes FireWire port.

The lack of Blu-ray is a disappointment but probably realistic at this time. Although it relegates the XL2 to a fine collection of last year's technology Blu-ray's absence keeps it somewhat affordable. At an average price of $2,600 it's actually a good deal considering you're getting a powerful HTPC loaded with extras and HDMI. The inclusion of Blu-ray right now would have probably pushed the price point beyond the scope of a mainstream consumer market. Now that the era of Blu-ray is upon us you should seriously consider the wisdom of an investment into a full featured HTPC system that isn't likely to be upgradeable to a BD player.

Because this system isn't likely to be upgraded to Blu-ray it makes the question as to whether or not its HDMI port is fully HDCP compliant a moot point. Beware of video cards by nVidia and ATI with HDMI ports because they might not have HDCP compatibility; scandalous!

Despite PCMagazine's positive review it's hard to give an enthusiastic thumb up to a full featured HTPC solution where we stand at the time of writing this in late May '06. Imagine explaining to your spouse and friends that although you just spent almost $3000 on an HTPC you still can't playback the new Blu-ray disk everybody's talking about.

But this is still a powerful HTPC and the 200 disk changer is a great feature that turns it into a real media jukebox powerhouse. If you're resigned to wait another year or so for the current disk format war to play itself out the Vaio XL2 constitutes a good buy for technology that is about to be eclipsed.

Nike+iPod = huh?

Fri, 26 May 2006 13:48:00 GMT

The most interesting thing about the upcoming Nike shoe that communicates wirelessly with your iPod is its name. Nike+iPod. Nike+iPod is a marriage of two eminently egotistic franchises and guess which one is wearing the sweatpants in the family?

The iPod is well accustomed to suitors of every ilk from hi-fi to home builder sticking a little i front of their brand and selling a new iPod aware product. Apple is now in danger of saturating the consumer electronics market with iPod overload. I know I've had it hearing about more devices slapping on an iPod port and calling it iThis and iThat. Now excuse me while iBarf in my iBag. At least my gastronomic upheaval is conveniently recharging my iPod!

One thing about the iBag is that the Bag Corporation let the iPod stick its name before the Bag name. Would Nike to the same? No, not Nike! You're not going to see the proud Nike name brandishing a pretty little i up front or see anything like iPod+Nike. No, no, no. Nike has been - just doing it far too long to play second banana to an Apple product.

Nike+iPod Sport Kit

What a brilliant name. One can imagine the marketing meetings over that one.

What the heck is it? Outside of a way to sell a few more iPods and a new pair of Nike shoes, its real purpose is a bit ambiguous. Apparently a foot sensor in a special Nike shoe will track statistics of your run. The information is sent wirelessly to the iPod nano and presents it on the display. It's not been released yet but might be a pretty cool gimmick, at least for a little while.

As someone who runs semi-regularly wearing a perfect pair of Mizuno shoes I have little desire to switch to Nike for an extra iPod feature. I go through phases where I'll run with my iPod cranking tunes. Call me old fashioned but I don't think my iPod needs to be any more involved in my runs than giving me some background noise. Do I need "voice feedback" and/or statistical analysis of my run from the iPod?

I'm no athlete but when I run the only statistical analysis I need is:

Sucking air like it might be my last breath? Check!
Still standing? Check!

Then it was a good run.

I suppose if you had an iPod nano or were interested in purchasing one, run seriously and liked Nike shoes - hey, this might be a good fit. But to me it seems like an effort to just merge the two mega-brands into a product because it simply hasn't been done yet.

Reading the literature on Apple's site about the product leaves me with more questions than answers. I'm still not sure exactly what this thing does and how. Some of the features sound downright scary. What is "Nike Sport Music content"? Are we talking a Nike playlist? Sounds like just the thing to get me making a very short run to the iToilet.

Why ask Wii?

Thu, 25 May 2006 15:54:00 GMT

Nintendo, you gotta love 'em still hanging on with ground breaking ideas - those stilly little freaks. You have to admire the finesse approach Nintendo has taken with Wii. We already heard about Wii's unique "positional" controller that will make some interesting gaming. But now the latest information from the Nintendo camp is the pricing of Wii. It'll be a low - low $250 bucks.

This is great news for casual gamers (and parents) everywhere.

"Yes, jr. we know that you want a PS3 for Christmas but mommy and daddy like having a house and clothes."

The price gives Nintendo an undeniable edge in the console war. And while we're on the war analogy one might say that in a war of market space cost advantage is the ultimate advantage. I believe it was Von Clausewitz who said that underselling the competition was a continuation of politics by other means.

Personally (and occasionally I'll allow myself to get personal on this blog) I like the Microsoft Xbox360. I think it strikes the perfect cost/technology balance for the relative lifespan of this current generation of console game machines. While I appreciate the brute force approach of Sony in giving its customers the ultimate technology of the day, I think they crossed a cost line that's resulting in delays. I'm certain Sony will delay again and/or raise the price when it actually arrives.

Rushing to ad Blu-ray, HDMI and an "on paper" implementation of 1080P are all unnecessary in real world application. For the next two to four years (the relative lifespan of this gen of consoles) there isn't likely to be any advantage in the higher capacity of Blu-ray disk. DVD's 9Gigs will work fine for next gen games, but we'll see.

1080P will almost certainly not be used in games. PS3's 1080P capability will be strutted out for a cut-scene or two but will otherwise languish. Memory and CPU (system resources) devoted to resolution greater than 720P isn't going to ad enough to games that can't be better used simply mapping textures and calling flashy APIs. All 1080P can really do better than 720P is a bit more anti-aliasing for moving images and I think most gamers and developers will find that 720P does a more than adequate job.

I have to hand it to Nintendo, they're not simply leveraging themselves as the "just happy to be here" third wheel in the console war. They're really taking it to the big two players using that marvelously heroic attribute; innovation. Although I am unlikely to buy Wii myself, underselling the big two by such a wide margin really warms my heart.

Nintendo is the TiVo of the console game war or like the Prussian's of the 18th century European stage. They may be small in stature but potent in the eyes of all competitors.

Network through your AC power line

Tue, 23 May 2006 18:28:00 GMT

Consumer electronics devices that need to send and receive data to each other have found a permanent home inside our homes. Whether we're using computers, routers, VoIP phones or digital audio and video equipment we need to hook them all up to other devices. A consumer electronics consortium has been working on ways to send digital information through our AC power lines. The HomePlug Alliance is picking up steam with members from all over the electronics industry including Sony, Samsung, Intel, Motorola, Comcast, Linksys, Sharp and many more. A high speed networking over AC power lines demonstration will be put on by the HomePlug Alliance at Microsoft's Hardware Engineering Conference, WinHEC '06.

Any digital information is fair game for the specifications being developed by HomePlug. This includes audio, video and especially home networking and internet connections. If perfected the technology stands to be a valuable convenience since nearly everything electronic gets plugged into the wall and a hard wired connection is more reliable and faster than today's wireless.

But, the idea isn't so revolutionary. Today there are a number of consumer electronics devices already using this technology albeit to mixed reviews. Probably the best implementation so far was a high profile product unveiled at CES '06 last January Marantz's DAvED / Digital Audio via Electrical Distribution featuring PLC (Power Line Carrier) technology.

DAvED allows multi-room audio transmission from Marantz's ZR6001 A/V receiver and it's picked up through a special client "boombox" device. An audio source playing back to the receiver such as a CD is transmitted through your household AC power circuit. This music is collected by the client, a portable stereo. When the client is plugged into the wall anywhere in your house including an outdoor plug, it'll playback the audio being streamed from the receiver.

Radio Shack also sells products by Accurian that do basically the same thing. Accurian's product is basically a wall outlet transmitter and a set of powered speakers. These are admittedly clumsy first steps into a larger possibility of flawless high speed digital communications through AC. The reviews aren't exactly stellar. Some reviews found online complained of interference from any fast switching devices plugged into the same circuit. In other words it's possible you'll hear the air conditioner kick on through devices that use the slower HomePlug 1.0 standard. There is a new HomePlug AV spec that promises greater speeds for high performance and limited interference.

Sony PS3 Pricing Confusion

Fri, 07 Apr 2006 21:20:00 GMT

It's come to my attention that premature pricing information has become the new PS3 topic these days.

Don't take these pricing estimates seriously. We already know the price will be just a tad higher than the Xbox360 and as soon as it hits the market Microsoft will announce a price reduction on its console. This rumor came from a Sony exec who allegedly told a French radio station the price of the PS3 would be around 499 - 599 Euros which translates to something between $600 to $750 in Freedom dollars.

Soon afterward Sony came out with damage control and told the press that the numbers given by the exec to French radio were actually for a Blu-ray player and not the PS3 and that the numbers given were US dollars. What all this means is we still don't know what the PS3 will cost and any speculation at this time is mostly an idle waste of time.

An analyst at Forrest Research has said that Sony is probably going to keep the price of PS3 down to stay competitive with the Xbox360.

Duh-uh!

Did it really take a business research think-tank to come up with the idea that since PS3 and Xbox360 are competitors? Of course Sony will take a loss to sell their console at a price close to that of 360's.

Sony recently announced a delay in the PS3's release to the end of next year. I think it's safe to say that cost was the factor in the decision to delay the product. You didn't actually believe Sony's B.S. about the AACS not defining the content protection specification soon enough did you? Maybe Sony's fax machine was broken the day the memo went out that the AACS did indeed complete the HD content protection specification months before Sony made their PS3 is delayed announcement. None of this stopped Samsung from developing a Blu-ray player that's to be released in June.

Herein lies the problem: Sony developed the blue - print for a 2007 technology that includes HDMI & Blu-ray back in 2005 and announced that it would be available in the spring of '06. Meanwhile competitor Microsoft (Xbox360) developed a fair '06 technology that includes component video & DVD although delayed is now being released.

Blu-ray is an expensive cutting edge technology and it's always been my opinion that Sony jumped the gun trying to include it.

Samsung's BD-P1000, the new Blu-ray player that'll be released in June is going to cost a grand $US. New technology doesn't come cheap. Sony HAD to delay the release of the PS3 and make up a lame excuse (AACS content protection, indeed). What was Sony's option?

Sony's options circa Q4-2005 for the fast approaching spring '06 PS3 debut:

Sell a $500 network enabled Blu-ray player that also plays games at a gut wrenching loss. Just think… everybody would be buying a Blu-ray player at half price. Sony would have racked up debt faster than a Republican president.

Or …

Sell a $1000 game console and just hand victory in the console game war over to Microsoft. While a $1000 PS3 wouldn't sink the franchise it would certainly kill its chances of capturing the casual gamer or the mom and pop customer buying a console for little jr.

What is certain about Sony's price for the PS3.

1/ We don't know for sure what it'll cost. But Sony's PS3 isn't really just a next-gen console. It's a next gen and a half console. It's not comparable to Xbox360 so expect it to be priced a bit higher. By the end of the year the PS3 will be probably be released at around the present price of the 360 just before Microsoft drops its price.

2/ Sony will take an acceptable loss on the cost of PS3's manufacture just like Microsoft is willing to take an acceptable loss on the manufacture of the Xbox360. But it won't commit the business hari-kari or kill it's own Blu-ray partners by releasing an alternative to the BD-P1000 at half the price.

Mitsubishi's Laser TV Breakthrough

Tue, 04 Apr 2006 20:06:00 GMT

Mitsubishi will demonstrate a 52 inch version of its new laser rear projector technology this Friday. A new type of HDTV was was announced by the Japanese manufacturer last February and now they're ready to show it off. Laser projection TV uses the principal of DLP which uses a chip to reflect light and create images. But instead of using a white-light Mercury lamp as found in existing LCD and DLP rear projectors today laser projection will use three lasers one of each primary video color red, green and blue. Frank DeMartin marketing VP for Mitsubishi says this will provide brighter and deeper colors even compared to what you'll get from film.

Mitsubishi tells the New York Times that lasers not only provide deeper, brighter colors but also provide a greater color range and intensity. The Televisions are to be built into custom cabinets that will take up less space than any rear projector today and the front of the TV will be almost all screen with very little frame surrounding it.

Frank DeMartin Mitsubishi's VP for marketing promises the sets will be lighter than most HDTV's today and will use about a third of the power of rear projectors that use a lamp. The energy savings will be granted us because conventional Mercury white - light lamps must be on at full power while the lasers will switch on and off when required. Lamp replacement will be a thing of the past with laser projectors as well because the lasers are designed to last the lifetime of the set.

Laser displays are nothing new. They've been in use for years in certain lab environments and produce colorful, bright images at resolutions beyond what we've seen in consumer electronics. But past laser television has serious limitations barring it from consideration in the consumer electronics market. These things have been huge energy hogs and way too expensive for the home market plus there is a small matter of the "speckle pattern" effect. Mitsubishi claims to have overcome most of these problems as the laser rear projection sets consume low power consumption and the price should be low enough to compete with plasma. However the New York Times (or Mitsubishi so far) doesn't comment on how they'll deal with the speckle pattern. The speckle pattern is an annoying spot in the picture and a serious flaw in laser projectors that can range from distraction to causing sickness in some viewers. Existing laser projectors have controlled the problem with de-speckling modulation. It will be interesting to find out what Mitsubishi does to control this flaw and if they can really do so well enough or will it remain a persistent problem with laser television.

Mitsubishi projects they'll release laser TV to the public by the end of '07. This will be quite an accomplishment considering most researchers close to laser television development have said the technology was at least two more years away from being a consumer electronics reality. This is truly a breakthrough for Mitsubishi.

V for Vendetta and History of Violence

Fri, 17 Mar 2006 14:07:00 GMT

It's comic to film week!

This week two graphic novels are being presented to two different film media History of Violence and V for Vendetta. The first one we saw was released Tuesday to DVD. History of Violence stars Viggo Mortensen and Ed Harris, it even has a small part with William Hurt. This is high powered acting under the considerable if underappreciated directorial talent of one of my favorites David Cronenberg. Cronenberg is true to his style of exploring human nature in HoV. He explores the nature of violence (and sex) in an otherwise peaceful, small town family man whose life is turned upside down by a brush with a big city crisis situation. The graphic novel from which it’s based was written by John Wagner and drawn by Vince Locke, Vince is a local Michigan boy. Having grown up ‘partly’ in Detroit area, Locke is a name the state of MI should be proud too call one of its own. Check out the hub for the Detroit area comics community. If you’re lucky enough to live in close proximity you can go in and learn.

Don’t rent History of Violence expecting a conventional action film or you’ll be disappointed. Cronenberg studies the motives of characters, its violence is quick and brutal as is the movie's sex scene. But it’s no action film, the sex and violence in the movie is a vehicle through which we see elements of the nature of the characters.

V for Vendetta has arrived to theaters today, originally a comic written by one of the masters in the field named Alan Moore. If you’re a comics fan chances are Alan Moore's name on the credits of any comic is enough to make you want to read it. He brings a literate and often historic style to his unconventional stories. Just like Moore himself, the movie will go against the grain of society in today’s climate of political fear mongering over terrorism. Too bad Moore doesn't give his graces to the film, his name won't appear in its credits and that's a shame, but that's Moore's business. He seems like a crotchety old bastard and I wouldn't want to hear about him being any other way.

I haven't seen the movie but the plot for the original was first started by Moore back in the early 80s well before our current relationship to the word “terrorism“. Here the terrorist is the hero, fighting an oppressive government. Making a terrorist the hero is sure to offend and somewhere Moore is probably laughing. Comparisons to George Orwell’s 1984 are inevitable but also a simplification. Still it's an interesting touch that John Hurt should appear as this film's “Big Brother“ character. Hurt played the hero in 1984.

In Moore’s tradition with V, he puts the history into his story. The main character wears a Guy Fawkes mask inspired by the Gunpowder Plot when conspirators attempted to assassinate the King of England, James I. In V for Vendetta England is in the grip of a fascist takeover and V dons the Guy Fawkes mask to conduct his own conspiracy.

It’s a good week for comics to film and I hope to enjoy both soon.

Olive Opus music server

Fri, 03 Mar 2006 14:57:00 GMT

Music servers are becoming more popular but still pricey. You could always go the way of the home made PC and just wire it to your audio system, but it sounds like crap. There are budget ways to stream digital media to your HT system that don't include any local storage like Sonos and Squeezebox. The idea of a music server that has the build quality of an audio component is very appealing. There will always be the high end stuff priced in the stratosphere and it looks like Olive’s Opus is going to be one of those pieces of equipment.

The $1300 Cambridge Audio Azure 640H has long been the most appealing music server I’ve seen yet. It strikes a nice balance between price and quality.

If you’re able to spend the extra money, upping the lean size of the 160HDD on many of the middling music servers (including the Azure 640) is definitely the way to go.

Olive is an American company that specializes in next generation CD / server players designed for a home audio system. The Olive Opus is the company's magnum opus. At $3000 US you get truly hi-fi audio quality and a 400Gig HDD. Nice.

The Opus will digest your CDs using its lossless compression format, allowing you to store up to 1100 albums. For the truly fussy audiophiles it will store uncompressed CDs but then you only get up to 660. Still, that’s a nice collection of CD music stored at its original quality.

As a CD player alone this unit designed with hi-fi audio appeal. Four 24bit/96kHz Burr-Brown DACs, independent power supplies for analogue and digital sections of the circuit boards contribute to high end sound. But it’s not just a CD player, you get wireless connectivity with 802.11g so it can stream music to another device in the house. Using Panasonic’s CD-R/RW it’ll even burn music CDs for you. The Olive Opus even has analogue inputs so you can have it record from any analogue music source.

A high class piece of gear for a high end consumer who doesn’t mind spending three grand on a single component. Count me out for now, maybe when the price comes down severely. Until then I can dream can’t I?

New Samsung HTiB: HT-AS610 & HT-AS710

Fri, 24 Feb 2006 19:43:00 GMT

You want cheap HTiB? Do you want somewhere down near the bottom of the barrel cheap?

How is $250 or $500 for a complete HTiB with some key features? That’s cheap! Okay, it’s cheap but is it any good? That may remain to be seen but it sure looks interesting.

Samsung is due to release two new HTiB systems next month (Mar ’06). The HT-AS610 ($250) and the HT-AS710 ($500). These are low end complete systems, but given the roll Samsung has been on lately with just about any technology in which it cares to dabble I’d say chances are good that these are perfectly adequate systems for budget minded shoppers.

Both systems will decode Dolby Digital, Pro Logic II and DTS. The AS610 is 5.1 with a total power output of 600WPC where as the AS710 is a 6.1 system with 100 Watts per channel plus a 150 Watt sub. I don’t have any more info on these specs so it’s quite likely the Watt ratings aren’t RMS through 8ohm at 20Hz to 20 kHz which is really the only spec that counts. These systems both use the new digital amplifier technology which is highly efficient and doesn’t really need to measure up to the traditional 100 watt per channel rating that is so popular in audio equipment. There is nothing significant about 100 Watts, marketers feel it looks good on paper so they fudge the specs to make any amp appear to push more watts. But digital amps don’t need it.

So, the specs might be cheesy which is never a good sign. But this is a Samsung <$500 HTiB system, not a Rotel. What I found particularly interesting that many consumers might really appreciate was some of the extras on these systems.

HDMI switching. With HDMI inputs and at least one HDMI output you can control several HDMI devices through these units to your HDTV. So these guys are fully HDTV / HDCP ready. The only piece of info missing is exactly how many HDMI inputs it has? But even if it has only two, that’s two more than you get on many very expensive receivers on the market.

I remember the old days when an HDMI throughput was only to be found on high end receivers that cost thousands. Waitaminute! Those old days were just last year! My how fast the technology changes.

The other cool feature is XM Satellite Radio. These units will perform as your XM receiver for the home. That’s a nice touch if you’re thinking of investing in sat radio and need a push to decide which one to go with. Personally, I think they’re both pretty much the same. I might tend to give a slight nod to Sirius because of the NHL and Howard Stern but honestly, how often am I going to listen to either? I’m more likely to use satellite radio to listen to the same music I can get on either system.

Two very cheap HTiB systems that stand a chance to be interesting pieces of equipment.

SED display technology to arrive “next year”

Tue, 07 Feb 2006 14:45:00 GMT

Next year is a concept that can linger for years when it comes to the release of a new technology.

Toshiba and Canon have collaborated on the development of a new display technology called SED (Surface-Conduction Electron-Emitter Display). It’s effectively a flat CRT. The developers of the new display promise fast video response performance, high contrast, high gradation levels along with low power consumption.

Combining the flatness and low power requirements of LCD with the high contrast and speed of plasma (because each pixel is its own light source) this display sounds like the winner. One distinct advantage of over both LCD and plasma would be the darker than black levels of CRT. The Canon/Toshiba developers say this technology will eventually be cheaper to produce than Plasma, but that of course remains to be seen.

The technology works like CRT, electrons fired from an emitter hit a phosphor coating on the inside of the screen. Conventional CRT has one big electron gun, hence the depth of CRT. SED will have millions of tiny emitters, each emitter produces color for a separate pixel. This raises two likely flaws in the design, but there are always drawbacks for any technology. Millions of tiny emitters will give the device potential for costly repairs. Will you be able to replace one of the tiny electron guns if it goes bad? Probably not without replacing the whole grid, just like plasma it could be susceptible to costly repairs. Because it’s using electron beam colliding with phosphor to produce the color images the potential for burn-in is going to be roughly equal to that of conventional CRT.

Expect this new technology to be very expensive when first released just like everything else. But prices might drop significantly, it stands to be a very high end image when the technology is perfected.