DCDi
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Harman Kardon intros CP 65, CP 60 and CP 55 HTIB systems
Got a hankering for a new home theater system? Too pressed to go out and piece together one yourself? Harman Kardon feels your pain, and it's offering up a trio of new HTIB systems to make things easier for you. Up first in the new CP series is the CP 55, which includes an AVR 146 receiver and the DVD 38 DVD-Audio / Video player, which includes 1080i upscaling. Moving on, we see the CP 60, which bundles the AVR 247 with the 1080p upconverting DVD 48 universal DVD player. Lastly, the CP 65 utilizes the same DCDi-enhanced player as the CP 60 but throws in the AVR 347 receiver. Catch the trifecta right now for $1,199, $1,399 and $1,899, respectively.
Gateway offers up 22-inch HD2200 / 24-inch FHD2400 LCD monitors
Finding that 30-inch XHD3000 to be a bit too rich for your blood (or just too ginormous for your desk)? Gateway understands, and that's why it's offering up new 22- and 24-inch LCD monitors for those who demand a bit less screen real estate. Up first is the 22-inch HD2200, which features a 1,680 x 1,050 resolution, 300 cd/m2 brightness, 1,000:1 contrast ratio, four-millisecond response time and 160-degree viewing angles. The 24-inch FHD2400 delivers 1080p support with a 1,920 x 1,200 resolution, 1,000:1 contrast ratio, 400 cd/m2 brightness and an ultra-speedy three-millisecond refresh rate. Moreover, both displays tout Faroudja DCDi video processing, DVI / HDMI / VGA / component jacks and built-in picture-in-picture functionality. As for pricing, the smaller sibling will run you $349.99 while the 24-incher will demand an extra $200, and both of 'em are available from a number of retailers as we speak.
Integra's DTR-5.8 receiver does HDMI 1.3a, XM / Sirius
If you've been scouting a leading-edge AV receiver with just about every amenity out there (including HDMI 1.3a), Integra's latest offering is likely to fit the bill. The DTR-5.8 sports a standard black enclosure, twin HDMI 1.3a inputs (and one output), built-in decoding for DTS-HD Master Audio, Dolby TrueHD, and Dolby Digital Plus lossless, and a Faroudja DCDi chip for de-interlacing 480i signals. Home automaters will adore the range of control options, including a bi-directional RS-232 port, RIHD (Remote Interactive over HDMI) system, three programmable 12-volt triggers, dual IR inputs, and three unique assignable IR code sets. This two-zone, 7.1-channel unit even boasts a 90-watt-per-channel amplifier and XM / Sirius compatibility, but you're looking at a stiff $800 if these luxuries just can't be done without. Click on for a shot of the rear.
Teac unveils luxurious UX-1Pi universal DVD player
Teac most certainly doesn't shy away from cranking out the finer things in life, and the company's Esoteric UX-1Pi is further proof of its dedication to high-end. This elegently designed machine dons a simplistic black and silver motif, and internally, packs a 14-bit DAC, LSI ABT1018 scaler, HDMI v1.3 connector, 1080p upscaling, i.LINK FireWire, component / S-Video outputs, surround sound pre-outs, XLR front outputs, and optical / coaxial digital audio. The device handles DVD video, DVD-Audio, SACD, and your collection of toasted gems as well, and while Teac was nice enough to throw in a wireless remote, you'll still be paying ¥1,470,000 ($12,129) for this beauty when it lands this month. Click through for a shot of the port assortment.[Via Impress]
Vizio's 60-inch Maximvs VM60P plasma: $2,999, shipping February
Vizio is back at it again, this time promising a new 60-inch plasma HDTV with an MSRP of only $2,999. Of course, for a 60-inch plasma under $3k, you can't have everything, and this set features a native 720p (1366x768) resolution instead of the newer 1080p, but still compares well in terms of price to other sets in its class. The Panasonic TH-58PX60U, and Pioneer Pro-1540HD are a similar size and resolution, but carry MSRPs of $5,499 and $8,000, respectively. Vizio's Maximvs VM60P set pleases with four HDMI inputs, two component inputs, VGA jack and ATSC / QAM / NTSC tuners integrated into the set itself. The included Genesis Faroudja DCDi scaler can accept any signal from 480i to 1080p to display on the 7,000:1 contrast ratio screen with its 1,200 cd/m2 brightness. Like its popular Black Friday 42-inch plasma and 1080p 47-inch LCD, the company aims to bring HDTVs with attractive features at mass market prices. Comparing the price tags, it looks great next to the competition, but we'll see how the picture quality holds up when they start shipping next month.[Via Cnet]
Oppo DV-981HD adds 1080p DVD upscaling... loses component outs
Oppo Digital is back with yet another in its line of DVD upscalers, the DV-981HD. New in this edition is upscaling all the way to 1080p, courtesy of the included Faroudja DCDi video processor. Successor to the highly regarded DV971H, the new unit includes such features as DVD-Audio and SACD support and DivX compatibility, among other digital media. One thing this player doesn't bring to the table however, is component video outputs. If your display doesn't support HDMI or DVI with HDCP, you'll be falling back to the dark ages of S-Video or even composite connections. Besides the HDMI 1.1 port ((HDMI cable included, hear that Sony?), there are also analog 5.1, optical and coaxial audio outputs powered by a 24-bit/192kHz d/a converter. MSRP is $229 and it's available now, if digital video is a part of your setup and DVD upscaling is more appealing than current HD DVD or Blu-ray offerings, this should be an excellent buy. Continue on for larger images and a shot of the back.
Planar @ CEDIA - Three new 1080p LCDs
We don't talk about Planar's HDTVs here a lot, but they are one of the many exhibitors at CEDIA 2006, and are showing off their entries into the ever-crowded arena of 1080p LCDs. Available in 37-, 42 and 47-inch sizes, the PD370, PD420 and PD470 bring the requisite 2 million-plus pixels to the table, plus 10-bit Faroudja DCDi image processing with motion-adaptive deinterlacing, 1200:1 contrast ratio, 500 nits of brightness, 6.5ms refresh rate and 24-bit color. One HDMI, two component and one RGB jack take the supported 1080p, 1080i, 720p, 576p, 576i, 480p and 480i inputs. These tunerless displays have integrated bottom-mounted speakers as seen on the 32-inch above, continue on for a pic of the 42-inch model. No word on pricing just yet but they'll need to provide a good value to compete in this market.
Let It Wave introduces Super-Resolution Bandelet upconversion technology
Yeah sure thats a mouthful, but if it is nearly as good at converting SD sources to HDTV resolutions as they claim, you'll memorize it pretty soon. They claim their bandlet (or bandelet depending which page of the site you read) technology allows them to upconvert SD sources to HDTV resolutions with no flickering or artifacting whatsoever. We won't try to decipher the mathematic reasons they give as to why this is possible, but you can check out their tech page for yourself.Their press release includes an endorsement by the namesake of the Faroudja DCDi upconverter, now all we need to do is see some products and maybe watching standard definition won't hurt so bad anymore.
