Posts in Home AV
Upcoming Sanyo Z3000 goes 120Hz
Philip Wong | Sep 23, 2008
Remember, never ever judge a book by its cover. Though the new Sanyo PLV-Z3000 3LCD home theater projector looks just like its predecessor in black, it does, in fact, offer a bag of new tricks. Besides sporting an increasingly common full-HD badge, the PLV-Z3000 can deliver an ultra-high 65,000:1 dynamic contrast and supposedly smoother motion. The latter is enabled via its 120Hz engine which is also compatible with film-based 24-frame signals, albeit interpolated to 96 instead of 120 frames.
Another noticeable enhancement is its wide lens shift function that can vertically and horizontally realign the projection up to three and two screen distances, respectively. There's also the powerful 2x zoom which is almost on par with the Epson EMP-TW2000 for theatrical-sized screening from a shorter throw distance. Rounding up its competent feature set are dual HDMI 1.3 inputs and another two sets of component-videos.
The Sanyo PLV-Z3000 will be launched in Japan from November 28 at US$4,567. Check back for further updates on pricing and availability in other Asia markets.
Via I4U News | Photo credit: Sanyo
Tiny battery-operated projector
Philip Wong | Sep 22, 2008
For those who prefer entertainment on-the-go but who hate squinting at the tiny screens on portable media players, phones and PDAs, this Korean micro projector may just be the way to go. Official information on this autonomous product is scarce at the moment, though a source from Akihabara News has unveiled that it will support native VGA or 640 x 480-pixel resolution at 4:3 aspect ratio, with an estimated 40-minute battery life.
More specs: Its throw distance is from 0.21 to 1.8m, while the maximum supported video format is capped at a wide 1,280 x 800 resolution. Judging from the size of its removable battery, this beamer looks slightly larger than two standard PDA-phones put together.
Via Akihabara News | Photo credit: Akihabara News
Which A/V receiver should I buy?--Ask the Editors
Matthew Moskovciak | Sep 21, 2008
The Onkyo TX-SR606 is a great value and packed with features, but it's got competition this year.
The most common question we get at CNET is: "What should I buy?" Unfortunately, instead of just spitting out a product name, that question usually forces us to followup with our own questions--how much do you want to spend, what features are important, and so on. However, last year when people asked "which audiovisual receiver should I buy", we actually had a pretty simple answer: The Onkyo TX-SR605. At US$400, it was right in the "budget" sweet spot, and it included more next-generation features--such as onboard Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio decoding, and analog upconversion--than any other receiver in its price class. Unless you were looking to spend a lot more money, the TX-SR605 was by far the best value.
So which A/V receiver should you buy in 2008? Well, it's not that easy this year.
Onkyo has followed up on the TX-SR605 with the TX-SR606, which we reviewed favorably earlier this month. The company managed to make a good thing even better, as the TX-SR606 has four HDMI inputs and can upconvert analog signals to 1080i. And amazingly, for all these updates, the street price is still less than US$400. But there are some snags that keep it from being our go-to pick.
Read more »
PlayStation 3 gets weather, Google News, and other Web goodies
Josh Lowensohn | Sep 19, 2008
It's an evolution on the Folding@Home application, the protein-folding scientific project that's gotten a hefty processing boost from worldwide PlayStation 3 owners who run the small application when not using their systems to play games or watch movies.
What makes the service neat is that it figures out where you are and automatically jumps to that point when you start it up. The news feeds are pulled in from Google News, while the weather reports are served up in real time via the Weather Channel. As you move around the globe, both the news and weather changes by city, and both are continuously updated throughout the day.
A similar offering was provided by Nintendo for its Wii system back in January of 2007 with both its News and Forecast channels, however in the US the stories were limited to those from the Associated Press, unlike Sony's offering which pulls them in from all over the Web.
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Hands-on with the JVC HD750/350
Philip Wong | Sep 18, 2008
We recently had a hands-on session with the JVC DLA-HD350 and DLA-HD750, currently making their rounds worldwide. Despite using out-of-the-box factory settings, the almost silent DLA-HD750 was putting out some pretty amazing pictures. Blacks were definitely better than before and was matched by a strong depth of field and smooth visuals. Having said that, the projector's sharpness was a bit on the soft side, just like the DLA-HD1, and exhibited a distinct film-like appeal.
If you're in the market for new home theater projectors, there will be another announcement soon on these JVC models which will probably rock the market. While we were given strict instructions not to disclose any information, here's a teaser to get you on the right track. Do you seriously believe the new HD750 will feature the same 30,000:1 native contrast offered by the 2007 DLA-HD100?
The 1,000-ANSI lumens HD350 and 900 ANSI lumens HD750 will also ship with a built-in lens aperture--which allows fine-tuning of brightness levels without compromising contrast performance--and an automatic protective lens shutter. Other useful niceties include zoom and wide lens shift capabilities (similar to the HD100) with upgraded fully motorized adjustments and focusing.
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