CES rocks the house: Day 2
It's day 2 at CES 2005 as we continue to give you the latest scoop on what's hot and what's not on the home entertainment scene.
Universal remote controls it all, with Wi-Fi
Universal Electronics' Nevo SL is a sleekly designed remote control that delivers truly universal audio/visual and digital media control for the networked home. Thanks to its built-in 802.11b Wi-Fi, its reach extends to networked PCs and media servers, enabling digital early adopters to shuffle audio, photos, and video from the computer to networked CE devices.
The Nevo SL is built around a 3.5-inch touch-screen LCD that is fully customizable. Its keypad includes 17 programmable buttons; a scrollwheel on the side enables fast one-handed navigation. You first program the device via the PC, employing simple drag-and-drop software. Programming for the Nevo is then downloaded to the remote via the included cable or Wi-Fi. This device also supports automatic discovery of UPnP-enabled players and servers on the home network, enabling you to display and play back digital pictures, music, and videos.
- Uses the Windows CE.NET 4.2 OS
- Nevo Link add-on device enables you to control all devices via Wi-Fi,
eliminating the line-of-sight limitations of IR
- Because Universal Electronics makes remotes for major CE brands, its code
library is immense, covering 40 device types, 19,000 unique device codes, and
2,300 brands of CE products
- Rechargeable lithium-ion battery lasts as long as 11 days, although Wi-Fi
use greatly depletes battery life
LG bows Windows-friendly set-top recorder
The LG LRM-519 is the first DVR/DVD recorder to boast new software from Microsoft, tightly integrating it with a networked PC running Windows XP or Windows Media Center Edition. In addition to the ability to record your favorite TV shows to an internal hard disk or DVD recorder, the LG LRM-519 also boasts network media features, so it can pull down digital photos, video, and audio from your PC.
- Network media DVR/DVD recorder
- Compatible with MPEG, Windows Media Audio and Video (WMA/WMV), MP3 audio,
and JPEG images
- Ethernet, 802.11a/g network connections
- Microsoft EPG
- 160GB hard drive
- Built-in DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, DVD+R double-layer burner
- USB connectivity to portable hard disks, media players, and card readers
Corinex launches power-line multimedia adapter
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Corinex AV Powerline Adapter
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Corinex has a power-line adapter that the company claims will run at a blazing 200Mbps. That's fast enough to support bandwidth-intensive applications, such as streaming HD video, and simultaneously offer Internet connectivity to the rest of your home. You can connect the unit to a wireless router and create a power-line extension to your existing network. The unit supports up to eight priority-classification queues that help ensure the quality of service for streaming applications such as video and VoIP.
Samsung next-gen, high-res DLP TV is world's largest
Over the past couple of years, Samsung has built an impressive stable of HDTV products based on DLP microdisplay technology, which offers large screen size in a thin and light cabinet design (compared to CRT rear-projection systems). The company's HLR6768W is both its largest and most advanced model yet, offering a 67-inch screen and 1,080-pixel resolution.
- 67-inch DLP HDTV monitor
- 1,920x1,080 resolution
- Slim console design
Buffalo offers wireless-capable DVD player at CES
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Buffalo Technology LinkTheater High Definition Wireless Media Player PC-P3WG/DVD
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The Buffalo Technology LinkTheater High-Definition Wireless Media Player PC-P3WG/DVD is a progressive-scan DVD player with built-in 802.11g wireless networking support, allowing you to stream digital music, video (including high-definition files), and photos from your PC. It also features Buffalo's AirStation One-Touch Secure Station technology for easy security configuration with other similarly equipped Buffalo networking products.
- Built-in 802.11g wireless networking support
- Supports MP3, WAV, WMV, WMA, WMV HD, DivX, DivX HD, AVI, JPG, TIFF, BMP, and
GIF file formats
- Component-video, S-Video, and USB 2.0 ports
Toshiba announces HD-DVD recorder for 2005
Details are still sketchy on Toshiba's HD-DVD recorder, but pricing and availability have finally been announced. The unit will be the first on sale to use the HD-DVD format, which the company is promoting as a competitor against Blu-ray to succeed the popular DVD format. The unit will include an HDMI output, naturally, but otherwise little information (including a model number) was available at press time. The available specs include:
- HD-DVD recorder
- HDMI output
- Backward compatible with DVD and CD
Sirius introduces recording function at CES 2005
Sirius's Sportster receiver has proven popular because of its portability--the palm-size unit can be easily shuttled between the home or office and the car. The new Sportster IR has been redesigned to be even sleeker and now features an FM transmitter that lets you choose among 100 different frequencies to broadcast Sirius programming to your car or home stereo. But best of all, the IR finally offers internal memory that lets you record up to 44 minutes of programming to play back later.
Yamaha squeezes multichannel sound into a single box
Instead of positioning ever more satellite speakers around your home theater, Yamaha is offering a virtual solution to surround sound: a single unit housing 42 drivers that can deliver five-channel sound in Dolby Digital, DTS, and Dolby Pro Logic II flavors. The company claims the YSP-1's "holographic" multichannel sound beam can emulate a multispeaker setup as it's reflected off different walls in a room.
- One coaxial digital, two optical, and two analog inputs
- Subwoofer out
- Included remote control that also works with TVs and DVD players
JVC does 1080p with a D-ILA twist
Numerous television manufacturers are coming out with 1080p-resolution HDTVs in 2005, and JVC is no exception. 1080p, called True HDTV by many manufacturers, uses an array of 1,920x1,080 pixels, enough to reproduce every bit of detail from 1080i high-def sources. The 70-inch HD-70FH96 utilizes JVC's HD-ILA display technology, which appeared first in the HD-52525 and is a variant of LCoS. It avoids the rainbow effect of DLP and visible pixel structure of LCD, but its ability to reproduce dark blacks has been limited. The set will be available in the fall of 2005.
- 70-inch rear-projection HDTV
- HD-ILA display technology
- 1,920x1,080 resolution
Lite-On unveils DVD recorder with 160GB hard drive
The Lite-On LVW-5045 DVD recorder with built-in hard drive doubles the amount of storage space that its predecessor, the LVW-5005, possesses, packing in 160GB for a maximum recording time of 198 hours at its lowest quality. Like the LVW-5005, this new recorder supports the four main DVD formats and offers a FireWire port to connect your camcorder for easy offloading of footage onto disc. As with other digital video recorders, the device can pause live TV.
- Built-in 160GB hard drive
- Records to DVD±R/RW and CD-R/RW
- VCR Plus+ guide
- Component-video, S-Video, FireWire, and coaxial and optical digital audio ports
2Wire's MediaPortal is an all-in-one media box for SBC
Home-networking stalwart 2Wire has introduced an ultra-set-top box that combines a multituner HD satellite receiver with a TiVo-style digital video recorder, a network media device, a DVD player, and a DSL-powered Internet hub. The aptly named MediaPortal will offer users access to live and recorded standard and high-def TV, plus digital audio and photos on their home network (as well as recorded TV shows on other MediaPortals in the home), live and cached content from the Web, and a host of other cool options, all through a single seamless interface. The resulting Home Entertainment Service, as provider SBC has dubbed it, will provide a one-two punch of satellite TV and DSL-delivered broadband Net access, offering customers a single point of contact for all their entertainment needs--and a viable alternative to cable.
- All-in-one satellite TV broadband set-top box
- 250GB HD DVR
- Seven-day electronic programming guide
- Dual satellite and dual over-the-air HD tuners
- Built-in CD/DVD drive
- Ethernet and Wi-Fi connectivity
Pixa rolls out loaded portable DVD player
Upping the ante in the hot portable DVD player category, Pixa's MP-810 features wireless headphone support and comes with a plug-in TV tuner. It has an 8.4-inch wide-screen LCD and can hook up to a game console to serve as a portable monitor. Pixa claims the MP-810 can run for three hours before its battery needs recharging.
LG's slimmer-tube HDTV
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LG DU-30F10 30-inch direct-view HDTV
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While they offer great pictures, traditional tubes are space hogs--and heavy, too. LG's answer is the DU-30F10, a 30-inch, direct-view, slim-CRT HDTV, which cuts down the depth by about 30 percent (from the standard 20 inches or so to less than 14 inches). The TV has a built-in HDTV tuner for receiving over-the-air HD signals. Its features include:
- 1,920x1,080i display format
- HDMI and DVI connectivity
- Built-in NTSC/ATSC tuner
Yamaha debuts an improved DLP projector
The DPX-1200 is Yamaha's fourth-generation digital light processing (DLP) projector and features its latest 720P DarkChip3 technology, which promises a 25 percent improvement in contrast, according to the company. The unit can project a wide-screen image onto a screen up to 15 feet, 9 inches away and comes with a host of other image-quality improvements, such as a Neutral Density filter on the green segment of its color wheel and Faroudja's TrueLife Enhancement for sharper edges.
- HDMI, S-Video, component-video, and composite inputs
- 5,000:1 contrast ratio
- Memory for up to 12 color-adjustment parameter settings
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