Belkin FlyWire – we hardly knew ya. Actually – we didn’t know you at all! Belkin announced late last week that given the current “state of the economy”, the “retail price of $1499 would be out of line” (ya think?). Hence, Belkin has decided to halt production of the FlyWire wireless HD transmitter. Guess we’ll just have to stick with a single HDMI wire for now (or several for some).

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Technorati Tags: Belkin FlyWire, Wireless HDMI

We all love HDMI cables (maybe not the pricing sometimes) don’t we? They reduce cable clutter by simplifying connections between two devices down to a single cable.. But come on now.. we can do better right? Well that’s what the folks at Monster are saying with the introduction of their new “Powered” SuperThin Cables for HDMI. Yes.. as you can tell, these HDMI cables are indeed significantly thinner than standard HDMI cables (they measure a mere 3.5mm in diameter).

The new SuperThin Cables for HDMI are the first products developed in collaboration with RedMere and thanks to their MagnifEye Active technology, the cables offer great performance while boosting the HD signals directly within the cable itself without the need of an external power supply.  This eliminates the need for heavy-gauge copper which of course means the cables can be made thinner, lighter, and more portable.

The SuperThin Cables for HDMI will be available in 4, 8, and 16 foot versions within the Monster DigitalLife product line. Here’s the pricing:

• Digital Life SuperThin High Speed Powered Cable for HDMI (SRP) 4ft. $89.95, 8ft. $99.95 and 16ft. $119.95.
• Digital Life SuperThin High Speed Powered Cable for camcorder; Mini HDMI to HDMI 8ft. (SRP) $99.95.
• Monster’s Core Line of SuperThin Powered Cables for HDMI 1m $79.95, 2m $89.95 4m $99.95, 5m $119.95.

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Technorati Tags: Monster, SuperThin Cable for HDMI

Just spotted a new PC Magazine review of that Gefen Wireless HDMI Extender system that began shipping last week. Unfortunately it appears the system could use a bit more tweaking.. but before I get into that, here are some interesting tidbits from the review:

• Easy setup – always a good thing
• Transmitter has a built-in auto-switching HDMI switch (2 HDMI ports)
• Supports up to 1080p/24p video
• Supports two-channel PCM up to 48kHz and Dolby Digital/DTS 5.1 channel audio
• It’s apparently pretty easy to interfere the wireless signal – bleh
• Moving video was OK up to about 30 feet
• Unfortunately some full motion scenes can cause video artifacts to be introduced
• Gaming adds about 85 to 90 ms audio/video delay  – booo

OK.. so here’s the bottom line from PC Mag:

“Gefen’s Wireless HDMI Extender is the first wireless HDMI we’ve tested, but its video-compression scheme can add distracting artifacts that hurt picture quality—plus it’s pricey.”

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Technorati Tags: Gefen, Gefen Wireless HDMI Extender

Ever find yourself with limited space behind the HDTV set or the A/V component in your home theater?  You slide that new huge receiver into the cabinet and you realize there’s JUST enough space for the receiver.. but oh crap.. you still have to connect the cables! Or.. you wall mount the flat panel and you realize..crap.. the HDMI connectors are on the rear of the panel! Yes.. a royal pain in the ass!

Well Sony is attempting to address this problem (and make a buck or two too) with the  introduction of new swivel high-speed HDMI cables. These new cables feature a rotating connector at the end allowing users to swivel the connector up to 90 degrees between the cable and the connector. Yes.. great for tight space environments and something I would have loved in my own home theater setup.

The new Sony cables lock at both 90 degree and 45 degree angles – all done without compromising any signal quality on the line. Other features on the new cables include:

• Support high speed bandwidth needs such as 120Hz refresh rates, deep color, extended color gamut, and lossless audio
• Seamless gold plated plugs
• Triple shielded and oxygen free copper wire

The new cables are available this month in both a vertical and a horizontal series – each with two lengths. The DLC-HD10H and DLC-HD10V (3ft 3in) cables cost about $50 dollars while the DLC-HD20H and DLC-HD20V (6ft 6in) cables will go for about $60.

Technorati Tags: Sony, HDMI cables, swivel HDMI cables, DLC-HD10H, DLC-HD10V, DLC-HD20H, DLC-HD20V

One new market that ASUS appears to be diversifying into is in the area of wireless HDMI. This makes complete sense when you consider ASUS is also in the wireless networking market with several products including the RT-N17 wireless N storage router and the WL-330gE portable wireless 4 in 1 access point.

Now what we have above is the new BR-HD3 Wireless HDMI kit. The kit contains both the transmitter and receiver, supports up to 1080i video and stereo linear PCM audio. It has one HDMI 1.3a input on the transmitter and one HDMI 1.3a output on the receiver. Too bad the units lack 1080p support (as well as multi-channel audio support)

Technorati Tags: ASUS BR-HD3 Wireless HDMI kit, CES 2009

Acer also announced that their 24 inch G24 wide-screen LCD display is now available for sale in the U.S. The G24 is designed to match the look and feel of the new Aspire Predator gaming rig with its armored, angular exterior look and feel. Features of the G24 include:

• 400 cd/m2 brightness
• 160 degree viewing angle
• Acer OD (overdrive) technology improves gray to gray levels
• 1920 x 1200 resolution
• 2ms response time
• D-Sub, DVI, HDMI with HDCP
• 50000:1 contrast ratio
• VESA Wall Mounting

The Acer G24 has an MSRP of $399.99.

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Technorati Tags: Acer, G24 24 inch wide-screen LCD

Enter Silicon Image and their InstaPort Technology. With InstaPort Technology in devices such as HDTV sets, A/V receivers, and HDMI switches, HDMI input switching delays will be a thing of the past. A typical HDTV set will initialize the HDCP authorization process only when the input is selected – resulting in that perceivable delay. An HDTV set with InstaPort Technology will perform the HDCP authorization process when the HDTV connects to the device – not when the input is selected. InstaPort allows a digital television set to “perform simultaneous background HDCP authentication with all connected source devices as soon as they are connected to the DTV”.

Folks .. I WANT this technology in my next HDMI switching component – whether it’s in my HDTV set or in my A/V receiver or in a standalone HDMI switch.

To that end, Silicon Image announced that InstaPort technology will be featured in Samsung’s next generation HDTV sets and is also under evaluation at nine of the top ten HDTV manufacturers for next year’s models. Throw this into a next generation A/V receiver and I’m so there!

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Technorati Tags: Silicon Image, InstaPort Technology

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Technorati Tags: Panasonic, Free Angle HDMI cable

Still thinking about upgrading to a 120Hz LCD HDTV set? Well it looks like you’ve got a bit more catching up to do thanks to Sony’s latest HDTV set – the KDL-52XBR7 featuring 240Hz Motionflow technology. That’s four times the frame rate found in typical LCD sets and two times the frame rates of current high end sets. Other features include Advanced Contrast Enhancer (ACE) which helps deliver a dynamic contrast ratio of 80,000:1, the BRAVIA Engine 2, compatibility with BRAVIA Link modules, Digital Media Port, and a new multi-plane 3D graphics slideshow for digital photos and music stored on USB devices. The KDL-52XBR7 comes with four 1080/60 24p HDMI ports, two 1080/60p HD component inputs, a 1080/60p capable PC input, and an Ethernet port. You can expect the Sony KDL-52XBR7 this December.

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Technorati Tags: Sony, KDL-52XBR7, Motionflow, 240 Hz

Here’s a picture of the HDMI extenders:

Here are the DVI extenders:

Both extenders are available now with the HDMI extender going for $279.95 and the DVI extender going for $69.95.

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Technorati Tags: IOGEAR, HDMI CAT5e/6 MiniExtender, DVI CAT5e/6 MiniExtender, GVE300, GVE200

IXOS has a new HDMI switch out called the XHT948-UK. This 4 input switch features iVEC technology which enhances the digital signal for increased distance capabilities. Other specs include:

• Data error LED alerts for improper or no signals
• Input LEDS for each component signal
• Supports SD, 720p, 1080i, and 1080p signals and HDCP compliant
• Comes with wireless remote and brackets for rack mounting option
• Includes RS-232 port
• HDMI v.1.3 support

[Check it out via Pocket-Lint]

Technorati Tags: IXOS XHT948-UK, 4 port HDMI switch

The STR-DA4400ES features the following:

• 7.1 channel receiver
• 120 watt amp (8 ohms, 20 Hz – 20 kHz, 0.09 percent THD)
• Six HDMI inputs (gotta love that!)
• DSD decoding through HDMI
• HD video distribution to a second zone
• Audio distribution to three zones
• Picture-in-picture for monitoring of multi-zone output or an external video source
• Available in August for $1500

The STR-DA3400ES features the following:

• 7.1 channel receiver
• 100 watt power amp (8 ohms, 20 Hz – 20 kHz, 0.09 percent THD)
• Four HDMI inputs (not too bad)
• 12 volt trigger
• IR repeater
• HD video distribution to a second zone (composite)
• Available in August for $1000

The STR-DA2400ES features the following:

• 7.1 channel receiver
• 100 watt power amp (8 ohms, 20 Hz – 20 kHz, 0.09 percent THD)
• Basic icon-driven GUI
• Four HDMI inputs
• Available in July for $800

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Sony, STR-DA4400ES, STR-DA3400ES, STR-DA2400ES

HDMI is good.. but let’s face it.. wouldn’t it be awesome if we could just simply eradicate any wires at all in our home theater systems? Well that dream is pretty much a reality folks thanks to companies like AMIMON who are working on wireless high definition technologies. AMIMON’s technology is called WHDI and they recently partnered up with Sharp to include their technology in Sharp’s X-Series of LCD TVs.

AMIMON WHDI technology is capable of delivering wireless uncompressed HDTV at ranges of over 100 feet and through multiple walls. Sharp’s implementation of WHDI technology allows their X-Series to separate the tuner from the display. The tuner can now be connected to the display either via a traditional cable or via a wireless video transmitter. The new sets will go on sale first in Japan. The only downside thus far? The added expensive in having WHDI – about 800 dollars on top of the cost of the Sharp HDTV set. Ouch.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Sharp, AMIMON, WHDI, X-series, Wireless HD

Do you find yourself running out of HDMI inputs on your receiver or HDTV? If you’re like me, then the answer to that question is probably a resounding yes. The coming of HDMI greatly simplified home theater systems by combining the video and audio (and control) signals into a single cable. However, this simplicity also brings a problem to consumers. As more and more devices embrace HDMI, we’re running into a problem of a limited number of HDMI inputs on receivers and HDTV sets. You could get around this by buying a high end A/V receiver with four HDMI inputs but these receivers are typically rather expensive. Could we solve this by connecting to an HDTV? Problematic there also as many HDTV’s only have one or two or at most three inputs. What do you do then when you have an HDMI enabled cable box, PS3, and Xbox 360 and you only have two HDMI inputs to work with? You add an HDMI switch into the picture of course. That’s pretty much the problem I faced earlier this year when I finally caved and purchased a Sony PlayStation 3. I desperately needed more HDMI switches. Thus, today I’ll be looking at one such switch commonly found at local Best Buy stores. It’s called the Psyclone PSC47 and it’s one of the more expensive switches out on the market (at $199.99). Let’s see if the PSC47 is worth the money!

Features and Specs..

Features of the Psyclone PSC47 include the following:

• Four 1.3 HDMI inputs and one output
• Four digital optical audio inputs and one digital optical audio output
• Customizable LCD display for individualized input titles
• Standard component sized steel chassis with brushed aluminum front panel
• Gold plated HDMI connections
• Measures 411 mm x 242 mm x 50 mm
• Small remote control

The PSC47 is a unique HDMI switch in that it comes with four optical audio inputs (TOSlink). This is especially useful if you have an older receiver that doesn’t have any HDMI inputs but does have optical audio inputs. If your HDMI enabled device has an optical audio output, you can possibly connect both connectors (HDMI and optical audio out) to the PSC47 and then route the HDMI signal from the PSC47 to your HDTV while routing the optical audio output to your receiver. NOTE – The PSC47 will not separate the audio from the HDMI signal to the optical output. This means you do need to connect an optical audio connection from your original device to the PSC47 and then connect the optical audio out to your receiver. It’s also important to note that some devices will not deliver signals on both HDMI and optical audio simultaneously. Please check your device manuals for additional information.

For this review, I didn’t get a chance to test the optical audio switch portion of the PSC47 since I strictly used HDMI for routing audio and video in my home theater setup.

Physical Overview

First, let’s take a look at the packaging of the Psyclone HDMI Selector. Here’s the front of the box:

Here’s the back of the box:

Taking a peek inside.. nice nice..

Here’s a look at the packaging on the inside.

I wasn’t initially sure if the PSC47 came with an HDMI cable or not since the outside packaging didn’t indicate anything one way or another. However, once I pulled the switch out of the box, it was nice to see that Psyclone did indeed package a single HDMI cable (though a few more would have been nice too!).

Other included accessories include the power cord, remote control, and small instruction booklet.

Here’s a look at the front of the PSC47:

From left to right, you have:

• On/Off button
• IR Remote Sensor
• LCD display
• Joystick which allows you to edit the display names for the input channels
• Source Button/Gain Adjustment

Here’s a look at the back of the PSC47 (Don’t you just love the simplicity of HDMI cables?):

From left to right, you have:

• HDMI jacks (4 input followed by 1 output)
• Optical audio jacks (4 input followed by 1 output)
• Power jack

Setup

Setting up the PSC47 was pretty straight forward (getting everything to work correctly was a different story but more on that later). Simply gather all the relevant HDMI cables together, connect them to the relevant inputs on the switch and then connect the HDMI output from the switch to either the receiver or to the HDTV set.

I originally purchased the Psyclone PSC47 to add more HDMI inputs to my home theater setup. The main centerpiece to my home theater system is the Onkyo TX-SR804 receiver which only has two HDMI inputs. These two inputs were good enough originally but over the last year, I added on the Apple TV device and a Sony PlayStation 3 (and let’s not forget that I’ll eventually move to an HDMI enabled Xbox 360 too!). To get all of these devices routed through my receiver, I needed more HDMI inputs and that’s where the PSC47 came into play. My final setup had my Motorola cable box and Sony PS3 connected to the PSC47 which was then connected to the Onkyo reciever.  Note, many of you I’m sure will opt to use the PSC47 simply as a switch to your HDTV set. That’s perfectly fine too. Just take the scenario I have and remove the receiver from the picture.

Now note that I did say “final setup.” My original setup was slightly different. I originally planned to have my cable box, Apple TV, and PS3 connected to the PSC47 and then route the HDMI out to the receiver. Basically I wanted to use the PSC47 as the primary HDMI switch connected to a single HDMI input on the Onkyo receiver – leaving the second HDMI input on the receiver dedicated to my HTPC.

Here’s what the original setup was supposed to look like:

Everything worked initially. However after testing the various inputs and switching back and forth between devices and other inputs on my receiver, I started running into a consistent problem with the Apple TV. After much debugging and poking around online I discovered that Apple TV didn’t like being connected to either the PSC47 or the Onkyo receiver (and many other receivers out there). Apple TV would occasionally hang and need to be rebooted whenever I switched away from it and then back to it later on. After much testing, I decided to just directly connect the Apple TV to my Samsung HDTV and then route optical audio out to my receiver. This fixed the problem but it also meant that I was no longer using the PSC47 as a way to route the Apple TV device. Bummer.

Thus in the end, I had two devices connected to my PSC47 which was then connected to the Onkyo receiver. Thus, my final setup with the Psyclone PSC47 was as follows:

Was this the only problem I ran into with the PSC47? No.. but I’ll save that for the next section.

Usage

Let’s quickly go over the basic operations and functions on the PSC47. When the switch is turned off, the front left and right LED’s are red. When the switch is turned on, these indicators turn blue.

The Psyclone PSC47 has a customizable LCD display. Each of the HDMI inputs can be customized with its own label. You use a joystick located on the front of the HDMI Selector to navigate through the LCD menus and to customize the input labels. The joystick is a bit painful to use since you have to scroll through all of the characters to get the one you want (and the scrolling isn’t all that fast). Oh yes.. lowercase characters come after the uppercase ones which means you have to scroll through all of the uppercase to get to the lowercase. A royal pain in the !#@#@!.

The LCD display has a back-light which comes on for a few seconds when the device first turns on and when you’re switching between different inputs.

The PSC47 comes with a small remote control which is fine for people who don’t have a lot of remotes to deal with. However, if you’re like me, then you probably already have 4-5 remote controls, in which case having another remote can be a pain. Luckily, Logitech Harmony remote controls support the PSC47 switch so I had no problems integrating the switch into my activity driven Logitech Harmony 890 remote.

Here are additional pictures of the switch within my A/V rack. (It’s residing above my cable box)

Here’s a full height shot of my A/V rack:

Testing

With everything connected, it was time for some thorough testing. At first, all of the HDMI connected devices were showing up just fine on my television set (with sound coming out from speakers powered by the Onkyo receiver). I was easily switching between the cable box input and the PS3 input on the PSC47.

I then started testing some of my other A/V devices – notably the Apple TV which was connected to my TV set’s second HDMI input and my Xbox 360 which was connected to the HDTV set’s PC (VGA) input. The first HDMI input was connected to my Onkyo receiver.

Once I began switching between various inputs on my TV set, things began to get interesting (or rather, annoying). The problem was ultimately had to do with HDMI handshaking issues and HDCP authentication issues (did I mention that I hate HDMI?). Symptoms included no video signals on my TV set and HDCP authentication failure messages when I tried to watch the cable box.

After several days of testing and changing settings on my remote control, I realized the real culprit was the fact that my Harmony remote was programmed to turn the PSC47 switch off when it was not needed for a particular activity. For example: when I’m playing with the Xbox 360, I really don’t need the Psyclone PSC47 on because the Xbox 360 is directly connected to the TV set and to the A/V receiver. However if I wanted to watch cable TV, the Harmony remote would turn on the PSC47, and then switch the input to the cable box. Now, in theory, this SHOULD work without a problem but I ALWAYS got HDCP authentication problems going this route. The Samsung HDTV would display my HD video at lower resolutions – instead of 1080i, I was getting 480p.

The solution? Keep the switch on all the time. I programmed the Harmony 890 to never turn off the HDMI switch. Once the switch was left on all the time, all the handshaking and HDCP authentication issues disappeared.  Now granted, It’s a little annoying having a device left on the entire time but I can’t imagine the PSC47 consuming a great deal of power.

I’ve been testing the PSC47 for over two months now and I haven’t had a problem with it at all ever since I decided to leave the switch on all the time. Switching speeds are no slower than having just the receiver box in place. In fact, the Samsung HDTV set actually detects the HDMI video input from the cable box just a tad bit faster. My only beef still is with the Apple TV device which is directly connected to the HDTV set. Yet – I can’t necessarily blame Psyclone for this because the Apple TV device failed to work properly when connected to my Onkyo receiver also.

At the end of the day, the Psyclone PSC47 HDMI Selector works as advertised. It was easy to setup and integrated well into my home theater setup. I probably made things more complicated by having it connect to my A/V receiver but hey – these things should work right? Well sometimes. I’m fairly positive that the PSC47 would be just fine if it was the only switch between your television set and your video equipment.

The real question is – was it worth the $199.99. I honestly can’t say that it is. There are many other HDMI switches out there that offer the same number of ports for much less. There are two features that set the PSC47 apart from other switches though (which may or may not be important to you). Feature one is the optical audio inputs. Very useful again if you have a need to separately feed your optical audio to another device. The second feature is the overall look and feel of the PSC47. It’s well made and looks great within an A/V rack or cabinet. Many of the inexpensive switches that you see out in the market are usually small rectangular boxes that look somewhat awkward in a home theater setup. Of course, if you don’t care about that, then I would recommend you try the cheaper ones first.

Summary

This was certainly an interesting product review. I originally purchased the Psyclone PSC47 HDMI Selector because I had purchased a Sony PlayStation 3 after New Years and I ran out of HDMI inputs. I was either going to get a separate HDMI switch with many inputs OR get a new A/V receiver with tons of HDMI inputs and quite frankly, A/V receivers with 4 HDMI inputs are just way too expensive right now.

Along the way, I discovered some interesting things about my A/V devices and their relationships with HDMI. I discovered that the Apple TV doesn’t play very nicely with HDMI switches – at least not the PSC47 nor the Onkyo receiver.

I also discovered the complicated world of HDMI handshaking. Put one switch in the form of a receiver into the mix, and things are fine. Put a second HDMI switch into the mix and daisy chain them together and things get more interesting. My ultimate solution of course was to leave the PSC47 on all the time – not exactly a power saver’s dream.

Overall, the Psyclone PSC47 HDMI Selector is a well built switch – and honestly, it better be for $199.99. The PSC47 includes features such as the brushed aluminum front panel, customizable LCD display, classy component design, and optical audio switching.  However, you do end up paying a premium for the PSC47 and for many of you out there, these added features may not justify the $199 retail price.

So the question still remains – is the Psyclone PSC47 HDMI Selector the right HDMI switch for you? It ultimately depends on a number of factors.

• If you don’t care about having a rack sized chassis nor do you care about having an LCD display then get a small HDMI switch from vendors such as Monoprice, DVDO, XtremeMac (and many others). These switches tend to be 1/4 to 1/2 the price of the Psyclone device and should deliver similar performances.
• If you don’t care about TOSlink switching (optical audio), then look at cheaper HDMI switches
• If Apple TV has to be one of your HDMI inputs to the switch, then definitely look at other solutions. Some users have successfully used the Apple TV with other HDMI switches.
• If you do care about TOSlink switching along with HDMI switching, then the PSC47 should be a consideration
• If you do care about a customizable display, and a beautiful rack-sized chassis, then the PSC47 should be your consideration
• And finally, If money is no object at all, then do yourself a favor and just get a high end receiver with lots of HDMI inputs.

I’m sure over time we’ll see inexpensive receivers with many more HDMI inputs. Even now, there are several vendors with mid-range receivers in the $500-800 dollar range that feature three HDMI inputs. Not bad though it could be better. Perhaps I’m just a rarity in the consumer world but I do think it’s feasible to consume at least three HDMI inputs these days. It’s not unheard of for a family to have a cable box, a PS3 and an Xbox 360. Add in maybe an Apple TV, or an HTPC or even a standalone DVD/Blu-ray player, and things quickly get messy.

The Psyclone PSC47 works well with some caveats. It has features that will certainly attract some consumers out there. However, if you’re price conscious, I would seriously consider other brands. Even if you’re not price conscious, make sure that you really are ok with spending roughly 200 dollars for a switch (which is basically 1/2 to 1/3 of your way to a decent A/V receiver).

Pros:

• Solid construction
• Component design – matches well with other A/V components
• Optical audio inputs
• Remote control
• Customizable display

Cons:

• Expensive
• Apple TV doesn’t like it (but to be fair, it didn’t like the Onkyo receiver either)

Technorati Tags: Psyclone, HDMI Selector, Model PSC47, Review, HDMI Switch

The HT-SS2300 features:

• Three 1080p capable HDMI inputs
• Optical and coaxial digital inputs
• 5.1 channel system with 1000 watts RMS of power
• Slim A/V receiver designed to match 2008 Blu-ray player models
• Sony Digital Media Port
• Sony Digital Cinema Auto Calibration
• Updated Portable Audio Enhancer
• Available this summer for $400 dollars

HT-CT100

• Three 1080p capable HDMI inputs
• Optical and coaxial digital inputs
• 3.1 channel system with sound bar and separate subwoofer
• Delivers realistic surround sound using Sony’s S-Force PRO Front Surround Sound technology
• Sony Digital Media Port
• Sony Digital Cinema Auto Calibration
• Updated Portable Audio Enhancer
• Available in March for $300 dollars

HT-7200DH

• 5.1 channel system delivering 900 watts RMS power
• Single disc DVD/CD player
• Video upscaling to 1080p via HDMI
• HDMI repeater automatically switches the television to the correct input
• Three 1080p capable HDMI inputs
• On-screen display
• Sony Digital Media Port
• Sony Digital Cinema Auto Calibration
• Updated Portable Audio Enhancer
• Available in May for $500 dollars

HT-DDWG700

• 5.1 channel system delivering 800 watts RMS power
• Includes cradle for iPod players
• Sony Digital Media Port
• Sony Digital Cinema Auto Calibration
• Updated Portable Audio Enhancer
• Available in March for $200 dollars

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Sony, HT-SS2300, HT-CT100, HT-7200DH

The four new systems featuring S-AIR technology include the DAV-HDX576WF, DAV-HDX277WC, DAV-HDX279W and the DAV-HDX275. Common features of these four home theater solutions include:

• Five disc DVD/CD player
• Video upscaling to 1080p via HDMI
• Sony Digital Media Port
• Included cradle for iPod players (model TDM-iP10)
• Supports the Network Walkman player audio cradle, PC client device, and a Bluetooth adapter
• Digital Cinema Auto Calibration (DCAC)
• Dialogue Audio Enhancer with night mode
• Updated Portable Audio Enhancer

DAV-HDX576WF

• Includes one S-AIR Air Station receiver/speaker
• Includes wireless rear speaker kit
• Height adjustable floor standing speakers designed to match BRAVIA television sets
• Available in March for $500 dollars

DAV-HDX277WC

• Includes one S-AIR Air Station receiver/speaker
• Option to add a rear wireless speaker kit
• Available in March for $400 dollars

DAV-HDX279W

• Includes the rear wireless speaker kit
• Option to add S-AIR AIr Station receiver/speaker
• Available in March for $400 dollars

DAV-HDX275

• S-AIR Ready
• Option to add rear wireless speaker kit
• Option to add S-AIR transmitter with S-AIR Air Stations
• Available in March for $300 dollars

The WAHT-SA10 wireless speaker kit will be available in March for around $149 dollars. The AIR-SA10 Air Station receiver/speaker featuring eight watts of power, and an alarm clock function will be available in March for around $120 dollars.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: DAV-HDX576WF, DAV-HDX277WC, DAV-HDX279W, DAV-HDX275

The STR-DG920 features:

• 110 watts of power per channel
• Support for 1080/60p and 1080/24p True Cinema video signal pass-through
• 4 HDMI inputs
• Support for Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, dts High Resolution Audio and dts HD Master Audio
• Supports x.v.Color™ technology (xvYCC)
• Supports Deep Color
• Video upscales to 1080p via HDMI
• Icon driven menu system
• Sony Digital Media Port
• Upgraded Portable Audio Enhancer technology
• XM Connect-and-Play ready with 5.1 Neural Surround Sound
• Digital Cinema Auto Calibration (DCAC)
• Available in June for $600 dollars

The STR-DG820 features:

• 110 watts of power per channel
• Support for 1080/60p and 1080/24p True Cinema video signal pass-through
• 4 HDMI inputs
• Support for Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, dts High Resolution Audio and dts HD Master Audio
• Supports x.v.Color™ technology (xvYCC)
• Video upscales to 1080p via HDMI
• Icon driven menu system
• Sony Digital Media Port
• Upgraded Portable Audio Enhancer technology
• XM Connect-and-Play ready with 5.1 Neural Surround Sound
• Digital Cinema Auto Calibration (DCAC)
• Available in May for $400 dollars

The STR-DG720 features:

• 7.1 channel a/v receiver
• 105 watts of power per channel
• Three HDMI inputs
• Support 1080/60p and 1080/24p video signal pass-through
• Eight channels of uncompressed LPCM audio
• Compatible with XM Radio
• Digital Cinema Auto Calibration (DCAC)
• Digital Media Port
• Digital Cinema Sound processing
• Portable Audio Enhancer
• Available in March for $300 dollars

The STR-DG520 features:

• 5.1 channel A/V receiver
• Two HDMI inputs
• 1080/60p and 1080/24p video signal pass-through
• Digital Cinema Auto Calibration (DCAC)
• Digital Media Port
• Digital Cinema Sound processing
• Portable Audio Enhancer
• Available in March for $200 dollars

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Technorati Tags: Sony, A/V Receiver, HDMI, STR-DG920, STR-DG820, STR-DG720, STR-DG520

Keep one thing in mind if you’re planning to get an HDTV this week for the Super Bowl. The HDTV might make it to your home before the game but will you have a high definition signal for the game itself? If you don’t already subscribe to HD over cable, you might want to see if you can schedule an appointment to get it hooked up now. The other option would be to see if you can access OTA (over-the-air) HD content but unless you live on the top floor of your building, chances are your reception might be a tad poor.

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Technorati Tags: Super Bowl, HDTV, PC Magazine

Gefen announced a new line of add-on HDTV products yesterday called the Gefen TV product line. This new line is based on Gefen’s professional series solutions but is packaged differently and is designed for home users.

One of the first products to come out as part of the Gefen TV product line is the Gefen TV Switcher. This box (which is seems to be designed to match either an Apple TV or a Mac mini) is basically a four port HDMI switch – allowing you to connect various HDMI enabled devices to a single display or projector. The unit allows you to easily switch between the four sources or you can allow it to automatically switch to the recently powered on device. It’s HDMI version 1.3 compliant, HDCP compliant and supports HDMI pass through.  The switch measures 6.9 x 2.1 x 6.9 inches and weighs 6 lbs.

The product comes with the switch box, a RMT-4IR remote control, four 6 foot HDMI cables (very nice addition here), a 5VDC power supply, as well as a user manual.  The Gefen TV Switcher has an MSRP of $199.

You can expect to see additional Gefen TV products down the road including the SD and HD Personal Video Recorders.

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Technorati Tags: Gefen, Gefen TV, Gefen TV Switcher

Finally – IOGEAR had their 4 Port Automatic HDMI Switch with Remote on display at CES 2008. This device is a simple way of controlling multiplexing multiple HDMI devices to a single HDMI enabled television set. The unit automatically switches to a powered-on active HDMI device. You can switch between the different HDMI devices using the included remote control. The device supports HDMI version 1.3 and is HDCP compliant. Other features include:

• Sleek and compact form factor
• 1080p support
• 2.25 Gbps bandwidth
• Gold plated HDMI connections
• Supports DVI with adapter
• Includes 6 foot HDMI cable

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Technorati Tags: IOGEAR, 4 Port Automatic HDMI Switch with Remote