New Products — February/March 2004

IntegraWith Dolby Digital EX and DTS-ES decoding and seven 110-watt amplifier channels, Integra's THX Select-certified DTR-8.4 receiver has all you need to power and control a full 6.1-channel home theater system with two back surround speakers. Plus it converts all composite- and S-video signals to component video for easy switching between sources. Still not satisfied? Integra throws in an Ethernet port so you can connect to your broadband home network and use the company's proprietary Net-Tune system to stream Internet radio or MP3 and Windows Media Audio (WMA) files from a networked PC or an Integra digital audio server - song titles and artist names are displayed on the receiver's front panel. A universal/learning remote control with an LCD screen and both RF (radio-frequency) and IR (infrared) capabilities is included. Happy now? Price: $1,800. www.integrahometheater.com, 800-225-1946

Sony Just being a 42-inch flat-panel LCD TV - the largest available - wasn't enough for Sony's KDL-42XBR950. The trailblazing set also has a built-in HDTV tuner to make sure you're truly ready for the high-def future. Sony's newest Wega Engine digital processing system is part of the package and includes advanced video noise-reduction circuitry. Screen resolution is 1,366 x 768 pixels, and the viewing angle is said to be 170°. There's a DVI (Digital Visual Interface) connector and a pair of component-video inputs for external HDTV signals. Price: $10,000. www.sonystyle.com, 800-222-7669 sony new products 0204

Dish Network Set-top HDTV tuners - be they over-the-air or satellite - will bring HDTV to your home, but Dish Network's DVR 921 goes a step further by putting it on tap. The satellite tuner packs a hefty 250-gigabyte (GB) hard drive for recording up to 25 hours of HDTV programs (either 1080i or 720p). Recording in standard-def (480i) gives hard-core couch potatoes room for 180 hours. Besides the HDTV tuner, you also get a standard analog one so you can record two programs while watching a third. The DVR 921 lets you pause and rewind live TV, and you can program recordings up to a week in advance. It has component-video and DVI high-definition outputs. Price: $999. www.dishnetwork.com, 800-333-3474 dish network new products 0204

Fisher fisher new products 0204MiniDV tape will start to look pretty 20th century after you've handled Fisher's FVD-C1 Pocket CameraCorder - the featherweight cam (5 ounces) stores video on Secure Digital flash-memory cards in MPEG-4 format at a full 30 frames per second. Without bulky tapes, the camera measures a mere 2 3/4 x 4 3/8 x 1 3/8 inches. There's no viewfinder, but a folding 1 1/2-inch LCD screen lets you keep an eye on what you're shooting. A stereo microphone records in the AAC (Advanced Audio Codec) format, and the built-in flash helps with still pictures, captured at 3.2-megapixel resolution. The supplied 512-megabyte SD card can hold a half-hour of footage or 491 stills. Shuttling media to your computer is fast work with the USB 2.0 port, and the supplied image-stabilization software makes up for the cam's lack of optical or electronic digital image stabilization while shooting. Price: $900. www.fisherav.com, 818-998-7322 PioneerAnd now for a taste of things to come: the Pioneer Elite DV-59AVi is the first DVD player to sport an HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) output, which can carry both digital video and audio. Video is scaled through the HDMI connection to match your HDTV, and there's a progressive-scan component-video output if your set doesn't have an HDMI input. The 59AVi is also a universal player, compatible with both Super Audio CDs and DVD-Audio discs. There's full bass management for both formats as well as two FireWire (i.Link) outputs for digital high-res audio connections to Pioneer equipment, plus a standard multichannel analog audio output. Price: $1,600. www.pioneerelectronics.com, 800-746-6337 pioneer new products 0204

Fujitsu This is as big as they come - Fujitsu's 63-inch flat-panel TV is one of the kings of plasma. With this widescreen set and a separate HDTV tuner, it'll look like you've wallpapered your room with high-definition TV. Screen resolution is 1,366 x 768 pixels, and the set's proprietary processor optimizes HDTV and DVD video to match the panel. It also has 10-bit processing for the red, green, and blue elements in a component-video signal, said to result in more lifelike color. High-def inputs include component-video, VGA, and DVI. And it wouldn't be a king if it wasn't worth a king's ransom. Price: $24,999. www.plasmavision.com, 888-888-3424 fujitsu new products 0204 PanasonicThe first home theater in a box with a DVD recorder, Panasonic's SC-HT1000 can burn both write-once DVD-Rs and rewritable DVD-RAM discs. You have four recording-quality modes to choose from, storing from 1 to 6 hours on a single disc. The recorder/receiver connects to the subwoofer with a single cable, and the other speakers all connect to the sub. The front L/R Tall-Boy speakers come with the adjustable stands shown, while the OmniCast surrounds have diffusion boards in front of their tweeters to disperse sound over a wide area. Powered by a built-in 240-watt amp, the sub is rated to rumble down to 45 Hz. Price: $1,000. www.panasonic.com, 800-211-7262 panasonic new products 0204

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