HDMI switching and upconversion are but two of the many standout features incorporated into the RX-D702B, JVC's newest, slick-looking 7.1-channel A/V receiver. Despite its low profile and compact size, this 17 lb. AVR contains seven of JVC's Hybrid Feedback Digital Amplifiers rated at 150W per channel, and is packed with unique performance and convenience features, as well as the latest Dolby and DTS surround decoding options.
In late March, Internet-based video-on-demand provider Akimbo Systems announced an agreement that will allow it to offer select titles from HDNet's vast library of HD content to its customers. This is Akimbo's first offering of HD content through its Akimbo Service for Windows XP Media Center Edition.
Forget these teeny-tiny 1080p TVs. It's time for high rez on a big screen.
I've been saying it since the first 1080p displays hit the market: There's no need for 1080p on a screen smaller than 65 inches. Your eye just can't resolve that kind of detail at the distance just about everyone sits from their TV. Resoundingly, no one cared. Where that level of detail is really useful is with projection. With a screen of 90 or 100 inches, you can use every bit of detail you can get. Texas Instruments was pretty candid about not needing to rush in to a 1080p front projector chip. After all, where was the competition? At CEDIA 2005, Sony forced their hand. OK, I honestly don't know if Sony's announcement had anything to do with TI's timeline, but I found it interesting that, at CEDIA, there were no 1080p DLP front projectors, and, at CES three months later, there were a half dozen. Sony's bombshell was their announcement of the VPL-VW100 LCOS 1080p front projector. At $10,000, it's a full $2,000 to $3,000 less than the 720p DLPs. Projector sales are 90 percent numbers, and 1080p is a big one.
Anthony Gallo Acoustics' speakers had me thinking about the old Humpty Dumpty nursery rhyme. If you'll recall, after Humpty took a nasty fall and was smashed to pieces, all of the king's horses and men could never make him whole again. Following my cracked-up analogy, two- and three-way speakers break up the sound, sending it through woofers, midranges, and tweeters (and still sound great), but they can't ever really make the sound perfectly whole again. That's why full-range, single-driver speakers are the Holy Grail for some audiophiles. Enter Anthony Gallo Acoustics' latest set of balls, the new A'Diva Ti satellites, which get awfully close to that ideal. Heck, the wee A'Diva Ti is almost full range. Its 3-inch titanium/paper driver covers all frequencies from about 90 hertz to 22 kilohertz!
The audio industry seems about to leap off a cliff. Permit me to suggest that this may be a rash decision. True, component audio sales have diminished, but that's no excuse for the industry to abandon its principles and give up on sound quality. What consumers are rebelling against is not good sound but bad design. They've had enough of big, dumb, room-hogging speakers. "It doesn't suit the room, but it sounds good" doesn't cut it anymore. "It looks as good as it sounds" is the winning combination.
When I received the call to review PMC's OB1, CB6, GB1, and TLE1 home theater loudspeaker system, I was excited. The British company enjoys a stellar reputation throughout the professional audio community, and prominent clients, including Dolby Labs, BBC Radio, Capital Records, and Village Recorders use their equipment. The opportunity to discover how PMC's consumer equipment performs was more than a bit intriguing.
Despite the fact that the laser was invented in 1958 - or so claim Bell Labs and Mssrs. Schawlow and Townes - "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation" devices can still wow even the most jaded technophile (especially when they're used to burn holes in things or otherwise cause spectacular, glowing destruction). Now Mitsubishi wants to harness the power of lasers for less destructive but still highly entertaining purposes.
You plan your life around it, your purchases, living arrangements, and, in some cases, even your career. No, not your family, they can fend for themselves. I'm talking about your orphaned electronic equipment. I don't know about you, but I've got tons of it and it's starting to haunt me bad.
