In case you haven’t heard, Como Audio, the company that made a name for itself building high-quality table radios incorporating traditional FM radio and internet radio, closed its doors earlier this year. The company faltered when, amid the worldwide supply-chain shortage, chipmakers stopped producing chipsets needed to manufacture its radios.
Owners of Mitsubishi LaserVue rear-projection TVs who experienced problems and paid to have work done may be entitled to a refund, according to the terms of a recently settled class-action lawsuit brought by consumers over picture problems that appeared after 8,000 to 10,000 hours of use.
It's the day before Live Earth (actually, it's only 6 hours away from when the global concert starts in Sydney, Australia), so for all of you Bon Jovi fans who will be heading out to see the band at the Giants Stadium finale, here's something I...
Is there anyone out there who is going to complain about being able to buy AV gear today at pre-COVID prices? I didn’t think so — and that’s what makes today’s announcement from Premium Audio Company (PAC), the company behind Klipsch, Pioneer Elite, Onkyo, and a handful of other AV brands, so refreshing.
Format transitions are tough. That's a concept with which video gamers are intimately familiar, so when gamers and game executives hear news about the movie business that suggests even though sales of Blu-ray discs will triple in 2008, DVD sales...
The quality of electrical power is often the limiting factor for high performance audio and video systems. Many manufacturers have attempted to address this limitation---caused in large part by electromagnetic interference (EMI) and radio frequency interference (RFI)---by designing and marketing surge protectors, AC line filters, uninterruptible power supplies, and various sorts of AC enhancers and generators. Many of these solutions are bulky, expensive, or only partially effective.
At last weekend's CEDIA show, <A HREF=€�http://www.panasonic.com€�>Panasonic</A> unveiled a new series of high-performance plasma displays (PDPs) whose bold hardware-free minimalist look is a big departure from the competition. With their only exposed surface a single sheet of glass, images on the company's Onyx XVS series of plasma sets appear to float in mid-air. With no visible hardware, "all you see are crisp, clear, deep images,€� said Panasonic Display Group vice president Ed Wolff.
In a surprising move, Japanese competitors Panasonic and Sony announced in a press release today that they have signed an agreement to collaborate on the development of OLED (organic light-emitting diode) panels for TVs and other large-size displays. The companies intend to establish mass-production technology during 2013 by integrating their individual strengths to improve the efficiency of development.
At a late winter press event, Panasonic Corporation of North America rolled out its complete 2008 line of 21 plasma and LCD flat paneltelevisions, all branded VIERA for the first time in North America. A Panasonic spokesperson explained that VIERA stands for "Visual Era," and for "exceptional picture, connectivity and customer service and satisfaction" [But the latter didn't make such a spiffy acronym!-Ed.].
As we saw at CES in January, Panasonic is bullish on plasma, a point that was driven home at the company's product showcase held last week in New York and this week at the Panasonic Hollywood Labs (PHL) in Los Angeles. The 2009 Viera TV lineup includes no less than 17 new plasmas with screens measuring 42 to 65 inches diagonally and seven new LCDs with screens in the 26- to 37-inch range.
As we saw at CES in January, Panasonic is bullish on plasma, a point that was driven home at the company's product showcase held last week in New York and this week at the Panasonic Hollywood Labs (PHL) in Los Angeles. The 2009 Viera TV lineup includes no less than 17 new plasmas with screens measuring 42 to 65 inches diagonally and seven new LCDs with screens in the 26- to 37-inch range.
Panasonic's traveling road show for its new 2010 product line came to Los Angeles this week, and we were there. Most of the products shown or described at the event were first announced at last January's CES, where the featured attraction was 3D, with other new products taking second billingif not in Panasonic's eyes, then in the eyes of most attendees. It was not that the new products were uninteresting; far from it. But 3D was king of the video mountain at CES 2010.
Panasonic just finished a bi-coastal press briefing about its 2010 lineup of TVs, Blu-ray players, HTIBs (home-theater-in-a-box systems), and soundbars, but 3D was conspicuously absent. In fact, we were told that the company would be back in the late Spring or early Summer with more specifics about its 3D offerings.
Panasonic today held press briefings at its Panasonic Hollywood Labs facility near Universal City, CA, regarding its 2011 line of Blu-ray players, HTIBs (home-theater-in-a-box systems), self-contained iPod microsystems, and a soundbar. This being Ultimate AV, I'll focus on the Blu-ray players here.
Yesterday, I attended an in-depth briefing on Panasonic's 2011 lineup of TVs, which included some interesting side-by-side demos. Of course, 3D was a central theme, along with online content, technology improvements, and the company's growing emphasis on LCD TVs.