Owners of three Onkyo-made home theater products introduced in 2000 can benefit from a software upgrade introduced this month. The new software will equip the products for DTS-ES Discrete, Neo 6, and Dolby Pro Logic II processing, according to an announcement released July 17.
For the third consecutive holiday season, Panasonic is making its Viera Concierge service available not just to existing owners of Panasonic HDTVs--but also to those just thinking of buying one. Call (888) 777-1170, Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m to 9 p.m. ET. On Saturdays and Sundays the hours of operation are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. You may also visit the Viera Concierge website for chat room assistance.
If CES 2009 was any indication, it looked like Philips was getting out of the consumer-electronics business, seeing as how the company had no booth or press conference this year. But the Dutch megacorp recently announced a stunning innovation in LCD TVsthe world's first with an aspect ratio of 21:9 (2.33:1). This nearly matches the cinematic aspect ratio of 2.35:1, allowing it to display such movies without the hated black bars above and below the image.
One of the problems facing 3D enthusiasts is what to do about the glasses. Besides being expensive and manufacturer-specific, they also are uncomfortable for people who already wear glasses. Doesn't the bridge of your nose have enough to do?
With new brands nipping at its heels, Sony will create a special line of LCD DTVs for non-specialty discount retailers including Wal-Mart and Target. It's quite a departure for the longtime king of TV brands.
Although the show floor of the CEDIA EXPO 2005 hasn't officially opened yet, there are already hundreds of installers taking advantage of numerous educational classes offered by CEDIA and sponsoring manufacturers. New and old installers alike can learn about anything from remote control programming to acoustical engineering and video calibration. Of course, education is for the men and women who do the real work of installation. Those of us with the cushier jobs - the press - get to eat shrimp and drink free cocktails…
THX and BluFocus are getting together to "build an ecosystem of services to address the technical challenges of 3D post-production," a press release says. Their certification program will address a/v quality, artistic fidelity, viewer fatigue, and interoperability of discs and players.