Audio Video News

"Better and cheaper" seems to be the mantra in the product development department at V, Inc. The Costa Mesa, CA-based video display maker has announced two new high-performance products - a DVD player and an HDTV receiver - certain to tweak the interest of budget-conscious home theater fans.

Updating last year's Bravo D1, the Bravo D2 is a DVD player with MPEG-4 playback and scaling DVI output - no digital-to-analog/analog-to-digital conversion needed when connecting the D2 to a DVI-equipped display. The BRAVO D2's scaler will output video in DVI or component video formats in HD resolutions of 480p, 1080i, and 720p (unless the program material is a Macrovision-encoded DVD) as well as advanced DVI custom settings, according to a May 11 announcement. The Bravo D2 also allows at-the-source control over digital color, brightness and contrast levels, and features an integrated screen saver to reduce the possibility of image burn-in on plasma display panels.

Additional Bravo D2 features include Picture Zoom 1 & 2, compatibility with DVD-R/+R CD, CD-R/RW, and JPEG Kodak Picture CD playback. Audio features include PCM, DTS and Dolby Digital pass-through on Toslink optical or coaxial digital outputs. The new remote control has a redesigned titanium silver-finished enclosure.

HDTV receiver: V, Inc. has also announced the introduction of the Bravo HD1 TV receiver, designed to receive over-the-air programming in both HD (MPEG-2, ATSC) and "legacy video" (NTSC) formats. The Bravo HD1 supports output resolutions of 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i and offers selectable configurations for widescreen 16:9 and standard 4:3 displays. Outputs include component video, composite video (RCA) and S-Video, analog audio L/R (RCA) and coaxial digital audio (S/PDIF on RCA). The HD1 has an auxiliary A/V input that provides picture-in-picture (PIP) functionality, an easy-to-use electronic program guide menu, and memory capacity for up to 1500 digital channels. The Bravo D2 and HD1 come in a titanium-silver finish, with suggested retail prices of $249.99 and $349.99, respectively.