LATEST ADDITIONS

If it were just another iPod dock, Meridian could be forgiven. But the iRIS ($390) actually takes video off your iPod – yeah, the sub-standard definition 240x320 pixel package you paid $1.99 for so you could catch up on an episode of <i>Heroes</i> during your staff meeting today – and upconverts it to 1080p. There was some mention that the iRIS will also have an s-video input so you could, according to Bob Stuart of Meridian, pass your laserdisc player's s-video output into the iRIS to take advantage of the Marvell's Qdeo video processing, which might be an interesting option.

The horn barely visible at right, part of a new Jamo in-ceiling speaker, is angled to aim directional information toward the listener. Just trust us on this. At $1000, due in spring 2008, one expects great things. Jamo's back boxes are now fire-rated, to pass building codes in some areas. Jamo also showed the Studio Series, including the floorstanding S60, with side-mount eight-inch passive woofer ($700, end September).

Samsung's new SP-A800 1080p projector, (under $10,000, available Q4 2007), was being demonstrated by video expert Joe Kane, who was heavily involved with Samsung in its development. It exhibited technically flawless color, crisp but natural detail across the entire screen, outstanding optics (I didn't sit close enough to judge for color fringing, but Joe said that superior optics to eliminate this aberration were a key element in the design), and excellent brightness on a 10-foot screen (a new Stewart Studiotek 130) screen using that company's new, fine-trained screen finish optimized for 1080p projection. It also has an iris with Light, Middle, Deep, and Auto settings (no word on how or how well the Auto iris function works, and Joe used the Middle and Light settings for the demo).

Definitive Technology has a new Mythos 10 ($899) center channel speaker to match the company's current Mythos ST ($1799 each). The Mythos 10 was on static display, but the Mythos STs were being played as a left and right 2-channel stereo pair, driven by a rack full of Theta electronics. The system sounded superb.