LATEST ADDITIONS

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/earth.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>This is the story of three animal families on a journey across our planet&#151;polar bears, elephants, and humpback whales. Follow a mother bear and her two cubs as they search for food, a herd of elephants as they trek to water-rich lands, and a whale and her calf as they journey to the Antarctic.

Well, not really a secret when the product is prominently displayed on the floor, but the new Rotel pre-pro with its large display screen should sell for around $4500 when it appears early in 2010 at around $4500.

Optoma decided to forgo its usual huge demo booth this year (there was a lot of that going around) for a more modest setup, but its new HD8600 projector kept up the excitement quotient. It offers full lens shift and three interchangeable lenses, both of them firsts for the company's projectors. It also incorporates TI's latest DarkChip3 DMD, DynamicBlack, Pixelwork's DNX MotionEngine technology, a claime4d output of 1600 ANSI Lumens, and ISFccc calibration features. The projector comes with the standard zoom lens as part of its $7499 price. Prices were not yet settled for the long and short throw zoom lens options.

Price: $3,400 At A Glance: Great detail and color • Lower black level than most conventional LCDs • Integrated Internet TV • Menu system not my fave • Some off-axis discoloration

The Right Stuff

I’m old enough to remember when Sony introduced its first XBR models, which were top-of-the-line CRT TVs. Since then, the company has continued to use XBR in the model designation of its flagship flat panels, adding a number to indicate each new generation.