Integra raised a lot of eyebrows when it announced the new DTC-9.8 A/V processor at CEDIA last year. Not only was this the first pre/pro on the market to offer decoding of the next-gen audio codecs from Dolby and DTS, it also boasts Silicon Optix video processing and highly sophisticated Audyssey room correction. And its $1,600 price point was almost unheard of in the separates market.
Will all those lead-filled analog TVs end up on the trash heap, where they'll pollute ground water? Not so, says the Consumer Electronics Association. A new study shows most of the obsolete sets will find loving new homes.
Like most S&V readers, I was excited by January's feature story called "50 Greatest A/V Innovations." How could any red-blooded techie not be sucked in by a title like that? But, as with all lists, this one included and excluded some choices that were debatable - and I'm going to weigh in on one of the biggest omissions.
Rumors that Pioneer would end production of plasma TV panels and begin buying them from other companies raised eyebrows in the electronics industry this week. But according to Russ Johnston, Pioneer's executive vice president of product planning and marketing, those who see Pioneer's move as a bellwether of plasma's demise will have to save their schadenfreude for another day.
Last week, Mitsubishi invited its dealers and members of the press to see this year's TVs at the Hyatt Regency in Huntington Beach, California. Front and center were the company's laser-illuminated DLP rear-pros, first unveiled at CES last January. Dubbed LaserVue, these sets are intended to rekindle the flagging RPTV market with twice the color range of today's HDTVs and larger screen sizes than any reasonably priced flat panel.
