VUDU Inc., has unveiled HDX, a high definition video format that delivers full HD 1080p material using the company's existing set-top box. Content is delivered over the Internet and optimized for 40 inch and larger HDTVs. According to VUDU, the HDX content is the highest quality available from any Internet, broadcast, cable, or satellite on-demand service. HDX movies are available to all VUDU customers and will be rented for the same price as standard HD titles.
We often think of a retrofit as a home entertainment installation within an existing home, versus a new construction install. Robert Crone, otherwise know as the Cable Guy to his clients was asked to retrofit and update an existing wall unit. When he was contacted it was outfitted with a 27” CRT TV and various legacy components, nothing up-to-date.
When it was time for this homeowner to have their third home fitted with electronics they returned to Audio Video Design (AVD) of Newton, MA. After going through the design process two other times, they had a very clear vision of what they desired. Quality installation was, of course, the top priority. However, they wanted the most cost effective, state-of-the-art solutions but not necessarily the most cutting edge products.
Home Theater visits Men in Black producer/director Barry Sonnenfeld at home in Telluride, Colorado to check out his 600-square-foot screening room and it's crown jewel—the Sony VPL-VW1000ES, the world’s first consumer 4K projector, offering more than four times the resolution of HDTV and 3D capability.
Logitech's Revue Google TV box is quickly approaching, but that hasn't stopped the recent influx of boxes designed to get the Internet (or at least parts of it) onto an HDTV. The latest effort from Western Digital sounds like an impressive one. Inside, WD has packed a full terabyte of storage, to which you can add media from networked PCs and Macs or via its pair of USB ports.
Integrating 21st-century home electronics into the architecture of a newly built 18th-century-style Italian villa would, at first glance, appear impossible. After all, about the only thing technological in the 1700s was the nutcracker. Add to this the advanced needs of a tech-savvy young couple who are inspired by the past but make their careers within the computer and video-gaming fields, and you have seemingly irresolvable conflicts. This property's sheer size further magnified the task at hand. It's a three-level, 12,000-square-foot home situated on 2.3 acres in the hills of Southern California. Enter Sound Solutions of Culver City, California, premier systems integrators with a 29-year history and a reception area full of national awards, including Crestron's first annual Biggest, Baddest Home Award and the CEA Mark of Excellence Award, both given for this project.
Long before the iPod gained dominance as the defacto portable media device, audiophiles were voicing their concerns about where the music world might be headed with the popularity of lowfi MP3 music files. For some the introduction of Krell's S-300i Integrated Amplifier, which interfaces with the iPod, could be seen as a "if you can't beat them join them" strategy. A different perspective would be that the iPod is no longer considered a lowfi product.
Coming up with a unique, never seen, theater design takes some creative genius, such as this one-off theater that is both eye-catching and surreal. The theater walls are custom printed fabric panels from photographed images of the Jersey Shore, creating the effect that the theater is in the middle of the beach.
You have to wonder what the folks at Labor Saving Devices were thinking when they dreamed up the Wet Noodle Magnetic In-Wall Retrieval System—but thankfully they did. Until you’re struggling to fish a wire out of a closed-wall cavity, especially one with insulation, it’s hard to fully appreciate the simplicity and elegance of this popular tool.
Yamaha's remarkably trim DVD-S1500 manages to go beyond most other "universal" players. Of course it plays DVD movies plus DVD-Audio and Super Audio CD music discs, most varie-ties of recordable DVDs, and CDs with standard audio, MP3 files, or JPEG-format still images. But it also plays DVDs in the European PAL format on a U.S.-standard TV.
Photos by Tony Cordoza Not all that long ago, it seemed like the high-resolution DVD-Audio and Super Audio CD music formats were heading for a showdown. The two sides were entrenched on either side of no-man's-format land, and neither seemed willing to talk about a truce, let alone concede defeat.
Wireless media streaming once seemed exotic, but these days we take it for granted. Between Blu-ray Disc players, A/V receivers, TVs, and gaming systems, chances are you have multiple components in your home capable of shuttling music (or even photos and videos) from one room to another.
Wireless media streaming once seemed exotic, but these days we take it for granted. Between Blu-ray Disc players, A/V receivers, TVs, and gaming systems, chances are you have multiple components in your home capable of shuttling music (or even photos and videos) from one room to another.