CEDIA 2009

Sony is launching the new Bravia XBR10 series at CEDIA, featuring an ultra thin design, wireless transmission, an Ethernet connection for receiving Sony Bravia Internet Video over broadband, Motionflow 240Hz, and edge-lit LED backlighting— but no local dimming. The only Sony local dimming models are the XBR8s, and they are being phased out. There may be new local dimming models from the company down the road, according to one Sony source, but I suspect not this year. The XBR 10s are available at 47-inches ($4500) and 52-inches ($5000).

A new projector or two every year is a CEDIA tradition from Sony, and they did not disappoint us this year. The new VPL-VW85 video projector offers significantly enhanced brightness compared to the VPL-VW70 (known as the VPL-VW80 in some markets), and deep blacks courtesy of a combination of SXRD chips with superior contrast and Sony's well-established Advanced (dynamic) Iris. It also has a variety of user-selectable gamma settings, custom gamma adjustment via an external computer program, a Motion Enhancer feature operating at a 96Hz frame rate with the option of either full brightness or darkened interpolated frames, and an aspect ratio for use with an add-on anamorphic zoom lens. $8000, in October. A review of the VPL-VW85 is currently scheduled for the November 2009 issue of Home Theater. There's also a new, lower priced Sony SXRD projector, the VPL-HW15, with a claimed peak contrast ratio of 60,000:1 and 1000 ANSI lumens output at a suggested price of $3000. Also in October.

For the 3-chip DLP experience, Projectiondesign is introducing the Avielo Helios, the flagship of the Avielo range. Included are Projectiondesign features such as RealColor advanced color management and Advanced Color Optical Processing technology (ACOP), which together are said to allow for accurate calibration to the REC709 HD color standard.

JBL is bringing its A game to CEDIA with a plethora of products, such as the new Performance LS series of speakers, which includes the LS40 bookshelf ($700 each), LS60 and LS80 floorstanders ($1100 and $1500 each, respectively), LS Center ($800), and LS120 subwoofer ($1100 each). All the main speakers feature a 3/4-inch ring-radiator ultrahigh-frequency driver, a horn-loaded titanium compression driver for the highs, and polymer-coated cellulose-fiber, 6.5-inch cone woofers. The 12-inch sub reaches down to 25Hz backed by 400W RMS (700W peak).

In terms of video, CEDIA is a projector showcase, and Digital Projection is all over that theme. Among the company's product introductions at the show will be the Highlite Cine 280, a 1080p, 3-chip DLP model that is said to pump out up to 2000 lumens with 12,000:1 contrast. The enclosure reflects the same design aesthetic as the Cine LED and Cine 260 projectors as well as the CineSkin enclosure, all of which have been previously covered in this blog. And at about $30,000, it's the most affordable triple-chipper ever offered by Digital Projection.

Mark Levinson has announced a new No.500H series of audiophile power amplifiers with a new balanced CFA (current-feedback amplifier) design. There are four different models in the lineup: the monoblock No.531H ($6500 each), the No.532H (2 channels, $8000), the No.533H (3 channels, $10,000), and the No.535H (5 channels, $12,000). All are rated at 300 Watts per channel into 8 ohms except the No.535H (200Wpc), and all are expected to ship in October.