New Products

The summer of 2020 has seen a sizable flow of new gear as A/V makers look to regain their footing after months of pandemic lockdown. Here we highlight a handful of recent introductions with an emphasis on those designed to make outdoor life a little more enjoyable.

Elite Screens has announced that its MaxWhite B Matte projection screen material is now Greenguard Gold-certified.

Acer VL7860 Ultra HD Laser Projector
Hailed as the world’s smallest 4K Ultra HD laser projector capable of producing up to 3,000 (ANSI) lumens of light, Acer’s VL7860 can project a gargantuan 10-foot (diagonal) image and supports high dynamic range (HDR) and an expanded color gamut said to cover 110 percent of the Rec. 709 standard. It’s also compatible with the Rec. 2020 color space and adjusts lamp power on the fly to optimize black levels.

Emotiva DC-2 Desktop DAC
Supercharge your desktop rig! That’s what you’ll be able to do with the DC-2, an update of Emotiva’s reference-quality DC-1 digital-to-analog converter (DAC). Emotiva CEO Dan Laufman calls the new half-height DAC a “no-holds-barred converter for any enthusiast whose music library is stored on a computer or hard drive.

A TV with Roku onboard, speakers that hug the wall, kid-safe headphones, and more.

You’ve no doubt heard of smart speakers—and you may even own one—but have you heard of smart headphones? It’s not quite a thing just yet, but Sennheiser—the family-owned German company that has been making microphones since 1946 and invented the first on-ear, open-air headphones (the iconic HD414) in 1968—has developed an intriguing product that draws on its expertise in both areas. The Ambeo Smart Headset does something no other headphones we know of can do: It captures 3D audio for videos you shoot on your phone.

They call it “the most beautiful TV you’ve never seen,” which is a perfect way to describe The Frame, a high-style 4K display from Samsung that morphs into wall art when it’s not in use. While the idea of concealing a TV behind artwork is nothing new—there are companies that specialize in motorized TV concealment systems—Samsung’s fully integrated execution is the most elegant approach we’ve seen.