The quality of electrical power is often the limiting factor for high performance audio and video systems. Many manufacturers have attempted to address this limitation---caused in large part by electromagnetic interference (EMI) and radio frequency interference (RFI)---by designing and marketing surge protectors, AC line filters, uninterruptible power supplies, and various sorts of AC enhancers and generators. Many of these solutions are bulky, expensive, or only partially effective.
Panasonic is getting serious about DVD recorders. Early this summer, the company announced its third generation DVD-recorder. Available in August, the DMR-E30 will arrive at dealers with a new low price, only $799.95.
Despite progress made by LCD displays and DLP projectors, among videophiles, cathode ray tubes (CRTs) still rule the roost. "Direct-view" sets, as they are often called, offer better brightness, contrast, and color purity than other types of displays, especially when used in well-lighted rooms.
With the CT-34WX50, Panasonic is acknowledging the past but embracing the future. The "super-bright" PureFlat™ HDTV monitor won't leave you hanging when you want to watch some of your favorite (but decidedly non-high-def) television programs. Two built-in NTSC tuners combined with advanced video processing guarantee an excellent picture. Material with a 4:3 aspect ratio is "digitally stretched" to fill the sides of the 16:9 screen. Reruns of I Love Lucy will never look better than when you see them on this 34" flatscreen.
Panasonic's new DMR-E95H is the company's most feature-rich DVD recorder yet. The latest addition to the 2004 "DIGA" line, the DMR-E95H features a 160GB hard drive capable of up to 284 hours of recording time. It can record onto both DVD-RAM and DVD-R discs.
The entry fee to widescreen high-def video keeps dropping, thanks to companies like Panasonic. On August 8, the electronics giant raised the stakes in the HDTV race by introducing the PT-47WX49, its new 47-inch, 16:9 widescreen high-definition rear-projection monitor, at a suggested retail price of $2,099.95.
The plasma screen is a product that cuts across all segments of the video market. Everyone---from ordinary TV viewers to the most exacting videophiles---loves the concept of a thin-panel, high-definition display.
Digital Light Procesing (DLP) and Liquid Crystal on Silicon (LCoS) may be the hottest buzzwords in video projection technology, but old-fashioned Liquid Crystal Displays (LCDs) still have room to grow.
Big, bright, and beautiful: that's Panasonic's new PT-52DL10. The rear projector set is a 52"-diagonal HDTV with a 16:9 aspect ratio, with images provided by the latest Digital Light Projection (DLP) technology from Texas Instruments. The combination is "the highest picture quality available in rear projection televisions," according to a recent Panasonic announcement. With properly decoded signals---as from the optional set-top decoder box, the TU-HDS20---the PT-52DL10 will display both 1280I and 720P images.