Scott Wilkinson

Continuing the networking theme at Sony's press conference was the STR-DA5500ES 7.1-channel A/V receiver. It offers Internet and home-network connectivity, providing Internet radio and Rhapsody online content as well as media file sharing via DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance). Also featured is Control4-certified control over IP, making it possible to control the AVR from anywhere on the network. The STR-DA5500ES should be available in October for $2000.

Despite the economic hard times, lighting-control leader Lutron continued the tradition of honoring its best dealers at a big soiree, presenting its Excellence Awards in various categories. The event was held Wednesday evening at the Georgia Aquarium, said to be the largest in the world. After the ceremony, attendees were allowed to roam the exhibits, which are home to a huge variety of aquatic life, including whale sharks and beluga whales. The eel pictured here looked pretty happy to see all the visitors.

Aside from the DLS-RS4000 4K behemoth, no less than six new projectors were announced at JVC's press conference today—three in the Reference series from the company's professional division and three in the Procision line from the consumer group, all with HQV video processing. At the top of the heap are the DLA-HD990 and RS35, which feature hand-selected and -tuned optics, 70,000:1 native contrast ratio with no dynamic iris, inverse telecine back to 24fps with 96Hz refresh rate, and ISF and THX certification. Both will list for $10,000 and should be available this month. Stepping down the model ladder, we come to the HD950 and RS25, with 50,000:1 contrast and THX movie mode for $8000. The entry level is occupied by the HD550 ($5000) and RS15 ($5500) with 35,000:1 and 30,000:1 contrast, respectively. The demos looked quite good, especially because JVC always goes to great lengths to show its projectors in a darkened environment.

JVC surprised me with the intro of a 3D-capable LCD TV. The 46-inch GD-463D10 uses circular polarization and passive polarized glasses to achieve the 3D effect, which uses alternate lines on the screen for each eye, effectively cutting the vertical resolution in half. It can also display 1080p at full resolution in 2D. The GD-463D10 is available now for $8995. I thought the demo looked pretty good, but not good enough to change my mind about preferring a good 2D image.