Reuters reports that Toshiba President Atsutoshi Nishida provided this bit of corporate wisdom at an annual shareholders' meeting: "We have not given up on a unified format. We would like to seek ways for unifying the standards if opportunities arise." Mr. Nishida may have brought up (again) the idea of a single, unified format due to the fact that initial consumer response to HD DVD has not been overwhelming. Perhaps he was engaged in a bit of wishful thinking after it became clear that Sony will delay the introduction of its BDP-S1 Blu-ray Disc player until sometime in late October. Maybe he was acknowledging the fact that most consumers couldn't care less which format becomes a de facto standard as long as there's only one format.
Good things come to those who wait, but great video sometimes takes longer to arrive than great audio thanks to the extensive image processing that is typical with high-definition video. The result is a kind of psychic audio ability wherein the viewer is able to hear things before he actually sees them. Although it has nothing to do with Millie Vanillie or Ashlee Simpson, the phenomenon is technically known as "lip-sync error".
New home buyers with $20,000 to $40,000 to spare for home entertainment can turn to Sony's expandable, installation-ready NHS-3020 system. Sony says the system provides discrete control and support of audio and video content for a 7.1-channel home theater, with the resources to control up to 12 additional rooms of audio and video.
Since the days when near-humans first descended from the trees (substitute your own particular theory of creation/evolution/intelligent design here), mankind has faced one overwhelming problem: how do you watch TV outside?
Panasonic thinks - and rightly so - that a lot of consumers haven't got a clue as to what HDTV really is or how to get real HDTV content. The company also says they expect almost three million of these clueless people (some of them probably understand what's going on, but a lot more of them don't) will purchase plasma TVs this year. For those smart enough to buy a Panasonic plasma HDTV, the manufacturer will offer the Panasonic Plasma Concierge program.
Texas Instruments says 10 million DLP units have been shipped in the ten years since the technology's inception in 1996. (Wow-bulation, Batman, that's a lot of flippin' mirrors!)
Here are some photos from this year's annual RAVE (Recognizing Audio and Video Excellence) award taken at the 2006 Home Entertainment Show at the Sheraton Hotel in Los Angeles.
Does the BD abbreviation stand for Blu-ray Disc or Blu-ray Delayed? The latest setback has Pioneer Elite's BDP-HD1 pushed back from July to September, while reports now have Sony's BDP-S1 sliding from July to August 15th. On the plus side, the Pioneer Elite player's price has officially dropped from $1800 to $1500.
Belkin's AV24502 (or, in Belkin's more verbose form: PureAV HDMI Interface 3-to-1 Video Switch) solves the problem of having too many HDMI-equipped sources and too few HDMI inputs on your receiver or prepro. The new brain-drain-free device provides an all-digital connection between three separate HDMI sources and one HDMI-hungry home theater receiver.
It had to happen. The gas pump experience - once a bastion of bliss where drivers could soothe their road rage by enjoying the mesmerizing effect of digital dollars-and-cents displays flashing ever faster - is now to be defiled by the presence of pump-top LCD monitors displaying ABC News content with stereo sound. Yes, the old Pump-N-Go will never be the same.
Sony proudly announced the imminent birth of their newest STR-series receiver, a home theater gizmo Sony says is "the final link in the HD chain". The new STR-DG1000 is described as having 1080p pass-through, eight channels of uncompressed audio, smooth video switching, and a simplified surround sound set up with automatic adjustment. (Well, it's not totally automatic. You still have to hook up the microphone and push a button.)
Amidst all the hullabaloo about HD DVD and Blu-ray and HDMI and DRM and, well, all the other high-def disc stuff the world is buzzing about, Sony thought they'd squeeze a few more bucks out of the "old" DVD format by releasing a couple of portable DVD players that "offer cutting edge versatility and are designed to fit into any hectic, on-the-move lifestyle."
The Video Software Dealers Association (VSDA) - the dudes who spend most of their working hours watching and selling movies and video games (man, what a life - it'a almost as devoid of real "work" as being an audio/video gear reviewer) - have released its nominations for the organization's 2006 Home Entertainment Awards. While some of the categories include such blockbusters as "Marketing Campaign of the Year", "Sell-through Title of the Year", and "Rental Title of the Year", others are likely to be of more interest to the average video junkie.