The Talking Heads movie Stop Making Sense was crackling and rocking at the Induction Dynamics booth, benefiting from the dARTS DSP-based room correction developed by stablemate Phase Technology. The system with S1.8Td tower, C1.8d center, S1.8Sd surround, and SW2 sub totaled $55,000-60,000 depending on finish and config. The demo system pictured was in basic black but I loved the gloss rosewood shown in front of the booth. Are 63 different grille colors enough?
Why bolt a speaker onto a sub? Well, if you deploy five or more of them, your surround system's regular sub will have huge reinforcement, great coverage, no holes in bass response. That's what Procella does with products like the new P610. Thanks to shallow depth, it's not as bulky as it looks. Inside are a 10-inch sub driver at bottom with a 6.5-inch midrange and one-inch tweeter at top, the latter recessed deep into a waveguide. Price $3199 for the speaker half and $1499 for the sub half.
The biggest news at Sony's press conference today was the introduction of the VPL-VW1000ES, the world's first "affordable" 4K home-theater projector. With a resolution of 4096x2160, this baby produces up to 2000 ANSI lumens to fill screens measuring up to 200 inches diagonally, and new SXRD panels and Iris3 technology boost the projector's specified dynamic contrast to 1,000,000:1. Of course, it also does 3D, with full anamorphic capabilities in both 2D and 3D mode.
But what about 4K content? Sony claims to be developing a complete line of 4K products and working with the Blu-ray Disc Association on a 4K spec, but meanwhile, the VW1000ES includes an onboard 4K upscaler.
So how affordable is it? Sony would only say "less than $25,000." That's way less than the Sony and JVC 4K digital-cinema projectors (and Meridian's version of the JVC for ultra-high-end home theaters), which bodes well for a 4K future. The VW1000ES should be available in December, and you can bet we'll be putting it through its paces just as soon as possible.
First seen as a concept piece at CES last January, the HMZ-T1 is now ready for prime time. This headmount 3D display includes two small, 720p OLED panelsone for each eyein a futuristic-looking contraption that sits on your head with padded earphones on the sides. The interocular distance and earphones are both adjustable, as is the support structure that holds the device on your head. Because the two displays are completely isolated from each other, there is no crosstalk whatsoever. When fitted properly, most of the unit's weight is on the forehead, which is reasonably comfortable, but I don't know if that comfort will last through an entire movie.
The image is truly amazing, with exceptional 3D and super-deep blacks. However, moving your head around and seeing the "screen" move with you is very strange, especially when you can see the floor below the unit. Fortunately, light blockers can be installed to more completely isolate you from the real world.
Joining the recently announced VPL-VW30ESwhich we received for review just before we left for CEDIAis the new VPL-VW95ES. Among its features is a 2D anamorphic mode and Picture Position, which lets you store various focus and zoom settings for different aspect ratios. The SXRD panels provide multi-zone alignment, and an advanced iris offers up to 150,000:1 of dynamic contrast. In the realm of 3D, the VW95ES provides an integrated IR transmitter, 2D-to-3D conversion, dynamic lamp control for greater brightness in 3D mode, and the ability to adjust 2D and 3D separately.
After Belkin's first attempt at a wireless HDMI system several years agowhich never got off the groundthe company is trying again with its new ScreenCast AV4. The system uses the 5GHz radio band and consists of a transmitter, shown here in the lower right, and a receiver (upper left) that can be up to 100 feet away in the same room. The transmitter has four HDMI inputs, which are selected with the included remote, and it can pass full-resolution 1080p and 3D signals. Available this fall, the list price is $249.
Atlantic Technology's Peter Tribeman was in no mood to mince words about the divergence of the video and audio industries. TV makers, he declared, "have thrown our industry under the bus." The occasion—and the solution—is a soundbar with killer bass that will "take the den and the livingroom back for the audio industry."
Home theater is in your blood. You crave the latest and greatest gear and are constantly thinking about your next upgrade. You can’t resist tinkering. Impossible. You’re regularly chastised by family members for monopolizing the remote, ready to tweak the sound or picture at any moment—and get reprimanded often for doing so just as the opening credits start to roll. Glaringly bright images, lopsided sound, flabby bass—these are things that make you cringe. There’s no getting around it: You’re hard core, and no one is going to stop you from dreaming about quitting your day job to design and build insane home theaters.