LATEST ADDITIONS

Westinghouse's Latest 1080p
Geoffrey Morrison  |  Jan 09, 2007
Shipping in April the TX-42F430S (42-inch $2,000) and the TX-47F430S (47-inch $2500) have a subtle but classy black and gray metal aesthetic. They also sport 4 HDMI inputs (capable of 1080p), integrated tuners, and a claimed 5000:1 contrast ratio.
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Maureen Jenson On Hanspree
Maureen Jenson  |  Jan 09, 2007
Shane Buettner on LG's Blu-ray/HD DVD Combi Player
Shane Buettner  |  Jan 09, 2007

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Coolest Data Storage Thingiee Ever
Geoffrey Morrison  |  Jan 09, 2007
While the idea of data storage may not seem that exciting, this product actually is. At its simplest, the HP MediaSmart Server is storage and data backup. But from there it gets more interesting. It can backup all the computers in your home (to a max storage space of 8 terabytes). Still not interested? You can give the Sever it’s own IP address so you can access any of your content from anywhere in the world. You, your kids, grandma, anyone you want to give access to can log onto the server and see what content you want them too. Share full rez pics of your vacation with your friends, have your friends share their pictures with you. It is very cool.
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Zalman 3D Gaming Monitor
Geoffrey Morrison  |  Jan 09, 2007
Although they are more famous for their massive copper heatsinks, Zalman showed off a 19-inch LCD that is capable of a real 3D mode. All you need is a fairly current Nvidia graphics card and special polarized glasses (not the red and blue ones of yore). The effect is incredible. Because most games are rendered in 3D already, letting us see it isn’t as difficult as you think. We will definitely be getting one of these in for test.
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Thiel, Sim2, and Synergistic Research
Randy Tomlinson  |  Jan 09, 2007

The Thiel room was a full home theater setup using their new CS 3.7 speakers with Sim2’s C3X DLP projector and a 110”-wide screen. The three chip C3X is quite a good 720p projector when it comes to filling large screens and the newest model, the HT3000, is a 1080p single chip DLP at about the same price. Though the picture was good, it was the sound that blew me away. Never have I heard Thiel speakers sound like this. Then came the shocker: They turned off the active shielding on the Synergistic Research Tesla Series cables (interconnects, speaker cables, and power cords) and much of the magic just disappeared. Either these cords sound real bad with the power off or real good with it on or maybe both, because the difference was far from subtle and was easily the most impressive cable demo I’ve ever heard. These newest cables, much smaller than before, are expensive but not out of reach and certainly deserve investigation for any high-end home theater sound system.

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Amazing Headphones for Theater Surround
Randy Tomlinson  |  Jan 09, 2007

Surround from standard stereo headphones? You bet, and virtually indistinguishable from your speakers. Smyth Research has been conducting stunning demos at shows for a few years now and finally the technology has been licensed by Yamaha. This system tracks head movement so the virtual soundstage remains stationary even when you move your head, and the personalization feature allows you to measure your speakers using microphones placed in your ears then perfectly duplicate them with the headphones. I can’t begin to tell you how convincing all this is. I’m just glad that it’s now commercially available. The little silver boxes you see are the Yamaha implementation.

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Side View Of Polk's In-Floor Sub
Shane Buettner  |  Jan 09, 2007

Here's a cut-away of the Polk in-floor sub. Start tearing up the hard wood!

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Stealth Sub From Polk Will Blow Your Skirt Up... Literally!
Shane Buettner  |  Jan 09, 2007

Polk Audio blew my mind (and my pant legs) with a stealth audio system of five in-ceiling speakers and two in-floor subs. The system had impact and articulation, and I kid you not, if you stand over the slot that load's the subs' sound into the room you'll feel a cool breeze!

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Sherwood Unveils AVR with Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio
Shane Buettner  |  Jan 09, 2007

Sherwood Newcastle was showing a static display of its next-gen R-972 AVR, which will feature HDMI 1.3 and offer full decoding of Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio lossless.

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