LATEST ADDITIONS

B & O Shows Multi-Talented Plasma
Randy Tomlinson  |  Jan 10, 2007

Bang & Olufsen is showing their latest plasma TV product—the Beovision 9, shown here with B&O NA President Kim Gravesen. On the surface, it appears to be just a good 50” plasma with unusually advanced styling, but underneath it’s really far more. B&O claims it’s run by the fastest picture engine in the world. Various parameters (black level, sharpness, white level, etc) are controlled dynamically to maintain an optimum picture regardless of source content. An integrated center channel speaker has an acoustic lens to provide extremely wide horizontal dispersion. Aside from these basics, the Beovision 9 also serves as a home cinema master fully integrating and controlling music files, photos, net radio, and other web media, plus controlling lights, screen, and drapes—all with one remote. An HD video output will drive a projector in a separate dedicated theater. Up to 10 Beolab speakers and 2 subwoofers can be connected simultaneously. It’s not cheap (about $20,000) but then it IS B&O.

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TAD Shows New Ultra High-End Speaker
Randy Tomlinson  |  Jan 10, 2007

TAD (division of Pioneer Electronics) is showing the Reference One, their latest ultra high-end loudspeakers. At $60,000/pr they’re certainly not for every home theater, but the sound was outstanding (warm, powerful, and detailed) and the cosmetics superb. Sound source here was open reel tape. Both the midrange cone and tweeter dome (made into a concentric driver) are made of beryllium. This one driver covers the entire range from 250 Hz to a staggering 100K Hz.

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The Holy Grail Of Spouse Approval? Amimon's Wireless HDMI
Shane Buettner  |  Jan 10, 2007

While next-gen disc formats have made big poop at this year's CES, the wireless HDMI demo I witnessed this morning from Amimon is by far the most significant new technology I've seen here in Vegas.

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Silicon Optix Establishes HD Benchmark
Shane Buettner  |  Jan 10, 2007

Silicon Optix was demonstrating the 1080p HD beta version of its renowned <I>HQV Benchmark</I> disc with deintlacing, scaling and other various torture tests for displays. On top of that, select memebers of the press, including yours truly were given copies that we can run the tests on our HD DVD players and displays upon returning home.

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Neosonik Goes Wireless
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jan 10, 2007
Get ready for wireless everything, a major theme at the show. Apple TV is grabbing the headlines, with MacWorld happening in SF at the same time as CES, but those wanting a cable-free life got a bunch of new options in Vegas this week. Going wireless is Neosonik's whole raison d'etre. Plug in your video source via HDMI 1.3 and watch (if such were possible) your video signals fly as an H.264 video transmission with audio in a separate stream. Depending on the size of supplied speakers, cost ranges from $6000 for Series 4 to $10,000 for Series 6.
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KEF Goes Wireless
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jan 10, 2007
"KEF Wireless" is the laconic name of the British loudspeaker's icon entry into cable-free audio. Proprietary algorithms (I've heard this so often, it's almost like a pickup line in a bar) resist noise from nearby appliances and ensure audiophile-ish bandwidth. The "after market" version (lower right) has a 50-watt Class D amp backed up with, I'm told, a great power supply. But you can also buy KEF Wireless built as a "doughnut" into one of KEF's slender, world-beating Reference towers (top left). Also in the works: The new Austin series, with redesigned Uni-Q coaxial driver array (KEF likes putting tweeters amid other drivers) with strengthened tweeter and bigger magnets--"not overly analytical" and "easier to place."
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JBL Goes Wireless
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jan 10, 2007
The JBL Control On Air 2.4G is so eager to identify itself that it approaches incoherence. It's based on the way-cool rubber-clad indoor/outdoor Control1Extreme speaker (whose 1980s grandpapa is the Pro III) with a 2.4GHz wireless thing. Now the name makes sense, doesn't it?
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SanDisk Goes Wireless
(Is This Getting Monotonous?)
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jan 10, 2007
I'm beginning to lose track of the number of "goes wireless" headlines I'm writing. In a move reminiscent of Microsoft's Zune, Sandisk--which last year humiliated Steve Jobs by introducing an 8GB flash memory player before Apple did--has introduced the Sansa Connect, which uses wi-fi hotspots to tap into Internet radio and yet-to-be-announced download services (in the recent past SanDisk has done business with Rhapsody, hint hint). Zune killer? The price is $249 and it ships in a few months.
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RCA Goes Way Back
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jan 10, 2007
"Among the introductions at the first CES," says the little red placard, "was a line of 23-inch RCA console televisions like this 'Chatworth' model. It was delivered to the Bucklin family of suburban Minneapolis in February 1968 and used continuously since then. Almost 40 years old and in perfect working condition, this set features 'styling that calls to mind the stateliness of English manor house furniture tradition.' Connected to the RCA DTA800 Digital Wireless Adapter, even a 40 year old TV can enter the digital age!" And some idiot can enter the picture as I'm trying to take it.
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HD FVD Wins Disc Format War
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jan 10, 2007
Taiwan-based AOSRA's HD FVD format has driven both Blu-ray and HD DVD from the market, ending an ugly format war that threatened to go on for years. This poster explains why: The price is "low," compared to the "high" prices of other formats. Said Blu-ray and HD DVD spokespeople in unison: "We surrender to HD FVD. We cannot go on living a lie. What are we going to tell our parents?" Then they burst into tears. (Enlargement, spec sheet.)
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