CEDIA 2009

Now that I've seen the new VX-33 projector after writing about it before the show, I can confirm that it is indeed bright enough to fill a giant screen and compete with some ambient light. The demo was a football game on a 14-foot-wide Stewart GrayHawk with the room lights on, and the picture was plenty punchy.

New additions to the Acclaim 7 speaker series (a name that pretty much makes critics obsolete) include speakers especially tuned for the new Dolby Pro Logic IIz listening mode. In case you've been living in a cave over the past several months, DPLIIz is one of two new height-enhanced post-processing modes, along with Audyssey's DSX. Guaranteed to make rain sound rainy. The models in question are the single-point stereo 7W51SFT and left-right stereo 7W52FT and both fit a 5.25-inch driver into a 7.25-inch square cutout area. Pricing TBA. Acclaim 7 speakers in general include LCR, in-wall, and in-ceiling models, the latter with Twist and Tilt.

The newest addition to Samsung's stable of LCD TVs is the LN65B650, a 65-inch monster with conventional backlighting that will list for $6000. Of particular note is a picture mode called BD-Wise, which is found on select 2009 TVs and all of the company's '09 Blu-ray players. BD-Wise lets the TV and Blu-ray player communicate and automatically set their parameters depending on the content. A satellite feed looked quite bad with lots of artifacts, but Blu-ray looked <I>much</I> better.

Famous for its use of woven material instead of perforations in acoustically transparent screens, Screen Research will be debuting its new Supreme 2 motorized screen system at CEDIA. The system can be mounted on or in the ceiling with or without a trap door, and it can accommodate screen sizes from 70 to 160 inches and aspect ratios from 4:3 to 2.78:1, complete with horizontal and vertical masking. Pricing ranges from just over $3000 to more than $25,000, depending on screen size and options.

Like everything digital, LED-backlit LCD TVs are quickly dropping in price. Case in point: Sharp's new LE700UN series, which will make its debut at CEDIA next week. Available in four sizes&#151;32, 40, 46, and 52 inches&#151;prices range from $1100 to $2800, a far cry from the XS1U series, Sharp's first generation of LED-backlit LCD TV&#151;the 52-incher listed for $12,000. The new series no doubt has fewer bells and whistles, but it's 1080p and 120Hz, it provides Internet access, and the company claims it consumes less power than any other available LCD TV.

There's a maniacal race afoot in the TV business for the lowest power consumption per inch-or the greenest set. Sharp's LE700U series is ready for the fight. The LC-52LE700U, shown here, is rated to draw 105W. In this demo, I saw it fluctuate between the roughly 98 watts shown here, on an image of average brightness, and about 150 watts. Since sets are always adjusted in show conditions for far more brightness than you'll need at home, the rating seems reasonable for normal domestic use.