Scott Wilkinson

New to Dish Network's lineup of HD DVRs is the ViP 922 with Slingbox built in, which lets you watch any recorded program from anywhere in the world with an Internet connection. To store all the HD programs you can't live without, it houses a 1-terabyte hard disk. Also new is the remote, which sports half the number of buttons as the previous design and a little touchpad that moves an onscreen cursor around a much more graphical menu system. As if that weren't enough, the 922 also offers RSS widgets, and it even recommends shows you might like based on what you select to watch.

Next up the ladder is Toshiba's ZV650 series, which will be available in April in 42-, 47-, and 55-inch sizes. At this level, you get ClearScan 240 (120Hz frame interpolation with backlight flashing), USB and SD card slots for media stored thereon, and Dolby Volume, which keeps the volume consistent between shows, commercials, and channels. Oddly, they also have Audyssey Dynamic EQ, but they decided not to use Audyssey Dynamic Volume, which does much the same thing.

Sharp has two new Blu-ray players, the BD-HP16U ($279, lower left) and 22U ($299, lower right). Both are BD-Live capable, and the 22U comes with 2GB of memory—I got conflicting stories as to whether that memory is internal or an included memory stick. Both also implement Aquos Pure Mode, which automatically sets things like aspect ratio depending on the content in current and future Sharp TVs.

The new E77 series of 120Hz LCDs from Sharp include 40-, 46-, 52, and 65-inch models, all with the new Super Lucent Advanced Super View panels (say that three times fast!) that are said to improve contrast while reducing glare.