Tom Norton

Sony is launching the new Bravia XBR10 series at CEDIA, featuring an ultra thin design, wireless transmission, an Ethernet connection for receiving Sony Bravia Internet Video over broadband, Motionflow 240Hz, and edge-lit LED backlighting— but no local dimming. The only Sony local dimming models are the XBR8s, and they are being phased out. There may be new local dimming models from the company down the road, according to one Sony source, but I suspect not this year. The XBR 10s are available at 47-inches ($4500) and 52-inches ($5000).

LG has brought wireless to some of its new LCD HDTVs. The flagship 55-inch, 55LHX (shown, $4799) offers wireless operation of up to 30 feet between the supplied media box to which the sources are connected (shown on the right in the photo) and the set itself. Just as important for enthusiasts, however, is the set's LED backlighting with local dimming, for a claimed 5,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio.

Projectiondesign's new Avielo Quantum, at 6.5 lbs., is the smallest and lightest of the company's 1080p, single-chip DLP home theater projectors. It's available with four different lenses, incorporates Projectiondesign's RealColor color management system, and is hand-built at the Projectiondesign factory in Fredrikstad, Norway.

With Anchor Bay's Video Reference Series technology on board, Lexicon's new BD-30 Blu-ray player ($3499) is the first entry in that product category for the company best known for its high end pre-pros, A/V receivers, and power amps. The BD-30 plays back not only Blu-ray, DVD, and CD, but also SACD and DVD-Audio. With Profile 2.0 and BonusView, together with full support for Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD-Master Audio (internal conversion to PCM or bitstream out), plus multichannel analog outputs, it's well-armed to join the Blu-ray player wars.