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CES2008 posts

Sharp Aquos E Series hits the stage

by Richard Lawler, posted Jan 7th 2009 at 4:26PM


Want Sharp's newest ASV Superlucent 1080p panel, but don't want a Blu-ray drive jammed in the back? Say hello to the Aquos E series. The E77U line packs 120Hz technology, a 4ms response time and Sharp's Spectral Engine XD for all manner of XD (Extreme Dark)or UD (Ultra Dark) situations -- eyeshine no longer necessary. Five HDMI 1.3 jacks, OPC function that automatically adjusts for lighting conditions and a soft gold accent towards the bottom of the frame signal your upscale tastes to all who haven't seen the prices ranging from $4,499 for the 65-inch to $1,399 for the 40-inch. The E67U gives more frugal buyers four HDMI jacks and a copper tone go along with the new ASV panel. Check after the break to see when your preferred model ships, with most due in February or March, and the LC-65E77U slipping out in June.

Continue reading Sharp Aquos E Series hits the stage

HD DVD booklet from CES explodes with irony

by Paul Miller, posted Jan 20th 2008 at 7:17AM


"Hang on" is right.

[Thanks, Rye C.]

Cisco reveals 8500HDC DVR set-top-box series

by Darren Murph, posted Jan 14th 2008 at 2:52PM


We knew full well that Cisco would be axing the Scientific Atlanta brand, so it shouldn't come as any surprise to you to see a new series of STBs emerge at CES with a shiny Cisco logo gracing the front. The 8500HDC DVR series will include the 8550HDC (analog and digital tuning support), the 8540HDC (digital-only tuning support) and the 8552HDC (optional MoCA support, enabling Ethernet-over-coax). Furthermore, the trio promises to deliver "internet and premium content services," instant messaging support and a "richer media experience" to boot. As it stands, we aren't sure when the general public will be able to get their hands on any of the new boxes, but Cisco does claim that they're now "commercially available for its service provider customers." For more nitty-gritty on the new lot, click on through to the read link.

[Thanks, Will P.]

Comcast aiming for 6000 on-demand movies per month, half in HD

by Darren Murph, posted Jan 14th 2008 at 11:53AM


Comcast had a fairly large presence at CES this year, but somehow this tidbit managed to slip through the cracks. Nevertheless, we felt it prudent to point out that the cable company is apparently looking to offer up some 6,000 movies per month through its On Demand service, and best of all, over half of those will be available in high-definition. Currently, "just" 1,300 selections are being made available each month, and while a definitive date isn't given, we are told not to expect the increase (at least in full) until sometime "next year." We've got it marked down Comcast -- and we'll be holdin' you to it, capisce? [Warning: PDF read link]

CyberLink's Profile 1.1-enabled PowerDVD shown at CES

by Darren Murph, posted Jan 13th 2008 at 5:44PM

Just a few weeks back, we were able to grab a sneak peek at Resident Evil: Extinction's Bonus View feature, and now Blu-ray.com has yet another preview we figure the BD camp will be interested in seeing. Apparently, CyberLink was busy demonstrating its forthcoming Profile 1.1-enabled PowerDVD 7 Ultra software at CES, which allowed Sunshine to be played back "perfectly" with picture-in-picture enabled. Also, they were able to confirm that the aforementioned application will indeed play nice with DTS-HD tracks and that DTS-HD MA support was just around the bend. Reportedly, the update will be available gratis to current owners of PowerDVD Ultra next month.

CES 2008: The best and worst of HD

by Richard Lawler, posted Jan 13th 2008 at 3:53PM Featured Story

CES is an epic event, and after walking the show floor, sitting through press conferences and reading enough press releases to last us a lifetime, these are the products that made the most lasting impression, good or bad. Pioneer's extreme contrast concept was without a doubt the most impressive item on display, and left more than one person saying they'd seen their next HDTV. Size still matters, Panasonic had the biggest and Pioneer had the slimmest. XStreamHD was best and worst by making great promises, but failing to deliver when we stopped by for a demo. Finally, HD DVD's pre-CES disappointment -- and subsequent press conference cancellation -- left a pall hanging over the booth, no matter how many people were there.

Best:
Tru2way TVs at CES 2008
Hands-on with Pioneer's extreme contrast concept plasma
Hands-on with the Pioneer 9mm-thick Kuro plasma
Warner goes Blu-ray exclusive
DirecTV's PC tuner (HDPC-20) is real!
Eyes-on with Samsung's 31-inch and 14-inch OLED TVs -- take that Sony
Panasonic's gigantic 150-inch plasma is official!
XstreamHD details continue to emerge
Hands-on with Marantz's first Blu-ray player, the BD8002
Hands-on with HD video podcasts on an HD TiVo
Logitech launches Harmony One
Sharp rolls out SE94U Aquos series w/ Aquos Net
MusicGiants launches VideoGiants, with HD movies from Paramount

Worst:
XStreamHD's CES 2008 booth tour
HD DVD's CES 2008 booth tour
Philips' new LCD lineup continues to not impress
Mustek intros the BD-100, aka Sharp BD-HP20S

Poll: What was your favorite HD product / technology from CES 2008?

by Darren Murph, posted Jan 13th 2008 at 12:00PM


Just a few weeks back, we gave you the opportunity to tell us what you were most looking forward to in 2008. Now that CES has come and gone once more, we're interested to know what you were most impressed by. 'Course, we took the liberty of rounding up a few favorites of our own, but don't be shy in dishing out a few dark horses, either. Oh, and before you ask, you certainly can have more than one favorite -- shout it / them out in comments below!

Poll: What was your favorite product / technology from CES 2008?

CES 2008: The best of LCD HDTVs

by Richard Lawler, posted Jan 12th 2008 at 7:10PM Featured Story

Whether plasma is back, or never left is up for argument, but don't think LCD took CES 2008 sitting down. Vizio upgraded the specs on its bargain LCDs, and even Panasonic showed some love. PDP prototypes might have been bigger and skinnier, but 2008 is the year we'll actually be able to buy a 108-inch LCD from Sharp, a 1.5-inch thin screen from Hitachi, or even a Quad HD panel from Westinghouse.

Sharp pushes out more Aquos LCDs
Sony refreshes Bravia line with 17 new models, Digital Media Extender
Philips' new LCD lineup continues to not impress
Sharp promises to bring its 108-inch LCD to market in '08
Samsung intros new 1080p LCD HDTVs, Ethernet / interactivity included
Panasonic reveals five new LCD HDTVs at CES
Sharp launches 32-inch LC-32GP3U LCD at gamers
LG takes thin to the next level with the 1.7-inch LGX LCD HDTV
Toshiba announces slew of LCDs for 2008: hands-on and video
Vizio's new Evolution Series LCD HDTVs
Vizio announces stylish Envy LCD HDTV lineup
Vizio intros Black Tie LCD lineup with 120Hz, MEMC technology
Vizio intros Jive surround for LCDs
JVC P-Series LCD line rocks iPod docks
JVC intros 42-inch LT-42SL89 / 46-inch LT-46SL89 LCD HDTVs
Hitachi Ultra Thin 1.5 LCD lineup headed for CES
Eyes-on with Westinghouse's Quad HD displays

CES 2008: The best of Blu-ray players

by Steven Kim, posted Jan 12th 2008 at 3:48PM Featured Story

CES 2008: The best of Plasma HDTVs
It was a blowout CES for Blu-ray, and it all started even before the first day of the show with Warner's announcement. With manufacturer and studio support, the format was primed, and the addition of BD Live brought feature parity to Blu-ray and HD DVD. There was a definite feeling that it's okay to come into the water now, and we expect 2008 will see more expansion of the format still. On the high end, we saw Marantz's entry to the Blu-ray market, complete with a gaggle of drool-worthy specs and outputs. For the more modest budget (which is to say, anyone who even has a budget), skip past Denon's Blu-ray transport and check out the Samsung BD-1500 and Panasonic DMP-BD50.

Marantz BD8002
Denon DVD-2500BDTCI
Samsung BD-UP5500
Samsung intros BD-P1500 Blu-ray player, BD-UP5500 combo player
Panasonic DMP-BD50
Philips BDP7200
Sharp BD-HP50U

CES 2008: The best of Plasma HDTVs

by Steven Kim, posted Jan 12th 2008 at 10:12AM Featured Story

CES 2008: The best of Plasma HDTVs
Based on what we saw at CES, the future is promising indeed for LCD. But don't think for a minute that plasma is done in the eyes of manufacturers or consumers -- PDPs have a rosy outlook as well. The Pioneer extreme contrast demo left all of our jaws on the floor, and we can't wait to see this technology trickle out of the labs and onto the shelves. The Panasonic 150-inch plasma had a similar effect on passers-by. Pioneer also showed off the 9-mm thick Kuro concept just to show that plasma can do the beauty thing, too.

Panasonic revamps its plasma lineup
Vizio cranks out new plasma lineup
Hands-on with Pioneer's extreme contrast concept plasma
Hands-off with Panasonic's 150-inch behemoth
Hands-on with the Pioneer 9mm-thick Kuro plasma
Samsung reveals PN58A750T, PN42A450P and PN50A550S plasma lineups
The 2008 LG Plasma lineup

CES 2008: HD booth tours

by Ben Drawbaugh, posted Jan 12th 2008 at 4:16AM Featured Story

Sling booth tour
There aren't many thing more exciting to a geek, then walking around the show floor at the largest electronics show in the US of A, but unfortunately the consumer electronics show isn't for consumers. So we took the time to snap up as many pics as we could of every booth that we thought was interesting. While many of the booths are reused each year, the devices are not. Some of the booths are backed to the point that it's hard to walk around, while others are desolate. So if you want to live vicariously through us, click through and check out all the coolness.

DISH Network's CES 2008 Booth tour
NBC Universal's CES 2008 booth tour
Blu-ray's CES 2008 booth tour
HD DVD's CES 2008 booth tour
Samsung's CES 2008 booth tour
HP's CES 2008 booth tour
Sling Media's CES 2008 booth tour
XStreamHD's CES 2008 booth tour
Microsoft's CES 2008 booth tour
Sony's CES 2008 booth tour
Philips's CES 2008 booth tour
Pioneer's CES 2008 booth tour
LG's CES 2008 booth tour
Hitachi's CES 2008 booth tour

CES 2008: The best of set-top boxes

by Ben Drawbaugh, posted Jan 12th 2008 at 2:09AM Featured Story

Slingbox Pro HD
At this year's CES we saw what might be the end of set-top boxes, -- at least for cable boxes -- but there will always be some extra feature that isn't built into your HDTV that you want. The most exciting new set-top box at this year's CES is the Slingbox PRO HD, which means we can finally watch any HD content in our house wherever we want -- including via our high-speed internet connection. The new Moto boxes promise an MPEG-4 future for cable and the new Dish DVR should help bring their HD DVR prices down. Last up, was the VUDU LX, and while we weren't sure who'd pay $400 for such a device, we just can't imagine someone would pay $1000, but hey, at least it has an IR port now.

Hands-on with the EchoStar TR-40 and TR-50 converter boxes
Sling Media's Slingbox PRO HD, SlingPlayer for BlackBerry announced
Sling announces SlingCatcher (again), SlingPlayer 2.0 with Clip+Sling, and Sling Cable modem
Dish's new ViP612 - like the ViP622, but now with less
DirecTV intros dual ATSC tuner AM21 to piggyback HR21
Hands-on with Motorola DCX series MPEG-4 cable STB
Hands-on with the pricey VUDU XL

An offset HDTV wall-mount

by Ben Drawbaugh, posted Jan 11th 2008 at 12:35PM

Chiefs wall mountMounting HDTVs on the wall is all the rage, but it isn't the easiest thing in the world and even when you employee a professional to run power and video cables up the wall, sometimes the structure of you wall just isn't right for the optimal placement. Cheif's new HDTV wall mount is designed for exactly that problem. Rather than install additional supports in the wall, the mount is designed to be mounted on the existing studs and then will slide in either direction so you can center the set in just the right spot. No word on the price, but it should be available this summer.

Envive announces simplified media server: The TheaterStation

by Richard Lawler, posted Jan 11th 2008 at 6:07AM

Because you'll need somewhere to download/install those 1080p flicks from VideoGiants, Envive has announced its TheaterStation Media Server. Light on hardware details, Envive's focused on its Spin interface to ease content browsing via remote. The base model's hard drive reportedly holds at least 200 hours of DVD quality movies, and can be upgraded to hold ten times as much although that'll drive up the $2,495.99 starting price. Equipped with HDMI, component and DVI outs its available for preorder now,

[Vie eHomeUpgrade]

Runco intros ultra-pricey 1080p VX-22i DLP projector

by Darren Murph, posted Jan 11th 2008 at 12:34AM


Runco and expensive tend to go hand in hand, so we'd expect nothing less than a five-figure price tag accompanying the firm's new Video Xtreme VX-22i. This 1080p monster features a three-chip DLP design, O-Path technology, CinOptx premium grade lenses, Vivix II video processing, a 4,000:1 contrast ratio, 2,850 ANSI lumens and comes calibrated to ISF standards. As expected, users with a completely stuffed bank account can opt for the CineWide with Autoscope edition ($54,995), but even those who go without the aforementioned option will be forking out $39,995 for the vanilla model. If you've managed to get over the shock, you can place your order now (or pick up a totally more useful BMW / college education / etc.) and expect it to arrive lickety split.




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