Sony has finally officially announced its first standalone Blu-ray player for the European market. Just like the PlayStation 3, a several month delay on the hardware has resulted in a few hardware revisions, however instead of limited backwards compatibility, the new BDP-S1E adds HDMI 1.3 and x.v. Colour support -- for AVC-HD-encoded discs -- to the package. Along with 1080p/24 output from the earlier model, this should make it an excellent player for aficionados demanding that "film-like" experience when paired with any of the new BRAVIAs hitting the market soon. With the BDP-S1E due this summer, no word on a price, or if Europe will ever see the BDP-S300 that should be launching in the U.S. around that time, but since its not a continent of "cheap people", we're sure they'll be able to deal with it.


[Via Crave]

Sony was still rolling out new BRAVIA's this morning, with three new models in its Japanese X2550 line that should give a preview of the successors to the current XBR models we'll see here. The piano black finished LCDs all feature 1080p resolution, wide color gamut backlighting, BRAVIA Engine and Sony's new x.v.Color technology, and we assume, dual HDMI 1.3-compatible inputs to deliver all that many-hued madness. No mention of new 120Hz technology for these LCDs, but the expanded color space should match up well with other upcoming Sony products. All should start shipping April 25th the 52-inch KDL-52X2550 for 720,000 yen ($6,098 U.S.), 46-inch KDL-46X2550 for 490,000 yen ($4150 U.S.), and 40-inch KDL-40X2550 for 420,000 yen ($3,557 U.S.). Check after the break for another pic of that glossy finish head-on (apply directly to forehead).

That sound you just heard? It was silence -- the silence of thousands of BDP-S1 Blu-ray players sitting unsold on warehouse shelves, gathering dust and wondering why they did to deserve the wrath of the dreaded Osborne Effect. Because unless retailers do some serious price shaving off of the first-gen machines, Sony's official promise today of a cheaper, smaller, and more functional box landing this summer will likely convince all but the most impatient consumers to drop the S1 right off their radar. On the plus side, those of us who haven't yet picked sides in the "format war" will be treated to a much more attractive product in the BDP-S300, from its CD friendliness and Bravia Theater Sync to bonuses like AVC-HD support for playback of conent that employs x.v.Color (Sony's version of the wide color space xvYCC technology). Keep reading to check out the remote that comes paired with the S300, then forward this post to your buddies who blew $1000 on its lonely predecessor.

If camcorder sales are to recover, it'll be the ability to record in HD that sparks the resurrection. After all, just about any new digicam and some cellphones can do a passing job at recording VGA or better quality video thus making the purchase of a second dedicated device hard to justify for the average consumer. That's what makes Canon's new iVIS HV20 so interesting; it shoots 1920 x 1080 resolution natively in HDV format to miniDV tapes and includes a 24p cinema mode to boot, a first in this class of camcorders. Best of all, it does this for about $1,000 -- not bad considering the price of other pro-sumer HD cams. Japan's Impress Watch are first to get their hands on a unit for review and although we had to read it using machine translation, it's easy to see that they are, er, impressed. Issues with low light shooting that plagued the HV10 seem to have been resolved on the HV20. While the CMOS sensor remains the same size, they've added the noise reduction technology found in their EOS camera lineup to bring low-light sensitivity down from 5lux to 3lux. In fact, the HV20 "eradicates" the HV10's weaknesses "entirely." Impress will be hitting a review of Sony's comparable HDR-HC7 -- a similarly spec'd HDV camcorder that also supports the xvYCC standard found in HDMI 1.3 for wider color range and space -- to see how they stack up side-by-side. No worries, you can wait, the HV20 won't hit US stores until April. Be sure to click the "read" link below for plenty of sample pics and video.

Unfortunately they were only given a passing mention during Sony's CES press conference earlier, but a quick look at the fact sheet revealed a few additional details about these two second generation Blu-ray players with launch and price TBA. Named Sapphire 1 and 2, we don't know what makes them different from each other, but the only features listed are 1080p24 output, and support for x.v.Color, Sony's term for the xvYCC expanded color space. Of course, we're most interested in seeing if they can load a Blu-ray movie as fast as the PlayStation 3, but that remains to be seen. Impress Watch got a look at the two players, but it will likely be a while before we find out more about what the followups to Sony's BDP-S1 will be capable of.

[Via Impress]

Sony just announced its newest Bravia LCD, the KD-70XBR3. This 70-inch HDTV is one of the first to support the xvYCC, or x.v.Color as Sony has named it via HDMI 1.3. It's the largest Bravia announced and features 120Hz "Motionflow" technology to reduce blurring, like many of the new LCDs we've seen so far. The panel also features 10-bit video processing and Triluminos LED backlight. x.v.Color gives a color range of video that is 1.8 times greater than what was previously available, and is also supported by the four new Handycams Sony announced. The set features a 7,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio with DRC-MFv2.5, and is slated to ship this February for $33,000. If that price is acceptable to you, it's available for preorder now from Sony Style stores and several other retailers.

Samsung has just released information about its 2007 lineup of HDTVs, including new LCDs, DLPs, plasmas and even CRTs. There's too much high contrast, HDMI 1.3-equipped, Deep Color enabled for one page, so continue on for pictures and detailed specs, or check out our live coverage of the press conference.

Toshiba is keeping up in the CES LCD features arms race, announcing several new 720p and 1080p HDTVs. Toshiba has four new 720p LCDs in 26-, 32-, 37- and 42-inch sizes, all shipping in the March/April timeframe. All include Toshiba's PixelPure3G 14-bit internal video processing with 16 times the colors of previous 8-bit systems, enhanced MPEG noise reduction technology and Dynalight dynamic backlighting that the company claims can create dynamic contrast of up to five times the panel's standard contrast ratio. Digital ATSC/QAM tuners, 3 HDMI inputs each and black cabinets complete the line. Two more LCDVD sets in 26- and 32-inch sizes add an internal DVD 720p upconverting DVD player. Toshiba has also added a new 52-inch 1080p display to its HL167 line, including ColorBurst (up to 90% of the NTSC color gamut and CE-Link (HDMI-CEC) control features. Finally, it has updated its Cinema Series in 42-, 46-, 52- and 57-inch models. All include ClearFrame 120Hz anti-motion blur technology, THINC Ethernet port and HDMI 1.3 connectors with Deep Color and xvYCC support. The 1080p Regzas are due in June or July, with the exception of the updated 42-inch, which should come a month earlier.

Unless you've got a PlayStation 3, we can probably peg the number of HDMI 1.3-equipped devices in your home right now at exactly zero. However, if you've been waiting for Deep Color displays and receivers that support all next generation audio codecs like DTS-HD Master, Dolby TrueHD and Dolby Digital Plus there are plenty of devices on their way in 2007. According to EETimes online, Sony and Mitsubishi will be debuting new TVs (like Mitsu's Laser rear projecting HDTV) that take advantage of the wider color gamut afforded by HDMI 1.3. Besides xvYCC, 32-bit Deep Color support will increase color accuracy on upcoming TVs. Denon might not be ready to jump into the HD DVD / Blu-ray battle, but it's got several 1080p and HDMI 1.3-compatible receivers on the way including advanced audio and video processing capabilities. We should see one more HDMI 1.3 device this year when Toshiba releases the HD-XA2 HD DVD player, but the real treats will be waiting at CES 2007.

[Thanks, Brian]

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