Slingbox Pro HD is Now Shipping

Are you experiencing an out-of-home HD deficiency? Wish you could watch streaming HD video anywhere you have high-speed Internet connection? If so, realizing your dream is only $299.99 away.

The "first of its kind, Sling Media Slingbox PRO-HD is capable of streaming both SDTV and HDTV"

At long last, months after the announcement at CES, Slingbox HD PRO is shipping… so, your fix imminent. "Slingbox Pro HD transforms laptops and a wide range of smartphones into personal, portable TVs.”

Supported Audio and Video Sources

• Basic Cable TV, Set-top Box, or Digital Cable Set-top Box
• Digital Video Recorder (DVR) such as DISH, TiVo, Comcast, ReplayTV, or one provided by your cable/satellite provider
• DVD Player/Recorder
• Satellite Receiver such as DISH or DIRECTV
• Video/Security Camera
• Apple TV
• Windows Media Center
• Digital Antenna
• Digital Cable (clear QA)
• HD component input support for 720p or 1080i

Streaming in HD-resolutions is only available for Windows.
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Samsung's Latest Hybrid HDTV/Moniters

Few hybtid devices make as much sense as these.

Samsung has just started shipping a hybrid that many saw coming from a mile away. They have just released their latest line of wide format computer monitors that will include an ATSC/ Clear QAM digital tuner built right in. The T220HD (1680x1050), T260HD, and T240HD (1920x1200) will be able to pick up the over the air or cable HD broadcast signals that most major stations already transmit.

The hybrid display offerings will range from 22 to 26 inches making them perfect for a monitor upgrade - with the added benefits of being a TV. The addition of an ATSC tuner will also take care of that pesky DTV transition. Samsung doesn’t skimp on inputs either. The new line sports more connections than a presumptive presidential candidate, with composite video, DVI, component, TV (digital TV / analog TV) and front and rear HDMI input. If only I didn’t own an iMac... On second thought, I could go for a totally unnecessary second display, I need a new TV and these are sick looking.



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HDTV's Go Small?

Why we over here in The States are trying to learn the virtues of not always going bigger, Asia has always seemed to get it. It’s modest and not garish, that makes sense. So, It’s no surprise BenQ, a Taiwanese firm, has introduced the worlds smallest HD display with a native 1080p resolution. At 21.5” the E2200HDA monitor ekes in under the 24” size that other manufactures produce.

This diminutive display sports a 16:9 aspect ratio (1,920 x 1,080-pixel), which is a better fit for full-HD content than the conventional 16:10 (1,920 x 1,200 pixels) found in most LCD monitors today. Users also get to enjoy a dynamic contrast ratio of 10,000:1. Meaning, it produces a greater range of tints and shades of colors, making the picture rich and colorful, rather than washout.

Enabling the panel's full-HD capabilities, the BenQ E2200HDA includes HDMI and DVI connectivity as well as HDCP support, on top good old VGA display support. Ready to move in, the BenQ packs integrated speakers, a headphone jack, and a 2.0M webcam. It's expected in select markets throughout Europe, Asia, and Latin America, in the third quarter of this year. No pricing details have been announced.
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Preparing for the Digital Television Transition

The U.S. government imposed deadline for the 2009 digital television transition is steadily approaching. Why has the FCC enacted this initiative? Their stated objective is to “allow stations to deliver more programming and to free up space on the airwaves for emergency services”. Surely it has more to do with bolstering the country's lagging economy, than providing viewers with more programming or unclogging the airwaves. Analog broadcasts have little effect on DTV signal strength; digital and analog broadcasts could coexist forever, as they do now.

However, we are a consumer based economy so basically making folks buy a conversion box, or even better a new TV, with Bush's economic ‘rescue’ package is a good strategy; sound a bit cynical, maybe; true, most definitely. There are very few things that will get us Americans out in mass to buy consumer electronics as powerful as messing with our television broadcasts.

Usually, a pile of confusion is what is encountered when the subject of an analog to digital television transition is brought up; this post’s goal is to clear up some of that confusion.

First, you don’t have to get a new TV, just a conversion box, and if your antenna works well now you won’t need to replace that either. Digital signals are sent over UHF, the antenna you have now will pick up these signals. This fact seems to have been pretty well publicized considering the response the FCC had to their $40 off an analog to digital conversion box coupons. Half a million people signed up to receive the $40 voucher in the first 40 hours after the application form went live on the FCC web site. (When did the FCC become a marketing firm?) Although, free is free so fair enough.

Second, if you subscribe to cable you don’t have to do anything until 2012. Until then, cable, satellite, and fiber optic companies are required to keep sending a signal your analog TV can read, but you’ll have to pay to convert eventually.

Third, even if you have an HDTV, to receive free over-the-air HDTV your television needs a digital tuner (televisions sold as HD ready do not have digital tuners), an HD capable antenna, and a station that broadcasts HD programming over-the-air no more than 70 miles away from you. Your distance from the signal source will determine the range antenna needed. Some DVR’s and DVD-R’s have digital tuners built in so if you have one check this out before dropping any cash. To help ease the transition, new laws, that went into effect at the beginning of this month, state any TV or any A/V components equipped with a tuner imported in to the US or shipped in interstate commerce must contain digital tuners.

So, if you’ve decide to go with a new TV, buyers beware. Analog tuner TV’s will be floating around for a while so double check to see which type of tuner the set your considering has. Resellers are required to blatantly advertise if the stock they’re selling is an older analog set. Still, surely some nefarious retailers will try to slip some older sets by unsuspecting consumers.

Lastly, a few notes about what to do with your older sets. Simply put, reuse them or recycle them. Reuse old sets to run DVD players or gaming systems. If you just want to be free of your old set, recycling it is extremely important. TV tubes have up to eight pounds of lead and numerous fire proofing toxins that need to be dealt with properly.

The amount of waste that this transition could produce is astronomical, 30 million households receive only over-the-air analog broadcasts and those homes have on average 2.6 televisions each. This would be a huge influx of waste, even if only half the people replacing their sets were to just put them on the curb to be carted off to the landfill. Please check the electronics Industry Alliance’s Web site, at EIAE.org to help identify a recycling program in your area.

..via Consumer Reports..
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JVC RX-D702B Audio/Video Control Receiver

Receivers are rarely sleek and slim; they usually take up a bit of real estate and weigh around forty pounds. As an alternative to these whaling behemoths, JVC has a line of sleek, powerful, smaller form digital amplifiers. They weigh in at a mere seventeen pounds. Good news is, JVC's most powerful and versatile ‘slimline’ digi amp has been out for about three years, enough time to have its price drop to near half of its original retail. Despite the stigmata, that consumerism thrives on, of not being up-to-date; this JVC has some impressive specs.

Audio Features

One of the JVC RX-D702B’s most impressive features is its ability to wirelessly connect to your computer. This seems appropriate considering many computers act as music servers nowadays. Don’t worry if you don’t have a wireless network; JVC’s makes it simple. A USB dongle plugs into your computer, installs as a generic USB speaker, and wirelessly links your PC or Mac. Any audio from the computer is now sent to the receiver. This is nice because there are no issues with DRM (copy protected) content or having to use a specific media player program.

Adequate amplification doesn’t seem to be an issue for this JVC. It provides most channels with 150 watts, whether in surround sound or stereo modes. The speaker terminals accommodate up to 7.1 surround sound or 1 center (150W), 2 front(150W each), 2 surround(110W each), 2 rear(150W each), and a subwoofer (pre-out, not powered). On-board decoders for various Dolby Digital and DTS formats give this JVC the ability to decode most digital audio formats.

No matter what set of speakers is paired with this JVC; a formidable wall of sound comes out of this amp. Choose speakers whose power handling matches the amplifying abilities of the receiver, then pair that with a high-powered sub, you’ll have a system that will shake any room. The audio stylings of this JVC digi amp won’t leave you wishing for more.

Video Processing

Breathe new life into older components, the JVC up-converts analog video to 480p. You won't have to buy all your movie titles in High Def. It outputs upscaled video via HDMI
from any input terminals: Component, S-video, or Composite.

Also, the upscaling is great for playing those embarrassing home videos from the nineties in high def glory, “and here I am at band camp”…always a sure fire way to impress a date.

Buying technology that’s been around a while is a good way to save. You also have access to a greater diversity of user reviews from products that have been put through the paces. Do your own research; I think you’ll find my recommendation a sound one.

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Yamaha NS-C444 Center Channel Speaker MB Quart Alexxa C-One 3-way 150 Watt Center Channel Speaker Sony SA-W2500 Performance Line 150 Watt Subwoofer Infinity PS28 8" 150 Watts Powered Subwoofer Yamaha YST-SW225 Advanced YST II and QD-Bass Subwoofer

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Belkin FlyWire, Wireless HD Video Transmitter

If you finally decided to make that HDTV purchase you are now faced with the slight dilemma; where‘re you going to put the thing? TV stands are a viable option, but they kind of defeat the purpose of a flat panel. The très chic action to take is hanging it on the wall, and hiding any wiring to the television, in the wall.

This is a perfect option for new builds, but existing homeowner’s usually have a healthy and well founded fear of putting big holes in their homes’ walls. I sympathize, apparently so does Belkin. They’ve demonstrated a new product named FlyWire at CES.

This truly fascinating wireless technology transmits high definition video signals (24 fps, 1080p) over the 5GHz radio spectrum. It works through walls, and transmits the video signals from DVRs, DVD players, cable boxes, and so on...right to your HDTV via HDMI.

The receiver part of the package is quite small and thin so it would easily attach and to the back of your HDTV and be completely hidden. The transmitter box, as it exists now, has but one HDMI interface, to pull a signal from a HD movie player for example, but Belkin is rumored to have their engineers working hard in order to provide more HDMI interfaces for their production model.

Along with the HDMI, the FlyWire’s backside is adorned with video component and composite interfaces to adapt to all video output devices (no upscaling, though). Included on the back of the transmitter is one interface that looks like it would interface with the digital video card in your computer. This all seems very promising.

There’re conflicting stories about price and release date for these, from what I can gather they will most likely ship right before Christmas, however, some have the ship date pegged to be closer to summer. Price also is yet to be confirmed by Belkin. The projected range is anywhere from $400-$600.

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Related Products

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The New GUI Wars: Denon AVR-3808ci vs. Sony STR-DA5300ES HDMI Receivers

Product Comparison

The Denon AVR-3808CI and the Sony STR-DA5300ES both use a new GUI menu. Denon’s text and graphics are not as slick looking as the Sony’s, but they are very readable and work
as designed. The Denon is the least expensive receiver to offer GUI and also will display album art and track info from digital media sources. Digital media plays through the Ethernet port or the USB port. The integrated USB is designed to access mass storage devices like hard drives or flash drives. This addition of a USB port greatly expands the Denon’s capabilities. However, for proponents of Apple there is a bit of a catch. If you’re an iTunes fan you’ll need to purchase Twonky Media software ($40) in order to play your iTunes library. Even with this extra hoop they make you jump through the Denon still won’t play your iTunes store purchases. The Denon really likes Windows Media Player, Microsoft's new sticker on the front of the unit touts the receivers ability by saying the Denon "playsforsure" Window Media Files.

The Sony’s GUI is a bit more up-to-date looking and the inputs names can be custom labeled. This might come in handy if you end up using all 6 available HDMI 3.1 connections, Denon’s receiver has 4 HDMI jacks (that’s plenty). As far as digital media playback, Sony has their proprietary Digital Media (DM) port. Sony offers up four adapters that support the use of this port. They are designed to interface with WiFi, Bluetooth, iPod, and of course, Walkman. These don’t seem as if they’d be big sellers, especially due to the fact that there are so many inputs in this flagship receiver that you don’t have to use their DM port compliant items. The Sony STR-DA5300ES GUI’s drawback is it was found to have problems displaying the GUI on some HD sets. Make sure if you choose the Sony that the merchant will accept returns.

Video conversion technologies are a big reason these guys cost so much. In both receivers the video conversion technologies have been enhanced.They differ a bit though; the Sony up-converts only analog signals to HDMI. The nice thing is you are given selectable resolution choices that run the gamut of HD set resolutions from 480i all the way to 1080p. The newest processor tests revealed the great strides Sony has made in their video processing technology ('Jaggies' are a thing of the past). The Denon offers more video conversion modes. Along with analog to HDMI conversion, the Denon also up converts among the various analog formats. The low analog to high analog conversion allows for non-HD video component owners to get the best performance possible from an analog signal. The Denon’s analog video processing works in several ways, but basically it takes the composite video (lowest quality analog signal) and converts either to S-Video (middle quality analog signal), or component video (highest). Which one you’ll use is depended on your TV. These added video conversions options make the Denon a little more versatile.

Last, but most definitely not least, the big question, how do they sound? For the price, these things should sound amazing and don’t let you down. There are very few sound quality differences that are worth noting. They use 7.1 surround sound, have Digital Sound Processing (theater, jazz, concert, ect.), and have internal processors for Dolby true HD and DTS-HD. These HD sound processors allow newer disc players like the new Panasonic DMP-BD30 to utilize their own digital HD sound signal capabilities. Again, the differences are slight. The Auto calibration mic from Sony is stereo, Denon’s is mono. Conversely, the Denon outputs 130W and the Sony 120W. Sony and Denon don’t make this decision easy. These HDMI receivers are too evenly matched to pick a clear winner. It really comes down to what type of home theater system they will be integrated into.

The Sony has more connections than a Hollywood casting agent, I mean six HDMIs is a lot, but than again it’s a bit future proofed by having so many. It has a multitude of options for video resolution output and the GUI menu is customizable. Although, that goofy GUI display bug (testers found it did work on all sets) is a bit concerning.

The Denon is less money and it allows for more digital media interfacing options while giving you more information about what you’re listening to. The Ethernet ports allows for remote repair or calibration by Denon authorized installers and when disc content catches up it could be used to access movie extras that are on the internet.

So, it is left up to you to decide which options are more important or more applicable to your specific home theater setup. It’s that age old sales question, “So, what are you going to do with it?”

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Panasonic puts Plasma in its Place

[image courtesy of Panasonic]

posted by Andrew Harris

Bigger displays, better picture resolutions, cheaper prices…there‘s something to be said for sitting on an large electronics purchase decision, until conditions are just right. If you know your purchase isn’t going to be the first on the block, but it will be the best value or the best tested; than you’re the type of shopper that likes waiting for that quintessential moment when…better and cheaper is a reality. Bigger only comes into play where desired as in HDTV’s and computer displays. How does 50inches sound? Consumer Reports announced yesterday the independent lab’s test results for flat screen plasmas and LCD’s. The Panasonic sets faired quite well overall and the Panasonic 50-inch TH-50PZ700U flew off with “Best Flat Screen Ever”, never has Consumer Reports bestowed this honor to a flat screen, the Panasonic 50-inch TH-50PZ700U scored big on the “full HD” 1920x1080/1080p resolution capabilities. This drove the high rating from testers. They noted the color clarity and the richness of the immersion experience with the Panasonic 50-inch TH-50PZ700U. It scored high even when displaying in broadcast or DVD picture quality. So, flat panel shoppers measure up that wall above your old CRT TV and call the city to schedule your recycling date, because the time has come my frugal friend. Can’t you almost hear you’re friends whining when you hit the power switch and have to kick them out?

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