JVC debuted the new RS20/HD750 at the show. The RS line refers to JVC’s professional line while the HD moniker is for the consumer line. These new projectors feature a slimmer case than the previous generation and some new processing from HQV. These are the first projectors we’ve seen to feature THX certification. They seem to build on the previous RS2 with their 30,000:1 contrast ratio but feature an adjustable aperature allowing you to dial in the overall brightness to your taste.
JVC gave a stunning demonstration of its new (and currently shipping) DLA-SH4K projector. No, that's not it in the photo (more on that in a minute) but the DLA-SH4K is claimed to be the world's smallest 4K digital projector (resolution 4096x2400). No price was given, but it's definitely in the "If you have to ask" territory—and from the looks of the images shown, well worth it. With native 4K material, this is the best-looking video image I've ever seen—and this on screen large enough for a small commercial theater.
Cool your rack with one of these dedicated fans from Active Thermal Management and, the company promises, you'll never need to use a fire extinguisher on your system.
The six speakers in the new C series from KEF combine nice style and very reasonable prices. Even the top of the line C7 floor standing speaker tops out at $400/ea. The 200 watt amplifier in the C4 subwoofer should provide plenty of energy goes down to the subs 29 Hz rated limit. My only complaint? A two way center or LCR, instead of a true 3-way which would be easy enough to do in the current style of the C6 LCR, if only it they had used a (admittedly more expensive) uni-Q driver.
New amps from Krell are always hot news for audiophiles, and these two would also be at home in a high-end home theater. The S-275 2-channel amp ($5500) sports 275Wpc into 8 ohms and 550Wpc into 4 ohms. Two of them are shown on top. LIke all Krell amps, this one is also comfortable into almost any load, even very low impedances. Switches allow easy bridging, producing a powerful monoblock.
Krell's new high-end surround preamp-processor ($30,000) has all the requisite bells and whistles, including decoding for all the new audio formats and video processing via Genesis chips suppoorted by Krell-designed circuitry. Available now.
At CES last January, LG announced a strategic partnership with Netflix, but no details were revealed. Now, it can be told that LG has been working on the BD300, the world's first Blu-ray player that can stream content directly from Netflix. There are currently 12,000 movies and TV episodes available for streaming, out of over 100,000 DVD and nearly 1000 Blu-ray titles. All streaming content is standard-def, and the final resolution depends on the speed of your Internet connection.
Does LG's new BD-300 Blu-ray player do DTS-HD? Early product information had been vague on this point, with references to Dolby TrueHD but none to its DTS counterpart. Well, there is a DTS-HD logo on the player, so it must decode DTS-HD Master Audio and DTS-HD High Resolution Audio. Without downconverting them to DTS Core, I hope.
LG has taken the Blu-ray player in another direction. Their new BH300 not only supports the latest Bonus View profile and bitstream audio support, but also can network into Netflix’s new on-demand movie service. This offers consumers instant access to near-DVD quality video from their new Blu-ray player. Unfortunately they didn’t put a video processor in the player to scale that SD content so you’re left to your display’s abilities.
LG was sporting a new line of LCD flat panel displays and have ditched the boring looks so commonly associated with the line. The new panels feature custom colors, hidden speaker systems designed by Levinson and a new “expert” mode that allows you to calibrate them in more than every before.
Want to send an HDMI signal over 300 feet of cable? Can't be done. But you could plug it into the Liberty Cable DigitalLinx, which converts to more robust RGBHV for the cable run, then converts back to HDMI at the other end.
Sharp sees the worldwide market for LCD flat panel televisions growing rapidly in the next year, despite a slower economy in the US, and it's ready to meet the demand. While it has a number of new models, the ones that caught my eye were the Aquos Limited Edition designs. Available in October at prices yet to be announced, these sets will be available in two sizes: 52" (the LC-52XS1U-S) and 65"(the LC-65XS1U-S).
Shown here is a better look at one of the upcoming Sharp Limited Edition flat panel. LCDs mentioned in our Wednesday press conference report. The should be available soon.
Marantz has announced a new, cheaper anamorphic lens for its VP-11S2 and VP-15S1 DLP projectors. It's also said to be compatible with some other projectors.
CEDIA 2008
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