http://www.ecoustics.com/latest/news Latest news, updated every five minutes http://www.ecoustics.com/dt/news/17782 Home theater fans who have been looking for a way to push their high-definition video around their systems (and to different rooms) without the hassles of stringing cables (or drilling holes in the walls) have faced a choice between Ultra WideBand (UWB) and Amimon's Wireless HDMI (WHDI) technology. Although WHDI has been garnering industry support recently, video connectivity developer Gefen has gotten tired of waiting for a resolution, so it has decided to offer both UWB and WHDI products for folks who just can't wait to be wireless.First upRead | Permalink | Linking Blogs Fri, 05 Sep 2008 13:30:00 -0400 http://news.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/10381/512529.html Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:03:00 -0400 http://www.ecoustics.com/dt/news/17769 Leave it to Sony to win the battle for a high-definition disc format, then—just as the market starts to swing toward consumers with pocketbook-friendly prices—"lead" the industry by zig-zagging the other way. But that's exactly what Sony's doing—at least for the home theater crowd—at this year's CEDIA Expo, introducing a new Blu-ray player that'll carry a $2,000 price tag, rather than the $200 price tag consumers seek.And, while most LCD TV manufacturers are working on introducing sets with 120 Hz refresh rates to produce smoother, flicker-free images, Sony ups the ante once again, unveiling an LCD TV with a 240 Hz refresh rate.First up, the newRead | Permalink | Linking Blogs Thu, 04 Sep 2008 13:30:00 -0400 http://news.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/10381/512220.html Thu, 04 Sep 2008 03:57:00 -0400 http://www.ecoustics.com/dt/news/17748 Another consumer electronics manufacturer is getting on the e-waste bandwagon: this time it's South Korean giant Samsung, which has just announced Samsung Recycling Direct, a program that will enable consumers in all 50 states to recycle Samsung-branded consumer electronics devices like televisions, monitors, DVD players, home theater systems, cameras, camcorders, printers, peripherals—essentially, all Samsung-branded consumer electronics. The exception will be home appliances, which can't be accepted at al the drop-off points, although a growing number will be accepting them. Recycling for Samsung-branded electronics will be free; consumers can also drop off non-Samsung electRead | Permalink | Linking Blogs Wed, 03 Sep 2008 12:00:00 -0400 http://www.ecoustics.com/dt/news/17717 At this week's IFA show in Berlin Philips took the wraps off the CinemaOne, which the company says packs all the necessities of a home theater system—plus a CD/DVD player and an iPod dock—into a small, round container…complete with subwoofer.The CinemaOne packs a five-channel amplifier, a 4-inch subwoofer, and digital signal processing that can handle Dolby Digital, MPEG2 multichannel audio that the company saus can create a "realistic and immersive cinema sound effect" from the tiny box: it measures just 10.75 inches across and back and 6.75 inchesRead | Permalink | Linking Blogs Fri, 29 Aug 2008 13:30:00 -0400 http://www.ecoustics.com/dt/news/17542 Home theater fans will tell you there's no substitute for a high-quality home theater system that's been carefully installed and tuned to a particular room. But everyday humans will often tell you that acquiring, installing, and tuning a home theater audio system is better left to another species entirely.That's where products like soundmatters' SLIMstage40 hope to get a foothold in the home theater market, offering high-quality home theater audio without requiring complicated installation or a degree in funny-colored wires and cryptic interfaces to install. The SLIMstage40 is an all-in-surround bare designed to fit neatly be Tue, 12 Aug 2008 13:30:00 -0400 http://news.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/10381/507632.html Mon, 11 Aug 2008 03:41:00 -0400 http://news.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/10381/506776.html Tue, 05 Aug 2008 23:18:00 -0400 http://news.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/10381/506392.html Mon, 04 Aug 2008 11:20:00 -0400 http://news.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/10381/504064.html Wed, 23 Jul 2008 21:09:00 -0400 http://news.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/10381/503939.html Wed, 23 Jul 2008 10:53:00 -0400 http://news.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/10381/501601.html Fri, 11 Jul 2008 16:26:00 -0400 http://www.ecoustics.com/dt/news/17258 Anyone who's set up a home theater with surround sound knows what a pain setup and calibration can be. First of all, the idea of surround sound is great until you try to get speakers set up around your bookshelves, umbrella stands, pet beds, end tables, lamps, and (let's not forget) furniture. Once the speakers are set in no-doubt less-than-ideal spots, you get to spend hours calibrating your audio. Just when it sounds great, you move your head six inches to the left and all the dialog gets muddy. Great.Mitsubishi aims to simplify the surround sound problem by integrating a simulated 5.1 surround sound experience right into their flat panel televisions. Their Ultra Thin Frame P Fri, 11 Jul 2008 13:15:00 -0400 http://ecoustics-cnet.com.com/8301-13645_3-9985451-47.html?part=ecoustics-cnet Revised textbook of Tomlinson Holman, a developer of Lucas' THX Sound, provides an in-depth overview of surround sound for recording professionals and home theater enthusiasts alike. Thu, 10 Jul 2008 09:53:00 -0400 http://news.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/10381/501050.html Tue, 08 Jul 2008 17:54:00 -0400 http://www.ecoustics.com/dt/news/17159 Business projectors may be optimized for PowerPoint presentations, spreadsheets and PDFs, but at the end of the day, everyone knows that they’re still going to be firing up a DVD now and then in the downtime. Samsung introduced a line of projectors tailored to both business use and movies on Tuesday with the A400 and D300 data projectors.To make it usable in brightly lit scenarios, the A400 gets a “high brightness” mode that lets it kick out 2,000 ANSI lumens for maximum visibility in the boardroom, but also sports a “theater mode” that optimizes color and contrast wh Tue, 01 Jul 2008 10:05:00 -0400 http://www.ecoustics.com/dt/news/17137 Sony has announced three new AV receivers in its Elevated Standard (ES) line, aiming to please the home theater crowd with 1080p video support, the latest high-end audio codecs, and Faroudja DCDi Cinema technology for video upscaling. The new models also sport a PlayStation-inspired xross media bar onscreen interface to esy navigation and configuration. The ynits also sport Sony's Digital Cinema Auto Calibration for setting up surround sound, and Bravia Sync for coordinating compatible Sony home theater components. The units also sport a Digital Media Port that adds connectivity options for Sony Walkmans, satellite radio, and devices like Apple's iPod media players."The rapid evolution of Fri, 27 Jun 2008 12:20:00 -0400 http://www.ecoustics.com/dt/news/17076 As video sharing site YouTube gets closer and closer to consumers' living room television, it's no surprise the service is trying to come up with ways to offer higher quality content than, say, teenagers doing karaoke via a Web cam or eight years-olds staging sock puppet plays. To that end, YouTube has announced Screening Room, a dedicated area of the YouTube site featuring high-quality shorts from independent filmmakers."The YouTube Screening Room will connect films and audiences in the world's largest theater, not only providing filmmakers with a much-needed showcase, but also helping you find new high-quality content every two week Fri, 20 Jun 2008 13:15:00 -0400 http://www.ecoustics.com/pcw/news/147251 Texas Instruments unveils a DLP chipset that frees projectors from the costs of a lamp and typical maintenance. Wed, 18 Jun 2008 15:20:00 -0400 http://www.ecoustics.com/dt/news/16919 We’ve seen miniscule speakers done before by the likes of Bose and Orb Audio, but the latest home theater system out of Sony takes the concept to its logical extreme. Fresh out of Japan, the HT-IS100 features tiny speakers that Sony equates to the size of a golf ball.The 5.1 system gets five of the mini dynamos to serve as the left, right, center and surround speakers, along with a not-so-tiny sub. It accepts three 1080p HDMI inputs with support for up to eight uncompressed audio Fri, 06 Jun 2008 10:05:00 -0400 http://news.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/10381/492992.html Thu, 05 Jun 2008 21:47:00 -0400 http://news.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/10381/492803.html Thu, 05 Jun 2008 15:49:00 -0400 http://ecoustics-cnet.com.com/8301-13505_3-9952935-16.html?tag=rsspr.6240380&part=ecoustics-cnet Featured links from the CNET Blog Network Red Hat wins the Japanese IT vote...again--Japan has chooses Red Hat its top IT vendor, two years running. Dell gripes--now it's official--The State of New York has ruled that Dell engaged in bait and switch, and more. Listening to the $6 million home theater turned up to '11'--Power, real power, is expensive. No need to blow $6 mil, but don't for a second think your 1000 watt home theater in a box will get the job done. Shanghai subway may expand into neighboring province--Shanghai's transit system is already admired as a model in China, with its expanding metro map, the maglev super-express train to the Pudong airport, and high ridership in the bus network. Wed, 28 May 2008 11:33:00 -0400 http://www.ecoustics.com/dt/news/16818 You might think that tossing any old hard drive into a black PC case and hooking it up to a TV makes a perfectly fine home theater PC, but Hitachi wants you to throw away that dorm room mentality and think again. For those demanding a little more refinement for their HTPCs, the company introduced two new CinemaStar drives on Wednesday, tailored specifically to the noise, power and heat limitations of HTPCs.The 2.5-inch C5K320 and 3.5-inch 5K500, which boast storage of 320GB and 500GB capacities, respectively, have both been equipped with Hitachi’s silent-seek acoustics to keep the whir of spi Wed, 28 May 2008 08:45:00 -0400