Sharp has announced its latest Blu-ray player, the BD-HP21H, capable of full 1080p playback, including 24p film mode, plus full Profile 1.1 and BonusView compliance.
Quick Start mode means that, from standby mode, it takes around 10 seconds to begin playing a disc.
Finished out in piano black, Sharp hasn't released the full specifications or exact availability yet, but we'll keep you posted.
IFA 2008 Coverage
More HD-related IFA 2008 coverage
IFA 2008 news from Tech Digest
JVC has introduced the NX-BD3 to its line of Sophisti Advanced Living Entertainment Systems.
The NX-BD3 is DLNA-certified, meaning it is guaranteed to play back content, including full HD video, over both wired and wireless networks.
The unit comprises a Blu-ray player with Profile 1.1 and BonusView, full 1080p playback with x.v.Colour and Deep Colour, front surround speakers and subwoofer with amplifier, front surround technology that gives a 4.1 channel effect from two speakers, a SD slot, and user-friendly GUI.
Pricing and availability to be confirmed.
JVC UK
IFA 2008 Coverage
More HD-related IFA 2008 coverage
IFA 2008 news from Tech Digest
Pioneer has announced its first home cinema systems featuring a built-in Blu-ray player.
The LX01BD features a Profile 1.1 and BonusView-compatible player including handling of 1080/24p, 12-bit HDMI Deep Colour support, dual-drive subwoofer receiver, and four satellite speakers.
The LX03BD and LX08BD take the BDP-LX08 Blu-ray player and combine it with a slim 5.1-channel AV receiver.
Australia may have got its hands on Panasonic's DMR-BW500 a few months ago, but now the PVR with recordable Blu-ray functionality is coming to France.
Features include integrated twin HD digital tuner, 500GB hard drive, recordable Blu-ray, BD-Live / BonusView, and support for new HD audio codecs.
Pricing and availability to be confirmed.
IFA 2008 Coverage
More HD-related IFA 2008 coverage
IFA 2008 news from Tech Digest
According to the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA), the high definition disc format is fast approaching a critical mass of users which will propel the format into the consumer mainstream.
The BDA's Chairman, Frank Simonis, said that the fourth quarter of 2008 would see significant growth across all areas of Blu-ray, from consumer electronics and PC hardware to games, films, and music released on the format.
Sony has introduced its latest high-end AV receiver, designed to form the heart of a complete home entertainment system.
Decent connectivity is the first noticeable point, with six HDMI inputs and two outputs, enabling connection to two displays or projectors for easy switching, plus built-in decoders for Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital Plus and DTS-HD Master Audio, eight-channel Linear PCM over HDMI, and advanced audio quality from SACDs.
Sony has announced what it claims is the world's most advanced Blu-ray player, the BDP-S5000ES.
Both video and audio has been given a boost, with the unit boasting a range of technology including HD Reality Enhancer, Super Bit Mapping, Precision Drive HD transport mechanism, and upscaling of standard definition.
So, video is improved with the HD Reality Enhancer that continuously analyses the image being read from the Blu-ray disc, sharpening edges without over-emphasising other elements of the picture, reducing the effect of grain, and increasing colour depth to 14-bit equivalent. Super Bit Mapping complements this with smoother colour tones.
5.1 and 7.1-channel speaker systems, or even stereo ones with virtual surround technology, might be the norm when it comes to a home audio setup, but Sony could be challenging that for those who'd like a single speaker column that pushes out high definition sound in all directions.
Sony's engineers reckons the sound will be as good, however close you are to the speaker and whether standing or sitting.
The main driver unit is a long, slender, organic glass tube, with sound dispersed from along its length. Apparently, there's also half as much sound loss over distance as with conventional speakers.
Sony has introduced its latest all-in-one home audio and cinema system, the BDV-IT1000, comprising a fully featured Blu-ray player and 5.1-channel speaker system.
The speakers have been nicknamed "Pocky", which is a thin chocolate pretzel popular in Japanese. You've guessed it from the photo, these speakers are also incredibly thin.
Sony's compact full-range speaker drive-unit is 16mm wide, with three of each unit used in the front and centre speakers, and two in the rear. The rear speakers can also be wirelessly driven.
Medion has announced its new AKOYA P8610 multimedia notebook PC, featuring a large 18.4-inch LCD screen, in-built Blu-ray player, and Dolby Home Theatre technology.
With optimum resolution of 1,680 x 945 pixels, it won't display non-scaled 1080p but will do a pretty good job.
It has up to 4GB of RAM, up to 500GB hard drive, Intel Core 2 Duo processor and NVIDIA GeForce 9100M GPU, 802.11n wireless, and 1.3-megapixel webcam.
Available from November, prices to be confirmed.
IFA 2008 Coverage
More HD-related IFA 2008 coverage
IFA 2008 news from Tech Digest
Medion has announced its new MEDION AKOYA high definition entertainment PC, designed to be paired up with a high definition TV in the living room rather than stuck away in an office or den.
Though the company is unusually quiet as to the exact processor and graphics processing unit being used, it's likely to be at least an Intel Core 2 Duo or better.
Main features include integrated Blu-ray player, analogue and digital TV tuners built-in, with option for dual tuners, up to 1TB hard drive, 2GB RAM, Wi-Fi 801.11n, HDMI output, and eight-channel audio and S/PDIF out.
It comes pre-loaded with Windows Vista and new media centre interface.
Should be available for around £625, from October.
Medion
IFA 2008 Coverage
More HD-related IFA 2008 coverage
IFA 2008 news from Tech Digest
Philips has been showing off its CinemaOne system, a pod-like contraption which combines DVD and CD player, iPod dock, five channel amplifier, six speakers and a subwoofer in one.
Measuring 27.3 x 17.2 x 27.3cm, the six speakers are precisely angled around the CinemaOne's body, with the four-inch subwoofer built in to the base of the unit. In a smaller room, the unit offers decent virtual surround sound.
Philips uses a digital signal processor to handle Dolby Digital, DTS, MPEG2 multichannel or stereo sound tracks, creating an immersive cinema sound effect with distinct, clear dialogue.
Videos can upscaled to 1080p via HDMI. The only downside, if you wanted to use the unit for other home audio (such as a Blu-ray player) is that there's no HDMI or multi-channel audio inputs. Perhaps Philips might consider that for a future model.
Pricing and availability to be confirmed.
Philips UK
IFA 2008 Coverage
More HD-related IFA 2008 coverage
IFA 2008 news from Tech Digest
Epson has announced five new high definition projector systems at this year's IFA, offering a range of features for different budgets. Get ready for some specs...
EH-TW420
The EH-TW420 is one of Epson's more entry level 3LCD projectors, offering 720p projection, 2,000 ANSI lumens brightness, decent connectivity including HDMI and USB, various colour modes including a game mode to better process fast moving images, in-built 7W speaker, and keystone correction.
Retailing for around £649 and available from September.
No sooner had I finished reporting on all this Philips TV goodness then Dan from Tech Digest ">found the 9800 -- I suppose it's logical given the 9600 and 9700 FlatTVs had just been announced.
Here's what he had to say:
It's all quite LCD heavy at IFA today and I've got to say that although the offerings from Philips look the least exciting so far, they do pack the best punch. While Sony and Sharp have gone for dimensions and quality with their super-thing offerings, the Philips 9800 series is pure performance.
But then, perhaps I'm being blinded by size 0 TVs. Philips continue with their HD engine and Pixel Perfect technology but now they've added the LUX LED system, presumably a reference to 'light' and 'deluxe'.
Toshiba today announced three new high definition LCD TV series, including the RV Series with 100Hz technology and the ZF Series featuring Toshiba's image upscaling technology.
ZF Series
Toshiba claims that its ZF Series is the first to offer integrated image upscaling technology, which considering it utilises the proprietary Resolution+ system is not surprising.
It means that, if you don't get your hands on Toshiba's latest upscaling DVD player, the TV can do the work for you instead.
As we've touched upon before, the system works by putting a powerful processor to work on reviewing adjacent areas of each frame, searching for similar waveforms, and combining pixel information to produce enhanced edges and an improvement in perceived depth and texture of the final picture.
Philips has used this year's IFA to announce five new or expanded ranges of high definition LCD TVs, including several FlatTVs, plus Aurea and Essence.
FlatTV
Philips' 42-inch FlatTV (model 42PFL9803) features LED backlighting technology to deliver high levels of contrast and motion smoothness.
It is the first TV to utilise Philips' LED local dimming backlight technology, LED LUX, which helps to stop the problem of light leaking and resulting lacklustre black reproduction.
The LED LUX system comprises of 128 segments of LEDs in 8 rows containing 16 segments. Nine LEDs are assigned to each individual segment, and these can be individually dimmed to precisely control the output of each pixel.
This technology helps to produce a dynamic contrast ratio of 2,000,000:1 (two million to one).
The TV also features 100Hz Clear LCD technology, an impressive 2ms response time, Pixel Perfect HD Engine, an advanced colour management system, and Ambilight Spectra 2 technology to produce ambient lighting matched with predominant colours on-screen.
Finally, the TV has four HDMI inputs, plus Ethernet for networking applications.
AQUOS XS1
It's not just Sony playing the thin TV game, with Sharp announcing its latest AQUOS LCD TV boasting 2.3cms thick body.
Available in 52 and 65-inch screen sizes, the XS1 series features advanced contrast ratio of 10,000:1, 6ms response time, detachable speaker system, five 2.1-channel speakers, and 100Hz picture enhancement technology, plus gallery mode for displaying photos from a USB stick.
Sony has announced the latest addition to its range of BRAVIA high definition projectors. The VPL-HW10 features a new design, triple-panel Sony SXRD, and 8-stage image processing with BRAVIA ENGINE 2 technology.
Silicon X-tal Reflective Display (SXRD) technology creates a fine-grained image and should eliminate the screen door effect. It also has a 2.5ms response time, reducing the risk of ghosting and other problems in fast moving scenes.
Sony has announced its new Cyber-shot T500 compact digital camera that also boasts the ability to capture high-quality (720p) video clips.
It's never going to replace a dedicated high definition camcorder, of course, particularly as it can only take clips of ten minutes a throw, storing up to an hour of footage on the 4GB memory stick, but for casual use it's a great addition to a standard stills camera.
With 10.1 megapixels, the camera is no slouch when it comes to stills, and it features a 3.5-inch Clear Photo LCD Plus touchscreen, Optical SteadyShot image stabilisation, and HD Slide Show mode for showing off your creations.
One of a huge range of announcements from Sony at this year's IFA exhibition is that of their latest BRAVIA LCD TV.
Sony claims its 40-inch BRAVIA ZX1 is the world's thinnest LCD currently available, with the screen measuring just 9.9mm (under one centimetre) at its thinnest part.
It also includes BRAVIA 1080 Wireless technology, something that Sony are really pushing hard this year because it's "what consumers want".
Sony's existing display and audio technology is also present, of course, including BRAVIA Engine 2 and Motionflow 100Hz. However, it's this "BRAVIA 1080 Wireless" that helps to keep the screen so thin.
digg this |
del.icio.us this
| 
Stumble It!
