Yeah, baby! Wow, look at that thing - I think I need a glass of water. The largest rear projection hdtv - I give you the Samsung SVP-71L8UH. (But I take it right back.)

Samsung is selling this baby beginning Friday, and plans to launch the SVP-71L8UH in North America early next month. Launch price in S. Korea is about $7350.

Depth is under two feet, and Samsung claims you can hang this baby on a wall! It weighs over a hundred pounds, but wall mounting should be doable for worthy htdudes.

(Asian chick not included.)

Source

Universal Music Group is the latest company to get behind the Blu-ray optical disc, announcing its support for Sony’s next-generation media format this week.

Yes, blu-ray, the current next-standard war contender. Not Blue Ray, from down the way.

Other basic info in the articles explains Blu-Ray and the difference between that and standard DVD. Substandard HTduder fare, we got it.

Wired: Source

This is one slick motorized ceiling speaker for home theater. Being an admitted control freak, I’m not one for this type of unit. I prefer moving speakers around to get the perfect soundstage.

But if you prefer form over function, this thing would definitely get the 007 look going in your HT. The motorized unit drops down from the ceiling when your system powers up. Let this baby drop down with your motorized screen in concert, and your guests will know just what that Dr.Evil-eye was all about.

Unit should be available next month for 500 bucks retail.

Source

A source close to HTDude headquarters, ok so they’re on another continent, has news of the upcoming XBox 360 pricing.

The basic “Core System” will be $299 in the States, 299 Euros in Europe, and £209 in the UK.

They will also offer the full bling setup with 20GB hard drive, wireless controller, headset and remote control. It will run £279, 399 Euros and $399 in real money.

The additional components would run more than 200 bucks separately. The hard drive alone is 100 of that. Get the full kit guys.

Still no set ship date, just the same ambiguous “before Christmas.” Yeah, it better come out in time for all those grown men, I mean parents to buy for their loving children.

Source

I’ve read a couple mentions of ABC’s feed interruption. I finally found an affiliate with a comment on it.

While it performs upgrades at its HDTV release facility, the ABC television network will be interrupting its HDTV feed to its affiliate stations beginning Tuesday, Aug. 23, and continuing through Friday, Aug. 26.

ABC will be replacing their HD router. At least this (hopefully) won’t interrupt the Monday Night Football game.

WMTW - ABC To Interrupt HDTV Feed

Ok, I had to do a double take when I was reading this. A triple-take actually. Whoever wrote this needs to switch to a lighter brand of crack:

The Compact Sound System, which is specifically designed for the PS2 Compact, features two 3-watt and two 1-watt stereo speakers, providing gamers with a high-quality simulated home theater experience while gaming, listening to CDs, or watching DVDs. The speakers swivel down to a flat position, allowing for easy storage, and are custom-designed to blend with your PS2 Compact.

Ahem. 2 three-watt speakers, and 2 one-watt speakers. Yeah mon, we be jammin now. But hang on - let’s get to the video!

Next, the Compact Color Game Screen allows gamers to play their PS2 Compact anywhere. It features a compact 5.4″ monitor that provides better game graphics than a TV, built-in stereo speakers (or you can plug in external speakers), dual earphone jacks for multi-player gaming, and easy reach front-panel volume and brightness/color controls. The screen attaches securely to the PS2 Compact and folds flat on top of the unit for easy storage.

Did you read that! A 5.4″ monitor that’s better than a TV! Awright!! I think I’ll go chunk my front projector now, there’s no way I can touch this “high-quality simulated home theater experience” with my rig.

Press Release

Sony Expands SXRD Rear Projection HDTV Line With 50 and 60-Inch Grand WEGA Televisions

Sony supplements their current RP offerings with these new 50 and 60″ 1080p models, the KDS-R60XBR1 and KDS-R50XBR1 Grand WEGA.

KDS-R50XBR1

KDS-R60XBR1

Among the regular PR marketspeak, I saw:

The panels produce a contrast ratio of 5000:1. Refinements to the panel circuit layout enabled Sony to reduce the pixel pitch on an individual panel to just seven micrometers, resulting increased pixel density, yields, quick response time and a brilliant film-like picture.

They come with CableCARD, dual HDMI inputs, three firewire inputs, PC input, and optical audio out. Oh yeah, the requisite memory stick slot will be there as usual.

The KDS-R60XBR1 and KDS-R50XBR1 units represent the upper end of rear projection from Sony, with the new SXRD panels. They are added to their current SXRD products, the 70-inch Qualia 006 and Qualia 004 front projector. The units are due to ship in September for about $5,000 and $4,000.

This is good news for HTDudes, mfgs please continue to bring the 1080p bling…

Press Release

Two new PureVision plasma televisions introduced today by Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc.

The new whiz-bang tech includes “newly designed Crystal Emissive Layer” and “Pioneer’s PureDrive II circuitry” with claimed result of the improved contrast ratios and black levels.

The Pioneer PDP-5060HD and PDP-4360HD should be available in September - estimated prices $6,000 and $4,500.

Bring on this Fall, Papa wants a new set of toys.

Press Release

Bummer news today as HD-DVD, once touted as the next new bling for your rig, is losing some of its much needed Christmas push.

Paramount Pictures was to release 20 titles, is now committed to none.
NBC Universal plans to release around a dozen, down from 16 releases promised.
Time Warner has no definite plans and wants the format war worked out. (yeah, don’t we all!)

Toshiba will likely have the only stand-alone hardware in retail channels for the holidays, at around a grand.

This may not mean much to Joe Htdudes in general, but this kind of slack in the push towards the next tech will hurt. Why? Because the bling-kings who buy on the bleeding edge, taking the hardest hit for Joe Consumer, won’t be snapping this stuff up at Christmas time if it ain’t on the shelf.

Maybe a format negotiation would be best for this industry. I’ll stick my screwdriver up for that.

Source

Samsung’s new 5-disc HTiB systems all incorporate an integrated DVD Player/Receiver, a full set of high-quality surround sound speakers and a superb sub-woofer to transform any living room into a fully- functional digital entertainment center. Audiophiles will appreciate the wide center channel speaker that enhances dialogue prominence during movies so words do not interfere against background sound effects and music.

Ummm, I think audiophiles already appreciate what a center channel has to offer, and I doubt these packages would please a true audiophile’s ear. They do offer an easy way for beginners to get into home theater, and have some home theater PC functions without the hassle of a full-fledged HTPC.

The five-disc progressive-scan DVD players support multimedia files including DivX and MP3, as well as DVD Audio, WMA-Disc, CD-R/RW and DVD -R/RW. They also display JPEG images so viewers can watch picture slide shows burned to CD from digital cameras in the comfort of their living rooms instead of huddling around a small computer monitor.

We definitely want to grow this sport as much as possible, so I name this entry-level home theater in a box experience as worthy of the game.

Press Release