Here’s another great surround-sound solution for small rooms and wives who don’t like extra wires.

Similar to the Yamaha YSP-800, this is an all-in-one speaker unit that throws sound with delay timings that trick your ear into hearing surround sound from the sides and rear. Just like the Yamaha however, you’ll need to add a subwoofer to be bass-happy.

At 42″ wide, and offered in black or titanium (fancy name for silver, eh?) this piece is a great additon to flat panel HDTVs.

The Polk SurroundBar doesn’t bounce sound off walls like the Yamaha model, so it is great for odd-shaped rooms, or rooms with other acoustical problems.

The good: Sleek single-speaker surround system; five speakers in one; extruded-aluminum cabinet; flexible setup options; nonreflective virtual-surround effect works regardless of room design and layout; wall-mount bracket and table stand included.

The bad: Somewhat expensive; hardly an ideal choice for music lovers; you still need to invest in a subwoofer.

The bottom line: A single-speaker surround system, the Polk Audio SurroundBar works best as a home-theater solution for small rooms.

CNET Review

Got an HTPC? Have a PC but no OTA HD tuner? This gem is your answer. It plugs in via USB and and tunes your local HD stations for viewing through your PC.

The review wrap-up:

“The bottom line is this: if you have an HDTV set and a XP or Media Center PC attached to it, you owe it to yourself to get the FusionHDTV5 USB Gold. The signal strength was impressive, the setup was mostly painless and the device is compact and easily transportable. And for only $149, it is one of the least expensive external HDTV options currently available.”

eHomeUpgrade Review - Via engadget

PC Magazine Names Syntax-Brillian’s 6501m 720p Gen II LCoS HDTV Product of the Year

I haven’t seen much about this model yet, but it sounds promising:

From PC Mags’s December 27th issue:
“With a three-panel LCoS(TM) light engine at its heart, the 6501m has great views from most angles and an outstanding contrast ratio. Though it’s far from a plug-and-play TV, it has the potential to be the perfect home theater centerpiece.”

In another recent review of the Syntax-Brillian 6501m, Dr. Raymond Soneira, President of DisplayMate Technologies Corp. said, “Brillian produces the very finest 720p HDTVs available at any price and these same HDTVs make outstanding large screen living room computer monitors for surfing the web, digital photography, even fine detail work like spread sheets and word processing. It’s the Holy Grail of convergence and we’ve awarded Brillian a special Five-Star DisplayMate Best Video Hardware Award and Trophy for this impressive achievement.”

It’s interesting this award went to a 720p model. Remember, these are PC guys talking, so HTPC and other computer performance may have swayed them over dedicated home theater results.

Still, worthy comments and sources.

Source

Maybe I’ve missed while on mission for those projector screen materials, but Home Depot now carries LCD flat panel TVs.

Seems like a perfect fit to me - DIY home theater, purchase what you need at America’s best DIY store.

They carry models for Sharp, Magnavox, Sylvania and Polaroid. Ok, so not the top of the line, but ya gotta start somewhere right?

Source

Well it looks like the Plasma makers are joining up to promote plasma. As the old adage says, if ya can’t beat ‘em…

Actually rather than sharing R&D, design and manufacturing secrects, it sounds like these guys are teaming up simply to promote the plasma display itself.

Great, now maybe we’ll quit hearing stuff like “But if I buy a plasma it’ll burn out in a year or two (or five) right?”

“Five leading plasma TV panel manufacturers have formed the Plasma Display Coalition to further promote the growth of plasma TV in the U.S., encourage understanding of the benefits and future potential of plasma TV and dispel lingering misconceptions about plasmaTV. The Coalition’s founders are Hitachi Home Electronics, LG Electronics USA, Panasonic Corporation of North America, Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc. and Samsung Electronics USA. Membership is open to enterprises that manufacture, market and sell plasma TV panels.
Continue Reading “Top Consumer Electronics Companies Launch Plasma Display Coalition”

We took a look at this Hitachi plasma with eCoustics a few weeks back, which was not a favorable one.

The guys over at Ultimate AV give this plasma a bit more credibility:

Pros
Stable, detailed, richly colored picture
Full feature set
Excellent remote

Cons
Mediocre black level
Inordinately high red push

Conclusion
There’s a lot to admire on this plasma. The feature set is complete, the price is good. The black level is not among the best I have seen, which is the only thing that keeps me from offering a high recommendation.

I still think you’ll get more bang for your buck with a Panasonic. But that’s just me.
Ultimate AV: Hitachi 42HDT52 Plasma Television - via HD Blog

Epson has released the PowerLite Home 20 home theater projector, and she is now shipping.

This is an entry level projector, probably a good choice for first projectors for home theater beginners.

Here are the specs:
- 480p widescreen resolution
- Up to 1200 ANSI lumens
- Up to 1000:1 contrast ratio
- Epson 3LCD technology
- Short Throw Distance
- Epson Cinema Filter
- 6 optimized color modes
- Vertical and Horizontal Lens Shift
- Includes an 80″ floor standing viewing screen in 16:9 widescreen format

This is a great deal at under a grand, with screen!

Press Release - More info at Epson

Here’s a review of Dell’s 32-inch LCD panel HDTV from Cnet.

This 1366 x 768 resolution piece can accept 1080p signals via HDMI, and displays HDTV proper at 720p.

The good: Accurate color; excellent selection of inputs; detachable speakers; slick external styling and menu system.

The bad: Relatively expensive; nondefeatable edge enhancement.

The bottom line: While we’d like to see its price drop a bit, the Dell W3201C’s impressive feature set and solid image quality definitely set it apart from the budget pack.

Summary
Overall, the Dell W3201C makes a compelling case for spending a few hundred dollars more than on no-name models, such as the Syntax Olevia LT32HV or the Maxent MX-32X3. The Dell’s copious selection of inputs, including two HDMI jacks, will definitely appeal to people with lots of gear, but people looking for the best bargain will probably still opt for one of the less-expensive no-name panels.

Dell W3201C Review

Denon pump some new tech into one of their latest receivers, the AVR-4306.

The best thing since power windows, this baby comes with Ethernet for streaming media from your PC, a USB port that allows “full control of your Rio and Creative MP3 players” with two, yep two, iPod connection ports.

And just so you’ll know, she is satellite radio ready - just add antenna.

On the video side, you get HDMI switching with 1080i upconversion.

Denon’s new AVR-4306 A/V Receiver - Via Engadget

Projector Central gives the 550 Cinema projector from Epson the once-over. This is the same model we took a look at with projector reviews earlier.

This is a native 720p, (3) LCD 16:9 unit with 3000:1 contrast ratio.

Home theater inputs include HDMI, Component and VGA.

The review covers the fact that this machine is a solid contender among the latest 720p LCD units. However, they did find an issue with misaligned LCD panels causing color convergence and pixel structure problems. (Part of the screen had an obvious color tint, and half seemed a bit out of focus.)

Review Conclusion
“The Epson Powerlite Cinema 550 is among the strongest of the new high contrast LCD projectors released this fall. Those who make their projector selections based on manufacturer’s specs will tend to overlook the Cinema 550 with its official 3000:1 rating, and go for one of the competing units rated at 5000:1 or higher. They do so to their detriment, for the Cinema 550 is fully capable of meeting or exceeding the actual contrast, black level, and color saturation performance of the other high contrast LCDs in its price range.”

This machine could be a good choice, if you get one without the LCD panel alignment problem. If you buy this unit, make sure the dealer will work with you if there is a problem. Epson should work with you as well, but I think you’d be better off with a dealer who can ship something out faster and is very interested in keeping your sale.

Review: EPSON Cinema 550 Home Theater Projector