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Sharp shows ultra-thin LCD displays

Last week at CEDIA Expo 2008, Sharp displayed a new range of AQUOS LCD televisions at just over 1″ in depth. But it is more than just a slim size, they also pack a stellar picture.

The XS1-series is comprised of two screen sizes, the 65″ LC-65XS1U-S and 52″ LC-52XS1U-S. They feature a three-color LED backlight, and a color gamut that is has 50% greater than the NTSC standard. A dynamic contrast ratio of 1,000,000:1 is boasted by the company, although you will see much less than that in real-life scenarios.



A new feature for Sharp, these panels have a built-in light sensor which is designed to decrease the brightness of the display as the ambient room lighting drops. This maintains a bright image while conserving energy.



Because of its thin depth, the inputs for the TV are made through an outboard set-top box. This box connects via HDMI or with an optional wireless connection.

And what would a premium flat panel be today without an internet connection? Sharp has their own called AQUOS Net.

My gratitude to Cameron for the photographs.

Lite-On made Plextor Drives coming soon

CDRLabs has the inside scoop that a new Plextor drive is in the works, manufactured by Lite-On.

“Based on the Lite-On DH-20A6S (iHAS120), the Plextor PX-806SA features an SATA interface and is capable of 20x DVD±R, 8x DVD±R and 12x DVD-RAM writing speeds.”

“Plextor is trying to recapture some of the enthusiast market by offering a new utility that will allow users to tap into the drive’s more advanced features. Like PlexTools, this utility will perform various write quality tests and can measure things like FE/TE and jitter rates. Most likely, it will also control Lite-On’s SmartWrite and SmartErase functions, which are already very similar to Plextor’s own AUTOSTRATEGY and PlexEraser technologies.”

Plextor stopped its own in house design and manufacturing of optical disc drives in January 2007, most likely due to plummeting profits and fierce competition in the ODD market. They still continue to market and sell rebadged drives and have used BenQ, Pioneer and LG as suppliers in the past.

A day to remember

Today I want to talk briefly about the infamous day seven years ago when the whole world changed. September 11, 2001.

Even seven years later, this is a very emotional day. I still see the signs and stickers that say, “Never forget.” I doubt anyone will ever forget, they don’t need reminding. This has changed the way people live, the way they think and act.

This morning I turned on the television and one channel was playing the news footage from that morning in its entirety. I couldn’t handle it. Yes, it’s a terrible day, but I don’t want to relive it every year.

Many politicians and pundits have politicized the day, they’ve profited from one of the worst events in US history. But so many more have truly shown their character through the hard times, and have found common ground with one another. Some people talk about the unity that followed as if the tragedy was cause of positive change in our nation. I wouldn’t say it was good, it was different. This country has always valued unity, charity and community.

Though we should never romanticize this day, we should also never let it hold us back.

Sony shows Blu-ray mega changer

In the age of digital media, the disc changer seems anachronistic, but with Blu-ray Disc it still makes sense. A 500GB media server can hold about eleven high-def movies. Last year Sony released a digital media server with a built-in 200-disc Blu-ray changer, and this year they’ve showed a new 400-disc mega changer at CEDIA Expo.

Besides the fact that it holds 400 Blu-ray discs, DVDs, CDs and (presumably) SACDs, there’s not much to know. It supports BD-Live features and has RS-232 control, but this is all expected.

Releasing in 2009, it should be the least expensive way to store and access your movie collection. The recently released Escient Vision media server will control up to four of these players through the on-screen display.

Xbox price drop

Microsoft has dropped the price on all their Xbox 360 models today. They now have the cheapest next-generation game console on the market.

The Xbox 360 Arcade will sell for $200. This console does not have a hard drive, but does come with vouchers for five downloadable games from Xbox Live.

The Xbox 360 Pro is now selling for $300. This is the 60GB edition with wireless controllers.

The Xbox 360 Elite is $400, coming even with the 80GB Sony Playstation 3. This console has 120GB and has a black case.

Console sales generally take off when under $200, so you can expect a strong holiday season for Microsoft.

Pioneer unveils new Elite Blu-ray player

Although they are derided for such a pricey Blu-ray player while the market is still waiting for $200 players, Pioneer’s Elite line is aimed specifically at the high-end customer, and is approximately $2,000 more than the target price for the average consumer. So what do you want? Unfortunately we all can’t have the Elite quality at Walmart prices.

The new BDP-09FD was shown at CEDIA Expo 2008 this week, and it will retail for around $2,200. A bargain for a high-end DVD player … in 1998.

This player is pretty impressive. It is a full-blown BD2.0 BD-Live player, with an impressive 4GB storage capacity for downloaded content. The case itself is over-built for the highest performance standards, weighing in at close to 50 pounds. The bottom of the chassis is made of a quarter-inch steel. Supporting this weight are four TAOC vibration-free feet.



Past this superfluous build quality we find full 7.1 analog output with digital-to-analog converters (DAC) specifically for each output. Most players use one for all channels, or pairs of channels. Pioneer recommends using these outputs if possible for the best audio quality. The player decodes every available DTS and Dolby audio codec on board.

On video, this player is no slouch either. With dual HDMI outputs you can watch high-def video on two screens simultaneously. 8-bit video is converted to a mind-blowing 16-bits – that’s 2,800,000,000,000 shades of color.

This is intended to be the ultimate universal disc player. So far, it’s champ.