hdmi

Belkin's FlyWire Wireless HDMI

I think you would all agree that there is nothing cooler than a flat screen TV hanging on your wall. I think you would also agree that there is nothing worse than a wirey mess hanging from said screen. Luckily, many companies at this years CES are showing wireless HDMI in various forms and Belkin is no exception. The FlyWire is a wireless, two piece device that connects to your HDMI devices in your AV rack and sends them to the receiver that fits neatly behind your TV. It is capable of delivering 1080p content over an undisclosed range and … Read more

Belkin FlyWire wirelessly transmits six AV sources to your HDTV

It's a common dilemma: you have the flat-screen TV perfectly placed in the living room or home theater, but the rest of your gear is located halfway across the room. You can snake a long HDMI cable around the perimeter--or you can consider something like the Belkin FlyWire. The transmitter/receiver combo lets you toggle as many as six AV sources and wirelessly transmit the audio and video--up to full 1080p--from one side of the room (your equipment rack) to the other (your big-screen TV or projector). The version Belkin was demoing at its booth had two HDMI inputs, two component inputs, a composite/S-Video AV set, and a SCART input--but the company hinted that that the North American version may drop the SCART jack (useless outside Europe) in favor of a third HDMI input. The generous connectivity means even the biggest home-theater geek will have the capacity for all of his gear--say, a PS3, an HD DVR, an Xbox 360, a DVD recorder, a Nintendo Wii, and a sixth device. Setup is said to be plug and play (the transmitter pairs with the receiver at the touch of a button), and because it's a closed system, it should be universally compatible with any standard video source and an HDMI TV.

Watch the Belkin FlyWire video on CNET TV.… Read more

Tributaries HXC5: 1080p video over Ethernet

So you've got all that wonderful home cinema gear installed in your house, everything is looking rosy, but then you make a horrifying discovery. You installed the screen too far away from the HD DVD player and moving it would mess up your whole setup. Enter the HXC5, a box that can send HDMI-compliant video over Cat 5 cable.

The HXC5 claims to be able to send 1080p video signals up to 50 meters--which is about 30 meters further than a regular HDMI cable--over either Cat 5/5E or even swanky-shiny-newish Cat 6. Tributaries claims it does this with &… Read more

Episode 604: School daze

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Bose finally endorses HDMI

After sidelining this now de facto digital A/V interface for years, Bose has finally relented with two new HDMI-enabled products.

The Lifestyle V20 and V30-series home theater systems feature a hideaway media console outfitted with two HDMI inputs and a single output, Audioholics. Both 5.1-channel kits also perform automatic HD video scaling up to 1080p and are loaded with a DVD player plus its proprietary ADAPTiQ sound calibration system.

The V20 is priced at $1,999, while the higher-end V30 with Jewel Cube speakers is going for $2,999. We are still awaiting confirmation on the products' availability.… Read more

New Toshiba LCDs pinch an inch

Yesterday at the CEDIA show in Denver, Toshiba added to its strangely named "Regza" line of LCDs with a pair of models designed to maximize the amount of front-panel real estate devoted to the screen. Badged with the even stranger moniker "SNB," for "Super Narrow Bezel," the 40-inch 40RF350U ($1,899) and 46-inch 46RF350U ($2,499) indeed have some narrow-looking bezels. In fact, when we compared the 46-inch member of the Sharp LC-D64U series (the thinnest-bezeled LCDs we've seen yet) to its SNB competitor, the Toshiba's panel was narrower by all of 1.22 inches in width and 1.53 inches in height, although the Sharp was less deep by 1.56 inches. So when the Toshiba press release uses the phrase World's Thinnest LCD TV Bezel, we believe it. Other highlights include:

Toshiba RF350U series key features

1080p native resolution Three HDMI 1.3 inputs VGA-style PC input with up to 1366x768/1280x1024 resolution 10-bit panel with xvYCC color support Dimensions of 46-inch model (panel only, WHD): 42.1 by 25.9 by 5.3 inches Dimensions of 40-inch model (panel only, WHD): 36.7 by 22.8 by 5.1 inches September release date… Read more

Pioneer proffers another $1K Blu-ray

The going rate for high-end, late-2007 Blu-ray players seems to have settled in at $1,000, with at least one exception, and Pioneer's latest, the BDP-95FD, follows that trend. The new player, expected to be available mid-October, replaces the company's BDP-94HD and BDP-HD1 players, offering the same 1080p/24 playback and Home Media Gallery, plus expanded support for high-resolution audio formats. Here's the nitty gritty:

Pioneer BDP-95FD's key features

1080p output at 24 frames per second Internal decoding of Dolby Digital Plus Bitstream output for Dolby Digital Plus and DTS-HD Master HDMI 1.3 output, with xvYCC support Home Media Gallery video, audio, and photo streaming Ethernet port $1,000 list price, mid-October release date… Read more

New Yamaha Digital Sound Projectors add HDMI

When it released the original Digital Sound Projector in 2005, Yamaha was one of the first mainstream manufacturers to dabble in the burgeoning virtual surround-sound field. Since then, the company's products have been the benchmark in the single-speaker surround field. Not content to rest on its laurels in the face of increasing competition, Yamaha's just announced three new models, which make up the third-generation of the Digital Sound Projector line. All three are designed to deliver a wider soundstage than earlier units, and include new 5-Channel and "My Surround" modes in addition to standard Dolby Digital and DTS decoding modes. While they can be used in conjunction with AV receivers, each model is essentially a fully functioning home-theater-in-a-box, so you can just connect your sources (DVD, cable/satellite, game consoles, etc.), and be good to go. The big step-up feature for 2007 is the addition of HDMI connectivity to the two top-of-the-line models. Details are as follows:… Read more

Xbox 360 Premium now includes HDMI

The Xbox 360 is getting to be a better deal all the time. Hot off the news of a price drop, Microsoft has confirmed that the Xbox 360 Premium--which now retails for $350--now includes an HDMI output. The confirmation comes after Shacknews posted photos of a newly purchased Xbox 360 with the telltale port, essentially proving that the rumored upgrade was already available in stores.

So what's the big deal? HDMI provides a single-cable, all-digital connection to compatible HDTVs and AV receivers, delivering far fewer wires, higher quality, and better 1080p compatibility than the combination of component video and … Read more