[photopress:medusahdmi.jpg,full,center] The difference between this Medusa HDMI three-port hub and others like it is primarily, if not entirely, size. The former makes due with a square-shaped body, while the latter—lots of them, at least—gimps along in the shape of a rectangle. Spec-wise, nothing doin’. It supports HDMI 1.3 and 1080p. That’s all you need from a hub, right? Apparently it’ll be available within the month from GeekStuff4U. Prices on Newegg for similar hubs and switches range from around $20 to more than $140. How much Medusa, goes for, I couldn’t tell you. I also couldn’t tell you why an HDMI hub has been named after the mythological Greek monster. Maybe when all four HDMI cables are plugged in it resembles her head of hair? How silly. → Read More
[photopress:DPP_FP95_1.jpg,full,center] Sony loves the idea of watching your photos on your TV. Bravia-series HDTVs come with Memory Stick readers, so if you also have a Sony camera or camcorder you can do just that. And now its launched these cool little photo printers with HDMI-out so you can view the contents of any memory card on any HDMI TV. We call it magic, and we’re afraid, but respectful. Two New Sony Compact Photo Printers with HDMI Support [Akihabara] → Read More
RTcom’s HDS-41Rv13 HDMI Switcher is now available and don’t worry, it’s 1.3 compliant. It’s chock full of features like the ability to support, 36-bit Deep Color, Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD Master Audio, Blu-ray compatible, backwards compatible with all DVI devices and a slew of others. You know the drill by now. Unfamiliar with HDMI? Then check this out. RTcom’s switcher retails for $200. → Read More
[photopress:onkyos.jpg,full,center] Onkyo makes good home theater gear, and today we get word of two new affordable receivers. They’re coming out in April, and they seem pretty sweet, as far as how they spec out. The TX-SR576 and 506 both come in black or silver, feature daul audio zones, 5.1 Dolby and DTS, and multiple HDTV inputs, including 3 HDMI inputs and two component video inputs. For audio, the receivers have two optical and two coaxial, so those of you with multiple game systems are well served. The main difference between the two is how they handle HDMI. The 506 basically acts as an HDMI switcher, where as the 576 has a decoder on the HDMI bus. If you’re planning on making HDMI your main interface, then the 576 is the one to look to at $479. If you have a healthy mix, you’re fine with the $379 506. Onkyo Debuts Entry-Level A/V Receivers With Powered Zone 2, Audyssey Dynamic EQ and More [Press Release] → Read More
It’s been a while since my last Orientation, but we’ve all been traveling around for various events and such over the last month so it’s been a little hectic. To get things back on track, we’re going to talk about High-Definition Multimedia Interface, better known as HDMI. The Super Bowl is coming up as well as March Madness and some of you just got a brand new HDTV for the holidays so let’s try and get the best out of the whole deal. Sound good? → Read More
[photopress:cheapappletv.jpg,full,center] Granted, Apple may have dropped the price of its Apple TV while simultaneously adding much needed features (like HD support), but I have a less expensive alternative you might enjoy. Head over to Monoprice, and buy a cable that’s compatible with your computer’s video out port. Connect that cable from your computer to your TV and you’ll be watching movies, HD or otherwise, on your big screen, all for the fraction of the cost of an Apple TV. (I have an iMac, which uses a mini-DVI port, so I needed this mini-DVI to DVI adapter before getting an cheap DVI-to-HDMI cable.) Total cost: around $15 (I was able to buy the adapter for my iMac using a Best Buy gift card). $15 vs. $230? Combine your setup with a little BitTorrent action and every night can be movie night, or The Office night or Lost night or… Shocking low cable prices [Monoprice] → Read More
Product Name: Philips HTS6100 and 6515D Description: These two new home theater systems try to help you minimize clutter in your living room. The HTS6100 is a soundbar-style speaker with a built-in DVD player, iPod dock, and USB input as well as a separate subwoofer. (It’s a cheaper and smaller version of the company’s HTS8100.) The HTS6515D is a home theater in a box, with a central receiver/DVD player plus two speakers and a subwoofer. Both systems use Philips’ Ambisound virtual surround technology to give you 5.1-channel audio from only three speakers. Both units look pretty hot and both have HDMI connectivity and HD video upconversion built in. Price: HTS6100, $599; HTS6515D, $499 In-store date: May 2008 Site: www.philips.com Why it’s cool: All-in-one home theater systems that use virtual surround can be hit or miss. These certainly look pretty cool, though we’ll have to test them out to see if they live up to the overblown descriptions in the press release. → Read More
Product Name:Pioneer VSX-518-K, VSX-818V-K, VSX-918V-K and VSX-1018TXH-K Description: Pioneer just updated its AV receiver line with the VSX-518-K, VSX-818V-K, VSX-918V-K and VSX-1018TXH-K, all of which sport plenty of high-def goodness. The high-end VSX-1018-K supports HDMI 1.3 and does on-board decoding of HD audio formats like Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital Plus, DTS-HD Master Audio, and DTS-HD High Resolution Audio. It also pumps out 130 watts on 7 channels, so everyone in your neighborhood can enjoy The Bourne Ultimatum along with you, thanks to Pioneer’s Direct Energy Amplifier technology and improved heat compensation. The other three receivers use Pioneer’s P.H.A.T. seriously? (Pioneer Hybrid Amplifier Technology) to crank out 120 watts over 5 channels with improved sonic accuracy. All but the VSX-518-K have iPod, XM, and Sirius inputs. Price:$199, $249, $349, and $599 In-store date:April, except the VSX-1018TXH-K, which will drop in June. Site:www.pioneerelectronics.com Why it’s cool: The high-end model has just about everything you’d need for a high-def setup, plus plenty of power. The other ones? Not bad for the price, but nothing to crap your pants about. → Read More
Regular readers will know how much we loathe the Blu-Ray/HD-DVD wars and wish that they, like the War on Terror or the War on Drugs or the War on Baby Seals, would end soon, as there can be no clear victor. That’s why we give a sideways glance at the new format war brewing that could see CES 2008 as the first battlefield — the format for wireless HD content. Not wireless as in mobile, but as in HDMI-sucks. There are three emerging, rival consortiums aimed at creating a standard to deliver the content over “last foot”, from the receiver or player to the HDTV itself. As we buy our fancy flat-panel TVs, we want to hang them on the walls, as some sort of “window to entertainment”. That cable snaking down the wall ruins the effect. So bring on the first salvos, e-warriors. Fight and scrap till the last group can be a victor. Cry Havoc! And let slip the, uh, chips of war. Rivalry over wireless high-def TVs [Yahoo! news/AP] → Read More
I really love home theater stuff. I’m a nerd for it. And that means that, perhaps like you, I’ve run out of HDMI ports for my gear. My TV has but one, and I’ve got three different devices that vie for it, much the same as how girls vie for my attention. The solution is the XtremeHD HDMI switcher by the geniuses over at XtremeMac. Looking very much like my Apple TV, the XtremeHD, lack of leading vowels aside, is a simple machine that works flawlessly, and is just what the doctor ordered. For the HDMI situation, not the girls who chase me. → Read More
Did you buy one of those Xbox 360s when they first came out? You know, the ones without HDMI? But you’re all about HDMI now, and think it’s way cool? But you don’t want to buy a whole new Xbox just to get HDMI? Am I pigeon-holing you enough? In short, there’s now a plug-in HDMI adapter for the Xbox, and it’s $90, which is far too much if you ask me. And, since I’m a blogger, and this is the blog I write for, you reading this is sort of the same thing, so there. Xbox 360 HDMI Conversion Kit [GameStop] → Read More
If you’re remodeling the beach house this year, do be sure to pick up these HDMI-to-Cat5 converters. Essentially, they allow you to keep a electronics room somewhere in the house and then connect your TV straight into the wall to get red hot HDMI hi-def content no matter where you are. This is actually a really good idea. It lets organizations have a centralized AV office and stream content to each room as it sees fit. But you just know some rich douche will have this stuffed in his walls and never use them and ten years from now when HDMI is quaintly obsolete other rich douches will hire workers to just pull them out and plasterboard over them. Product Page → Read More
False alarm. It’s certainly not groundbreaking, but it does clean up the clutter and takes care of that one HDMI slot problem. Luckily for me, my roommate’s Vizio has two HDMI ports, though I only use one for the 360 Elite. The HDMI 2-to-1 Video Switch does what’d you’d expect it to, which is what now, class? That’s right. It allows you to hook up two HD devices to your HDTV via a single HDMI or DVI connection. It’s available now for $49.99. Press Release → Read More
Currently, Circuit City is listing LG’s much-anticipated BH200 combination Blu-ray / HD DVD / DVD player for $799.99. That’s an expensive player with a price reminiscent of the first HD DVD and Blu-ray players to hit the market. Sure, it can do 1080p, DVD upscaling and play both formats, but with Toshiba’s A2 HD DVD player going for $198 at Wal-Mart and the PS3 going for $399 or less, the price just doesn’t match the BH200′s value. Sure HDMI 1.3 is nice, but your PS3 does that just fine and it plays games from three generations of consoles to boot. The worst part about all this is that Circuit City is selling the LG BH200 greatly discounted compared to other online retailers; though it does appear that one site is selling it for a paltry $699. My advice? Pick a format and deal. If you simply can’t, save some cash and just buy two different players. Circuit City Product Page → Read More
Maybe I’m alone on this one, but does anyone actually sit there with a group of people, connecting a device to an HDTV so everyone can view photos on a 42-inch screen? Do feel free to let me know if you do. For those of you who are into that sort of thing, Sony has announced a device that is sure to keep you from sleeping at night until its release. The HDMS-S1D Digital Photo Album is a small little box from Sony that resembles a Drobo. It has a built-in 80GB hard drive for storing your photos and a variety of outputs such as HDMI, composite, component and S-Video so any TV you throw at it can display your pictures. You can load photos onto the device via a card reader, DVD/CD drive, USB or even Ethernet. There’s loads of software for playback and organization, so if you are a true photo aficionado, you’ll be pleased no doubt about it. Look for the HDMS-S1D later this month for $400. After the jump, a picture of the back of the device. Sony offers 80GB digital photo album [Electronista] → Read More
Anything proprietary burns my biscuits. Lately it’s been Samsung phones and the multiple cables I need for charging and headsets and whatever else. The Xbox 360 and its proprietary business is a crock as well, but it’s the best console out there and M$ is losing money over every console sold. You can’t really blame them for trying to make a few bucks here and there. Don’t get me wrong though, it’s their problem not ours. Luckily we have the Internet and DIYers to make life a little more easy and cheaper. If you’re the tech savvy type then you know HDMI is the way to go, but you can’t have both HDMI and the component A/V cables plugged in at the same time on the 360 Premium. So how do you get HDMI video and digital optical audio? → Read More
During IFA, Daewoo, maker of all things cheap and imported, announced it would be dipping its feet into the waters of the Blu-ray market with its first player, the DBP-1000. Sleek blue looks aside, the player is slim and supports full BD-R specifications. It can access live content, output in 1080p via HDMI, upscale DVDs and photos to full-rez, and can playback DivX files. The DBP-1000 can also playback any burned CD or DVD, as well as burned BD-R and BD-RE discs in case you have friends with a lot of data (or burned movies). All inputs you’d expect are available, including digital sound, and a USB port is included on the front for flash drives. Sounds like an awesome player. As much as I’d love to get my hands on it, Daewoo failed to mention anything about price or availability. Daewoo demos ‘Blu-ray Disc 2.0′ player [Reg Hardware] → Read More
Oh you didn’t know? Microsoft decked out the Premium Xbox 360 with an HDMI port, giving you one less reason to shell out the extra cash for an Elite 360. (I’d save for the new Halo 3 360, but that’s just me.) How do you spot the HDMI-equipped Premium? Um, it says that it has an HDMI port. Also, you’ll find the word “Zephyr” on the box. Class dismissed. Some Guy’s Photobucket Album [Photobucket via Joystiq] → Read More
Finally! Microsoft is addressing problems with broken and overheated 360s by supposedly releasing a new model soon that will feature built-in HDMI, 65nm CPUs, and quiet DVD drives. Also, heating issues that cause some 360s to break will be fixed, I’m guessing via an improved fan or something. Either way, this is a win for anyone with a 360 or planning to purchase one. No word yet on whether Microsoft will honor the $50 price drop on these new models. Cooler 360s Coming This Month or Next [Kotaku] → Read More
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