Oct/090
LG’s Blu-ray 5.1 home cinema system with iPod dock
LG have announced a new home cinema system, and if you’re a fan of globular satellite speakers and have an iPod then this might be worth a look. The LG HB954SP Blu-ray HCS packs a Full HD 1080p video and 5.1 surround sound audio system into a compact, blue-tinged box, with 1,000W of audio tuned by ear-wizard Mr Mark Levinson.
A slide-out dock at the front takes your iPod or iPhone, and allows for control from the HB954SP’s own remote, while the system can also upscale standard definition DVDs to 1080p. An ethernet connection hooks the LG up to the internet, for streaming YouTube content and accessing BD Live content, plus there are two HDMI inputs and a USB port.
The company obviously knows that a big audience for home cinema systems are families short on space, since they’ve preloaded seven different audio tweaking profiles including one which shuts off the subwoofer; as LG say, then you won’t wake any sleeping children. LG haven’t announced pricing for the new system, but it’ll apparently land at retailers in November 2009.
LG rolls out the red carpet to bring Hollywood home
The HB954SP Blu-ray home cinema system brings the best high definition picture, sound and online content into your living room
Berkshire, 8 October 2008 LG Electronics (LG), a global leader and technology innovator in consumer electronics, has launched its new Blu-ray home cinema system (HCS) – the HB954SP. With Full HD 1080p playback, 1000W of power and 5.1 channel output, the player is neatly packaged in a stylish design with five oval satellite speakers.
With Blu-ray technology and full HD (1080p) up-scaling, the quality of the image and sound have never been clearer, enabling you to enjoy every detail on the screen from your Blu-ray movies, as well as improving the quality of your existing DVD collection. Having specially tuned the system, Mr Mark Levinson, the international authority of high-end audio, ensures that the sound quality is nothing short of perfection – guaranteed to enhance the cinematic experience.
Enhancing its reputation of manufacturing cutting-edge technology, LG’s latest system is packed with amazing features to access additional video and audio content. With one click access to YouTube, the world’s favourite contents sharing site is available at your fingertips, giving access to more than 2.5 billion videos online from the comfort of your living room. The addition of BD Live means you also have access to extra content and downloadable features from filmmakers’ websites. The HB954SP is also able to dock and charge your iPhone or iPod, allowing you to play your music collection through the home cinema system.
Sarah Thompson, marketing executive for digital media at LG Electronics, says, “LG brings the explosiveness and realism of the Hollywood blockbusters into your living room with our latest home cinema system. It is a testament to our endeavour to push the boundaries and create home entertainment solutions to suit everyone’s needs, whilst incorporating the best quality image, sound, and online capabilities”
Designed for ease-of-use, the inclusion of the LG Sound Gallery offers seven simple options to enhance the sound being played to help you create the perfect ambiance in your home, complimenting any mood, so you can activate night mode to turn off the bass so you do not wake sleeping children. With 2 HDMI inputs, this also allows you to hook up other devices such as a game console, DVD recorder or HD satellite box offering great connectivity,
This system will be available from November 2009 from major retailers and independents.
HB954SP
Features:
· 1000W audio system, specially tuned by Mr Mark Levinson
· Playback Blu-ray discs in Full HD
· Stream YouTube videos
· iDock – connect your iPod or iPhone and control it all from the remote control
· 2 HDMI inputs
· Full HD 1080p upscaling of standard DVDs
· LG Sound Gallery
· BD Live – download extra movie content via the internet
· Touch sensitive controls
· USB playback
· Optical input
Sep/090
QNAP HD Network Media Player
Networked media players are, if not quite ten-a-penny, then at least increasingly common these days, so it takes more than an ethernet port and an HDMI output to impress us. QNAP are hoping their NMP-1000 will do just that, however, thanks to its onboard 3.5-inch hard-drive (up to 2TB), Full HD 1080p output, YouTube and Flickr support, automatic NAS backup functionality and UPnP streaming.
QNAP NMP-1000 Brings Networked Video, Audio, Digital Pictures And Other Digital Content Into The Living Room
New Home Network Appliance Unique Blending of Set-top Box Player and Networked Storage Capable of Delivering Cinema Quality Video and Audio to the Home Theater
Taipei, Taiwan, September 2009 – QNAP Systems, Inc, a world-class manufacturer of Network Attached Storage (NAS) servers today unveiled a unique new network appliance that can best be described as a set-top player crossed with a NAS server. Computer users around the globe face the dilemma of how to centrally store, manage, and playback growing amounts of digital content spread around the home on multiple computers.
“QNAP ’s ground-breaking NMP-1000 Network Multimedia Player is the definitive product that bridges the gap between the home network and the living room” said Meiji Chang, CEO of QNAP Systems, Inc. “Users are clamoring to centrally store and enjoy all their digital content in the living room and the NMP-1000 just fits the bill” Mr. Chang added.
The new NMP-1000 incorporates an internal hard disk drive that easily catalogs digital pictures, videos, music, and other content from computers on the home network and can effortlessly play them back in the home theater with the included remote control.
The new NMP-1000 connects to the home network via wired Ethernet (wireless adapter ready) and to an HDTV via HDMI or Component interfaces, or Composite & S-Video interfaces for standard-def TVs. The NMP-1000 is capable of playing back smooth Full HD 1080p video and crystal clear audio; turning digital picture slide shows, home videos, purchased content, and even shared iTunes® libraries into a viewing/listening experience worthy of the living room. Because the NMP-1000 is Internet connected via the home network, you can even browse digital pictures & albums from Flickr™ or videos from YouTube™. The “10-foot” user interface makes it a snap to select content for viewing with the included remote control, and the NMP-1000 supports a very wide range of formats for playing back digital pictures, videos, movies, and music. Because the NMP-1000 incorporates technologies found in its popular Turbo NAS servers, it can also be used to automatically backup computers on the network and also for easy file storage and sharing. The NMP-1000 is equally at home on Windows®, Macintosh®, Linux, and even UNIX-based home networks.
The NMP-1000 is fully DLNA™ compliant and features advanced technology including HDMI 1.3 support, powerful Sigma Designs® video/audio hardware decoders, and a host of advanced networking support hidden under the hood. Set-up and the overall user experience of the NMP-1000 are exceptionally easy and enjoyable.
Sep/090
Semiconductor Laser for Triple, Quadruple-layer Blu-ray Discs – Sharp
Sharp Corp developed a blue-violet semiconductor laser whose optical output is as high as 500mW under pulsed operation for use in Blu-ray Disc (BD) recorders.
It has an oscillation wavelength of 405nm and a capability of writing at 8x speed on triple- and quadruple-layer Blu-ray discs. The company started volume production of a blue-violet semiconductor laser with 320mW pulsed output in June 2009.
Sharp has not decided when to mass-produce the new blue-violet semiconductor laser because the specifications of triple or more layer Blu-ray disc have not been determined yet. However, the company claimed that it is now ready to commercialize the laser.
Sharp enhanced the optical output by using a new method of processing the edge face of a resonator. Normally, the edge face of a crystal in a semiconductor laser is protected by a dielectric film. This time, the company formed an aluminum oxynitride (AlON) film between the edge face of the semiconductor laser and the dielectric film by a sputtering method and realized an epitaxial growth where the growth axis of the laser’s crystal corresponds to that of the AlON crystal.
In the past, the crystal of a semiconductor laser was just covered by a noncrystalline dielectric film. Therefore, the edge face of the crystal had a surface state and absorbed laser light, and the crystal was degraded by the heat and stopped oscillation.
Sharp has already verified the reliability of the new blue-violet semiconductor laser. It confirmed that the laser operated for more than 1,000 hours under the temperature of 80°C with a pulse width of 30ns and an output of 500mW.