Yes, that’s right, Curtis Mathes have unleashed a Blu-Ray Disc Player with 1080p playback and DVD upscaling for only US$100. There’s not much else to shout about but who needs more. Check out the rest of the details

* 1080p/1080i/720p output
* DVD upscaling to 720p/1080i/1080p
* HDMI vrsion 1.3
* BD/DVD/VCD/CD/CD-R(RW)/DVD+R(RW) support
* Optical digital audio outputs
* 17 x 2.2 x 10.2 inches

There you have it, nothing flash apart from the $100 price tag. There are four positive user reviews on the Curtis Mathes website for their Blu-Ray player which ends up with 4.5 stars out of five. Intriguingly either no reviewer remarked on any ‘Cons’ for the player or there was no option in the review form for negative comments. Either way, it’s still a great deal, $100 for a Blu-Ray player.

Source: Curtis Mathes

Featured tags: blu ray player curtis mathes

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Just over a year ago, we told you all about Pioneer’s Elite Blu-Ray player range, well now they’ve added another unit, the BDP-23FD to be precise. There are a few extra bells and whistles on the BDP-23FD from last year’s model with 1 GB of memory and a USB port for HDDs plus Pioneer’s own Precision Quartz Locking System

This near jitter-free transmission operates between the Blu-ray Disc player and a multi-channel PQLS-equipped Pioneer receiver by synchronizing both components’ digital clocks for optimal audio playback.

Ooo, sounds funky doesn’t it, of course to appreciate it, you’ll have to have a Pioneer receiver! Anyway here are the rest of the bits and pieces on the BDP-23FD Blu-Ray player

* 1080p at 24fps
* Advanced Picture Control Suite
* 48-bit Deep Color
* Support for Dolby® TrueHD and DTS-HD® Master audio
* 1080p DVD upscaling
* 1GB of internal memory
* USB port with HDD support
* BD-Live™ Compliant (Profile 2.0)
* 7.1 Channel Analog Audio, Optical Digital Outputs
* Support for AVCHD video format
* HDMI, Composite, Component video output
* Ethernet connectivity
* 420 x 83 x 287 mm
* 3.7 kg

All this for only US$600 too, it sounds like a good deal to us. The unit certainly has all the features you’d expect from a great Blu-Ray player, so we think Pioneer may just have a winner on their hands here. Let us know what you think.

Source: Pioneer

Featured tags: blu ray player pioneer

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It was almost two years ago when we were banging on about the Bang & Olufsen BeoVision 7 home entertainment package. So it’s taken the marketing department at B&O that long to pull finger and give this unit a bit of Hi-Def love by replacing the DVD player with a shiny new Blu-Ray player. At last we hear all the B&O fans rejoice! Here are the rest of the bits and pieces on the BeoVision 7-40 entertainment unit

* DVB-HD module
* 108cm x 68cm x 18cm (not including stand)
* 45 kg
* 40 inch 16:9 1920 x 1080 res LCD HD display
* Handles Dolby Digital 5.1/6.1 EX, Dolby 7.1 EX, Dolby Pro-Logic ll/llx, DTS 5.1. DTS ES 6.1, DTS Neo:6, AAC audio formats

The B&O website is a bit thin on details about the BeoVision 7-40, however there is plenty of marketing blurb including mention of the motorised stand this unit sports

The motorised table and floor stands will turn the TV through a 70° arc at a touch of a button and the screen can be tilted vertically to achieve the best possible viewing angle.

Sounds good, eh? But wait there’s more there’s even an ‘usher’ to help you change discs

And like the usher in a movie theatre guiding you to your seat, a small light comes on to make sure that you can load the disc while keeping the room lights low.

OK, may be that’s taking the marketing a bit too far, but hey this is a Bang & Olufsen unit and one thing they don’t skimp on is marketing spiel and another is the price tag. The BeoVision 7-40 rocks in at US$13500 this month. Ouch, for that kind of money we’d want much more than a 40 inch display and motorised stand thank you very much. But B&O do have a niche market, their gear does look different and is reputedly of high quality so somebody will fork out the dosh for the BeoVision 7-40. If it’s you, let us know what you think.

Source: BeoVision

Featured tags: bang & olufsen blu ray player lcd hdtv

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Hitachi have just announced a series of new home entertainment LCD HDTVs. They come in two ranges, the UltraVision and Alpha range. Ultravision has three models, rocking in at 42, 46 and 55 inches and all sporting 1080p. The Alpha series has two units, the 42 inch model also sporting 1080p, but the diminutive 32 incher can only boast 720p. Check out the details below for a comparison of the various units

Range	UltraVision Series			Alpha Series
Model	L55S603	L46S603	L42S503	L42A403	L32A403
Size (inches)	55	46	42	42	32
Screen Display	Full HD 1080p (1920×1080)				HD 720p (1366×768)
	Reel120™ Motion Correction
Stereo Sound	24W	24W	24W	24W	20W
HDMI Inputs	5	5	4	4	4
Component Inputs	2	2	2	2	2
Composite Inputs	2	2	2	2	2
S-Video Inputs	2	2	2	2	1
PC Input	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Price	US$1800	US$1300	US$1000	US$850	US$500
Available	September	August	June	May	May

Certainly plenty of inputs for you, but with a lack of currently available specs we are a little loathed to give the UltraVision and Alpha ranges the big thumbs up at the moment. The price tags certainly look attractive but without a bit more depth to the figures we’ll reserve judgement for the time being. Of course if you’ve had a chance to play with one of these suckers please let us know what you think.

Source: Hitachi

Featured tags: hitachi lcd hdtv

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BenQ have just unleashed a cute mini-projector, the JoyBee GP1. Whilst the specs are nothing to blab about, the GP1 certainly wins hands down on portability. It weighs in at 1.4 pounds or around 640g, which is certainly light enough to be considered portable and also you don’t need a laptop or PC to show off your latest pics or vids. Simply plug a USB stick with the appropriate media into the JoyBee GP1 and away you go! Pretty impressive eh? Here are the rest of the details on the GP1 if you’re interested

* SVGA 858 x 600 res
* 100 ANSI lumens
* 3LED (RGB) technology
* 2000:1 contrast ratio
* 4:3 Native, 16:9 Selectable Ratios
* 15” to 80” images size
* Handles VGA(640 x 480) to SXGA(1280 x 1024)
* Handles 480i, 480p, 576i, 576p, 720p, 1080i
* Inputs include Component Video, Composite Video, USB reader
* 136 x 54 x 120 mm
* USB reader handles JPEG, GIF, BMP, TIFF, MPEG-1, MJPEG, MPEG-1 layer 2, PCM file formats

As we said, nothing exceptional here, in fact downright ugly, apart from the size, weight and USB reader functionality. All in all we do like the BenQ GP1 JoyBee, it certainly fills a niche, not sure how big the market is but at only US$500 it could be a big one.

Source: BenQ

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The marketeers over at LG have decided to turn their BD390 Blu-Ray player which already sports Wi-Fi connectivity into a DIVX playing unit too. According to the press release from LG

Consumers are using HD video across multiple platforms and devices, and there is a strong demand for playback of DivX HD files. By adding DivX support to the BD390, now consumers can play DivX video up to HD 1080p burned to DVDs or stored on USB flash drives. DivX HD 1080p content can also be streamed directly from a network with a DLNA server making it simple for consumers to playback their library of favorite HD videos.

Which of course in turn boils down to great news for the consumer. Just in case you hadn’t checked out the features on LG’s BD390 Blu-Ray player already, here they are

* Integrated Wi-Fi Connectivity allows you take advantage of NetCast™ Entertainment Access and BD Live from any available Wi-Fi connection
* Blu-ray disc playback delivers exceptional Full HD 1080p video performance, gives you access to real-time extras on BD Live
* You can choose Cinema mode to watch movies at the 24 or 60 frames per second
* Standard DVD Up-Scaling
* Superior Audio Performance that supports surround sound up to 7.1 channels with Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD and dts-HD Advanced Digital Out
* 1GB Built-in Memory
* Supports Audio CD, CD-R/RW, Blu-ray Disc, BD-R/RE, DVD, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW discs
* Supports format MPEG2, MPEG4, DivX/DivX HD, MKV video formats
* Blu-ray BonusView & Blu-ray BD Live
* Composite Output Up to 480i, Component Output Up to 1080i, HDMI Output Up to 1080p (24 & 60Hz)
* Digitial Optical & Coaxial outputs
* Component, Composite, HDMI outputs
* 17.0″ x 2.2″ x 10.9″
* 6.0 lbs

Impressed? We are! The price tag on the BD390 unit rocks in at US$400 over at Best Buy as well as a few other places, and it also sports a 4.3 out of 5 from customers at Best Buy. Could be just the unit to make you take that Blu-Ray plunge!

Source: DIVX

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Only two years ago we were saying how Sony were getting desperate in the format war by slashing the price of their low-end BDP-S300 Blu-Ray player. Yet here we are and obviously desperation won the day. Their latest Blu-Ray player, the BDP-S360 is now available for a mere US$300 at Best Buy and features the following

* 2.2 x 16.9 x 8.1 inches
* 4.6 lbs
* Supports BD-ROM, BD-R, BD-RE, DVD, DVD+R/RW, DVD-R/RW, CD, CD-R/RW, AVCHD, MP3, JPEG formats
* 1080p output
* Progressive Scan, Dolby Digital Decoder, DTS Decoder
* USB Port
* Optical and Coaxial Digital Audio Outputs
* Composite Component and HDMI Video Outputs
* Ethernet Port
* BD Live Ready
* 24p True Cinema playback
* Upscaling DVD to 1080p

The BDP-S360 has already scored a five-star customer review on the site and with those features and a price tag of US$300, it certainly gets a thumbs up from us. So if you haven’t already invested in the format war victor, the Sony BDP-S360 may just be what you’ve been waiting for.

Source: Best Buy

Featured tags: best buy blu ray player Sony

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