Digital Home Theater Storms CES

Increasingly, solution providers are entering the home theater arena, providing installation, advice and equipment. Many of these projects are in home settings, others are in offices. Users are shopping for products operating at ever-higher levels of performance. Products from screens to components to cables are increasing in demand. Following is a sampling of channel-friendly products featured at CES that solution providers might want to consider offering customers interested in this technology.

Networked Audio Systems
Denon Electronics will debut its two new S-Series Networked Audio Systems, Models S-52 (SRP: $699) and S-32 (SRP: $499). Featuring advanced Wi-Fi connectivity (802.11 b/g), both systems offer consumers an easy way to wirelessly receive and enjoy music from other connected devices in the home and directly from the Rhapsody digital music service.

Denon's new S-52 and S-32 systems feature a built-in iPod dock for drop-in functionality. Both new Denon Networked Audio Systems feature the ability to stream music wirelessly from Internet Radio sources and other network attached storage devices and PC or Mac computers on the network.

The units also have the ability to decode popular MP3 and WMA formats and also AAC, WAV and those encoded in FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec).

Next: Screens For Commercial And Residential Markets Projection Screens

Elite Screens HOME2 Series are non-tensioned electric retractable screens with aspect ratios suited for both commercial and residential markets. The screens have a viewing diffusion angle of 160 degrees, so presentations can reach a large audience regardless of room proximity. Prices for HOME2 screens range from $782 to $1,412 (SRP).

The HOME2 projection screens have an interchangeable three-way wall switch or extended infrared "eye" sensor to accompany the internal Infrared (IR) and Radio Frequency (RF) receivers that are built in. The aluminum housing is enamel coated to prevent moisture from rusting the unit.

The screens also offer a built-in 12-volt trigger that synchronizes screen drop and rise with a projector's power cycle. To customize a screen's placement, HOME2 offers an adjustable vertical limit switch that regulates screen drop and rise settings for low or high ceiling rooms.

Hide That Screen
Vutec's ArtScreen transforms an LCD, Plasma TV or video projection screen into a work of art. Inside a hardwood frame, the desired artwork (canvas print or photograph) ascends or descends with the touch of a remote. When the display screen or television is not in use, the digital art-on-canvas image is displayed within the frame. When the artwork is retracted, the video display is again visible for viewing.

Next: Products To Allow Enjoyment Of Movies And Music Throughout The Home Media Management

Escient will be demonstrating its new Vision series at CES, with a product launch expected next month. The Vision Series Media Management products offer the ability to play and import movies, videos, music, and photos using the front-panel drive and home network. Escient's Vision Series products, including two versions of an all-in-one server/player, Models VS-100 and VS-200, as well as the VC-1 networked audio/video zone player (all with HDMI 1.3 capability), and the large-capacity VX-600 media server, will provide consumers with new solutions for managing, accessing and enjoying movies and music throughout the home, all via a single interface.

The VS100 and VS200 are advanced hard drive-based components with RAID backup, that let users store, manage and stream all their movies, music and photos to a host of devices within their home network. The VS-100 and VS-200 all-in-one server players and the VC-1 networked audio/video zone player feature HDMI 1.3 support and upscaling to 1080p for high image quality from all sources. All three also feature external control capability via Ethernet.

The VS-100 provides dual 500-GB drives while the VS-200 provides dual 1-TB drives, and both also feature RAID 1 redundancy. The VC-1 is a high-performance networked audio/video zone player that can stream audio and video from Vision servers, providing playback of music, movies, and photos from any room of the home. The large-capacity media server, Model VX-600 features four 1-TB drives in a RAID 5 configuration and provides virtually unlimited storage expansion capability for Vision VS and VC devices.

Escient's Vision Series products are scheduled to ship in February at the following suggested retail prices: VS-100 ($3,999), VS-200 ($5,999), VC-1 ($1,999), VX-600 ($7,999).

Next: Assuring Multimedia Connectivity Cabling

Gennum will demonstrate its new ActiveConnect multimedia connectivity solution at CES. ActiveConnect supports HDMI 1.3/digital visual interface (DVI) and assures that disparate multimedia products will connect and stream multimedia at the highest specifications available today at distances up to 100 meters. Additionally, Gennum will preview its ActiveConnect solution supporting the new DisplayPort 1.1 standard.

Targeting high-rate HDMI applications, the semiconductor-based solution from Gennum comprises a transmitter and a receiver and enables consumer, business and industrial applications to stream HDMI content, via low-cost cable, at distances an order of magnitude greater than cables available today, according to Gennum. The new solution supports current and legacy versions of HDMI, including 1.1, 1.2 and 1.3, enabling backward compatibility with existing equipment.

Wireless Connections
Pulse-LINK's CWave UWB Wireless HDMI solution reduces the tangled mess of connector wires behind systems, enabling clean installation of wall-mounted flat-panel displays anywhere in the room. The HDMI extender enables longer-range, secure wireless connectivity between the HDTV display and multiple entertainment source devices such as video game consoles, DVRs, Blu-ray DVD and HD DVD players.

Pulse-LINK invented the use of Ultra Wideband over coax systems in 2002 and was the first to patent and demonstrate the technology for streaming HD content throughout the home.

Next: LCD HDTVs On Tap

LCD HDTV
Syntax-Brillian will exhibit several new Olevia LCD HDTVs with display technology hardware and feature enhancements combining 120-Hz Motion Estimation/Motion Compensation (ME/MC) technology with full-HD 1080p resolution, new industrial designs and firmware upgradeability via USB.

The new Olevia line comprises the 2 Series, an LCD HDTV, and the Olevia 6 Series, which offers premium quality with the latest features and additional inputs, and the top-tier Olevia 7 Series. Some Olevia LCD HDTVs incorporate new features such as additional HDMI inputs and two USB ports. That allows for simplified connections from the TV to home entertainment equipment, and for the connection of USB thumb drives or PCs to TVs. Home theater installers will be able to take care of firmware upgrades, and enable the TV to display photos or play MP3 music files through a home theater audio system.

In addition, the Olevia booth at CES will feature a three-in-one HDMI switcher box and a two-to-four HDMI switcher/splitter, each of which enables users with multiple sources to distribute or split content through HDMI to ensure digital output to maximize picture quality.

Mount That Unit
Peerless Industries will premiere new lines of mounts at CES. The Paramount delivers new mounting options, from low-profile flat and tilt wall mounts to options that enable the TV to be extended up to 30 inches from the wall. The SmartMount 600 Series delivers a forgiving open wall plate design that provides installation flexibility for units from the small 23-inch TV to the home theater setup of a 60-inch set.