Stand-alone touch screen controllers and universal remotes have a new rival in the quest to eliminate coffee table clutter… the Apple iPhone. There is now a wide array of applications with solutions for your home entertainment needs, whether it is setting your DVR, streaming whole-house audio, or having access to all the electronic devices in your home. All iPhone apps are downloaded from the iTunes App store and in most cases can also be used on the iPod Touch.

Ever leave home and forget to set your DVR? It’s certainly frustrating if it’s the season finale of your favorite show. The actual name of the app has been bolded and italicized, so you can easily search the App store.

If you are a DirecTV subscriber, the free app comes in handy during such lapses of memory. You can search for your favorite shows (title or channel) up to two weeks in advance and set them to record once, or even the entire season. It’s possible to even record pay-per-view movies.

The DVR Remote manages TiVo Series 3, TiVo HD and TiVo HD XL DVRs. Not only can you record your favorite shows from where ever you are, the app also includes a control screen with Play, Pause, Fast Forward and Rewind buttons, which legitimizes the $2.99 price tag. You can browse and search for shows and movies by actor, title, director, Daily Recommendations and Most Popular. The app also features Amazon Video on Demand and YouTube. The free “lite” version of the app has fewer navigation buttons and has considerable browsing limitations.

If you are Slingbox owner, you’ll love the SlingPlayer Mobile that allows you to watch or control your Slingbox SOLO, PRO, or PRO-HD directly from your iPhone/Touch. Change channels, control your DVR and watch your favorite shows either at home or on the go. There are no monthly fees, just the cost of the app ($29.99). This app could be the reason to finally get yourself a Sling Media product. According to the company, it only functions with WiFi at Apple’s request.

The iPhone ships with a simple Remote app that controls the iTunes music library on your computer or Apple TV over WiFi. You can do many of the same things you would do in iTunes, such as scan your artwork and create/edit playlists.

Controlling music seems to be a natural for the iPhone with several apps designed to control specific music streaming systems. The first such app that caught my attention comes from Sonos. This free app turns your iPhone into a fully operational Sonos Controller (a $400 value). For what you save on the stand-alone controller, you can buy more zone players. From the iPhone you pick a zone, then chose a playlist or a song to play. You can group zones together, in any combination, for complete whole-house audio.

If you are using Logitech’s Squeezebox player and the Squeeze Center server, download iPeng from Penguin Loves Music, Inc. Sync multiple Squeezebox players (just like grouping zone players with the Sonos system) and play the same music in several locations. Manage your playlists and listen to Internet music and music services such as Rhapsody. The app sells for $9.99.

If you’ve connected the Roku Soundbridge to your home network, the $2.99 RokuRemote allows you to select Internet stations, make individual selections by artist, album, or song. You can change the volume, pause, advance, or repeat a song, even select repeat, and shuffle for playback of the current playlist.

Taking it up a few notches, ReQuest, provides comprehensive IP-based music and movie server systems. While they have keypads and touch screen panels, there is also the ReQuest app that provides the same level of control for any of their N, F or S Media servers. (It is not compatible with their IQ system.) You can quickly find a song by artist or genre, play entire albums or playlists, even search, and sort your collection.

Many key manufacturers of home automation systems offer an iPhone app to control their IP-based systems (i.e.you need an Internet connection) including Crestron, Control4, Savant Systems, Lifeware, and HomeLogic. All the apps are free, except one.

It’s important to note that you can’t do anything with these apps if you don’t have a system installed in your home. Savant Systems even makes sure you think twice before downloading with an eye-popping $199 purchase price. The only home automation system and media server built on the Mac OS, Savant’s ROSIE Home Automation system allows customers to control all their AV gear, and other subsystems such as lighting, security and climate control from a highly sophisticated iPhone interface.

Crestron, the company whose name is synonymous with revolutionary touchscreen controllers and fascinating graphic user interfaces (GUI) also brings fully integrated control to the iPhone. When you launch the Crestron app, communication is automatically established between the mobile device and the Crestron control system. The iPhone will display the Crestron GUI and seamlessly control and manage all of your home entertainment and environmental systems just like you would from a dedicated Crestron touchpanel.

Displaying Control4’s standard interface, the app Control4 My House works exclusively with home automation systems using the company’s Director version 1.7 or later. A Mobile Navigator License is required to begin operation. Use the iPhone app to view the feeds from your security cameras, control the climate, lighting, and AV devices in any room of the house.

An elegant and inexpensive alternative to their touch panels, Lifeware controls playback of stored media, AV equipment, and all other installed subsystems. Since Lifeware works with Microsoft Windows XP Media Center you can even view and record content right on your Media Center PC. Who said Apple and Microsoft can’t co-exist?

Like all the other apps, the HomeLogic app lets you control all your home systems when using HomeLogic solutions. However, this is the only app that offers a live demo so you can see what an iPhone controlled system can do. The HomeLogic demo allows you to navigate through the individual screens and make adjustments to see how the app functions. When you get to the screen that controls your TV and see how easy it is to pick your favorite stations just by their unique icons, you’ll be searching for your local HomeLogic dealer. Smart sales tool, guys.

A few companies provide iPhone apps to control their gadgets such as the free VUDU Movie Catalog app that allows subscribers of the service to browse and search the catalog (as long as there is WIFI). Find what you want, and then rent or purchase your movie and it will be waiting for you to watch at your leisure. I sure wish Apple would do this for the Apple TV’s movie rental functions. Duh!

Remotescape is designed for controlling all of their highly acclaimed Kaleidescape Music Players. The iPhone interface is designed for one handed-operation, allowing you to browse and play music from any room in the house without sitting in front of a TV monitor. Use iPhone’s ‘flick’ gestures to scroll through albums, by artist, genre, and track or scan the details of a particular film. Remote control buttons – fast forward, reverse, pause, stop, and play – are also provided. For all this functionality and a lot more, the app was priced at $59.99.

If you have a lot of Z-wave compatible home automation gear you should download Melloware’s $9.99 ZWave Commander app, allowing complete control of your ZWave devices from anywhere in the world. You’ll need a ControlThink USB ThinkStick connected to your PC (Windows only) for the ZWave Commander to communicate with your gear. Unlike other apps that need WiFi, the ZWave Commander also works on 3G and Edge networks. It also uses the iPhone’s unique scroll wheel for easy selections.

A relatively new company, ThinkFlood, is releasing the RedEye system, which will be the first universal remote for the iPhone. As of press time, the app was not yet available in the iTunes App store but I had to include it in my roundup. The app itself will be free for download in September, however, the associated hardware will run $149.00, pretty much what you would expect to spend on a highly adaptive universal remote anyway. The RedEye hub uses Wi-Fi, which means no line of sight is required. The hub receives the iPhone’s commands and sends out infrared signals to control your devices. It will be possible to control almost an infinite number of components and multiple iPhones can be set up, allowing everyone in the household to have their own remote. The Hub’s built-in iPod dock also serves as a charger.

With only a couple of years into its development, the iPhone/Touch is proving to be the ultimate gadget with a solution for just about everything. Even as I was wrapping up this rather extensive round up, I heard that Denon is considering an app to work with the Enhanced Web Browser functionality in their networked AVRs. I think it’s safe to say, this is only the beginning, and there will be a lot more exciting and intriguing apps in the months and years to come.

Source: hometheaterdesignmag.com

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The brushed-aluminum LED-lit C9000 is not just the handsomest slender TV at the show, it comes with the most innovative Wi-Fi remote control – one that looks suspiciously like an iPhone and feels suspiciously like a Samsung phone.

Why a Wi-Fi video remote? So you can watch a Blu-ray on your TV while checking out the game in your hand, of course. Maybe you’ve never had that problem, exactly, but this product seems like a step in a new direction, rather than just a “we did it because we could” kind of thing.

The remote connects over your Wi-Fi network to control the TV (also on the Wi-Fi network), much like iTunes Remote works on an iPhone. The screen is vibrant and high-contrast, though it is LCD, not OLED. As you tap buttons on the screen (which I believe is resistive, since Samsung wouldn’t confirm capacitive) you feel a little vibe, haptic feedback that is now common on phones from Samsung and LG. I wish the remote itself felt a little more sturdy; there was a hollowness to it that makes me worry about it sliding off the coffee table. Still, I was impressed by its simple setup and lithe manipulation. It’s like they finally found a good thing to do with all of those feature-phone interfaces nobody needs anymore.

What do you do with it? As you browse channels, it’s actually using the TV’s own tuner to render video, which it downgrades and sends to the remote in more-or-less realtime. If you like something, you just tap a control and its on the big screen. If you want to tap into a DLNA server on your network, you’ll see it and all its bounty. Samsung wouldn’t confirm what kind of files it would decode, but did say that they would support 1080p resolution on video files.

The only problem with the remote is it’s something that could be replaced by an iPhone app in about 12 seconds.

All of this, and I still haven’t gotten to the TV. Sure, slim TVs are kinda old hat by now, but I really like this one, because it has all of its interface engineering built into the base, not some ugly outboard set-top box. Want to wall mount it instead? The base pops off, and attaches to the back of the TV, making it slightly thicker, sure, but not by much, especially so close to a wall.

There’s no price on this baby yet, but since it’s clearly a vanity project – and it natively supports 3D, like most primo TVs at CES this year – you know they’re going to sell it to the celebs and high rollers first.

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LG have been very busy this year releasing 39 new HDTVs. Along with these TVs comes the LG CF3D, the worlds first Full HD 3D projector using a single lens.

2010 has been a year for 3D HDTV, with many of them joining the market, including a number from LG (LG LE9500). But the LG CF3D stands out from the rest as being the only Full HD projector.

LG call the CF3D versatile, and say it has an amazing brightness of 2,500 ANSI-lumens along with a high 7,000:1 contrast ratio. It also brings TruMotion 120Hz, a technology previously seen on their HDTV line.

We’re not exactly sure how the 3D effect works, but LG say it provides a life like viewing experience, joining both Duel Engine and 3D audio picture calibration technology. HDMI upscaling is also supported.

The LG CF3D features a 0.61-inch SXRD, Full HD 1080p, XR-3D, Real Cinema, ISFccc, along with 3x HDMI 1.3 inputs, VGA, Ethernet, and a USB 2.0 input.

LG say that the CF3D will be consumer aimed and will cost around $10,000 when its’ released in May 2010.

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“Get ready for a true theatre-like 3D experience!” shouts Acer as it intros its new H5360 projector with HD ready resolution and Nvidia 3D Vision tech.

The boasts for Nvidia’s 3D Vision technology is that it can transform the flat surface of your living room wall into a 3D screen – thanks to a combination of a PC with a compatible graphics card and special 3D shutter glasses.

Here comes the science: “The 3D shutter eyeglasses with two lenses synchronized by the PC are an essential part of stereoscopic Nvidia 3D Vision technology. Every image is rendered twice, once for the right eye and once for the left, so that it is offset in relation to its ‘double’”.

“The GPU sends this information to the Acer H5360, which works at a frequency of 120Hz, and shows even-numbered frames to the left eye and odd-numbered frames to the right eye. The 3D glasses open and close each lens in synchronicity with the projector, so as to create the illusion of observing a scene with real depth. The battery-powered glasses work via a special infrared transmitter”.

The projector itself offers 720p resolution, 2500 ANSI Lumens brightness and a 3200:1 contrast ratio.

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Replete with premium components, proprietary technology and several industry firsts, Sennheiser’s HD800 headphones easily earn their place amongst the very best ever made. Retailing at just under $1400.00 though, the cover charge for this listening party is a little steep. However, if you want a jaw-droppingly amazing personal audio experience, these cans deliver and then some.

Let’s get this out of the way right off the bat: The HD800 headphones are BIG. From the case to the cord, it’s clear that Sennheiser’s prime directive was audio perfection and, apparently, the manufacturer believes that size really does matter. The case for the company’s flagship cans is about the same size as a large shoe box (13.5”x105”x5.5). Opening the hinged case reveals a satin-lined, custom-cut foam bed in which the HD800’s rest snugly. Perched near our listening station, the silver and black HD800’s exuded a trophy-like quality that is sure to make any owner very proud, indeed.

The cord for the HD800 set is 3 meters long and terminates on one end with custom, detachable stereo connections – one for each headphone. We know plenty of folks who have ripped headphones right off of their head by tripping on the cable. Thanks to Sennheiser’s breakaway connectors though, you’re not likely to do any serious damage.

On the other end of the cable is a ¼” male jack. As the larger of the two common connectors, this jack will NOT fit into your laptop, iPod or other portable device. To do that, you’ll need a ¼” to 1/8” adapter that is generally available wherever electronics are sold. The included ¼” connector will fit into most receivers, mixing boards and headphone amplifiers, however. As these headphones are designed with listening enthusiasts in mind, we are not surprised to see them natively terminated with the larger ¼” jack. However, an included adapter might be a nice idea for future consideration, given the popularity of today portable media players.

A quick weight comparison between the HD800s and a reference pair of AKG K141 monitor headphones revealed that the substantially larger Sennheiser set isn’t notably heavier than other headphones of this type and grade. Consider it a reflection of the cutting=edge materials that the HD800’s are constructed from.

Features and Design

The materials used for ear and head cushioning are soft microfiber fabric over foam. During our listening tests, we never experienced any fatigue from extended listening sessions. Unlike more typical leather applications, we found that these headphones stayed cool, dry and effortlessly comfortable even after hours of constant wear. For even more comfort, the HD800 headphones are very limber. The headband offers independent adjustment on the left- and right-hand sides, and two sets of hinge points allow on-the-fly adjustment as your head moves. Overall, the HD800s are very comfortable.Just beyond the extremely comfortable exterior lay the guts and glory of the HD800s. Here, Sennheiser has mounted the largest transducers ever used in a headphone. The size of the transducer, stainless steel mounting material, open-backed design and premium wiring configuration are designed with as much care as the highest-end audio equipment available today. This allows them to deliver an amazingly open, uncompressed sound with deep bass extension.

Performance

Sennheiser wants you to know that the HD800 audiophile headphones were “Crafted for Perfection.” While such claims in the audio industry can usually be chalked up to little more than marketing hype, there is good reason to believe that Sennheiser made every effort to achieve perfection while developing the HD800’s over a period of 8 years. Reading the back-story on Sennheiser’s website, it is clear that the company takes a great deal of pride in this product.

To test the sound of the HD800s, we used an array of components including an iPhone 3G, Onkyo TX-SR705 Surround Receiver, Dell Latitude D810 laptop computer and a HeadRoom Total BitHead headphone amplifier.

Donning the HD800’s for the first time, you may get the feeling that you’re about to direct ground traffic at the airport. (Which is to say that the sensation of having the entire ear encompassed, for some, will initially take a little bit of getting used to.) Nonetheless, after a few minutes of wear, the relatively lightweight headphones seem to disappear on your head. We have to credit the HD800’s creators for managing to make such a large transducer sit comfortably on the head. The slim profile of the headphones seems to make up for their large surface area and keeps the ‘phones from becoming clumsy.

Conclusion

Uncompromising design standards have produced a truly outstanding product in Sennheiser’s HD800 headphones. The cans’ flair for accuracy, detail, openness and depth represent a giant leap forward in the world of audiophile gear. As such, we recommend anyone considering a high-end headphone purchase to put these on their short list.

Highs:

• Exceptional Sound
• High Quality Construction
• Extremely comfortable for long term use

Lows:

• Not easily portable
• Ambient noise is easily audible
• No 1/8” adapter for use with portable audio devices

Source: digitaltrends.com

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New Panasonic PT-AE4000U just lowered the bar, on price, but not quality. This LCD projector retails for $2499, though some say it can be found for less, even from authorized dealers for hundreds less. Consciously designed for smaller home theaters, the PT-AE1000U can project a 120-inch image from as little as 11 to as much as 24 feet away. You sure can’t get that in a flat panel display for a mere $2.5k.

Panasonic incorporated the new Red-Rich Lamp, which increases the luminance efficiency of the projector, to achieve 150% brighter Cinema Picture modes compared to the previous PT-AE3000. Prior to the development of the Red-Rich Lamp, much brightness was lost to attain the desired color purity/balance for the rich color reproduction of Cinema Picture modes due to the lack of red luminance. The newly engineered lamp successfully adds red luminance, and enables the projector to produce brighter images with excellent colors. Rated at 1,600 lumens, the PT-AE4000 is plenty bright for the average home theater.

For maximum clarity and sharpness of full-HD images, the PT-AE4000U was outfitted with an advanced optical system employing a full-HD-optimized lens unit comprised of 16 lens elements in 12 groups, including two large-diameter aspherical lenses and two high-performance ED (extralow dispersion) lenses. Each lens is carefully aligned to assure a uniform focusing balance from the center to the edges of the screen.

The double-speed display (120 Hz or 100 Hz) greatly improves the clarity of motion images. Panasonic’s Frame Creation interpolates one new frame for each existing frame by analyzing the characteristics of the adjacent frames to reproduce sharp and clear images for fast moving scenes in sports and action movies. For 24p signal input, three frames are calculated and interpolated for each existing frame, to enable 4x speed (96-Hz) display. There are four modes (mode 1, mode 2, mode 3, and off) to choose from.

The Point Color Correction mode allows you to pick a point in the image and adjust that color without affecting the neighboring colors, so it is easy to get just the right color equalization in hue, luminance and saturation. The Six Color Correction mode enables independent adjustment of red, green, blue, cyan, magenta and yellow. Making adjustments on the fly has never been easier either. You can freeze any scene you wish, and then make adjustments while easily comparing the original image and the adjusted image side-by-side.

The PT-AE4000U features the Pure Contrast Plate, which uses a newly engineered crystalline material that is carefully matched to the characteristics of the LCD panels to effectively correct the passage of light exiting the panels. This enables the projector to block unwanted light leakage and successfully increases the dynamic range. It works together with the dynamic iris to achieve a remarkable contrast ratio of 100,000:1. The advantage being the PT-AE4000U works well in environments with high ambient light such as a living room.

To achieve a wide dynamic range, a fifth generation intelligent iris system was placed in the PT-AE4000U. It analyzes the brightness level of each image using a histogram, then adjusts the lamp power, iris and gamma curve accordingly to create the ideal image. The adjustments are made virtually frame by frame.

In the past, projector installation was considered a serious downside. However, as projectors become more affordable it’s less likely consumers will pay to have them installed. So, manufacturers are looking at ways they can make projectors virtually plug and play. Well, not quite but certainly far more flexible with simplified set up procedures. For instance, the PT-AE4000U provides wide lens shift for easy mounting almost anyway – the back wall , the ceiling – and it can even be a little off center.

Perhaps, the most advanced feature in the PT-AE4000U, which is something you won’t even find in many projectors for thousands more, is the Intelligent Lens Memory. Up to six settings can be stored in the Lens Memory, including zoom and focus positions for projecting in the normal 16:9 or 4:3 image ratio, and wide cinema projection settings. These memories can be recalled manually or can be set for automatic switching. The projector is able to detect 2.35:1 and 16:9 source and retrieve the stored setting automatically. This Lens Memory function lets you easily enjoy images with different image ratios on the new wide 2.35:1 screens for an immersive movie theater-like experience.

Own other Panasonic gear? When you have other Panasonic VIERA Link-ready equipment, projection can be started by using only the remote control unit of the PT-AE4000, regardless of whether the source is a Blu-ray Disc or a TV program stored on an HD recorder. This eliminates the need for hassling with several remote controls. Course, you can easily program the PT-AE4000U to a universal remote to eliminate all that remote control clutter.

Source: hometheaterdesignmag.com

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Remote controlshave become a staple device for many of us these days, and more often than not there will be a tussle among family members for essential remotes in the living room at prime time for obvious reasons. Logitech themselves have delved into the world of remote controls in the past, and they show no signs of slowing down in that department. Recently, the Swiss company has rolled out the Logitech Harmony 900 remote that boasts redesigned RF technology, a full colors touchscreen display alongside intuitive button layout to help even newbies get used to it as soon as possible. The Logitech Harmony 900 universal remote relies on rechargeable batteries to keep it going, allowing you to enjoy a whole range of entertainment from movies to games and music even when the respective components are located safely behind cabinet doors.

The Logitech Harmony 900 remote’s redesigned RF system turns you into a mini living room deity, capable of controlling an entire cabinet’s worth of devices and appliances as long as they remains within a 100 foot radius. This remote also allows you to wield such powers without getting bogged down by hassles and problems that are normally associated with RF setups. All you need to do is place the IR blaster that comes with each purchase alongside one or two of the mini blasters on the cabinet shelves near the devices that you want to gain control and you’re good to go. The color touchscreen devices allows you to choose your device of choice with but a gentle touch of the finger, and when the setup process is complete, you’re able to control everything programmed inside even with the cabinet doors closed.

Expect the Logitech Harmony 900 remote to arrive in the US and Europe later next month for $399.99 a pop, where it will be accompanied by a recharging cradle, rechargeable battery, power supply, IR blaster and two mini blasters. Logitech has plans to roll out more blasters and mini blasters online in selected regions.

Source: logitech.com

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Delivering up to 14TB of centralized network storage, Envive’s Theater Station Multi-zone Digital Media Management System keeps all your media in one convenient location. A single TheaterStation Client can connect with a variety of 4TB, 6TB, 10TB and 14TB storage units that fit in standard rack mounts. As your video and audio library expands, so will your Envive system. Users can easily transfer, store and sort music and movies, whether they are created, purchased on hard media or downloaded from the Internet. The complete TheaterStation product line is ideal for either single-zone or multi-zone installations.

The networked storage units are available in rack mount or small towers with RAID protection. The system is designed for easy expansion with the addition of more hard drives and extra clients to enjoy media in multiple rooms throughout the house. The TheaterStation system enables users to retrieve, create, or capture cover art and metadata for all of the media in their library.

Envive’s software helps users get their digital library into the TheaterStation system by using PC, MAC, and Linux based tools to drag and drop their digital files onto the central network storage devices. The TheaterStation’s user interface makes it easy for users to store, sort, and access all their digital media. It supports the importing of non-DRM protected audio files from popular download services, and numerous video file formats including AVI, MPEG2, MPEG4, WMV, DVD ISO, H.264, and VC1.

The TS Client and TS Client Mini are easy to set up and connect to the networked storage devices. Providing internal upscaling to 1080p, the TS clients are equipped with built-in DVD drives for local movie playback and archiving. Capable of interfacing with a variety of home automation control systems, the TS Client and TS Client Mini provide IR, IP and serial connections.

The rack mount storage units come in either 1U rack mount with 4-bays for 4TB to 6TB drives or 2U rack mount units with 8-bays to accommodate 6TB to 14TB drives. For installations without industrial racks there is the 4-bay tower that is capable of holding four, 1TB drives.

The cost is on par with other high-end digital management systems. For instance the TS Client is $1,795, while the TS Client Mini is $1,995. Storage costs can run $4,795 for 4TB or up to $10, 995 for 14TB.

Source: enviveit.com

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On-ear headphones are a great alternative to the pedestrian earbuds that usually accompany portable music players. Not only are they vastly more comfortable, but they usually sound considerably better than their tiny, plastic brethren. With the PS 320, Phiaton aims to offer a smart looking, super comfy pair of headphones that look and sound a lot like more expensive brands – but at a fraction of the cost. However, while the Phiaton PS320 Primal Series look very handsome and sound fairly good, their spendy price tag, lack of bass and tendency to break up when the music gets busy lessens the overall appeal of this set of cans.

The PS 320 headphones from Phiaton come in an appealing case, surrounded in clear, molded plastic to show off their refined look. Opening the case reveals that there is little more to the package than the headphones themselves. Along with the PS 320 is an equally attractive carrying case and a brief user guide with warranty information. No extension cord or adapters included.

The PS 320 look very comfortable, and they are. Their headband is well padded with a soft leather material on the exposed side and a breathable, sheer fabric on the portion that rests against the head. The inside of the earcups are well padded and covered with the same leather material found on the headband. The outside of the earcups is covered with Phiaton’s signature “Primal” leather material accented by a polished grey metal ring that gives off a dark, classy sheen. The earcups are mounted to the headband at two pivoting points to increase comfort.

Inside the earcups are a 40mm bass driver and 16mm high frequency driver connected by a passive crossover network.

The cord length is about 1 meter and is terminated to at the left earphone.

The PS 320 certainly look like high performance headphones and the specs would lead one to believe they are capable of delivering a satisfying listening experience. We found though that the PS 320’s didn’t quite sound as good as they look. While the sound that we experienced was certainly better than what most budget earbuds could ever hope to offer, there was an obvious lack of bass that came as a bit of a disappointment. Outside of the bass department, we felt the PS 320 had a lot of zeal and tended toward the brighter end of the spectrum. While they held together well at most volumes, we did notice that music featuring lots of brass or high string instruments seemed to tax the headphones in a way that compromised their performance. Somehow, the instruments muddled together instead of remaining separate and distinct.

For $199.00, Phiaton’s PS 320 headphones offer good looks, great comfort and easy portability but fall a little short of their expected audio performance. Their anemic bass response and lack of accessories seem to contradict their price and appearance, earning them a slightly lower mark in this review.

In the final analysis, the Phiaton PS 320 headphones aren’t an everyman’s (or everywoman’s) model; rather, they’re suitable for users who prefer a super crisp and bright audio response.

Highs:

• Comfortable, lightweight compact
• Closed back design minimizes outside noise
• Sound better than earbuds

Lows:

• Weak bass response
• Sound gets muddy at high volumes
• No supplied adapters

Source: phiaton.com

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There’s a new top pick in Epson’s already-crowded 3LCD projector line.

The Epson PowerLite Pro Cinema 7500UB utilizes the company’s most advanced imaging technologies and has its most thorough assortment of features, yet it carries a price tag of just $4,199.

This 1080p projector uses Epson’s D7 C2Fine TFT LCD chipset with UltraBlack technology, two high-end video processing chips (the Silicon Optix Reon VX and Pixelworks 390) and a new auto iris. It also adds an Anamorphic Wide aspect ratio, for use with an optional anamorphic lens attachment, and a 120Hz mode that employs frame interpolation to produce smoother motion with 24p film sources.

Physical setup takes just seconds, thanks to a host of convenient features: 2.1x manual zoom, 100 percent vertical and 50 percent horizontal lens shift (via manual dials), adjustable feet and an onscreen test pattern to aid with sizing and focus. The remote is fully backlit and sports dedicated input buttons and direct access to the most commonly used picture controls.

Speaking of which, this model has the full complement of image adjustments we’ve come to expect from Epson, with a few new perks. The custom installer will find just about every control he or she needs to calibrate the image, including RGB offset and gain, advanced gamma and precise color management of all six color points. New this year are a contrast enhancement feature; a faster, quieter auto iris with normal, high speed and off modes (previous models had just on/off settings); and color isolation options (green, red, and blue) to aid in color and tint setup.

The 7500UB introduces some new picture modes for Epson, including Cinema Day and Night, an HD mode that’s “close to professional-use broadcast monitors” and a Silver Screen mode that “emphasizes rich colors, like those seen in movies at the theater.” I went with the HD mode for TV viewing and the Silver Screen mode for Blu-ray/DVD playback. In both cases, with only minor adjustments to the picture controls, the results were quite impressive.

Epson has accomplished the difficult task of simultaneously improving light output and black level, compared with previous models. The result is an image with excellent contrast. The numbers may not be quite as good as those of the best higher-end projectors, but the 7500UB’s performance is certainly competitive. Blacks look black, and the image has excellent depth and dimension in a dark room. On my 75-inch-diagonal screen, the 7500UB had ample light output to breathe life into bright scenes, even in a room with some ambient light.

Blu-ray demo scenes from Kingdom of Heaven, Casino Royale and The Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl looked excellent. Colors were rich but natural, and the overall color temperature stayed fairly even across the board, producing neutral whites, blacks and skintones. With some fine-tuning of the gamma control, the projector did a good job rendering fine black details in Blu-ray and DVD scenes.

I was particularly impressed with the 7500UB’s detail, especially with 1080p Blu-ray content. Previous Epson projectors struggled with edge enhancement, which forced you to sacrifice fine detail by lowering the sharpness control to lessen the ringing and extraneous noise around edges. Thankfully, edge enhancement has been minimized here, while overall detail is improved.

The Silicon Optix and Pixelworks chips score high marks in the processing department. Good scaling results in nicely detailed DVD images, and the projector passed my deinterlacing tests with both 480i and 1080i content.

To reduce judder in 24p film sources, the 7500UB has two options: Film purists will appreciate the inclusion of a 4:4 pulldown mode that quadruples each frame (24 x 4 = 96Hz), which makes for slightly smoother motion than the traditional 3:2 process. The 120Hz FineFrame technology, meanwhile, pulls information from existing frames to create new ones, and the setup menu includes low, normal, high and off settings.

The smoothing effects of frame interpolation draw mixed reactions. Some people love it; others…not so much. With this projector, the high mode’s motion is so unnaturally smooth with Blu-ray and DVD movies, I found it incredibly distracting. The normal and high modes also created some processing errors in faster-moving scenes. The low mode performs more reliably and strikes a better balance, reducing judder without looking too artificial. For what it’s worth, Epson only recommends the normal and high modes for video-game playback and doesn’t recommend using the 120Hz feature with broadcast TV content; indeed, it performed poorly with my DirecTV signal, introducing a ton of processing errors.

For the most part, the 7500UB’s 12-bit panel creates a clean image, with minimal noise in backgrounds and light-to-dark transitions. Blu-ray content looked especially clean. However, the projector occasionally struggled with dimly lit DVD and HDTV scenes; in cases where there was a lot of grain in the film (or the HD cam was set for higher sensitivity), the 7500UB called more attention to the low-level noise in black backgrounds than other displays I’ve tested.

Epson claims a fan-noise level of 22 decibels. Upon initial power-up, the 7500UB’s darker picture modes seemed a little quieter than those of the Home Cinema 1080. However, I live at 5,000 feet, and this is the first projector I’ve encountered (including several other Epson models) in which I had to use the high-altitude mode to prevent overheating. This adds a fair amount of fan noise.

The Pro Cinema 7500UB is sold exclusively through custom channels, and its $4,199 price tag also gets you an additional lamp, ceiling-mount hardware and a rear-panel cable cover. All in all, the 7500UB is an excellent value, offering performance and features that are more than competitive with some of the higher-end players on the market.

Source: epson.com

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