The Panasonic PT-AX100U has barely been announced, and here we already have a review. From ProjectorCentral. The AX100 is the successor to the AE900U, a very good projector. The AX100, unlike what I’ve heard previously (and like one of my readers pointed out) actually has a 2:1 zoom lens. This projector boasts a 6000:1 contrast ratio and has 2000 lumens of brightness. And like its predecessor, the AX100 has a 720p resolution and virtually no screen door effect.

So, how does the AX100 do compared to its predecessor?

Strangely, the AX100 has a light sensor, so that it boosts its light output when there is more ambient light, and does the opposite when there is no ambient light, improving the contrast ratio. Uh… I’ve seen this kind of feature before on really really cheap televisions. But okay. As well, the projector accepts 1080p signals, even though it can’t display them. It downscales the video to 720p.

But what about performance? Black levels are a lot better than the previous projector. The picture is sharper too. The AX100’s scaling has improved as well. There is less digital noise, better colour saturation, and the fan noise is acceptable. Overall, the projector is an exceptional successor to the AE900U.

Panasonic PT-AX100U

HDBeat Engadget HD has a review of TiVo’s latest greatest creation: the Series 3 HD TiVo. In case you don’t remember, this is the new $800 HD PVR from TiVo with two CableCARD slots.

Engadget HD (I’m still getting used to that name!) likes the build quality of the Series3, and thinks the redesigned remote is the bomb! (My words, not theirs.) They also note that the Series3 is the most responsive HD PVR they’ve used, which is a Good Thing.

One very very nice thing that I wish my PVR did is that you can block channels that you don’t watch. What a novel, interesting, and VERY USEFUL idea! (Hear that SA and Rogers?)

But what about picture quality? TiVo hits a home run here too, providing a great picture over the component video outputs. They didn’t try the HDMI output, which is a shame.

All in all, this cool new product just makes me ticked off that I live in Canada where TiVo’s aren’t sold or supported by cable companies. Dang!

Review: Series3 TiVo

Sling Media announced their new lineup of Slingboxes yesterday, including the Slingbox A/V, Slingbox Tuner, and Slingbox Pro.

The Pro unit includes the ability to now stream HDTV. You may be wondering how it can possibly stream HDTV with the bandwidth requirements. Therein lies the catch…it doesn’t actually stream the full HDTV resolution video. Instead, it downconverts to 640×480 resolution. Still, the ability to view your HDTV content remotely is a nice new feature. My only beef with the whole thing is that the Pro costs $249, but in order to get the HD functionality you have to purchase a separate $49 dongle that is not included.

Slingbox Pro Web Page

9th Tee Enterprises is now shipping the HDHomeRun which allows you to stream ATSC HDTV broadcasts to any PC on your home network. At $169, it seems to be quite the bargain. I am considering picking one up just out of curiosity, and if it does what it says it can, then this would be an excellent way to cut costs on digital tuners in my house!

9th Tee HDHomeRun Web Page

Apparently Sony has heard the cries of those who invested (heavily) in their new BWU-100A PC Blu-Ray recorder drive. They will be releasing a free software update for the included Cyberlink PowerDVD software that will enable the playback of commercial Blu-Ray discs. Now that $750 price point is looking pretty sweet for those of us Home Theater PC enthusiasts! Of course, we still need to go out and buy an HDCP capable video card if you want a true digital output. The next piece of the puzzle to perfect will be how to get the best audio from these discs out to your A/V receiver. If you have a good sound card with 7.1 channel analog outputs, you probably have what you need, but if you want to keep it digital via HDMI, I am not sure there is a solution for you…yet. If you know of one, please do not hesitate to leave it in a comment!

Sony to provide playback solution for BWU-100A PC drive

Recently we heard that Warner is looking into doing a triple-layer DVD / BD / HD DVD disc. Now a company in Amsterdam has a new process for creating cheap multiple layer discs. Together, this could provide us consumer with a single disc that contains BD, DVD, and HD DVD layers.

Could this end the format war?

Personally, I don’t think so. Studios don’t want to create multi-format discs ad nauseum. More than anything, I think, they want one format to release their discs on. That’s also why I don’t think multi-format players will do anything to end the format war.

Personally, I think that the format war is only going to end when one side, be it Blu-ray Disc or HD DVD, completely stomps the other side and a victor emerges.

Once we have a winner, there won’t be any more format war.

What do ya think?

New technology could nip DVD format war in the bud

About.com does a summary slash overview of Pioneer’s upcoming BD player, the BDP-HD1. (Hmmm. Lots of BD players use the letters BDP. Blu-ray Player. Hmmmm.)

First off, like other BD players, this player does output 1080p on its HDMI output. It also upconverts DVD imagery to up to 1080p as well. On the audio side, this player decodes all the normal formats, of course, and new ones as well - DD+, DD TrueHD, and DTS-HD.

Strangely enough, while this player will read and play back BD and DVD discs, it can not play back audio from a CD. Which I personally think is a little retarded, for such an expensive player.

Maybe they’re hoping to make up for that with its networking support. “The Pioneer BDP-HD1 also features Networking functions via LAN/Ethernet connection. Networking functions allow for streaming of photos, music, and video content, from your PC, whether on CD or downloaded via the internet, to your Television.”

This preview says that the player will cost $1500. But I don’t think that’s correct. Didn’t they decrease the price to $1300? We’ll see when it hits store shelves (or maybe before!).

Overview and Perspective on the Pioneer BDP-HD1 Blu-ray Disc Player

Yesterday I was talking about the upcoming release of Superman Returns for HD DVD and BD on November 28th. It is significant in that the BD version is a dual-layer release.

But it won’t be the first. The delayed Black Hawk Down is coming to BD on November 14th, finally. And it’s a dual-layer release. So we’ll have to see how well this disc performs.

But I have a confession to make. I didn’t really like the movie Black Hawk Down all that much. It was just a bunch of fighting. And some more fighting. Then add a little bit more for good measure. And with all that fighting, who needs a plot or character development? Or something interesting besides shooting. I like shooting as much as the next guy, but it has it’s place. Ah well. I seem to be in the minority - does anyone agree with me?

‘Black Hawk Down,’ ‘Layer Cake’ to Hit Blu-ray