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What’s the average monitor size that you could settle for? It’s certainly not anywhere from 7- to 9-inches right? After all we’re looking for more and more display real estate and we rarely happen to choose smaller LCD monitors. But just in case you happen to want a little display then DoubleSight has three new models for you. They are all Smart USB monitors and don’t measure more than 9-inch diagonally. In fact the smallest one is the 7-inch version. Depending on what you choose you’ll get a 800 x 480 or a 1,024 x 600 resolution and a webcam on top of the DS-90UC model. How much does one such DoubleSight panel cost? The 7-inch is available for $120 while the 9-inch version is $20 more. I know I said there are three versions available but the third one is the DS-90UC for which you’ll have to fork out $160. Getting back to my initial question then: do we absolutely, unequivocally need smaller monitors?

via prnewswire

Sanyo Japan presents its latest additions to the LP-XM Portable Video Projectors line-up. Incorporating newly developed high performance optical engine, the projectors achieve highest brightness levels in their class. The LP-XM150 can project at up to 6000 lumens while the LP-XM100 supports up to 5000 lumens of brightness.

Both projection units are ideal for large conference rooms and meetings. However, I doubt their portability for weighing near about 10 kg each. Apart, from brightness levels they share some key specs which include, 1204×768 resolution, a 7W Mono speaker, Ethernet, HDMI, and a 1000:1 contrast ratio.

Sanyo plans to release these Ultra Bright High Def Video Projectors after November 20th. The Sanyo LP-XM150 will be available for 924,900 Yen. While the LP-XM100 would be priced around 837,900 Yen.

If you have a home theater chances are you heavily rely on a Blu-ray burner on a daily basis, be it backing up movies or taking a less legal route. Whatever the case Blu-ray burners have become a staple in the lives of theater nuts everywhere.

Currently, there are only 8x Blu-ray burners on the market which aren’t incredibly slow but they aren’t lightning fast either. Today, Pioneer has come forth to announce that they are ready to launch the world’s first 12x Blu-ray burner called the BDR-205 this October for $250.

Press release after the break.

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The LG 37LH30, I’ll say by way of preface, is mostly a high quality system with one strange flaw that I’ll be mentioning later.

But first, the technicals–the LG 37LH30 is a thirty seven inch 1080p LCD TV with Clear Voice and AV Mode technologies, as well as three HDMI ports and a USB port.

And I admit I was rather surprised, but I think something may have been off on the calibration on the model I was handling at the time, as there was a grainy quality in the picture that really shouldn’t have been there on a 1080p system.  The weird part was that this grainy quality only seemed to show up whenever the screen was showing light blue.  Stuff like the sky or a car or even a UN beret would develop bizarre electrical noise across its surface that almost made me feel like I was in that movie “Pulse” and something was going to jump out and strangle me.

But the controls are easy to use and the sound is fantastic, so maybe with a little extra engineering, this nine hundred dollar (depending as always on where you shop) may be just the system you’re looking for.

On the surface, this may not look like a sweet home theater setup.  In fact, on the surface, it looks like any ordinary home theater setup, although it comprises all the basic necessities of a proper home theater setup.

But it’s what you don’t see right away that’ll get you, and why the Batman home theater is definitely sweet.

Granted, it’s no Batcave, but this home theater setup has in-wall speakers, Novawall acoustic paneling, and a projector and screen combination.  Plus it was formerly floodwater-damaged, which means the incredible result you see in that picture is the result of a whole lot of cleaning up.

This by itself would be pretty good already, but what truly makes this a sweet home theater setup is that, inside this theater in a series of top-lit boxes, a huge collection of Batman figurines is stashed and on display

Combine a fully functional home theater with a Batman bounty and the next thing you know, you’re looking at a really awesome setup.

From an article in Connected Home magazine online, I read a piece about how themed home theaters, like the kind we feature every day here at Cyber Theater, are posing serious problems for home theater installment companies and should therefore not be done anymore.  Specifically, the issue at hand was should installers no longer accede to homeowners’ wacko requests to make their home theater look like the bridge of the starship Enterprise.

Unless Connected Home Magazine has been harboring a secret desire to change its name to Shoot its Own Industry In the Foot Monthly, the answer had damned well better be “no, we’ll meet every homeowner’s request no matter how idiotic or infeasible as long as their checks clear and/or the request itself is not specifically illegal or otherwise impossible.”

Seriously, Connected Home!  Sure, you can mention that a change a homeowner wants isn’t going to be helpful and in fact may make something unnecessarily complicated.  That’s just the right thing to do.  But once you’ve done that your ethical responsibility is at an end.  You’re being paid to do a job– you don’t refuse a request unless it’s absolutely necessary to do so.  Doing otherwise will make sure you don’t stay in business very long.

For those home theater installers out there who think it might be a good idea to turn down a customer request that’s merely stupid, note this: there’s always the next name in the phone book.

I can hardly believe it either, but the sheer impossibility of it all does not preclude it from being true.

What is this startling new development of which I speak? Simple,  yet terrifying– television is no longer the primary advertising medium of Great Britain.

It’s been replaced by the Internet.

No seriously, it’s true; Internet advertising sales rose to a nearly twenty four percent market share,  while television fell to just over twenty one percent market share.

Of course, in this study, the weight of market share is somewhat affected by the fact that the BBC is entirely advertising free ( at least for now) which in turn drives down the average, but thanks to the growing English trend of online shopping, advertising based on searches and Google has been driven upward.

The implications are staggering– while the world’s biggest market still relies on television over the Internet for advertising by a factor of almost four to one, the growing foothold in Great Britain suggest that advertising via the Internet may be the primary marketing medium within the next five to ten years.

Digital Projection International unveils their latest DLP projector with the M-Vision Cine LED. The new DLP projector boasts of a 3-chip color saturation with image fidelity that produces up to 600 lumens and a 10,000:1 contrast ratio. Ideal for any environmental setting, the M-Vision Cine LED delivers a great mix of rich color saturation and vivid contrast via its small compact chassis. Connectivity includes two HDMI inputs, as well as RGB via D-15, component, composite and S-Video inputs. The M-Vision Cine LED DLP projector retails between $15,995 and $16,995, largely dependent on the lens selected.

(Source) Press

Epson unveils the Epson Dreamio EH-DM30 projector, a device that comes with a bonus in the form of a built-in DVD player. Also included are speakers for this projector that displays 720p images via 1280×800 resolution. It also boasts of a 3,000:1 contrast ratio and 2,500 lumens brightness.

The built-in DVD player supports most known formats like JPEG/MP3/WMA and DivX/DivX Ultra files. Or if you want, simply plug in your portable USB drive with saved movies and enjoy them on a wider display via this projector. The Epson Dreamio EH-DM30 also comes with a HDMI interface.

The Epson Dreamio EH-DM30 will be available in Japan by October 29 and will retail for $1,300. No word on when it will be available in the international market.

(Source) Crunchgear

Sharp has unveiled a new LCD TV in the market with the Sharp Aquos AN-AR610 LCD TV. The new LCD TV is suited for large picture preferences that display high picture quality images. The audio quality delivery of the Sharp Aquos AN-AR610 LCD TV is also expected to ante the audio complement for this newly released product as it comes supported with a 485W output digital amplifier which is supported by 10cm speakers found on its 3.1CH theater rack system.

The Sharp Aquos AN-AR610 LCD TV is scheduled for release this November 25, 2009 but no actual price has been bared.

(Source) Sharp Japan

LG Burst Projector Cellphone Concept
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Samsung updates Galaxy Android ROM

Here’s a little gadget that simply needs some attention. The QNAP NMP-1000 is a networked media player destined to keep you entertained. The player has been announced at CeBIT and now it looks like it’s ready to hit retails although pricing details still remain a mystery. So what will the QNAP NMP-1000 have to offer? Well here’s a quick rundown of specs which will certainly make you want it:

• BitTorrent Server
• FTP Server
• Remote web browser access
• Can function as an external USB or eSATA drive to your PC
• Automatic categorization of local and remote disk data
• DLNA compliant
• Video codec support: MPEG1, MPEG2, MPEG4, XVID, H.264, H.263, WMV9, VC1
• Video container support: AVI, MPEG/MPG, VCD (ISO, MPG), DVD (VOB, IFO, ISO), WMV, ASF, TP, TS, TRP, M1V, M2V, M4V, M2P, M2T, M2TS, MTS, MOV, MP4, RMP4, MKV
• Audio support: FLAC, WAV, WMA, AAC, PCM, AC3, MPA, DTS, OGG

Admit it, you’re a little bit excited to see this baby in action!

via ehomeupgrade

Three new projectors will be available from BenQ soon. These are the W600, W1000 and W6000 and they will be all DLP projectors capable of letting you enjoy your favorite movies in HD quality.

The W6000 will offer you features like 1080p resolution, 50,000:1 contrast ratio, 2,500 ANSI lumens of brightness, native 24fps support, 10-bit processing, a 1.5:1 zoom ratio and the intelligent ability of converting 480p to almost HD quality.

The W1000 comes with 1080p resolution, 2,700:1 contrast ratio, 1,800 ANSI lumens of brightness, dual HDMI and various analog inputs.

The W600 is the last of the series in terms of specs. It can only give you 720p HD video, dual HDMI inputs, 2,000 ANSI lumens of brightness and a 3,000:1 contrast ratio.

Need some pricing details? Well the W6000, W1000 and W600 will be available for $3,970, $1,590 and $794. Which one will be yours?
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Here is another portable display solution for people who want to watch videos on the go. The iLuv i1166 is a new portable digital media player that comes with an iPod interface and a large 9” screen. The player is DivX certified and comes with a built-in DVD player. The iLuv i1166 digital media player is expected to be available by mid-October with a MSRP of $269.99.

(Source) Slippery Brick

Okoro offers consumers a couple of miniature Quantum series media PCs designed to aid users to manage photos, music and videos while also recording HDTV programs. They come in small compact form factors which should be flexible enough for you to find a suitable area to place it. These mini systems can also playback 1080p Blu-ray movies and DVD.

These Quantum Mini Systems also gives the consumer the ability to record two HD programs via an antenna, cable, or satellite TV based on the customer’s software choice. The OMS-QX100 is based on low powered Intel moble technology while the QX200 is based on NVidia ION processing technology.

(Source) Press

Elecom Japan brings to us their new Sundries Contrast Foldable Headphones. Also known as the EHP-OH100 Series Headphones, they are available in Seven trendy colors. You can choose from Light Brown Black, Sky Blue, Orange, Lime Green, Rose Pink, and Purple. Enjoy high quality music while on the go or at home with the new EHP-OH100 series The stylish Headphones have a 1.2m cable and 30mm driver unit. They have 32 Ohms impedance and deliver 104db/mW output. You can get one of these here at ¥ 5,100 (57 USD approx).

I have to admit that I was a little dismayed by the quailty on the Panasonic TC-L37X1 television.  But only just a little.

But first, the technical rundown.  The Panasonic TC-L37X1 is a thirty seven inch 720p LCD TV with an iPod dock, Viera Link and Viera Image Viewer, three HDMI ports and one PC input.

Doesn’t sound like a lot, I know–and for an eight hundred dollar television (that you can actually find used on Amazon for the low, low price of about five hundred bucks)–and frankly, it’s not a whole lot of value for what you get, either.  I found that the picture was surprisingly grainy even at long distances.  Normally, I expect a bit of grain when I’m checking the up close view, but this one was giving off more grain than a wheat field from about eight feet off.  However, the sound quality was pretty nice, and the controls were plenty easy to handle.

I’m not very happy with the value on this one–at least not on the model I tried–but if you can find a good price on it and don’t mind a grainy picture, you should do all right.  I don’t recommend it myself, but your mileage may vary.

Ordinarily, a home theater setup might well start around a piece of equipment, like a speaker system or a certain projector screen.  But with this one, an admittedly sweet home theater setup, it all started with a square of fabric–that tiger striped affair you see at the right.

Now, naturally, it didn’t end with tiger striping.  It also expanded to become a huge home theater project, including a snack bar (dubbed the Cinebar) that offered popcorn and other snacks.  It also includes CineLoungers for seven, a hundred and twenty three inch Vutec Fixed Screen, a long throw projector screen,and a whole slew of speakers.

This is no doubt a sweet home theater setup, and it’s a downright beauty.  It helps that it’s got its own snack bar right inside the place, but the sheer combination of tech and classic beauty make this a sweet home theater setup in its own right.

I know talking about something with a name like TwonkyBeam is sure to draw some eyebrows, but this really is an awesome idea.  Basically, someone finally realized that the Internet is jam packed with awesome entertainment options of every stripe and description.  But it’s not exactly easy to move them around,and this is where TwonkyBeam comes in.

There’s a video to demonstrate how it works below, but it’s a plug-in for Internet Explorer 6.0 and up (there’s no need to rush the stage and lynch me yet–rest assured that support is in the works for both Mac and FIrefox) that will let you pull media from any website with photo, music or video and send it directly, whole and breathing, to a DLNA / UPnP compatible device.

Just in case that technobabble got you a bit confused too, here’s a good example–with TwonkyBeam, you can send photos from Flickr directly to a digital picture frame.

This, frankly, is an awesome idea and will no doubt save teenage boys hundreds of hours that would otherwise have been spent trying to save porn and bootleg comics pages to a DVD to watch later.  But for the rest of us, there’s actually plenty of other worthwhile uses, and I’m glad this program exists.