Panasonic has released a couple of DVD and HDD recorders carrying practically similar specs. The two new models are the Panasonic DMR-XP200 and XE100. The XE100 feature a 320GB HDD and digital TV tuner while the XP200 boasts of a 500GB HDD, an analog and digital TV tuner along with a BS/110 CD digital tuner. The XP200 can also record 1 Seg TV programs and save recorded videos on a SD card.

Pricing and availability have yet to be announced.

(Source) Slippery Brick

CrestaTech unveils CrestaTV Universal Broadband Receiver which will now allow PCs to receive live analog or digital TV broadcast, radio and GPS signals in any city, any region and any country around the world. With this new technology, PC OEM owners can now receive live analog and digital TV broadcasts, radio, and GPS signals from anywhere around the world.

The CrestaTV Universal Broadband Receiver supports formats including DVBT, ATSC, Cable QAM, NTSC and PAL, along with FM radio and GPS capabilities. The CrestaTV can also be integrated with PCI express cards for desktops and PCI mini-express cards or USB TV modules for laptops.

(Source) Press

There over a hundred potential TV tuners you can get for your PC which allows you to view your favorite program or videos. But while you are at it, make sure it is compatible with analog and digital feeds something that perhaps makes the Hauppauge 1200 WinTV HVR-850 HDTV Tuner Stick stand out above the rest.

The Hauppauge 1200 WinTV HVR-850 HDTV Tuner Stick allows you to watch and record your favorite shows via USB connection. You can record videos on high quality MPEG2 format and is quite portable to have around. The whole lot includes a personal video recorder software for your recording needs.

Price: $58.24

(Source) Amazon

This new Blu-ray test disk is exactly what one would need as far as measuring just how efficient your audio and video setup really is. Thanks to Marvell, this new benchmarking tool should be useful for people who want to calibrate and/or fine-tune their products, something common we see in most home theater setups today.

The HD test disk has been designed to provide a mechanism for comprehensive testing of the main elements of video processing, namely noise reduction, format conversion, and image enhancement. The noise reduction test patterns check the ability of the system under test to reduce analog and digital noise. The format conversion test patterns provide a comprehensive test of the capabilities of the de-interlacing done by the system.

(Source) Press

For the people who want to bring out the best audio quality right for uncompressed music files, a special amplifier should do the trick. The Neuhaus T-2 Amplifier is perfect for these audio files which need all the boost they need to deliver the same sound quality as MP3 music files.

The Neuhaus T-2 Amplifier costs $800 which is a bit pricey. But don’t tell that to the audiophiles who don’t seem to mind as long as they can enhance the listening experience on uncompressed music files. This amplifier is perfect for people who want to perk up low quality music files play their PC.

The amplifier takes the old files from your PC, converts it to analog and then amplifies it using vacuum tubes. Through this process, you get warmer and richer sound playback on low end song files which can be improved.

(Source) Dvice

Coby has had its share of being a darkhorse player in the world of home theater setups and here comes another great alternative in the mold of the Coby DVD-755 5.1 Channel DVD player and home theater system. It features a progressive scan DVD player with Digital Dolby decoder that can deliver outstanding for people who want a cost-efficient setup without compromising expected quality.

It also features digital, optical, and analog A/V outputs, a convenient front panel LCD display, and a picture zoom function. Its super-slim design is only 2 inches high. Five 2.5″ full range satellite speakers and a 4″ long-throw subwoofer with a tuned port will fill your room with sound.

Price: $69.99

(Source) Amazon

A record of 55,000 calls in one day flooded help lines at the Federal Communications Commission on May 21, 2009 after TV stations across the country broadcast a series of warnings about the shutoff of analog television signals scheduled for June 12. The “soft test” was a text warning that lasted a few minutes, broadcast three times during the day in more than 125 TV markets, including at least one station in each of the top 30 markets.

Viewers were asked to call 1-800-CALL-FCC to request assistance—and they did, 55,000 of them, way over the normal daily call volume of 15,000 in past months. Acting FCC chair Michael Copps stated: “This soft test did exactly what it was supposed to do. It was a wake-up call for consumers who are unprepared, alerting them to the fact that they need to take the necessary steps before the June 12 DTV transition.”

As the deadline approaches for all television stations to stop analog broadcasting and begin broadcasting only in digital, TV viewers need to be ready for the digital TV conversion switch by either buying a digital television conversion box or seeing to it they have a digital cable or a TV set with a digital tuner.

One of the leading online retailers of electronics and computer accessories, ReStockIt.com, is trying to make it easy for consumers to find the best analog TV converters by offering tips on which turners to select as well as free shipping on most Sharp digital ready TV’s.

RS-1500 Tape Deck

The Tape Project was founded to bring “master tape sound”  right into the living room. Each available release is recorded onto 1/4″ half track analog reel-to-reel tape at 15 inches per second. The Tape Project claims, “You just aren’t going to get any closer to the original master, short of buying a record label or two.” The process begins by creating a 1″ duplication master from the original analog master tape, which is then dubbed to a bank of finely tweaked Ampex ATR-100 decks. The final result is the highest-quality “home format” analog copy available.

Dan Schmalle is the brains behind The Tape Project, and also happens to be the drive behind Bottlehead Corp, who fabricate a range of tube amplifiers and modifies tape decks with the CCIR/IEC1 playback equalization needed to play these tapes. The project gurus suggest coupling your modified RS-1500 tape deck with the $4000 Bottlehead Repro tape preamplifier, along with any high-end audiophile amplifier and speakers you have lurking in your home’s listening room.

Now, feel free to receive on air high definition TV broadcast via the newly launched Tivax STB-T8 Digital to Analog TV Converter Box. The new Tivax STB-T8 Digital to Analog TV Converter Box is a NTIA certified and qualified product for government coupon program.

Measuring 1.8 x 8.7 x 6.3-inches in dimensions, Tivax STB-T8 Digital to Analog TV Converter Box weighs just 1 pound. It is capable of supporting both 4 x 3 and 16 x 9 TV aspect ratios. Apart from this is also capable of supporting Dolby Digital.

The new Tivax STB-T8 Digital to Analog TV Converter Box comes with Antenna/ RF Coaxial and Smart Antenna Interface along with Composite Video and Antenna/ RF Output. It works efficiently with a remote control and two AAA batteries. You can grab Tivax STB-T8 Digital to Analog TV Converter Box in just $49.99 at Amazon.com.

Dell has announced the availability of the Dell 4310WX DLP projector. It will deliver 1,280 x 800 resolution in a 16:10 aspect ratio. It’s great for your living room and can also be used for business presentations or in the classroom. You’ll get 3,500 lumens brightness and a 2,000:1 contrast ratio.

Features:

• Remote control with an integrated laser pointer
• VGA input
• Two component/analog D-sub inputs
• HDMI 1.3 and DisplayPort input and Ethernet jacks
• 5W speakers

The projector is priced at $1,099.

(Source) Slippery Brick

Hawaii is the first state in the U.S. to make the switch from analog TV to digital. This Thursday at noon all 20 stations of the state were broadcasting an analog signal saying that ”All full-power Hawaii TV stations are now digital.” So why did Hawaii power up its DTV already? And that’s a month before the February 17th date, when every state should go full digital.

It looks like the date coincides with the nesting season of the Hawaiian dark-rumped petrel and Hawaiian officials didn’t want the switch to bother the birds.

No news of angry customers so far in Hawaii. When will everyone else switch to DTV? Is it February or is it June?

via Yahoo

The U.S. has been waiting for this move for a while now. Analog TV signals will be shut down in favor DTV. There’s a date for that, February 17, 2009 which was set a few years ago by the government. Shouldn’t that decision be respected?

It looks like the DTV switchover might be pushed back to June 12. And it’s the digital coupon’s fault in case you were wondering. Funds for those $40 coupons you needed ran out a few weeks ago but there are still users applying for them. About 2.1 million of them. That’s what happens if you fail to act on time like so many consumers have. If you know DTV is coming, why not get ready for it?

Will Congress push back the date to June? Instead of working on more important business the government is thinking about all those people that won’t be able to watch TV for a while. But hey, even the Romans were doing their best to offer as many Colosseum shows to the people. That way some of those other important matters of state can pass on unobserved by the public. And all the public needs is DTV, a remote in their hand and a Plasma TV on their wall.