Sometimes, you just have to cheap out. Whether it’s picking up six-pack of Shasta at the grocery store rather than Coke, a packet of generic acetaminophen at the drug store rather than Tylenol, or a Kia Amanti instead of a Mercedes E-Class, the option to go with “close enough” is everywhere. Do it right, and you’ll save a bundle while never noticing the difference. Do it wrong, and you’ll curse the purchase every day for the next 10 years as you cling to your pleather steering wheel wondering how a seductive pair of headlights tricked you into thinking you were buying a German luxury sedan.
Tag Archive: Dolby
The iPhone and the Next Big Thing
This decade has largely been defined largely by Apple products in the consumer space. The first part was all about the iPod, and the last part, the iPhone. This is where the lines and excitement were. In the 90s, it was about Windows and PCs, with Windows 95 as the likely high point. Before that, it was largely about Atari or VCRs, depending where you were in that decade. We are now fast approaching 2010, and starting to wonder what that decade will be focused on.
Sharp Gets into Soundbars at CES
Though not likely the first name you think of when it comes to home audio, Sharp has expanded its speaker line with two new soundbars, an increasingly popular option for complementing HDTVs without the bulk and expense of a full home theater setup.
Sharp showed off the HT-SB300 and HT-SB200 at its sprawling CES booth. Though it was difficult to get a feel for sound quality in the booming central hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center, the bars sported compact designs that matched the glossy black finish of Sharp’s Aquos HDTVs to a tee. Both offer 34 watts of output through dual stereo speakers and built-in subs, but the higher-end SB300 adds a support for a number of different audio decoding formats, including DTS, Dolby Digital, Dolby Pro Logic II, and Dolby Virtual Speaker, plus has output for a separate subwoofer.
Samsung BD-P2500 Supports BD Profile 2.0
Though Berlin’s IFA 2008 consumer electronics expo hasn’t yet officially begun, Samsung used the day preceding the event to get one of its tamer announcements, a fifth-generation Blu-ray player, out of the way. The BD-P2500 will keep a look much similar to its predecessor, the BD-P1500, but adds long-awaited Blu-ray Profile 2.0 compatibility and a handful of other features.
Profile 2.0 allows the the BD-P2500 to access BD Live features on next-gen discs, meaning it can pull relevant content from the Internet using a built-in Ethernet jack, and store it on an included 1GB of memory. This enables features like wallpaper and ringtone downloads, peer-to-peer interactions, live events and even games.
Extreme Trash Talk with Ear Force X4
Accessory and peripheral maker Turtle Beach has rolled out another entry in its line of gaming headphones in the form of the Ear Force X4 headset for the Xbox 360. Billing the cans as the most advanced wireless headphones ever build for console gaming, the X4s promise to bathe users in 5.1 Dolby surround sound while offering unique features like the ability to duck game sounds during chats.
“The addition of Dolby 5.1 channel surround sound in our new X4 expands the game action all around you,” said Turtle Beach marketing manager Mike Carducci, in a statement. “Unlike stereo headphones, you can hear every 3D sound cue as you communicate with teammates whose voices are inside your head.”
Dolby, SIM2 Show Off HDR LCD
Dolby Labs and SIM2 Multimedia are showing off their prototype high dynamic range (HDR) LCD display prototype in New York today. The display uses over 1,800 new Dolby LEDs as backlighting, enabling local dimming in areas of the screen to produce what the companies are touting as an “infinite” contrast ratio.
“This prototype is a stunning example of what Dolby’s HDR technologies can bring to the LCD market,” said Dolby Labs senior marketing manager Bharath Rajagopalan, in a statement. “As Dolby holds patents that are fundamental to local dimming-based HDR, we welcome the opportunity to showcase our innovative technology that delivers a dramatic improvement to LCD displays.”
Asus Xonar DX Offers 7.1 Channels, Low SNR
While most people seem content with on-board audio on PCs for cranking out music through a cheap set of headphones or PC speakers, more serious audio enthusiasts look to better solutions to match their high-end systems, and Asus launched its own entry targeting this niche market on Thursday. The Xonar DX PCI Express Audio card offers 7.1 channels and a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) Asus claims is 35 times cleaner than onboard alternatives.
In terms of output, the board boasts an SNR of 116dB, while Asus says most onboard chipsets produce audio with an SNR of 85dB (decibels are logarithmic, explaining Asus’ “35 times cleaner” claim despite a seemingly small different between decibel SNR measurements). The board also produces lower total harmonics distortion.
WinDVD HD to Support HD DVD Dolby TrueHD
In case you are unfamiliar with Dolby TrueHD and Dolby Digital Plus, both surroundsound audio codecs were developed for high-definition programming and media. Dolby TrueHD is supposed to be 100% lossless with an 18Mbps bit rate and will likely be featured on higher-end receiverswhile Dolby Digital Plus will support a compressed codec and up to a 6Mbps data rate. Either way, the new WindDVD HD software will be able to support both codecs. “InterVideo WinDVD has alwaysbeen the leading DVD player in the industry. Now, with Dolby TrueHD and Dolby Digital Plus, WinDVD HD promises users an even better audio experience with next-generation, high-definition media,” saidSteve Ro, CEO of InterVideo. “InterVideo appreciates Dolby’s efforts in developing high-definition audio technology so together, we can deliver a better audio experience to all our users.”
Tritton Preps Dolby Certified Headphones
Tritton Technologies, a maker of CE and computer products, today announced the upcoming release of their Dolby Digital and Pro Logic certified digital gaming headphones. The new AX360 is priced at $149.99 and should be available by the end of May.
The AX360, said Tritton, is targeted towards Xbox, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 2 owners. Besides Dolby Digital and Pro Logic certification, other features of this headset include eight
Toshiba Shows Qosmio G30 HD DVD Notebook
At this year’s CeBIT expo, Toshiba has taken the wraps off the Qosmio G30, the latest addition to its high-end line of multimedia computers and its first laptop equipped with an HD DVD-capable optical drive. The new notebook is due to begin shipping in April in the United Kingdom, and it truly wants to be your full-equipped entertainment center. The Qosmio G30 will offer a TV Tuner, DVB-T tuner, Windows XP Media Center Edition, a GeForce 7600 graphics unit with 256 MB of video memory, a 2 GHz Intel Core Duo processor, HDMI digital output, two 120 GB RAID drives, and a 1080p-compatible 1920 by 1700-pixel display.
