AVRant #36: Live from CES 2008

Live(ish) from the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show (CES). Clint, Gene, and Tom talk about some of the great (and not so great) products that they've seen including HD DVD news, Blu-ray player pricing dropping, wireless HDMI, HDMI over coaxial cable... In fact, it seemed that everyone wanted to send HDMI over just about anything BUT HDMI. We also saw some really high resolution displays that were essentially four 1080p monitors combined into one single screen. Toshiba worked the cell processor (yes, the one in the Playstation 3) into some very unique video processing features to enhance standard definition picture, and LCD and plasma are getting thinner - way thinner. Tom talks about his favorite product of the show which was a gaming device that, in our opinion, could change the way every first-person shooter (FPS) is played. Projectors were at CES, but we were particularly impressed by some new commercial short-throw systems that could throw down a large image onto a wall from just about 12-inches away. New AV receivers from Pioneer are bringing features like HDMI switching down to the $249 price point and 1080p Faroudja-based HDMI upconversion and HD audio decoding to just over $500. Dish network has a few new products including coupon-eligible digital converter box as well as a DVR upgrade box to upgrade your HD receiver to an HD-DVR. THX introduces a new video calibration program, and Gene gives us a breakdown of some cool high-end audio products he saw at the Venetian as well as some of the items that were, shall we say, not as impressive.

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• Full Audioholics 2008 CES Show Coverage
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