Sharp Blu-ray Home Theater in a Box

Joining the Sharp suite of AQUOS-brand products, including the LCD TVs, and most recently, Blu-ray players, the new AQUOS BD-MPC40 and BD-MPC30 include the main unit, housing a Blu-ray player and amplifier, as well as five speakers and a subwoofer. A high-gloss piano-black finish on the main unit matches the styling of AQUOS TVs, accompanied by black wooden cabinet speakers with the BD-MPC40, and black synthetic finish speakers with BD-MPC30. The MPC30 speaker is pictured right. The MPC40 speaker is boxier with a black woodgrain finish.

The new AQUOS BD-MPC40 and BD-MPC30 reproduce 5.1 channels of surround sound and incorporate Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio surround sound capabilities for a true theater sound experience. The integrated receiver has an FM digital tuner, amplifier and Blu-ray player, and is housed in a slim, stylish cabinet. The complexity of wiring your system is reduced thanks to color-coded terminals that will easily guide even the most entry level consumer during set-up.

The home theater system’s main unit includes a Blu-ray player for full high-definition 1080p/24 Hz output and supports BD-ROM Profile 2.0, also know as BD-Live, which provides a multitude of interactive features through an Ethernet jack-enabled Internet connection. Users can download and stream bonus content such as additional scenes, shorts, trailers and multi-player interactive games, providing the consumer full access to content otherwise unattainable. Additionally, the Blu-ray player features AQUOS Pure Mode, which works with AQUOS displays to automatically sense the aspect ratio of the Blu-ray title being played and optimizes the TV’s view mode.

The systems come with an HDMI 1.3 digital output that allows users to send the highest resolution video and audio signals possible to an AQUOS TV via a single cable, allowing Blu-ray discs to be viewed in complete digital 1080p/24Hz high-definition. Through HDMI 1.3, the player supports x.v.Color, providing a wider color spectrum leading to more vivid imagery.

The integrated Blu-ray player is compatible with a wide variety of formats including BD-ROM/RE/R, DVD Video, DVD-RW/R, DVD+RW/R, and Audio CDs. It is also compatible with standard DVDs and is capable of upscaling them via HDMI to 1080p. There is no SACD or DVD-Audio support (nor would we expect it at this price).

For seamless connection between audio and video, the home theater systems include Sharp’s built-in AQUOS LINK (Sharp's version of HDMI-CEC) feature that allows users to seamlessly control HDMI-connected products in conjunction with their AQUOS TV, using a single remote control. The remote also provides simultaneous Power On/Off of both the AQUOS LCD TV and home theater system.

Pricing and availability

• The BD-MPC40 will be available this spring for a Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) of $799.99
• The BD-MPC30 will be available this spring for an MSRP of $799.99

For more information please visit www.sharpusa.com.

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