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Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment

The whole Profile 1.0 thing kind of put a damper on Sharp’s latest Blu-ray players, but since they were showcased at the company’s CEDIA booth, we figured it prudent to take a few snapshots and pass ‘em along. Design wise, the two are exceptionally similar, and we can’t say with good faith that the HP50U is really worth the extra coin. Hit the gallery over at Engadget HD and see if you can pick the two apart… and, go!

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Source: Darren Murph

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Filed under: Home Entertainment

C’mon Sharp — we’re cool with your $350 BD-HP21U Blu-ray player not supporting Profile 2.0, but are you seriously trying to pass off a has-been deck for a whopping $450? The AQUOS BD-HP50U, also announced today at CEDIA, boasts Profile 1.1 compatibility, built-in RS-232C / IR ports, HDMI 1.3 and the company’s Quick Start feature. Anything there worth the $449.99 asking price? Nah, we thought not. Check the complete (uninspiring) release after the break.

Continue reading Sharp sticks with Profile 1.1 on AQUOS BD-HP50U Blu-ray deck

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Source: Darren Murph

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Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment

Yeah, you read that correctly — the obsessive audiophiles / videophiles at the Criterion Collection use Sony’s PlayStation 3 as its reference Blu-ray player. In all honesty, we can’t say we’re too surprised. Time and again, Sony’s latest console has been rated very highly as a dedicated BD deck, and the plentiful firmware updates ensure that it’s always at the forefront of whatever interactive functionality is next. This snippet of factual goodness was extracted from a recent writeup that took an in-depth look at how the CC would be revamping its home theater, and even famed calibration guru Joe Kane gave his approval at using the console for playing back Blu-ray Discs. The real kicker? They also settled upon a DVIGear HDMI cable over one of those obscenely overpriced Ogre cables — and that was after running clean out of coat hangers.

[Via CNET]

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Source: Darren Murph

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Filed under: CES, Features, Home Entertainment

If the idea of a receiver is just too lowbrow for you, check out Denon’s processor/amplifier separates, the AVP/POA-A1HDCI (’AVP’ for the processor, ‘POA’ for the amp). Six HDMI 1.3 inputs, two parallel HDMI outputs and Silicon Optix Realta video processing are some processor highlights; the amp packs in 10 channels at 150-watts. While you’re at it, why settle for a Blu-ray player when you can get a dedicated transport? That back panel picture of the DVD-2500BTCI is no prototype unit — all you get is a power cord, HDMI output, and RS-232. Spin those bits off the Blu-ray disc and send them on to the AVP-A1HDCI for decoding. Pricing is securely in the “if you have to ask…” category: $7k for the AVP-A1HDCI, $7k for the POA-A1HDCI and $1200 for the DVD-2500BTCI.

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Source: Steven Kim

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Filed under: CES, Features, Home Entertainment

Just as promised, we got a hold of the Marantz BD8002, the company’s first Blu-ray player. It was hard to let it go once we did, but the $2100 price tag made it a little easier. Silicon Optix Realta, HDMI 1.3, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD MA support. We want it all, and we want it now; but even the well-heeled among you will have to wait until Q2 2008 for this rig. And if you’re looking for a pic of the remote, trust us — we asked, too. Sorry, it’s not final yet.

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Source: Steven Kim

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