As certain as a non-white Christmas for most of the UK, the world's biggest home electronics show rolls around in January and it's developed into an awesome behemoth, packed with product and offering a crystal ball showing what's going to be appearing for the next year. Here's a snapshot.
Philips Full Surround Ambilight
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The Ambilight FlatTVtechnology debuted in 2005 has been extended to all four sides of a flat screen display, the idea being that the lighting helps to draw the viewers eye into the screen and enhances the illusion of a fully enveloping picture. There's also a Surround Ambilight model that offers lighting along top and sides only, presumably for a slightly less immersive experience.
There was also Blu-ray news from Philips with the announcement of an upcoming player, the BDP9000, which we should see in the second half of this year, along with two types of Blu-ray disc, the BD-R and B-RE, single layer 25GB and dual layer BD-R and BD-RE 50GB.
Panasonic's 103in plasma
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Panasonic showed off a prototype of a 103 inch plasma screen with 1080p(progressive) HDTV resolution. Champagne corks were a-popping because the Panasonic beats Samsung's biggest plasma by an inch, but when screens start getting to this size, there's no way you can tell the difference just by looking. Will we have to carry measuring tapes around with us so we know what we're getting, or will manufacturers helpfully provide ruler markings across the tops of their screens in future?
Premier PD-S682 Mini DLP Projector
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This tiny projector isn't much bigger than hand size at 121x 99x 47mm, weighs just 500g and has a native 800 by 600 pixel resolution, accepts VGA, S-video, and has a composite input. It's not really meant for day-to-day home use, but intended more as a portable projector which can be set up in hotel rooms or at conferences. But if you've got the big screen bug, it could come in handy for taking round projectorless friends' houses to show them what they're missing. It has an SD card slot so you can blow up images from a camera or phone and it can even run off a battery for a couple of hours if needs be.
Sharp's Aquos 57 incher
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It might be 8in smaller than the beast Sharp claims to be the world's largest LCD TV (the mighty LC-65D90U), but the 57in LC-57D90U has some tricks up its sleeve to help redress the balance. It claims a quicker response time (less than 4ms), wider viewing angle (176 degrees), and a higher contrast ratio (1,500:1) than any of Sharp's other commercially available LCD TVs, which could all go to make it the aficionado's choice. It's still not cheap though, this model is expected in spring and likely to cost around £10,000.
Outdoor telly
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There might not be much of a window for it in rain-battered Blighty, but later this year you should be able to get the 26in Lux LCD ARIIS. It's a water-resistant LCD TV with its own stand that can be bundled with an outdoor radio and DVD player, or it can be used with a Microsoft outdoor media centre extender system for playing games, watching telly or movies. But then, don't you go outside to get away from that stuff..?
JVC Surround Headphone Adapter
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If you're having trouble persuading others in your household that surround sound is essential, you could try these for size. JVC's SU-DH1 surround sound headphone adapter uses Dolby Headphone technology to offer 5.1-channel surround sound through any two-channel headphones. You can connect it to your home DVD player (or indeed a portable MP3 player or laptop) and it will deliver virtual surround in simulated small room, large room or theatre modes from anything encoded with Dolby Digital, Dolby Pro Logic II, DTS, Dolby Digital Surround EX, DTS-ES and MPEG-2 AAC.
KEF's new surround system
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KEF showed off its 'next generation' home cinema system, the 3000 Series, and very nice it looked too. An evolution of KEF's egg-shaped speakers, the new system includes a new version of KEF's Uni-Q driver, the one where the tweeter sits in the middle of the bass/mid-range cone.
The centre speaker has the same 115mm driver as the satellites, but is bolstered by two additional 75mm mini bass drivers to help deliver extra clarity from the system's main channel. The subwoofer has a 250mm driver and carries 250 watts of power. It's built-in 'SmartBass' is designed to make set-up exceptionally easy and it can be placed either upright or on its side. It's expected to be available in the UK from March for around £1,000.
Marantz's new amps and DVD players
Marantz announced two new amps for 2006. The £350 PM7001 improves on the PM7200 with 70 watts per channel and the addition of several Marantz-designed components. Available in black or silver, this hefty 10kg brute includes Marantz's own op-amps, HDAMs and power supply to help raise the sound standard above the average. Looks good too, as does the £550 PM7001KI Ken Ishiwata signature version, which is fine-tuned with a higher-grade power supply, copper plating on the chassis and additional circuit shielding.
Two new slimline DVD players from Marantz included the £350 DV6600, which can deliver video upconversion to 1080i, play DVD-A and SACD discs, and has an 'Audio Exclusive' mode that bypasses the video circuits for audiophile sound quality. There's also the cheaper, but not quite as cheerful £100 DV4360 which won't play the hi-res formats but does include 24-bit/192kHz Wolfson DACs and can handle PAL and NTSC progressive scan via its component output.
Samsung home cinema
Samsung had both and home cinema systems and DVD players on display. The £249, 750-watt HT-AS710 A/V receiver, offers both HDMI switching and USB connectivity and there's a more basic version, the HT-AS610 too. Both come in sleek, black chassis that are intended to be matched with Samsung's new range of DVD players, including the HDMI-equipped DVD-HD860, DVD-HD960, and DVD-HD1080. The 1080 is the high-end model and includes video upscaling to 1080p, as well as support for DVD-Audio and SACD hi-res formats. The 860 will be the first to market in March for around £99, with the others following soon after.
