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Posted 07/31/08 at 08:11:55 PM by Michael Brown

Accell’s UltraAV HDMI 4:2 Audio/Video Switch is either a Dr. Jekyll or a Mr. Hyde of a home-theater product. The creature you’ll encounter depends on the video source you connect to it. Read on to find out just what we're talking about.

Comments: 1
TAGS: Projector, HDMI, Home Theater, HDCP, EDID

NewsUp Close With Meridian’s $185,000 4096x2160 Pixel Projector -- 10 Megapixel Cinema Blows Us Away

Posted 07/30/08 at 08:00:00 AM by Gordon Mah Ung

Think a 30-inch monitor at 2560x1600 resolution is amazing? Then you haven’t seen Merdian’s 810 Reference Video System that gives you a 4096 x 2160 projected image for the low price of $185,000. But we have.

We got to touch and see the 810 up close and personal last week in a private demonstration held at Dolby Laboratories headquarters. Why Dolby? The company has a famous 90-seat theater in its main building in San Francisco that’s actually nicer than most small screens at the multiplex. And how does this monster of a projector perform? Read on to find out!

Click through to read our impressions of the 810 Reference Video System

Comments: 2
TAGS: video, hd, Projector, Home Theater, high definition, hardware, consumer electronics, meridian, marvell, dolby

NewsHitachi to Harvest 5TB Hard Drive by 2010

Posted 07/07/08 at 09:49:21 AM by Paul Lilly

While SSDs continue to come down in price and up in performance, hard disk drives keep ballooning in size. And just when we thought we were becoming spoiled with storage space, Hitachi hits us with a humdinger by announcing plans to release a 5TB hard drive by 2010. That's FIVE freaking terabytes in a single 3.5" drive, or half the storage capacity of the human brain, claims Dr. Yoshihiro Shiroishi from Hitachi. In more concrete terms, 5TB equates to about 5,000 hours of video, or more than a million songs. Throw two drives together and you could store a human brain's worth of porn!

Hitachi's pledge trumps an earlier prediction the company made back in October 2007 when it said 4TB of storage would be likely by 2011. Instead, Hitachi will employ Current-Perpendicular-to-Plant Giant Magnetoresistance (CPP-GMR) magnetic read heads to pack an additional terabyte than initially anticipated, and a year sooner than predicted. CPP-GMR will make it possible to achieve data densities of 1TB or more per square inch, paving the way for even larger hard drives.

Home theater buffs will undoubtedly herald Hitachi's announcement, but what about everyone else? Are we reaching the point of diminishing returns in terms of hard drive space? Post your thoughts in the comments section.

Comments: 5
TAGS: storage, Hard Drive, HDD, hitachi, terabyte, Home Theater, hardware, ssd, 1tb, build a rig, 5tb, cpp-gmr, perpendicular, htpc

FROM THE ARCHIVEAn Awesome Solution for Wiring Retrofits

Posted 04/10/08 at 01:06:13 PM by Michael Brown

The innovative RapidRun cable solution makes installing new A/V wiring in existing construction a piece of cake.

Comments: 1
TAGS: Home Theater, retrofit, cabling, A/V

ReviewsNiles Audio RCA-HT Remote Control Anywhere Kit

Posted 01/30/08 at 04:33:11 PM by Michael Brown

You can take one of two approaches with the gear in your home-theater system: Put everything on display, or you hide your components in a cabinet or closet. If you prefer discretion over exhibitionism, Niles Audio’s Remote Control Anywhere kit lets you to control all your infrared-controlled components no matter where you’ve stashed them.

Click Read More for more.

Comments: 0
TAGS: remote control, Home Theater, DIY, consumer electronics, custom installer, reviews

FROM THE ARCHIVEDaily News Brief: OLED Keyboard Nearing Release?

Posted 12/27/07 at 05:44:49 PM by Paul "One4yu2c" Lilly

Optimus Maximus looks set to finally ship in February, Amazon sees record holiday sales, see what one diehard Batman fan did to his home theater, and more!