Sony is using a red, green, and blue LED for each of the corresponding pixels on the screen. That means that the 55-inch prototypes it’s showing off at CES each have about 6 million LEDs to generate a 1080p image. The tiny LEDs are mounted directly to the front of the display. The contrast is said to be so high that it can’t be measured.

The TV also promises some very intense colors and perhaps the most awesome image quality ever. The LED tech allows the set to have a 1.4 times wider color gamut than conventional backlit LCD screens. There is no word on when the tech will come to market or how much it will cost. You can count on it taking a long time and being expensive when it lands though.

Among the new 3D offerings at the show is the impressively priced Vivitek H1086-3D. This projector will ship in December for $1,999 (USD) and will offer full 1080p resolution and supports 3D. The projector even turns 2D content into 3D automatically. It offers plenty of connectivity options as well including HDMI, VGA-In, S-Video, Composite, RS-232 and 12v trigger.

The 7.8 pound projector is a DLP unit with 2.35:1 widescreen and lots of features for the best image quality available. The projector also sports integrated 5W speakers. It has 2,000 lumens of brightness and a 5000:1 contrast ratio. That contrast ratio is pretty low by today’s standards, so I would definitely want to see the image quality before I plunked down almost $2,000 for this thing.

If your entertainment center is poorly ventilated – or your gear just gets hotter than you like it to, Antec has a new solution specifically for cooling your gear. The device is called the Soundscience A/V Cooler. Inside the shiny silver case is a pair of dual speed 80mm blower fans.

The top of the device is aluminum for heat dissipation. The cooler pulls hot air in from under the device and then spits that hot air out the back through pair of vents. The dual fans promise quiet operation with a maximum of 28.7 dBA of noise. Antec also says that the device needs only 5W of power to operate on high. You can order the Soundscience A/V Cooler now for $139.95 (USD).

Panasonic has a new home theater projector that was just announced called the PT-AE7000U and the projector offers both 3D capability and a 1080p resolution. The projector uses special transparent LCDs at 480Hz and Panasonic overdrive Technology. It also offers their “Intelligent Lens Memory” system, which lets you store zoom and focus settings for different movie proportions.

The projector sports a contrast ratio of 300,000:1 and has 2,000 lumens of brightness. Panasonic uses a special 200W Red-Rich lamp and the LCD panels are tuned for better red luminance and brightness. The new projector will go on sale in Japan this September at a price of approximately $3,499 (USD).

The 1 inch-tall Revo RL100 comes with a 1.3GHz Athlon processor, a 720GB hard drive, 4GB of RAM, and three USB 2.0 ports. A multi-card reader allows you to read from a plethora of removable media cards. It naturally come with WiFi connectivity and an Ethernet jack if you still operate with wires.

Unlike some of the media centers I’ve seen, this one is quite svelte and minimal. Even if you don’t have much space, the Revo RL100 will be barely noticed. The best feature in my book is the removable keyboard, which doubles as a trackpad, and hides away when it’s not in use.

It’s available now, with the base model (RL100-U1002) selling for $499.99 (USD), but you’ll need to spend $569.99 if you want the version (RL100-UR20P) with the Blu-ray player built in.

[via Engadget via Ubergizmo]

The images here are renders, but apparently, the theater is under construction in a home located in Palm Beach, Florida by the guys at Elite Home Theater Seating. This may well be the coolest home theater in history.  The theater has a simulated ship deck for where the people sit to watch the films. The pirate tavern is a fully-functional snack area and all of the little touches are just awesome. I want to watch Pirates of the Caribbean in this theater.

Other than the design, which is very compelling, I would like to know what sort of home theater hardware will be used inside.

[via Boing Boing via Gizmodo]

The ANDI-ONE can interact with devices via Wi-Fi, IR or RF. It also remembers the last 20 actions that you made, so you can quickly search the list and repeat them, although frankly I don’t know exactly how this works, or what it counts as an action. You can also set up macros and organize devices by room. Downloading channel guides is also an option.

But more than that, the Android 2.1 remote is also a portable media player. It can have up to 8GB of internal memory and supports microSD cards up to 64GB. You can watch videos on its 3.5″ touchscreen, connect a 3.5mm jack or just use its built-in speakers and play tracks on it, and you can even download and use over 10,000 Android apps. You can even make VOIP calls on it. And what about its charging cradle? In addition to having a couple of 3W speakers, an HDMI port and an Ethernet port, you can also dock an iPhone or iPad on it.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

I wonder why the remote in the video has a different layout than the one on Conspin’s website; must be a prototype or something. Anyway, now that you know what the ANDI-ONE is capable of, you’d be a fool to think that this remote is cheap. Its suggested retail price is $350 (USD), but Krex already has it listed at about $290. They’re out of stock right now though. If you’re looking to replace your your remote and your Android media player, keep an eye out for the ANDI-ONE.

[via Conspin & Talk Android via Gadgetell]

The front side of the Smart Qwerty has all your standard home theater and media controls for playback, device selection, changing channels and audio. But flip the remote over, and you’ll discover a 66-key QWERTY keyboard. There’s also a trackball mouse for speedy navigation. A built-in gyroscope figures out which side is currently facing up.

The Smart Qwerty’s front is a six-device IR universal remote, while the keyboard and trackball works with Google TV devices, gaming systems and HTPCs that support USB keyboards. Just plug the included RF dongle into your device, and you have a mini wireless keyboard. It’ll also work in IR mode if your device supports infrared keyboard remotes. There’s no word yet on where you can buy the Smart Qwerty yet, but it will retail for $129.99 (USD) when it eventually hits stores.

Every time we go to the movies, it costs me $60 between tickets, popcorn, drinks, and candy. DirecTV has a new VOD offering that is set to launch this month that will bring movies that are only 60 days past the premiere in theaters in your living room. The only catch is that the flicks are $29.99 (USD) for a 48 hour rental.

For me, that is cheaper than taking the kids to the movie for some stuff. Many theater owners aren’t happy about the plan though since they think it will cost them money. I say to the theater owners; try not charging $6 for a $1 candy and maybe more people would come watch your flicks. The first films are expected to be Sony’s Just Go With It, Fox’s Cedar Rapids and Warner Bros.’ Unknown.

[via Hollywood Reporter]

The Roku XD model with 1080p HD playback and integrated 802.11n WiFi has landed at your local Best Buy store for $79.95 (USD). It will play all sorts of streaming content like Netflix, Hulu Plus, Crackle, and lots more.

The streaming box will also support streaming music from the web with Pandora, MP3 tunes and lots more. You can even access Facebook on it. This is one of the cheaper and easier ways to get web content onto your TV in the living room.

The device is also available in BJ’s Wholesale Club, Fry’s and RadioShack.

None of the glasses will work with other TVs either, the manufacturers all use differing tech so that only their glasses will work with their TVs. That means you can’t get cheap third party glasses. This all adds up to few people that are willing to stomach the cost and douchebaggery that is killing the 3D TV industry. The CEA is trying to fix this for us though and I hope they succeed. The CEA is trying to standardize active 3D glasses.

If they were able to do this, it would mean that any brand of glasses would work any TV. It would also mean that we could buy third-party glasses as well. CEA is inviting companies to propose standards for the formal Active Eyewear Standards RFP and return it by March 31. I hope someone submits a good standard that doesn’t cost a fortune to implement.

[via Electronista]

This house has a home theater that puts the BAD in badass. The theater is a Star Wars tribute and it makes me feel totally inadequate about my home theater. It looks like the inside of a space ship and has all kinds of little touches.

The theater room measures 20 x 14. The thing has talking life size C-3PO and R2-D2 robots and a motorized pocket door. All of the hardware is hidden and it uses a Runco DLP projector and a 107-inch anamorphic screen that is curved. The speakers are hidden behind the walls and one button will turn the inputs and systems on for movie night.

The theater also reminds me more than a little of a TRON home theater and I see some Star Trek in there too. I can only imagine how cool it would be to watch Star Wars sitting in this blue-lit room of awesomeness. A tip of the hat to Mr. Coolest Home Theater in History owner.

[via Electronic House]

This technology is called dual-view and it will also allow users to play multiplayer games without the need of a split screen, which sounds like a great advance. Granted, headphones will be needed to make this workable, but it is quite interesting since a lot of us fight over TV channels.

A prototype of this technology was recently shown to Pocket-Lint as part of a customized Killzone 3 demo, allowing two players to see different game screens from a single PS3. Apparently, it’s very hard to photograph this feature and there’s yet no word when it will be available for HDTVs, but it does sound interesting.

[via Ubergizmo]

The 5400 has a 7.1-channel sound and it has loads of features like support for 3D video, lossless audio support from Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio, and it has an Audio Return channel. The receiver has four HDMI inputs and one output so you can shoot multiple video and audio signals out to your TV or projector with one cable.

The receiver in the system also has a front USB port, Audyssey 2EQ, and the kit includes a powered subwoofer. The player also has a seven-channel speaker set with four satellites, and two-way front speakers with a center channel. Everything you need but your content sources, and TV or projector is in the box. The system will ship in April for $599 (USD).

The little projector isn’t specifically made for home theater, but it is 3D capable, has 720p resolution, and HDMI input so it will do the deed. The best part about the IN146 is that it can throw a 60-inch image from only 2.5 feet from the wall.

I would think that would mean a massive 120-inch image would be possible from about twice that distance. The projectors native resolution is 1280 x 800 and it has a single HDMI input with dual VGA inputs. Brightness is 2700 lumens, so a room with windows should be no problem. Another nice feature is the price. The IN146 sells for just $825 (USD).

I would like to have the white set and paint squiggly red lines on them so they look like bloodshot eyes. Despite what they look like, the things have some nice specs. They use coaxial 2-way design with a 25mm soft dome tweeter and a 165mm paper-cone mid/woofer.

Frequency response is 48Hz to 20,000Hz with 90dB sensitivity and 6-ohm impedance. Each of the bad boys tips the scales at 15.4 pounds so you better mount them well. You can grab up a set for about $965 (USD) per pair.

[via Born Rich]

TWICE reports that Pioneer is now licensing the Elite brand to Sharp to bring new flat-screen TVs to the market in the US and Canada to complement the line of other Elite offerings directly from Pioneer. The TVs will be marketed by Sharp and Pioneer together.

Sharp is also an equity investor in Pioneer Electronics. There is no word on when exactly we will see the sets land or how much they will cost. The Elite line is not cheap so expect the Elite TVs to be priced accordingly.

The utlra-widescreen moniker means that these HDTVs can display native 2.35:1 CinemaScope movies without any black bars, which is really cool. Although this means that anything that’s not in 2.35:1 ratio will have some kind of bars, or the picture will have to be stretched. You can’t win them all.

Still, most blockbuster movies are released in this aspect ratio, so that’s not a problem unless you watch many TV shows. Even then, most of shows are shot in widescreen 16:9 formats these days, so the bars won’t be that big. The sets will also feature passive-lens 3D technology, built-in 802.11n WiFi and Vizio’s Internet App capabilities.

The HDTVs will come in 50-inch (XVT3D500CM) and 58-inch (XVT3D580CM) edge-lit LED models, and they’re showing off a prototype of a gigantic 71-inch model with local dimming at CES this weeek.

The remote will connect to all other B&O gear in your house via WiFi, which is cool. You can create one-button macro commands to control various entertainment devices around your home. While this is a neat idea, it’s not something new, and can even be found on some cheap universal remotes these days. I guess the rich need to spend their money on something, though.

I usually like the minimal design of B&O, but this thing is a bit distracting. In an age where everyone will soon be using their iPhones to control their HDTVs and homes, these types of super-remotes make less and less sense anyway.

[via Hypebeast via Oh Gizmo!]

Vizio has finally stepped up and offered a big screen 3D TV with lots of nice features that supports 1080p 3D and needs none of those expensive active 3D glasses to watch. I sort of expected Vizio to be among the first to do this and I was right. The new set is called the 65-inch Theater 3D Razor LED HDTV. The set supports full 1080p resolution and the passive glasses are said to be affordable and cause less eyestrain than active glasses.

The set has a dynamic contrast ratio of 1 million to 1 and has integrated Vizio internet apps. The set also supports SRS Labs sound and has lots of connectivity and other features. The set will hit Costco and Sam’s this month for $3,499 (USD), which is a good deal for a 65-inch 3D TV with these features.