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Listener Comment Line: 1-949-528-6747

News:

Ladd Wardani
President, MoCA and VP Business Development, Entropic Communications, Inc.

Mr. Wardani has over 20 years of experience in the development of communications systems and products over satellite, coaxial cable, wireline and wireless, from silicon solutions to box product, terminals and full networks. Prior to his presdiency at MoCA, Mr. Wardani co-founded Entropic in January 2001.  Before that he did two years of independent contracting on home networking and broadband wireless chipset developments. Between 1991 and 1999, Mr. Wardani did technical marketing, business development, and led the engineering development of the set-top box physical layer ICs and initial cable modem efforts that became Conexant Systems' Digital Infotainment Division and ComStream Corporation products. Prior to serving as director of engineering at ComStream, Mr. Wardani served as manager and project leader of engineering at Linkabit Corporation between 1980 and 1991

SONY 60" Grand WEGA SXRD Rear Projection HDTV KDS-R60XBR1

Features:

• SXRD technology: SXRD is a Silicon X-tal Reflective Display technology (LCoS) that delivers high-level resolution, greater contrast ratio, faster response speed and film-like reproduction compared to other conventional devices.
• WEGA Engine system: Delivers superb picture quality from any video source by minimizing the signal deterioration caused by digital-to-analog conversion and stabilizing the signal processing.
  
• CineMotion® technology using the reverse 3-2 pull down technology, the Cinemotion feature provides smoother picture movement when playing back movies or other video sources on film.
• Twin-View feature allows you to watch two programs side by side with the ability to zoom in on one picture and listen to the program in the selected window. You can watch pictures from two different sources (480i) simultaneously.
• CableCARD Slot provides cable subscribers with access to digitally encrypted cable channels - without the need for a set-top box - that will enable you to receive not only standard definition but also high definition television. The CableCARD, which is provided by your cable TV provider, is inserted into the TV's rear panel CableCARD slot. After the service is activated with your cable TV company, the card replaces the need for a separate set-top box.

What we liked:

• 1080p (upscaled picture)
• Color representation
• Sharp detailed picture
• Very Good Contrast (great job with dark scenes)
• Good Black Levels
• Two HDMI inputs
  

What we disliked:

• No 1080p input
• Ugly cabinet. Speakers look like ears
• ATSC Tuner performed so so
• Performance with highly compressed content
  
• Cost
  

We really haven't been too impressed with SONY's offerings in the HD area. That is until we saw this baby. SXRD is based on LCoS technology which we really like for its smooth motion and dense pixel placement. This TV builds on these inherent strengths of the technology with SONY's CineMotion® technology. The SXRD has spectacular color and great detail. It did a great job with dark scenes. When compared side by side with two other TVs (one DLP and another based on LCoS) the SONY displayed detail that the other two TVs missed. One of the best TVs we have seen! The only real complaints I (Ara) had were the cabinet was very big and the speakers stuck out like a sore thumb, there is no 1080p inputs and its a bit pricy at $4,500 US.The TV weighs 113 lbs (51Kgs) and is 21 inches (53 cm) deep. We can not definitively state that the HDMI input supports HDCP. There is no mention of this in the manual or at SONY's site.

 

 

 

It's very common to spend a lot of money on a home theater sound system for your primary viewing area. So your watching a great movie on HBO HD or HDNET and listening to the dialog and sound effects in Dolby Digital. But its getting late and you decide to finish the movie in your master bedroom. The only problem is that your Plasma or LCD is not connected to any kind of audio processing equipment. It doesn't even have to be your bedroom. The same thing applies to a den or an office. Since you convinced your spouse to spend a small fortune on the main home theater equipment it is unlikely that you can get the finance committee to approve another full blown home theater system for the secondary viewing room. What do you do?

There are some PC speakers that support 5.1 and 6.1 audio. Now we'll say up front that these speakers will not provide the same experience as your full blown setup but for relatively little money you can have surround in your bedroom or den. Your options include:

Logitech® Z-5450 Digital 5.1 Speaker System   (MSRP $499.99)

Logitech® Z-5500 Digital (MSRP $399.95)

Features include: THX® Certified 5.1 Configuration Dolby® Digital & DTS® Hardware Decoding 500 Watts Digital SoundTouch Control Center

The Z-5450 includes wireless rear speakers.

If your PC speaker systems does not have built in audio processing you may be interested in the DDTS-100 from Creative Labs. This device will set you back $149.00  and is a great way to add audio processing to inexpensive  PC speakers. So you don't have to break the bank to get surround sound into your bedroom or den!

Listen to the show for more info...