Home Cinema

It's here. You've got it, we've got it, and everyone's tired from playing the game, rather than doing less-important things like eat, sleep and work. So, here's my verdict on the most anticipated game in the history of everything, writes Tom Parsons.

By the way, it's the Xbox 360 version that I've been playing, but we've also had a look at the Playstation 3 version, and graphically, there's very little between them.

Sharp has announced its latest 2.1 home cinema in a box system, the HT-DV50H. From what we can see it's essentially a floorstanding version of the HT-DV40H, with two tallboy speakers rather than the small, horizontal standmounters used on the predecessor.

There's still an HDMI output capable of outputting 720p/1080i, 250w of total power, DivX support and a USB input. Relased this month, it's set to retail at £399.

Marantz has introduced its latest AV amp offerings - the AV8003 networking pre-amp/processor and MM8003 eight-channel power amplifier - and claims the feature-packed combo is an "ultimate-quality audio and video entertainment hub" that is "the perfect playmate for Blu-ray players".

Meanwhile, its own high-definition disc player - the BD8002 - is now set for a 'late summer' release.

The What Hi-Fi? Sound and Vision forums have been a hotbed (or at least a warm futon) lately of speculation regarding Freesat, the new satellite TV service.

So it's good to be able to confirm at least one concrete detail: we've been invited to the official launch on May 6th.

We could of course say "told you so", as we ran the original story here on April 18, although Freesat's PR agency remained tight lipped at the time.

Home cinema without the clutter – that's the promise from Sony with its new DAV-F200 2.1 Bravia system.

The main control centre can be wall mounted, or placed on a shelf or desk. Virtual surround sound is provided courtesy of two compact speakers and a subwoofer.

According to the blurb, the DAV-F200 uses Sony's S-Force Front Surround technology, and delivers a claimed 135w per channel from its 32-bit S-Master digital amplifier.

New from NAD is this 5 x 80w multichannel receiver, the £900 T755. The design brief was based around NAD's "Music First" philosophy that dictates that all the company's surround sound products have the same "warm, involving sound" as its stereo hi-fi components.

NAD claims the superior sound quality of the T755 is due in part to its use of similar audio-platform technology as used in the NAD C355BEE stereo integrated amplifier.

As well as having an FM tuner built-in as standard, there's also an optional DAB module, the DB1 (£125), which plugs into a special DAB input on the rear panel of the T755.

This is the striking-looking spectra, part of the new avielo range from projectiondesign, launched at this weekend's High End Show in Munich.

The Norwegian company has three models in the new line-up, ranging from an entry-level 720p model designed for screens of up to 100in through to one designed for image sizes up to 180in across, and further additions to the range are due later in the year.

It's nearly time to go home! That must mean it's also time to run through the best HD content of the next seven days, writes Tom Parsons.

Let me (and the community at large) know if I've missed anything good.

We first came across Onkyo's one-box HD audio surround sound system at the Bristol Sound and Vision Show back in February, but details were sketchy.

Now we have the full technical specs, prices and pictures. The HTX-22HD is a 2.1 channel home cinema system based around an integrated AV amplifier with built-in subwoofer.

It costs £300 and comes with two front satellite speakers. An optional SKS-11 centre/surround speaker package for full 5.1 performance costs £100.

Panasonic has announced European pricing and availability for its flagship DMP-BD50E Blu-ray Disc player, which conforms to profile 2.0 and offers bitstream output from HD audio formats.

It announced at the Munich High End Show, which opened this morning, that the player will go into the shops in June, and sell for 599 euros – currently about £500.

We've long been fans of Sony's DVD/hard-disk recorders, and they've picked up quite a few What Hi-Fi? Sound and Vision Awards along the way.

New for 2008 are four models, the RDR-HXD790, RDR-HXD890, RDR-HXD995 and RDR-HXD1095 (above). Prices are to be confirmed.

The flagship '1095 has a 500GB hard drive, enough for up to 1400 hours of TV, with the lower models featuring 120, 160 and 250GB hard drives respectively. All HXD series models have analogue and digital TV tuners.

In the past it may well have been hard to square your love of AV with your natural concern for the environment, but slowly but surely, it's becoming easier to offset your ravenous consumption of power.

Not only are TVs becoming more conscious of power usage, but we've also seen a few clever gadgets designed to help us conserve power further.

The Intelliplug is just one of those gadgets, and it's usefulness has now been rubber-stamped with a Queen's Award for Enterprise in the Innovation category.

Projector manufacturer SIM2 is to be the exclusive distributor of SmX projection screens for the UK and Europe from May 1st. SIM2 will be responsible for the company's Pro-Mask, Pro-Curv and Pro-Curv Mask projection screen product ranges.

The SmX range uses a special screen-framing system, black velvet trimming, acoustic insulation and a screen-mounting system for easy on-site adjustment to counteract the 'moiré' effect with digital projectors.

Good afternoon HD fans! As the end of the working week approaches us, it's time to pick out the hi-def highlights of the next seven days, writes Tom Parsons.

As always, if you agree or disagree with my picks, or simply want to suggest something that I've missed, just make a comment below.

John Lewis, one of the UK's largest online and high street retail chains, has apparently confirmed that the launch date for Freesat in its stores and online will be May 6th 2008.

The news was reported today on www.joinfreesat.co.uk.

However, a spokeswoman for Freesat's London PR agency, Firefly, says the official launch date for Freesat has still to be confirmed.

John Lewis says it will be selling the HD receiver for a price of £149, plus optional £100 installation. But there's no news on whether this will be a Grundig or Humax box yet.

Heroes: coming soon on Blu-ray

Universal Studios, which previously backed the now-defunct HD DVD format, has unveiled its plans to release all new home video releases on Blu-ray day-and-date with its DVD releases.

The first title to get the Blu-ray treatment will be Doomsday, followed by a slew of films including The Incredible Hulk, Wanted, Hellboy II: The Golden Army, Mamma Mia! and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.

You'll have read about the new Onkyo TX-SR606 multichannel receiver below, so here are details of the two new budget models in the range, the £300 TX-SR576 and £250 TX-SR506 (pictured), which replaces the Award-winning TX-SR505.

Both models include 7.1-channel surround processing for Dolby Digital EX, Dolby Pro-Logic IIx, DTS-ES, DTS 96/24 and DTS Neo:6.

As for video connectivity, the TX-SR576 has three 1080p-compatible HDMI 1.2 inputs, as well as additional onboard decoding for Dolby Digital Plus audio.

You've been bombarding us with questions on the Forums about the replacement for Onkyo's Award-winning TX-SR605 multichannel receiver, and today we have received full details of its successor, the £400 TX-SR606, which goes on sale next month.

Onkyo has also given us a detailed technical specification for the new TX-SR576 (£300) and TX-SR506 (£250) models, available from May.

Most of us probably can't afford a bespoke custom installation for our home cinema set-up, but if you're one of the lucky ones who can, Lutron has a couple of tempting new gadgets to add to its arsenal of home control systems.

First up is the Grafik Eye QS (pictured above) which can show light levels and energy consumption in each zone of the house. It can control up to three groups of Lutron's QS motorised shades and curtains, and daylight sensing and energy saving capability can be built into the system.

Fed up paying a premium for Sky Sports? Well Setanta Sports is offering football, cricket, golf and boxing fans a more affordable way to watch their favourite sports on Freeview.

Setanta Sports costs just £9.99 a month on Freeview, with no annual contract, and now the broadcaster is offering viewers a range of Freeview subscription packs available from Comet, Argos, Currys and Tescos.

We've been asked many times in the Forums what we think of B&W's surround sound speaker package, and specifically the one based around the Award-winning 685 speakers.

So here, two weeks ahead of its publication in the June issue of What Hi-Fi? Sound and Vision, is our verdict on the B&W 685 Theatre system.

Small enough to fit in the palm of your hand, the Sagem ITD58NG ECO (£24.99) and ITD59NG (£29.99) Freeview set-top boxes also boast eco-friendly credentials. Each has a power consumption of less than 5w while in use, and just 2w in standby.

Both models are compact at 4 x 13.5 x 15cm (h x w x d), connect to your TV via Scart and should be quick and easy to install.

Last week we reported that the Nintendo Wii can now run the BBC iPlayer streaming TV service, and now there are rumours that Sony's PS3 might be the next console to work with the service.

There's no official announcement yet from the BBC or Sony, but there's evidence on the web that adapting the PS3 to run iPlayer may not be that difficult.

We've reported on this mighty beast before, from various shows around the world, but now Denon's flagship AVC-A1HD multichannel amplifier is officially available in the UK for £3799.99.

Described as "a network-centric, high-definition, home cinema and digital media music powerhouse", the Denon packs wi-fi, internet radio, the ability to handle high-definition audio and music and photo streaming within its not inconsiderable casework.

Power is 150w across all seven channels, 1080p video processing comes courtesy of the Realta sxT2 HQV processing chip and there are Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD decoders within. A new control layout and a photo-real graphic interface should make the AVC-A1HD easier to use, claims Denon.

Apologies for the tardiness of this week's guide to the next seven days of hi-def content - it's been a c-razy week at What Hi-Fi? Sound and Vision towers, writes Tom Parsons.

Hopefully the fact that I'm writing this on a Saturday whilst sitting in front of The Land Before Time XIII will make up for it. And seriously, after thirteen films, how have the baby dinosaurs still not grown up?

Under the heading What do Speed Ratings on HDMI Cables Measure?, it points out that there are only two official speed ratings - Standard and High Speed - and that these alone determine whether or not a cable can handle 1080p pictures, or just 1080i.

From April 17 there'll be a raft of new content on the revamped PlayStation Store, including Metal Gear Online Premiere Beta, the prelude to the launch of the next chapter in one of PlayStation's most popular franchises, Metal Gear Solid: Guns of the Patriots.

Also available for download will be Warhawk: Operation Broken Mirror, a new addition to the popular Warhawk experience, and a Lair: Diabolical Dragons pack and a Skyguard upgrade pack, offering new features and functions.

The free update will enable the PS3 to decode internally DTS-HD and DTS-HD Master Audio content from Blu-ray discs. Previously, the console had only been able to downgrade this soundtrack to DTS Core at 1.5Mbps and then output via PCM.

So, you thought HD DVD was dead, did you? Well, not quite, it seems. Shuttle, maker of mini PCs, has unveiled its compact new Shuttle XPC G5 6801M Media Centre PC that can play HD DVD and Blu-ray discs.

Presumably the engineers signed off on the design before Toshiba decided to drop the HD DVD format. Still, it could be handy for those who already have a collection of HD DVD discs.

"The LG GGC-H20L Combo drive is suitable for both HD formats," says Tom Seiffert, head of marketing at Shuttle Computer in Germany. "Combined with AMD's Athlon 64 x2 6000+ processor, and 2GB of memory, the XPC G5 delivers fluid playback performance with Blu-ray and HD DVD discs."

Apologies for another BBC iPlayer story, but we thought you might like to know that Nintendo has announced that from today Wii users can stream their favourite BBC programmes to their TVs via the Wii console.

Following on from the news that iPlayer now works on the Apple iPhone and iPod Touch, this is bound to make the BBC TV web service even more popular.

Erik Huggers, the BBC's group controller for future media and technology (great job title, btw), made the announcement today at the annual MipTV-Milia conference in Cannes.

Regular readers will know that Onkyo made a clean sweep in our multichannel receiver Awards last year, knocking arch-rivals Denon, Marantz and Yamaha off the top spot in all three price categories.

We've been waiting for quite a while now to see if anyone can knock Onkyo off its perch, and the arrival of Marantz's new SR8002 (£1300) could represent a serious challenge to Onkyo's Award-winning TX-SR875 (£1000).

The Marantz has been under intense scrutiny in our test rooms over the last week, and now you can discover if it's good enough to beat the excellent Onkyo.

This is the Falcon MVIX Media Centre, designed to work as a wireless bridge between your PC and TV, and allow video content to be streamed in HD for viewing.

The £200 unit can also be used for remote storage, as it has space inside for a 3.5in hard drive, or can be used with a remote USB drive.

It's said to be capable of working with 'pretty much any media file or video format', and across Windows, Mac OSX and Linux operating systems.

While we haven't ourselves seen a Sony product as yet – though the RHT-G1000 is available – we have got to grips with a couple of these multi-purpose AV racks before.

For all intents and purposes TV stands, the new RHT-G900 (above) and RHT-G1500 (below) also incorporate all the processing, amplification and speakers to form a complete home cinema speaker system. And you can of course plonk your TV on top...

We thought we'd bring you a little treat for the weekend, in the shape of an exclusive online review of the brand-new InFocus IN83 projector which has been getting the full test treatment in our home cinema room this week.

We've long been fans of the InFocus range, and last year the company won two out of our four projector Awards, with the IN82 picking up the overall Product of the Year accolade.

So can the slightly pricier IN83 continue this trend of excellence? Read on to find out how it performed...

Another long, working week is nearly over, so it's time to start planning the next seven days of HD viewing and playing, writes Tom Parsons.

As always, if I've missed something you think we should all know about, drop a note about it below.

There is mounting speculation this morning that the Freesat high-definition satellite TV service will launch in the first week of May, but the company itself is refusing to commit to a specific date.

A spokeswoman for Freesat's London PR company, Firefly Communications, told whathifi.com earlier today: "None of the rumours on the web are coming from Freesat. They're sticking to saying it will be a spring launch and no date has been announced."

However, we have email confirmation from Freesat's own customer information dept that the service is provisionally due for launch at the beginning of May, as you can see on this thread on our Forums.

Four Freeview HD channels have been given the go ahead to launch as soon as new year, Ofcom has announced. One channel will be reserved for the BBC, while the three others will be subject to a bidding process among commercial broadcasters.

However, the channels will only be available once your region has had the analogue signal switched-off, freeing up the necessary bandwith for HD.

So if you're in London you'll be waiting until 2012, while the Border, West Country and Granada regions will lead the way. To find out when the change takes place in your area, check out the Digital UK site here.

UPDATE: A number of you haver emailed us asking where you can buy the VERIS AV Cooler. Here's a link to retailers who sell it, including Amazon.

There's nothing we like better here on whathifi.com than an exclusive review, and today's offering is certainly a little bit different. This plain looking device is in fact designed for cooling your hi-fi or home cinema equipment, and making sure it doesn't overheat.

The Antec VERIS AV Cooler may look like a conventional isolation platform, but look closer and you'll find two cooling fans under the base. You place it on top of the hottest component in your system and you then set the fan to the appropriate speed to keep everything cool.

We've been running one for a couple of weeks in one of our reference systems, so read on to find out how it performed.

Did you know you could watch your Sky TV in a second room in the house? No, well the company has come-up with a novel way of reminding you – allowing MTV to dribble paint all over one of the Multiroom boxes. Still, if it floats your boat, the branded box is just £49.

Details reach us of Yamaha's new surround sound projector, the YSP-600, scheduled for release in mid-May for £500. The new machine is 1080p/24fps compatible with 2 in/1 out HDMI switching, new IntelliBeam surround modes and Dolby Digital and DTS decoding.