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INCAR ENTERTAINMENT SPECIAL How to take music and video on the road

THE MEDIA HUB THAT JUST LETS YOU PLAY

A SPECIAL PLAYSTATION 3 PROMOTION

Having one piece of gear take care of all your video, photo and music needs seems unbelievable, but dont worry about not understanding how it all works. Because, if PLAYSTATION 3 were a school teacher, it wouldnt be the stuffy, bossy maths professor who shouted at you when you didnt understand right away, but rather the cool, laid back art teacher who just let you get all the paints and stuff out and encouraged you to forget the rules and just play.

So come on in and discover PLAYSTATION 3s amazing digital media abilities for yourself.

A photo album the size of your TVLots of equipment these days seems capable of grabbing the photos from your digital camera and letting you play them back. But how many stick your creations up there on your gorgeous fl at panel TV accompanied by brilliant visual effects and music to show them off to your friends? PLAYSTATION 3 has a bunch of different slideshow modes that are lot more creative than pictures displayed one after another, like your Grandads slide projector does.

Just one of the many excellent modes slings the photos onto the screen, like a blackjack dealer at a casino handing out cards presenting them in a whole new, fresh, way and grouping them by date to boot! But they dont have to be in the order you took them either create your own custom playlist and you can group the photos how you like. There are plenty of presentation options to choose from and thats just the tip of the iceberg of what PLAYSTATION 3 can do.

A digital DJ in your lounge roomRegular CD players just, well, you know, play your CDs but the music-playing capabilities of PLAYSTATION 3 are a little more sophisticated. Slide a CD into the PLAYSTATION 3 and if you have it connected online, itll go and fetch information about the CD to teach itself what to display, saving you the trouble. Better still, it will play all sorts of other types of music fi les, so if youve bought an album online in MP3, WMA or any other popular music formats, PLAYSTATION 3 will treat it just the same. And just like with digital photos, copying the music to the hard disk on your PLAYSTATION 3 allows you to create your own playlists and edit them whenever you want.

A home cinema showing Full HD moviesYouve probably heard of Blu-ray its the next big step forward for movie fans and its all in gorgeous, full high definition! A huge advancement in quality over the standard definition DVDs youve been enjoying for years,

Blu-ray will fi nally do justice to the fl at panel TV thats taken pride of place in your lounge room. Displaying pictures at a resolution of up to 1080p, the amazing clarity, colour and defi nition from your Blu-ray discs will make you think youve had your eyes washed and blow-dried!

Blu-ray discs come with a lot more potential for interactivity, too, so if you have your PLAYSTATION 3 connected online, youll be able to watch exciting new content that can be updated regularly.

PLAYSTATION 3 is the most advanced Blu-ray player on the Australian market today but if you havent made the leap to Blu-ray just yet, no worries. Because PLAYSTATION 3 can play your existing DVD movies and, incredibly, improve the quality of your collection by upscaling the fi lm to higher defi nitions. Itll play high defi nition home movies from hard drive camcorders using the AVCHD format and, of course, you can connect any digital camcorder with USB up to PLAYSTATION 3 to store and watch the footage youve taken yourself.

Online at all timesAs if all that werent enough, PLAYSTATION 3 is capable of surfi ng the web, so you can browse the Internet from the comfort of your sofa, access your emails and catch the latest news headlines, and you are totally free to choose which websites you want to visit. And, naturally, with anything you want to play, see or hear, you know PLAYSTATION 3 is waiting to help you enjoy doing it.

For more information head to au.playsation.com/PS3

A SPECIAL PLAYSTATION 3 PROMOTION

Much more than a powerful games

console, the PLAYSTATION 3 handles just

about any type of media you can

throw at it.

The Latest Technology.

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The programmable main remote allows controlof your entire system and for music inadditional rooms of your home, Marantzhave even included a separate dedicatedremote control.

4The software houses are on board too. With players hitting the sweet spot for family budgets, Disney is taking its popular catalogue into shopping malls around the country over the next few months to convert mum, dad and the kids with remasters of Pinocchio,Snow White, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and more.

Twentieth Century Fox will be offering select BD (and DVD) titles with a value-add feature called Digital Copy. This allows a copy of the movie to be ripped (Fox prefers transferred) to a PC or Mac and a single portable player, such as an iPod, for a premium of ve bucks or so (see page 95). It means people can consume the movie theyve paid for on whichever device happens to be most convenient, and the act that accomplishes it wont actually make them a criminal.

Which brings us to Nintendo and a big New York investment bank. The US Financial Times reports that the pro t generated by each of Nintendos 3000 employees was greater than that made by the average person at Goldman Sachs. The average Nintendo employee earned $US1.6 million for the maker of Wii and DS gaming devices, compared with $US1.24 million at Goldman Sachs.

For everyone with a super fund thats been hammered by the Wall Street robber barons in the last month, heres the criminal part: the bankers are paid more than seven times what the typical Nintendo worker is.

CheersAnika Hillery

Since our last issue, the commencement of digital radio broadcasting in Australian was announced (see page 14), as were two new iPod models (see page 66), and the withdrawal of Philips Electronics from the audio-visual landscape, effective from 31 December 2008.

Being that curious thing called the future, the next eight weeks holds revelations we cant yet know, but one thing is certain: Blu-ray will be taking a lot of headlines in the lead up to Christmas.

When DVD players hit $499 just prior to Christmas eight years ago, people began abandoning the VCR in serious numbers. The same is expected to occur when Blu-ray hits that magic price point, and this should be by the time youre reading this edition of Home Entertainment.

Sharp and Olin already have models priced at around $450 in the market, but the $399 go price of Sonys BD350 will give other brands something to chase, and trigger, at last, real interest in the high de nition movie format among mainstream shoppers.

And it should be of interest, at least according to Andrew Gardiner, Managing Director of Franchise Entertainment Group, the owners of Blockbuster and Video Ezy rental chains. There are, he says, 2.3 million HDTVs in Australian homes and around400 000 Blu-ray players, including PS3s. That means, he argues, that 1.9 million televisions are surviving on a diet of high de nition (or less!) television broadcasts alone, and owners simply arent getting the most from their HD centrepiece.

Affordable hardware is now here to feed HD movies to these 1080p-starved screens, but compelling and plentiful content is critical for building the case for a consumer to buy a Blu-ray player.

Franchise Entertainment Group will do its part to address this by boosting the number of Blu-ray titles that go into its rental stores, with plans for BD titles to comprise ve percent of the Groups annual $133 million turnover in the next year, according to Gardiner.

FAST FOREWORD

On board with Blu-ray

Publisher Peter Blasina peter@gadgetgroup.com.auManaging Director Valens Quinn valens@gadgetgroup.com.auEditorial Director Anika Hillery anika@gadgetgroup.com.auEditorial Contributors Anthony Fordham, Justin Worthy, Tomas Bartlett, Max Everingham, David Hellaby, Alex KidmanArt Director Bill Chan bill@gadgetgroup.com.auAdvertising Sales Daniel Russell daniel@gadgetgroup.com.auDirector Tony Read tony@gadgetgroup.com.auPrinting The Quality GroupDistributed by Gordon & Gotch www.gordongotch.com.au

All care is taken in the compiling of this magazine,the editors and proprietors assume no responsibility for the effects arising therein.Correspondence,manuscripts and photographs are welcome,and books, equipment and materials may be submitted for review.Although care is taken,the editors and publisher will not accept responsibility for loss or damage to material submitted.The magazine is not aligned with any company or group within the Australian electronics industry.Its editorial policy is completely independent.Views expressed are not necessarily those of the editor or the publisher. All rights reserved and reproduction without permission is strictly forbidden. Price on cover is recommended retail price only. ISSN 1327-0338 Copyright 2008

million at Goldman Sachs.

Picture this: the full intensity of Team Toshibas Anna Meares on a 1080p Toshiba LCD TV. Full HD jaw dropping, pixel-packing clarity thanks to Exact Scan Mode. The X-series also supports 24Hz via HDMI input for movie content. See it, feel it now at leading retailers. For more details visit www.toshiba.com.au/TV

The 1080p pursuit

Regza XV500A LCD TV

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FEATURESLiving la Vida Luxe 22Anthony Fordham delves into the arcane world of luxury entertainment, where a stereo sound system can cost as much as a Ferrari.

HD for Everyone 30Whether you live in a large house or small apartment, have mega funds or modest means, theres a high de nition to suit your circumstances.

Best of Berlin: IFA 2008 38Europes biggest electronics show previewed the TVs well be buying next year, with networking and even higher resolutions just some of the features in store. Nathan Taylor reports on highlights from the show.

REGULARSRandom Play 8Home entertainment news and product highlights.

You Wish 28Creating a pair of high-end speakers is a tall order, but JBL has cracked it with the Project Everest DD66000.

Digital Shack 82Award winning Aussie tech home. A showcase of winners from the 2008 CEDIA Custom Installation Awards.

Ultimate AV 90A tour of the in ight entertainment offerings on board Singapore Airlines new Airbus A380.

Gear Log 92A showcase of standout electronica.

Ear Eyes Thumbs 94Watch, listen, play. Max Everinghams roundup of the best movies, music and games.

Time Warp 98A retrospective of milestone entertainment products and technologies. This issue: Quadraphonic sound.

resolutions just some of the features in store. Nathan Taylor reports on highlights from the show.

WantHome

Entertainment delivered

straight to your door?

Subscribe on page 72, or online at

www.isubscribe.com.au

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7COLUMNSGuy Talk 18Channel Sevens GadgetGuy, Peter Blasina, reports todays technology trends.

Tech Corner 20 Like HDMI, DLNA are the letters to look for when making home entertainment purchases in the future.

HOW TO BUYHappy Couples 46A quality pair of loudspeakers will deliver ne stereo music, and form the basis of a good surround system when its time to embrace home cinema. Thomas Bartlett compares ve $1500 models.

TechLife 73Cabin Fever: Incar Entertainment Hots Up You enjoy quality entertainment in the living room, so why not in your daily drive? We explore your options for introducing music, video, GPS and more into your car.

VISIT US AT

Reviews, articles and news fromHome Entertainment magazine online

Exciting digital

page-turning format!

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8For those who want a bit more power in their iPod dock, Swiss manufacturer Geneva Labs has released a range of new high-end docks, from the 7.3kg, 4 x 25 watt Model M, up to the 17.2kg Model L (which has the same wattage but larger drivers) and the 38kg Model XL, which boasts 6 x 100 watts power output. Both the Model M and L have dual tweeters and dual woofers, while the XL adds a pair of 200mm subwoofers to that package as well.

All three models are compatible with all dockable iPod models, including the iPhone. They also include remotes, FM radio tuners as well as integral slot-loading CD players (with MP3 support, of course). All three models have 3.5mm audio

inputs for non-iPod source devices, and the Model L and XL also incorporate RCA inputs. Each comes in red, black or white nishes, with the M costing $1499, the L $1999, and

the XL, $3499.

Swiss sound

Audio Dyanamics(03) 9882 0372www.audiodynamics.com.au

DISTRIBUTOR

90 0 4 4 9 2 O N K Y O f p H o me E . p d f P a g e 1 7 / 1 0 / 0 8 , 2 : 1 0 P M

10

The video processing and deep, inky black levels of Pioneers Kuro plasma TVs have set new picture quality benchmarks, and with ve times black improvement, the Kuro2 range promises even better performance. The ve models all meet the 1080p full HD spec, and comprise a 50 and 60 inch monitor pitched at the custom installer, 50 and 60 inch HDTV LX series versions (with HD tuners and speakers) and an an entry-level (non-Kuro) C Series 50 incher. The 60 inch monitor is available now, costs $11 000 and is just 64mm thin quite an achievement in such a massive panel. The 50 inch monitor will arrive in November along with the 60 inch TV, and the C Series and 50 inch Kuro are expected by February 09. No pricing was available for these at the time of going to print.

Pioneers ve new panels are supported by a range of high de nition AV receivers (see our review of the agship SC LX90 on page 58), three standalone Blu-ray players ranging from $699 up to $1199, a $1500 HD-ready home theatre in a box system

(it will decode HD surround from connected PS3s and Blu-ray players), and an integrated stereo music system, the PDXZ9, which has just picked up a gong from the High End Society for Best Value Hi-Fi Stereo.

Pioneer Electronicswww.pioneer.com.au

DISTRIBUTOR

Kuro returns

12

TEAC has covered some weird ground in the design area with its PCDV125L. This unit mates an LCD screen with a conventional-looking boombox in what TEAC describes as a portable DVD player. At 447 x 246 x 166 mm, the unit is, in fact, massive by any portable DVD player standards, but for $299 you get multi-region DVD playback out of the box, radio and CD functions, a JPEG viewer thanks to the USB and SD and MMC card slots, and a 15cm screen for your viewing pleasure. And itll run off eight C type batteries, too, in true

shoulder-carrying boombox fashion.

Launching its Regza AV500 range of LCD televisions with a ve-year extended warranty on every one and boasting that it achieves an unsurpassed level of image quality, Toshiba is making bold new moves with its 2008 range. The warranty matches that offered by Pioneer for some years now, but must be claimed post-purchase by visiting Toshibas site.

The four AV500 models, ranging from the $999 26 inch TV to the $1899 42 inch model (with 32 and 37 inchers in between), all have a native resolution of 1366 x 768 but will upscale to 1080p over HDMI, and have Meta Brain Pro technology at their core, which claims to produce clearer, smoother imagery. Combined with dynamic backlighting and improved LCD response times, the AV500 is presented

with a workmanlike straight black nish.

Youve probably seen the technology in mobile phones such as LGs Shine and several Nokia models. Now its available in full-size TV sets as well: an active matrix LCD that becomes a mirror surface when switched off.

Available with a 81cm/32 inch, 94cm/37 inch or 117cm/46 inch screen, the New Living Mirror Image isnt yet at the cutting-edge of technology (as a TV screen, at least): it doesnt support full HD (its limited to 1366 x 768), it has an analog rather than DTV tuner and doesnt have native HDMI inputs (though you can get an adapter). But it is thin and designed to be wall mounted, and who couldnt resist the temptation to shock your friends when your wall mirror

suddenly turns into a large screen TV? The 81cm costs $6999, the 94cm is $8999, and the 117cm is $11,999.

TEAC Australiawww.teac.com.au1300 769 824

DISTRIBUTOR

Len Wallis Audio(02) 9427 6755www.ad-notam.com

DISTRIBUTOR

Something you dont see every day

Televisiongains a brain

Like a mirror, but not

TEAC has covered some weird ground in the design area with its PCDV125L. This unit mates an LCD screen with a conventional-looking boombox in what TEAC describes as a portable DVD player. At 447 x 246 x 166 mm, the unit is, in fact, massive by any portable DVD player standards, but for $299 you get multi-region DVD playback out of the box, radio and CD functions, a JPEG viewer thanks to the USB and SD and MMC card slots, and a 15cm screen for your viewing pleasure. And itll run off eight C type batteries, too, in true

shoulder-carrying boombox fashion.

Toshiba Pty Ltdwww.toshibaav.com.au13 30 70

DISTRIBUTOR

High RecognitionHome Theatre

WINNER OF SIX CATEGORIES IN THE PRESTIGIOUS 2008 CEDIA AWARDS

Len Wallis Audio celebrates 30 years of operation in 2008.

Much has changed over this time except our dedication to providing excellence in audio, video and home technology. Whilst our products and services largely entail speakers, cables, tvs, amps and control panels, were primarily in the industry of enriching lives and improving lifestyles. This philosophy, along with expert staff, rigorous high standards and a lifetime of experience is what makes us the most respected and most highly awarded Audio Visual design and installation company in Australia.

We have earned the highest industry recognition yet again with 8 awards at this years CEDIA (Custom Electronic Design and Installation Association) Awards. More importantly, our customers also continually acknowledge our excellence by coming back. 67% of our business is repeat clientele looking to further enrich their everyday lives theyre hooked on the Len Wallis Audio Experience. Fortunately theres plenty to go around,available for a wide range of requirements, budgets and outcomes.

Taste award-winning lifestyle for yourself. Drop into our state-of-the-art showroom for a demonstration or call 02 9427 6755 for a free consultation.

OPEN 7 DAYS 64 BURNS BAY RD LANE COVE PH 9427 6755 WWW.LENWALLISAUDIO.COM.AU

WINNER CEDIA 2008

Best Integrated Home $150K - $300K

Best Home Theatre under $50K

Best Home Theatre $50K - $100K

Best Media Room

Best Special Project Commercial

Best Dressed system

And Highly Commended for

Best Integrated Home over $300K

Best Home Theatre over $100K

L WA _ C e d i a _ A me x P l a t i . p d f P a g e 1 1 5 / 9 / 0 8 , 5 : 5 2 P M

14

If youre entirely unafraid of the wrath of your neighbours (who will invariably complain at the sound of a powerful subwoofer rattling their llings), Bowers and Wilkins has just released the bass beasty for you.

Available separately or as part of the 683 Theatre ($6996), the ASW610SP subwoofer boasts 500 watts power output, a long-throw 250mm (10 inch) driver with dual voice coils and a paper and Kevlar cone, and a 25140Hz frequency response.

In spite of its power output, its a relatively compact speaker, measuring a little 32cm in each dimension, and weighing just over 15kg. It costs $1999 and is available in a number of nishes, including black ash, light oak, red cherry and weng.

Looking a little more like a portable printer than the iPod dock that it is, the new Edi er iF330 is an affordable way to let everybody experience your awesome (or perhaps less-than-awesome) collection of iPod music.

Its 30cm long, 12cm high and 9cm deep and contains two 6 watt speakers, powered by mains power or batteries. The iPod plugs into a retractable drawer, and for people without iPods theres a 3.5mm stereo audio input. It also supports video output, so

you can watch videos from your iPod on a big screen if you want to. It sells for $99.95

Digital Radio will now be coming to Australia mid-way through next year, according a joint announcement by ABC Radio and Commercial Radio Australia. It was originally scheduled to come online on January 1, but suffered a four-month delay as a result of infrastructure and branding delays, according to the announcement.

As it stands, it wont be until May 1, 2009 that digital radio makes its debut in the ve mainland capital cities.Much like digital TV, digital radio offers more radio channels as a result of improved spectrum usage and clearer sound thanks to

end-to-end digital transmission. It will also allow audio transmissions to be accompanied by textual information that can be displayed on the radio (such as weather and traf c information, program schedules and currently playing information) and enable devices to have PVR-like pause and rewind functions. New receivers will be required to listen to digital radio.

Convoy International(02) 9700 0111www.e-hi .com.au

DISTRIBUTOR

Low Life withBowers & Wilkins

Edifying Playlist

measuring a little 32cm in each dimension, and weighing just over 15kg. It costs $1999 and is

the iPod dock that it is, the new Edi er iF330 is an affordable way to let everybody experience your awesome (or perhaps less-than-awesome) collection of iPod music.

contains two 6 watt speakers, powered by mains

drawer, and for people without iPods theres a 3.5mm stereo audio input. It also supports video output, so

Edifying PlaylistEdifying Playlist

Audion Australia1300 300 364www.audion-mm.com

DISTRIBUTOR

Digital radio on hold

15

As expected, it wasnt long after the Australian launch of the iPhone that various vendors came out with a variety of accessories for it. Philips has well and truly hopped onto that bandwagon, with an announcement of a variety of products in its Digital Lifestyle Out tters (DLO) range.

The DLO range incorporates home and car chargers, car mounts, portable speakers, protective shells and fashion cases for both iPhones and iPods. Of course, most of these were available for the iPod well before the iPhone appeared, but now support for the phone has been incorporated into the lineup. Theres the XStand, a stand speci cally for the iPhone, as well as several battery chargers that will work with the iPhone. Most notably, the current range of speakers and

docks like the Philips Speaker iPhone & iPod (a strange three-piece iPod dock) and HomeDock HD (a dock with high de nition video outputs) both work with the iPhone.

Its 2008 lineup of AV receivers is, according to Harman Kardon one of the most signi cant product introductions in the companys history. Features include HDMI 1.3a and upscaling video to 1080 via Faroudjas acclaimed DCDi Cinema chip on all models (including the $799 AVR155), plus Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD Master Audio and 7.1 channel PCM decoding on the two more expensive machines, the $1399 AVR355 and $999 AVR255. These two also have a colour screen, and are multi-room capable; the AVR335 unit is even A-BUS compatible, so installers can use just a single Cat5 cable to hook up whole multi-zone, multi-room system. At the same time, H/K has announced a new version of The Bridge (pictured) docking

station, allowing the connection of a suitable iPod to the companys AVR355, 655 and 755 (pictured) AV receivers, for $129.

New from Sonys design factory, the Active Style Headphones arent actually a single style of headphone but a suite of different products with a common thematic element: theyre light, shiny and designed to stay attached to your head even when youre doing something vigorous (such as this jogging activity we hear so much about).

The family encompasses such varied styles as ear-hooks, behind-the-head wraparounds, over-the head earbuds and the weird (but strangely compelling) around-the-ear MDR-AS20J, which has a loop that fully encircles the ear, holding the in-ear buds in place.

The price range of the different products varies considerably, from the $49 MDR-AS20J right up to the $199 MDR-AS100W Vertical EX Monitor Sports Headphones, which are earbuds that attach to an over-the-head bridge. Prices range from $49 to $199, depending on style

iWorld Australia(03) 9532 3300www.iworldaustralia.com.au

Convoy Internationalwww.e-hi .com.au02 9700 0111

Sony Australia1300 720 071www.sony.com.au

DISTRIBUTOR

DISTRIBUTOR

DISTRIBUTOR

DLO meets iPhone

H/K hots up Active Style

DLO meets iPhone

receivers, for $129.

Its 2008 lineup of AV receivers is, according to Harman Kardon one of the most signi cant product introductions in the companys history. Features include HDMI 1.3a and upscaling video to 1080 via Faroudjas acclaimed DCDi Cinema chip on all models (including the $799 AVR155),

H/K hots upH/K hots up

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18

The GadgetGuy, Peter Blasina, is the technology reporter for Channel Sevens Sunrise program, appears regularly on other network programs and is broadcast weekly on various national radio stations.

Television is rapidly evolving. Just to be clear, Im talking about the hardware rather than the content. The content issue is probably best left for another time!

In the late 90s we moved quite rapidly from CRT TVs into new LCD and plasma televisions, embracing the at panel technology with gusto. We moved quickly from SD (standard de nition) panels to high de nition then to Full HD (high de nition). Panel size increased exponentially, so that now many people are trading their two- and three-year-old 76 and 81cm models for behemoth 128cm and even 154cm screens for the living room.

More recently, gorgeously nished bezels, impossibly thin panels and TVs that look like they have just popped out of the edgiest fashion magazine you could nd have started to appear. Colour, industrial design and newly developed materials have replaced the earlier focus on performance elements such as contrast ratios, pixel counts and response times.

content, other than broadcast programming.

DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) is new connection standard developed through an international, cross-industry collaboration of consumer electronics, computing industry and mobile device companies. Members of DLNA share a vision of wired and wireless interoperable networks where digital content such as photos, music, videos, entertainment, news, etc can be shared through consumer electronics (CE), personal computers (PCs), and mobile devices in and beyond the home.

DLNA-based smart sets will have enough embedded intelligence to surf the Internet, access an enormous amount of content as well as wirelessly tap into digital music, family albums and home movies stored on the home PC. Some of these new TVs come preloaded with games and are able to record TVshows internally.

In the era of TiVo, the possibilities of what the TV can do have dramatically expanded as well. Essentially, television can serve as the centre of an elaborate home network. And as Pioneer demonstrated with its ninth generation Kuro plasma recently, a TV can be smart enough to email you and the service agent when in need of maintenance or calibration.

Intelligent televisions with large screens, high resolution and highly stylised designs have tremendous potential to serve as the centre of information ow into and out of the home. And in the future they will sport even larger screens and higher de nitions, with Quad HD developments already promising eight million pixels, four times as much as full HD.

What this tells us is that technology is advancing at a rate faster than at any other time. The progress of the last ve years may be equivalent to the advances of the past ten years. In turn, these advances might be eclipsed by the pace of innovation of just a single year in the future.

IntelligentPanels

In parallel with these developments, the IT industry became increasingly jealous of all the attention the home entertainment market was receiving. IT started to cosy up to the TV, attempting a concerted migration from the study to the living room with the promise of intelligence that would herald a new way of watching TV, or as the IT industry puts it consuming entertainment, news, information and sport.

Of course, this was never going to work. Despite the promise there are few people who will tolerate a noisy, buggy, non-living room friendly PC next to their TV.

After spending some time in the past few weeks reviewing new ranges from panel vendors such as Samsung, Sony, Pioneer and Panasonic, what has become very clear is that television technology is again undergoing rapid change and development. The next generation of panels has a great deal of built-in intelligence, a high degree of interactivity and, thanks to a new level of connectivity via Wi-Fi and DLNA, access to a range of

Intelligent televisions with large screens, high resolution and highly stylised designs have tremendous potential to serve as the centre of information ow into and out of the home

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Total control...

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TECH CORNER

20

Assuming recent reader research we've done is correct, your home like mine is slowly lling up with awesome digital gadgetry. And as you spend more time with this stuff, you're coming to realise the true potential of it, especially when you attach it to a home network.

Gone are the crazy days of plonking a portable tape recorder in front of your hi- speakers and then recording your favourite vinyl album through the tape deck's miniscule microphone so you can listen to it in your Walkman. Thank goodness.

Yet even though you have the potential to watch or listen to all your entertainment in any room in the house on a variety of devices from a massive LCD TV to a portable movie player and even your PC actually getting your content from device to device is still quite a technical exercise.

Enter the DLNA, the Digital Living Network Alliance. By its own admission, you haven't heard of it, but you've certainly heard of most of the 245 members including such companies as AMD, IBM, Intel, Kenwood, Lenovo, LG, Panasonic, Microsoft, Nokia, Philips... the list goes on!

The aim of the DLNA is to vastly simplify the business of shuf ing your digital content including your business, not just entertainment around your increasing variety of devices.

Meanwhile, if Steve wants to look at some of the photos he has on his external hard drive, he has to bring that into the lounge room along with his notebook PC, and plug the PC into the TV via an analog video-out port, and the hard drive into the PC.

For a tech-head all this is pretty straightforward, but for the rest of us it's positively arcane. It's also inelegant, and digital living is supposed to be about progress and simplifying the business of being entertained.

What the DLNA aims to do is massively streamline the whole process of playing content on different devices. All a DLNA-certi ed setup asks of you is a wireless network and a set of approved devices.

In Steve's case, to watch his movie all he would need to do is tell his digital media player to go on the network and look for storage locations with movies in them. The player would report back with a list of places the notebook PC, the desktop PC in the study, and even the external hard drive.

Because DLNA supports network addressed storage (or NAS), hard drives don't need to be attached to a PC to work, they just need to be on the network, either via Ethernet or wireless.

Okay, you might still need to be a tech-head to set all this up in the rst place, but once all the devices are communicating, it should only be about as complicated as using a cable or satellite set-top box.

Steve and Mrs Steve just grab the digital media player's remote, click through a bunch of menus on the TV, and they can watch their movie, listen to music or even browse photographs without any tedious mucking around with cables, discs or thumbdrives.

Of course, the DLNA has a long way to go. You can check out the organisation's roadmap at www.dlna.org but the days of just plugging your new toy in and it instantly going on the network and making itself available to every other device are still a little way off though de nitely looming.

The association is currently working on a single, standard protocol for streaming audio and video from any device to any other device. Mobiles and printers are also due to be added to the standard, as is all-important support for MPEG4 video: emerging as the most popular format for portable devices such as the iPhone.

There are even plans to get your car in on the action: switch on your entertainment system in range of your home wireless network and update the car's hard drive for the trip ahead.

And then ultimately, you'll have access to all your digital content not just at home, but from anywhere in the world. Just log in and then browse as if you were on your very own PC.

Many people believed this decade would be all about convergence. But instead, it's emerging that we're living in the age of interoperability. There are lots of devices to choose from, each suiting a different user's style. But thanks to organisations like the DLNA, no matter whether you choose the iPhone or the Logitech Transporter, everyone can have access to the same music, movies and more! Anthony Fordham

This Goes with That

TECH CORNER

But to explain why the industry needs the DLNA, we need to look at the current reality. Let's use a case study, and let's call him Steve.

Steve is lucky enough to own a house full of sweet kit. He has a big TV with a digital media player attached to it via HDMI, he has a couple of PCs, a terabyte external hard drive full of movies and music, and a wireless router running his home network.

If Steve wants to play one of his movies on the TV in the lounge, he has to go to his PC with a USB thumbdrive, load the movie on the drive, then bring it into the lounge room, plug it into the digital media player, and hope that the format the movie has been encoded in is compatible with his player.

Gone are the crazy days of plonking a portable tape recorder in front of your hi- speakers and then recording your favourite vinyl album through the tape deck's miniscule microphone so you can listen to it in your Walkman. Thank goodness

Untitled-1.indd 1Untitled-1.indd 1 7/10/08 9:39:10 AM7/10/08 9:39:10 AM

HD FOR ALLHD FOR ALLLA VIDA LUXE

22

B&W 800 SERIES Featuring technology from the companys agship Nautilus, the Bowers and Wilkins 800 Series speakers cost up to $35,000 a pair, and with some extra budget, are offered as part of a surround package.

23

la vida Luxe

Do you ever get the Buyers Remorse? When youve dropped $2000 or more on a single piece of tech, and no matter how awesome it actually turns out to be, you still feel that kind of terrified hollow feeling in your wallet? Well, take that feeling and multiply it by two hundred, because thats how much some people are prepared to spend on audio visual gear.

Were talking the very, very top end of the market. An end so high, it sort of snaps off the scale and floats away into the stratosphere, so rarefied are its adherents.

Youve seen the products in this very magazine, in the You Wish section. You think the companies that make those $200,000 speakers cant sell them? According to the retailers we spoke to, they sell them easily.

But how exactly is it possible for a pair of speakers to be worth more than your house? How can you justify spending the cost of a luxury car on a mono bloc amplifier? And if CD is a digital medium, and the player just spits out a line of ones and zeroes, how can it command the sort of price you normally associate with a full kitchen renovation?

Obviously, these products are well made, by hand. Obviously, they use the very best components, in the very best designs. But to get the full story, we had to talk to the retailers who literally put their livelihoods on the line in their belief in these products.

Read on, to find out who buys a $400,000 stereo, what he (its almost always a he) gets for it, and how he chooses from a surprisingly large range of absolutely beautiful components.

All about audioTo get a hold of a super high-end system, youll need to visit one of only a few specialist retailers. We spoke with Adam Merlino of Audio Connection and Len Wallis of Len Wallis Audio, two Sydney stores where you can spend house money on home entertainment.

That both businesses have audio in the title is no coincidence: because according to both, its audio that drives this exclusive segment.

I dont really think of it as a luxury market, says Len Wallis, but as more of an enthusiast market. I liken our customers to people who collect stamps: they will spend enormous amounts of money because they have a passion.

Wallis makes a point of differentiating his range of products from the likes of Bang & Olufsen.

Those products are very much about decor, about the look at me factor. For my customers, its 99 percent about performance.

How can pair of speakers, an amp or turntable cost more than your house, and who are the crazies that buy them? Anthony Fordham shines a light into the world of luxury AV gear.

Living

24

LA VIDA LUXE

Adam Merlino says his high-end customers know what they want, and rely on the relationship with their dealer or specialist to get the right set up for their situation.

We see two-channel audio and cinema as equally important, he says. Well have customers spend $400K on a system just for music, or install a similarly-priced cinema in a multi-million dollar home.

Money to burnThe kinds of people who spend this money on home entertainment differ widely, but of course they have one thing in common: ready cash. For retailers at this price point, its less about haggling an awesome deal, and more about providing a personalised service.

It can be a lot of work, says Wallis. A typical sale will take up to seven hours of auditioning different products. Customers listen to many different systems and combinations to fi nd one thats just right for them.

Merlino says some of his customers walk in and a deal is done in ten minutes. Others can take much longer, with customers taking weeks or even

The kinds of people who spend this money on home entertainment differ widely, but of course they have one thing in common: ready cash

Steinways Model D is a CD system (here and opposite) with big audio cred (it was developed by audio legend Peter Lyngdorf) and the piano makers trademark lush, high gloss fi nishes. The CD system costs around $220 000.

Clear Audios Staement turntable is sound-equipment-meets-work-of-art.

The Goldmund amplifiers and speakers in this room cost a few

digits shy of a million dollars.

25

months to make a final decision. And why not? When half a million dollars is on the line, you need to be sure you want to spend it on a CD player.

How hard is it to convince someone even someone with the cash that they get their moneys worth when they spend $229,000 on speakers, like the pair from French marque, Focal, Wallis sold just recently?

When the speaker is two metres tall and weighs 380kg, the customer knows its a serious piece of technology, he says.

Performance before beautyAs mentioned, the enthusiast who spends so much on a system is after the ultimate in performance and quality. Aesthetics come second.

Its fortunate then that, with these products receiving so much development time, that the vast majority are also beautiful to look at.

The Steinway Music System is an interesting example, says Merlino, because it combines performance with simplicity, which is something thats hard to do at the high end.

WHAT DO YOU ACTUALLY GET?

Okay, so youve decided not to buy a house after all, youve decided to buy a $400,000 two-channel audio system. What do you actually get for all this money, that a $4000 or even a $40,000 system cant provide?

Some of it is obvious of course: you get the very best materials, manufactured into the very best components, assembled into the very best designs. But Audio Connections Adam Merlino has an extra perspective:

These products go through a much longer development process than the mass market, he says. The manufacturers need to recoup that development cost, which is why these items attract such a premium price.

Len Wallis of Len Wallis Audio, points out that in the showroom, even the most ignorant of listeners can instantly tell the difference between a $20,000 speaker and a $200,000 speaker.

Take any person, and they will recognise the quality. Its a universal thing, everyone recognises quality.

The fact is, the big players in consumer electronics rely on factory automation and economics of scale to be able to offer even a common or garden AV receiver at a mainstream price. These luxury products, on the other hand, are built individually, for individual users, and almost always by hand. The personal touch, thats what youre really paying for.

26

LA VIDA LUXE

The Steinway Lyngdorf Model-D hes talking about costs more than $150,000, but is supposedly as simple to operate as an iPod. Thats unusual in a market where multiple single-channel amps need to be stacked and arranged in the perfect confi guration to produce awesome sound, and juggling multiple remotes is de rigueur.

The thing with the Model-D is that its also beautiful to look at. And thats common among almost all these uber-expensive products.

Take the Clear Audio Statement, for instance. Its not just a turntable, its a work of modern art. It also costs $185,000.

Thats without the cartridge though, Merlino points out. That will cost you another $30K.

Brand loyaltyGo to a dinner party at a friends place and youll fi nd out hes a Sony man, or a Pioneer man, with all his components matching, from TV to speakers. High-end enthusiasts dont buy like that.

No two systems are the same, says Wallis. The components in a system are dictated by musical tastes, by musical interests.

Indeed, a user who primarily listens to jazz on vinyl will need a different amp and different speakers (not to mention that $185K

turntable) to someone who prefers DDD (the format used on SACD) recordings of the latest classical concerts.

When the total bill runs to six fi gures, a customers choice of brand will be based on the research theyve already done.

The net has made a difference to our business, says Wallis. Customers arrive well-educated, they know what they want.

Merlino points out that its important for him to be able to work with a customer to build a system that suits their unique needs. Our job is to explain to them what we offer, what we can do for them. Its all about our knowledge.

Sure, neither Wallis nor Merino will refuse your briefcase full of cash if you walk in and point at the thing you want on the shelf, but the best retailers in this market are set up with showrooms, where products can be auditioned, different combinations tried, personal taste taken into account.

WHERE TO BUY

Audio ConnectionStores in Sydney suburbs of Leichhardt, Caringbah and Drummoyne NSWPhone 1300 761 022 Website www.audioconnection.com.au

Len Wallis Audio624 Burns Bay Road, Lane Cove NSW Phone 02 9427 6755 Website www.lenwallisaudio.com.au

Musical Fidelity sits towards the cheap end of the luxury entertainment market, with a stereo system costing around $20 000.

Go to a dinner party at a friends place and youll fi nd out

hes a Sony man, or a Pioneer man, with all his components matching,

from TV to speakers.High-end enthusiasts

dont buy like that

Focals Grand Utopia III stand 2 metres tall, weigh close to 400kg and cost almost $230 000.

27

Thats why so many of these sales can take hours, if not days, to complete.

Subjectivity rulesBoth Len Wallis Audio and Audio Connection have what they call their middle-market, the volume segment. It starts at $10,000 and goes all the way up to $30,000. This segment is a little more like buying a consumer-grade set up: some brands are more popular than others, set ups are more general rather than individual.

Its also a starting point for many enthusiasts, people whove saved up and decided to leave the mass produced stuff behind and try something special. But whats the hook that gets them started?

Merlino points at HDTV as a real driving force. People have acute vision. They can see a picture on an HDTV and they say yes, that really is amazing. And we say, if thats what we can do with vision, imagine what we can do with audio.

The inference being that the difference between a standard audio setup and a high-end installation really is like the difference between analog TV and Blu-ray on a big 1080p display.

Interestingly, Merlino says the pace of change in the high-end audio market is not quite as breakneck as we see down on the department store fl oor.

We do get some big jumps in technology. The new Cinemascope projectors with their curved screens are very cool. And the Steinway Music System really is a big leap forward.

Another worldFor most of us, the thought of spending this kind of money on home entertainment ranges from the incredible to the offensive. Yet the market is going strong, with retailers reporting strong performance even in times of economic slowdown.

The middle-market (as theses guys understand it, anyway!) is affected a little more, and even though Len Wallis sees his products as enthusiast rather than luxury items, he recognises that economically, they certainly fall into the luxury band.

When times are tough, and people are looking at things they can do without, a $229,000 set of speakers is obviously going to be pretty high on that list, he says.

If you ever get the chance to listen to an audio system that cost its owner more money than well make in ten years, you will hear the difference. Youre not just listening to the music, you are the music.

And thats why, when an enthusiast has the money, hes prepared to spend it where it counts.

BRANDS TO LUST AFTER

Forget your Sony, your Philips, your Pioneer. Actually, dont forget your Pioneer because it has some high-end gear, as does another familiar logo, Denon. But for serious audio (albeit at what the high-end people call mid-range, ie. less than $50,000) youll want to check out the following very serious brands.

B&WBased in: UK Speciality: SpeakersBowers & Wilkins should be familiar to most keen AV fans as the company does produce a range of consumer products too, such as the Zeppelin iPod dock. The company also does incar audio for Jaguar. But in this space, its speakers that make B&Ws name, including the famous Nautilus and 800 Series.www.e-hi .com.auwww.bowers-wilkins.co.uk

FocalBased in: France Speciality: SpeakersMost of us will know Focal from its car audio business, but these clever Frenchmen are also responsible for some very high-end home audio. The 800V series of speakers are popular with enthusiasts who want to spend less than $30,000 on their entire system. The company also makes the Dome satellite, a tiny speaker suitable for wall mounting.www.audiomarketing.com.auwww.focal.tm.fr

Musical FidelityBased in: UK Speciality: Ampli ersStarted by a celebrated concert clarinettist, this UK company focuses on amps and other core electronics. Key products include the Supercharger, which boosts the power of a 50 watt system to over 330 watt. Prices are relatively modest for this segment, making Musical Fidelity a popular choice for systems costing less than $20,000.www.audiomarketing.com.au www.musical delity.com

KrellBased in: US Speciality: Ampli ersWhile companies like McIntosh and a few others espouse the purity of valve amplifi ers, its left to the likes of Krell to get on with the business of creating integrated amps that sound every bit as good. Krells Evolution One is popular with music enthusiasts, while the modestly named Theater Amplifi er Standard is an extremely serious fi ve-channel amp.www.audiomarketing.com.auwww.krellonline.com

MartinLoganBased in: US Speciality: SpeakersUnlike most manufacturers, MartinLogan uses thin fi lm electrostatic speakers. Each one includes a horizontally-curved panel made from Mylar and other old-school space age materials. The famous Monolith speaker was launched in 1983 and since then the company has provided that rare combination of performance and superior aesthetics.www.audiconncection.com.auwww.martinlogan.com

Krells Evolution One puts out 450 Class A watts from fully independent power supplies.

28

OBJECTSOF DESIRE

JBL Project EverestDD66000 Loudspeakers

According to JBL, theyre the nest loudspeakers it has ever created, which probably explains why the DD66000 speaker set is also known as Project Everest. A set of massive cones in a curve-backed wooden case, the DD66000 was rst released in Japan in 2006 to commemorate JBLs 60th anniversary and now theyre being made available to Australian buyers.

Designed to be the biggest, baddest high-end domestic speakers that money can buy, the Everests are the audiophiles fantasy speaker: 500 watts maximum power handling, 96dB sensitivity, and an incredible frequency response of 32Hz to 50kHz and higher. Theyre also designed to reach high volumes with no distortion, deliver uniform directional sound and linear frequency response.

Each Project Everest speaker comprises two low frequency drivers, 380mm in size and using an Aquaplas-treated pulp cone thats designed to dampen unwanted resonances to preserve audio purity.

The top part of the speaker houses two more speakers a 100mm compression driver for mid- to high-frequency response as a well as a 25mm driver made for ultrahigh frequencies. This latter component works with a 50mm neodymium magnet to give the Everest its unheard-of high frequency response range.

And heres the kicker both of those drivers are made of beryllium, which explains in part why youll probably never be able to afford a pair of Everests for yourself. Beryllium is used because its actually more rigid yet lighter than even titanium, making it the perfect material for driver diaphragms. Its also notoriously hard to work and many times more expensive than titanium (and many, many times more expensive than aluminium), so only the most high-end equipment uses it and even those tend to use alloys. The JBL uses pure beryllium.

At the base of each 142kg speaker is a complex control panel that allows the owner to ne tune frequency response levels and optimise the speaker for whatever conditions it happens to nd itself in.

Nearly a metre tall, a little over a metre wide and half a metre deep, theyre not speakers that are going to t into a small space. But then again, if you can afford these, youre probably well sorted on the real estate front too.

Like most of the products featured in these pages, if you have to ask the price of the JBL Everest, then you probably cant afford them. At $80,000 for a pair, theyre not going to appear in too many ordinary suburban homes. In fact, if you want to hear what they sound like, youll have to trek to SE Asia, Japan, Europe of the US to get a taste, since Convoy International (JBLs Australian Distributor) doesnt keep any in the country, theyre so rarely sold. Theyre imported to order, and you can ask for them with a cherry, rosewood, ebony or maple nish, as you desire. According to Convoys Brand Manager John Martin, the factory may be also prepared to consider a special nish at extra cost.

Martin noted, however, that special nishes were not what people are after with this speaker. The most common accessory (more a necessity to get the best performance) would be high quality cables connecting to the rest of the system. Of course that is another area the rest of the system must be of a very high standard to do justice to the Everests, he said.

If you dont have the budget for the Everests (and who does?), Martin also recommended another set of high-end speakers from JBL, the new LS80. While not quite the monster that the DD66000 is (having only 200mm twin drivers, a 50mm titanium mid-high range transducer andan ultra-high frequency transducer capable of responses up to 40KHz) it may be as close as many of will get without breaking the bank too badly. The LS80s price tag is a far more reasonable $4999.

common accessory (more a necessity to get the best performance) would be high quality cables connecting to

29

JBL ProjectEverest

DD66000$80,000 for a pair

Convoy International(02) 9700 0111

www.e-hi .com.au

Both of those drivers are made of beryllium, which explains in partwhy youll probably never be able to afford a pair of Everests for yourself

30

HD FOR ALL

Where do you start with a system to enjoy high de nition pictures and sound?

Well show you how.

31

All of us are in widely different personal circumstances. You may have money to burn on your enjoyment of high de nition home entertainment. Or, more likely, your nances may be more constrained.

You may have a massive room just waiting to be turned into a dedicated viewing venue, or you may have a cosy lounge room in your apartment, which will only be properly tted out for home movie high jinx with considerable care.

We shall outline, over the next few pages, three HD starter systems to give you an idea of what you need in various circumstances. Before that, though, we shall make a few suggestions that apply in all cases.

YOUR PLANSThe rst thing to consider is: where do you want to go with all this? Is a high de nition picture your end goal, or are you looking beyond that? Are you planning on eventually enjoying the full HD home theatre experience, even if you may not yet be able to afford it all?

These considerations should in uence your plans. For example, for a given amount of money you may choose a small (but still high de nition) TV screen and a home theatre in a box. This will give you good performance right now, but not the very best. If it is the best that you are after, perhaps deferring the home theatre in a box may be wise, and instead pour your entire budget into a larger TV, one that will meet your nal, not just your interim, needs.

YOUR ENVIRONMENTA panel TV plasma or LCD will work pretty much anywhere. But a front projector simply must have a dark room in which to operate effectively. Sure, it gives the biggest picture, but whats the use if you cant see what is happening in darker areas of the picture.

Consider your room. Your equipment will generally have to t into the environment you already have available for it. Some changes can be made, but for most of us there are limitations.

Are you in a lovely suburban home with a huge room that you plan to use for everyday viewing as well as movie watching? If, when you are watching movies, you want the sound to be loud like

it is at the cinema, then you will need a powerful and ef cient home theatre sound system. A home theatre in a box isnt going to do the trick. It just wont go loud enough, even though it might be ne for a compact apartment.

YOUR FAMILYHow will you watch movies and big TV sporting events? If you prefer to share the experience with friends and family it means providing a big enough picture for half a dozen people. If you will be a couple sharing it together, then a smaller TV should do the trick.

Put these all together where you want your system to end up, what environment it will be going into, who you will be sharing it with, and how much money you have available now, and into the future and you can come up with a plan that ensures that you get the best high de nition experience now, while working towards having a full home theatre system that suits you perfectly in the future.

Of course, some may have the resources to be able to achieve that perfect system now. If thats you, see Money No Object. For the rest of us, check out Apartment Living and Family over the next couple of pages.

You can come up with a plan that ensures that you get the best high de nition experience now, while working towards having a full home theatre system that suits you perfectly in the future

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HD FOR ALL

Apartment LivingA small living space doesnt have to stand in the way of good home entertainment.

It can be tempting to think that you simply must have huge speakers, a massive subwoofer, and a 2.54 metre projection screen for the best home theatre. But thats not the case at all. Proportion is what matters above all. The screen you see in a commercial cinema would do a poor job in any home because its just too large.

What matters is the relative size of a picture. If your room is smaller than average, you will be sitting quite close to screen. The screen, consequently, will occupy a larger proportion of your entire eld of vision than if you were sitting further away. So in more compact living areas, TV screens ranging from 82cm (32 inches) to 107cm (42 inches) are ideal, especially if they provide true high de nition resolution (that is, 1920 x 1080 pixels). For the smaller size you will be looking at LCD, while at the larger end both LCD and plasma are available.

HD OR FULL HD?You may want to consider the lower resolution displays: 1024 x 768, or 1366 x 768 pixels are commonly available and are very low in cost. But if so, remember that you will need to sit further away from the screen because the pixels (the dots that make up the picture) will be larger, and thus more easily seen. So, we reckon that its worth stretching a little to go the full 1920 x 1080 hog.

You will want this to be a real HDTV, meaning it should be tted with a HDTV receiver. There really isnt much choice now, anyway, because just about all true high de nition TV displays include a HDTV receiver.

If budget is tight, consider a DVD recorder for time shifting purposes. Its not HD, but at least youll be able to view any TV shows youre unable to watch in person as they go to air. If you can nd the extra funds, a basic personal video recorder with only one HD tuner will allow you to record an event while watching another station via your TVs built-in tuner.

SOUNDIf at all possible, though, you will enhance the sound from the TV. The loudspeakers built into TVs are okay for watching the news, but for TV shows and movies broadcast in surround sound, and all DVDs of course, they will be seriously de cient. The good news for those with a cosy living room is that there are plenty of low-cost options for good quality surround sound.

The size of your room helps here. The bigger a room, the more power your system needs to ll it with sound. With a small room, you can get by with a set of compact satellite speakers, small enough to be attached to walls and thus staying well out of your way, plus a subwoofer to deliver the bass. Or you may nd it more convenient to choose one of the new soundbar surround systems that project surround sound entirely from speakers at the front of the room.

Either way, youre in for a ne experience.

33

LOOK FOR Mid-size full HD at panel TV Home theatre in a box or soundbar speaker DVD recorder or PVR

You will want this to bea real HDTV, meaning it shouldbe tted with a HDTV receiver

Compact LCD (32-42 inches)

wont dominate small room.

Full HD of course! Front surround/soundbar speaker tidy and convenient sound solution

DVD recorder with hard drive for catching the events you cant watch live

34

HD FOR ALL

Bring high de nition into your family home!

Both apartments and mansions have their attractions, but most of us live somewhere in between the two, on the great Australian quarter-acre block, in a comfortable suburban home. Thus most of us have a family room or a lounge room where we will be expecting to enjoy television, sports and movies this year, and this will typically have dimensions of ve to six metres long, with a proportionate width.

You will not be sitting right upon your TV screen. You will not have the advantage of a small room to make a small sound system seem large. You will need gear that suits your larger environment. That will also suit groups of you enjoying high de nition entertainment together.

THE PICTURESo, rst, there is the screen. Once again, we strongly recommend that you go for full high de nition: 1920 x 1080 pixels. This will give you the smoothest, sharpest, most detailed and most realistic image possible.

For size, we recommend something larger than 107cm (42 inches). If you can manage it, 127cm (50 inches) or thereabouts is a great size. This really does look large in a home, producing a hugely involving picture, yet remains manageable in terms of placement.

The TV will almost certainly have a high de nition digital TV tuner built-in, but you may want to consider adding a HD personal video recorder here. Especially if youre in a modern family where not all of you can be together when your favourite high de nition TV shows are broadcast.

SOUND MATTERSFor sound, you should get fairly serious. You should be prepared to ll your room with sound. Not just for the growing number of television shows broadcast in surround, but for DVDs and Blu-ray movies as well. Even if you dont plan purchasing Blu-ray straightaway, you should have it in mind for your system because eventually you will most likely want to add a player.

So one of the better home theatre in a box systems, or preferably a separate home theatre receiver and surround speakers, will be what you need. Make sure that whichever system it is, the home theatre receiver part handles HDMI inputs and outputs. That will make switching between your HD PVR and your Blu-ray or DVD player convenient.

And with this extra equipment, consider a good universal learning remote control. This allows every member of the family not just the one who know which remotes to use and in which sequence to just walk in, sit down and drive the system.

family home

For sound, you should get fairly serious Not just for the growing number of televisions shows broadcast in surround, but for DVDs and Blu-ray movies as well

35

LOOK FOR Big, full HD at panel TV Quality surround sound

speaker system AV receiver with lots of

HDMI connections for other equipment

Twin tuner HD PVR or DVD recorder

Learning remoteSubwoofer to handle all the bass the other speakers cant

AV receiver for big sound effects and easy switching between equipment

HD personal video recorder

for automatic capture of favourite

shows and sporting events

PS3 console for hi-def games action

50-65 inch plasma for magical full HD widescreen action

Learning remote makes for simple system operation

Quality speaker system for surround sound and music listening

36

HD FOR ALL

Projection system for movie nights and serious event style sports screenings with friends family

70 inch plasma for m

assive

full HD sports action

Lots of entertainment

options, plus Blu-ray

for HD recording

Mighty Av receiver connects all equipment and delivers powerful sound to 7 speakers

LOOK FOR Full HD front projection system

for special-event viewing Super-large full HD at panel

TV for everyday viewing Large oorstanding surround

sound speaker system High powered high de nition

AV receiver with 1080p upscaling

Blu-ray recorder for the ultimate in HD recording and archiving

Touchscreen learning remote

We love projectors for movies and big screen sporting events. But for everyday viewing, especially sharing the familys favourite TV dramas with each other, we want a panel TV

37

Universal learning remote drives entire system with one-button ease even automatically dims lights, closes curtains and descends the screen (brand dependent)

Floorstanding speakers provide big volume levels in large living areas

Large centre speaker, voice-matched to the rest of the speakers

An increasingly popular inclusion in Australian homes is a dedicated home theatre room, although many without such a retreat still manage to achieve similarly high levels of performance. All this is achieved by applying money wisely to the purchase of the correct equipment, and modifying the environment in which that equipment will be located.

PROJECTION AND A TVMost such systems are based, on the video side of things, around a front projector. For the next few years at least, the front projector will remain the only way to produce a truly huge picture. As we write, panel TVs top out at 165cm (65 inches) at least those that dont reach into the stratosphere when it comes to pricing. A $5000 front projector can produce a high quality 254cm (100 inches) or bigger picture if your room has been suitably treated.

However, every home theatre projector needs to be accompanied by a panel TV. Because, much as we love the whole home cinema experience, in just about every way other than picture size, projectors produce an inferior picture. They are slow to start up. The lives of their lamps are limited. You have to be in deep darkness to use them effectively.

We love projectors for movies and big screen sporting events. But for everyday viewing, especially sharing the familys favourite TV dramas with each other, we want a panel TV. For that, we reckon that there are several brilliant 152cm (60 inch) and 165cm (65 inch) models around. For sure, also have a projector installed in a ceiling lift, and an automatically lowering projection screen, but for most of your high de nition viewing experience, stick with the TV.

HEAR, HEAROnce again, consider your time shifting requirements. The most capable digital recorders are twin tuner HD PVRs, which allow you to record two channels at once while watching a recording of a show off the hard drive. The best even search for forthcoming programs they think you will like and automatically record them. Better still, a Blu-ray recorder will allow you to record all your favourite TV shows, and then archive the keepers to disc.

A high-end sound system will complete the HD scene. If money is not a problem, and a large space is available, then the need to compromise on speakers and sound is eliminated. Consider a full 7.1 channel system. Those extra two surround channels help tie the sound together better if there is a group of you watching an event or movie. Think about high quality, oorstanding front stereo speakers, as this will enhance your music enjoyment as well as deliver bene ts to the surround experience in your room. And do not skimp on the subwoofer. Its bass will provide a foundation for your movie viewing.

Money no Obj ectIf you have the room and the budget available, then your system will be make high de nition TV and movies even better than being on the set!

IFA 2008BEST OF BERLIN:

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Each year, Europes biggest consumer electronics show, IFA (known less colloquially as Internationale Funkausstellung Berlin) showcases the latest in consumer technology, with many of the worlds largest electronics manufacturers turning up to launch and show off their latest technology.

Of course, Berlins IFA is a massive show, and we dont have the space to cover everything in it here, but weve managed to put together something of a highlight reel for you. Read on to nd out about the biggest trends in the show.

TVConsumer electronics of all stripes were on display at IFA in 2008, but as usual it was the television sets that took the centre stage. And if the models launched and displayed in Berlin are any indication of what is to come, then TV is set for a major shake-up in the next few years.

Undoubtedly the focus of many of these new TV sets was device networking. Instead of just having AV inputs like television sets of old, many of these new sets are also integrated media players, taking digital les stored on a PC, on a USB device or even on the Internet and displaying them directly, without the need for a set-top box.

Indeed, a considerable proportion of the television sets on display boasted a technology that nobody had even really heard about a year ago: DLNA, short for Digital Living Network Alliance. A television that supports DLNA is capable of playing back media stored on a PC over a network so all the movies, music and pictures youve downloaded and stored on your PC can be streamed from that PC without the need for burning it to a disc or copying it to a thumb drive or MP3 player.

Not all DLNA implementations are created equal, of course most still require wired networking to a PC or DLNA-capable media server, and some dont yet support the full range of media types. Sonys new DLNA-capable TVs dont yet support video, for example.

IFA 2008

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Top trends and electronic delights from Europes biggest tech show. Report by Nathan Taylor

Sony shows off SountinaIn amidst new displays and Blu-ray players, Sony showed off its new high-concept Sountina speakers. The Sountina speakers use a two-metre vibrating glass tube to produce sound, which emanates in the 360-degree arc from the speakers (as opposed to regular directional speakers). The Sountina NSA-PF1 speakers are available in Japan for a mere US$10,000 or so.

Samsung embraces playbackNobody has pushed DLNA and Internet connectivity in TVs further and faster than Samsung. At IFA 2008, it showed of its latest LCD and plasma designs the Series 7, Series 8 and Series 9 televisions, which have more connectivity options than just about any set weve yet seen.

All three series support DLNA networking (wired and wireless) for a start, and are capable of playing back most of the common Internet media formats such as MPEG4, MP3, DivX, JPEG and more. They also boast a feature called WiseLink Pro, which allows the TV to read data and play media les stored on USB devices such as thumb drives, MP3 players and external hard disks as well.

The connectivity options dont stop there. In addition to a number of games stored in the televisions internal memory, Samsung TVs that are hooked up to the Internet can access online news and weather feeds from Yahoo using a system called InfoLink, which Samsung says will be available by the end of this year.

The Series 7, 8 and 9 televisions will be on sale by the end of the year in Australia, with plasma screens ranging from 50 to 63 inches/127160cm and LCDs from 40 to 55 inches/101140cm. 101140cm.

LG adds BluetoothNetworked TVs have become all the rage, with many vendors showing off televisions sporting Ethernet ports and the capacity to play movies stored on a remote PC or streamed from the Internet. LGs 7000-series plasma and LCD displays (the PG7000 and LG7000 respectively) go one better they add Bluetooth support as well. The Bluetooth link allows users to beam images and content directly from their phones to the screen for display, and it also allows users to sync Bluetooth headsets with the televisions, so you can watch TV at maximum volume without annoying the neighbours. The screens also feature USB 2.0 support and MP3 playback, so you can attach USB storage devices and play the media directly from it.

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LG adds Bluetooth

IFA REPORT

Some of the televisions even go beyond the basics of DLNA, however. Samsung, for example, showed off its new TV that can take online news from Yahoo and display it onscreen. YouTube streaming and Internet TV (like the Japanese acTVila service) also rated a mention, and were likely to see more products support that kind of service next year.

Of course, DLNA was not the only TV technology achievement on display at IFA. The push for larger and thinner screens continues, with Panasonic especially pushing massive screens (including one 150 inch/381cm monster) and Sony, Philips and Sharp showing off TV sets less than 25mm thick, making them perfect for hanging on a wall.

WirelessHD also had a small but notable presence at IFA, with Toshiba in particular pushing this cordless video technology (in essence, it does away with HDMI and other video cables, and allows a single media server box to send signals to multiple TVs).

Although it did not have a huge presence at IFA this year, we also saw a glimpse of whats to come with several QuadHD models from Samsung, Panasonic and JVC on display and a good deal

of talk (especially from JVC) about how QuadHD is the future of television. QuadHD has four times as many pixels (and therefore four times the de nition) of FullHD. Samsungs QuadHD screens have a resolution of 3840 x 2160, while JVC went right up to 4096 x 2400 (for comparison, Full HD is 1920 x 1080).

JVC pushes QuadHDJust as full HD screens are nally coming down to mainstream prices, the manufacturers have gone and upped the ante again. JVC spent a good deal of the IFA show talking about and demonstrating its 4K2K screens, projectors and cameras.

4K2K devices have a resolution of 4096 x 2160, compared to full HD which is 1920 x 1080. If you do the math on that, thats about 4.3 times as many pixels in QuadHD as full HD (hence the name).

Of course, QuadHD presents a whole new range of problems. It requires a new way to connect the screen to other devices; it requires a new kind of disc to store movies (Blu-ray just doesnt have the capacity) and a new mechanism for transmitting the massive amount of video information required between devices.

Philips slims downPhilips has been struggling to compete in the at screen market, but is hoping that its new range of Essence TV screens, rst showed at IFA, will help it out. Essence is a 42 inch/106cm full HD LCD thats just 38mm thick in total (thats not just the LCD panel, but the entire package). To make that possible, it comes with a small connectivity hub that hosts all the different connectors for the screen. The speakers are housed in a separate 2 x 15 watts SoundBar thats as thin as the screen is.

The screen itself boasts a 100Hz refresh rate and a 2ms response time, which means it should stack up well against plasmas and other current-generation screens for image quality. At press time, a price for the Essence had not been announced.

from Samsung, Panasonic and JVC on display and a good deal to 4096 x 2400 (for comparison, Full HD is 1920 x 1080).

Philips slims downPhilips has been struggling to compete in the at screen market, but is hoping that its new range of Essence TV screens, rst showed at IFA, will help it out. Essence is a 42 inch/106cm full HD LCD thats just 38mm thick in total (thats not just the LCD panel, but the entire package). To make that possible, it comes with a small connectivity hub that hosts all the different connectors for the screen. The speakers are housed in a separate 2 x 15 watts SoundBar thats as thin as the screen is.

The screen itself boasts a 100Hz refresh rate and a 2ms response time, which means it should stack up well against plasmas and other current-generation screens for image quality. At press time, a price for the Essence had not been announced.

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The Skinny on SharpSharp, meanwhile has been showing off its own ultra-thin screen, the Aquos XS1. Just 23mm thick at their thinnest part, the full HD XS1 looks and works a lot like the Philips Essence: the connectors attach to a separate box, and the speakers are a detachable bar. The XS1 models are available in 52 and 65 inch/132165cm screen sizes.

Finally, Sony and Samsung were shooting it out at the show, both claiming to have delivered the very rst 200Hz LCD TV. The technology builds on existing 100Hz processing which inserts additional frames into the video using interpolation to produce a smooth, blur-free motion by inserting even more frames of interpolated video for, er, even smoother, blur-free motion.

Other equipmentWhile television technology was clearly the centrepiece of the show, other technology also got a look in, including a range of portable media players. Sony, for example introduced three new Walkman media players, the S, B and E models, which take the best elements from its mobile phone Walkmans, such as the SenseMe mood detection technology, and move it to dedicated media players.

iRiver was also at the show, showing off its lauded SPINN PMP with its touchscreen and a design that clearly sets it against the iPod touch. LG likewise is going with a touchscreen media player of particular note was its T80 media player, which, in addition to boasting a 3 inch/7.6cm touchscreen also supports mobile TV viewing with an integrated DVB-T (digital TV) tuner.

A few netbook PCs also made an appearance, although nothing that couldnt really be described as a clone of the Asus Eee PC. LG, for example, announced its Netbook X110, a Windows XP device with

a 10 inch/25.5cm screen. Samsungs X360, also on display at the show, was more like a Macbook Air, a PC focusing not so much on cost reduction but on looking ultra-thin and cool. Meanwhile, Mio was showing off its Sat Nav Netbook, a Eee-alike that comes with integrated GPS navigation and an 8.9 inch/22.6cm screen.

Some cool speakers were also on display, such as Sonys omnidirectional Sountina, Harman-Kardons crystal GLA-55 (which look like chunks of ice with speakers set in them) and Philips CinemaOne iPod dock and DVD player, which uses Philips Ambisound technology to create the illusion of surround sound.

All up, its been an impressive year at the IFA, and with CES Americas largest trade show just around the corner well no doubt have more technology to show you in the coming months.

Thin is inBoth Philips and Sony have been competing to show off the thinnest screen in recent times, and the winner is not yet entirely clear. Philips showed off the thinnest display, a 32 inch/81cm LCD with full HD resolution that is just 8mm thick. However, the display was only a demonstration the LCD panel is not yet in production and we dont have an indication of when it will be.Sonys KDL-40ZX1 (pictured), however is already moving into mass production and will be available in Japan at least by the time you read this. The 40 inch/101cm LCD is just 9.9mm thick, and is designed to be a true window on your wall. It also happens to be a networked TV, with support for remote media playback and acTVila Internet TV as well as DLNA. It costs 490,000 yen (about $5600), so its not something that everybody will be able to afford, however.

Although it did not have a huge presence at IFA this year, we also saw a glimpse of whats to come with several QuadHD models from Samsung, Panasonicand JVC

Panasonic goes bigPanasonic has been very much intent lately on showing the potential of plasma screens to scale up to massive size. The centrepiece of its display at IFA was a 150 inch/381cm screen thats large enough to show a small elephant in actual size. The 150 incher is also likely to require that you mortgage several houses in order to afford it when it goes into production next year.

For those on a more modest budget say US$50,000 or so Panasonic also showed off an array of new 103 inch/261cm screens.

A few days before IFA, Panasonic announced the newTH-103PZ800 screen, a networked 103 inch full HD Plasma with more inputs than you could possibly ever use including ash memory card slots from which you can even play HD videos. It also happens to suck around 1450 watts per hour.

At the same time as it showed of the TH-103PZ800, Panasonic also announced the rather more modest new ZR900 LCD screens, which range in size from 42 to 50-inch/106127cm. In addition to Network TV and YouTube support, the ZR900s actually have one terabyte built-in hard disks, effectively turning the TVs into PVRs as well.

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IFA REPORT

The Philips Cinema One usesAmbisound to create surround-like effects

Untitled-3 1Untitled-3 1 3/10/08 6:57:00 PM3/10/08 6:57:00 PM

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When you want to get into home entertainment but need to learn more, our How to Buy section is the perfect starting point. Our expert advice and buying tips will help put you in the know before you venture onto the shop oor.

HOW TO BUYHOW TO BUY Happy Couples 46When music is what matters most, you need a quality set of stereoloudspeakers. Choose correctly,and they will be the mainstay ofany future surround system too.

BOX FRESH Reviewed in this Issue

Bowers & Wilkins CM1 48Focal Chorus 806V 49Jamo C407 50KEF IQ7SE 51Krix Phoenix 52Altec Lansing T612 54Philips SoundBar HTS8140 56Pioneer Susano SC-LX90 58Kogan PRO42 61Panasonic Viera TX-32LZD800A 62Linksys DMA2200 64Apple iPod Touch (2nd Gen) 66Apple iPod Nano (4th Gen) 67JBL ES800 Cinepack 68Samsung BDP1500 70Sony PSLX300USB 70

Cabin Fever:Incar Entertainment Hots Up 73How to upgrade your carentertainment system with aftermarket music, video, GPS and Bluetooth options.

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These days we are all about home entertainment. And that has almost come to be a code for home cinema. But prior to the DVD, it really meant music, which in turn meant stereo.

So weve decided to turn the clock back a few years here, and look at a bunch of stereo loudspeakers. We havent gone back irreversibly in time, though, because each of the stereo pairs we examine here have suitable surround and centre channel speakers, plus subwoofers, available from their manufacturers, able to deliver the full surround sound experience.

Think of it this way: if you are a lover of stereo music, why not make your decision about your home theatre sound system primarily about choosing a pair of stereo speakers that will deliver the goods for you? Once that decision is made, decisions on the other parts of the surround system fall into place.

Of course, you may not be interested in surround sound at all, and simply want fine stereo music.

Here we decided to choose a tight price band that we reckoned would allow you to buy some pretty decent speakers, and then examine five of the options available. While all fall within a $101 price spread from $1399 to $1500, they are not strictly comparable.

Whether its for music or the foundation of a surround set-up, when it comes to speakers it takes two. Thomas Bartlett reviews five pairs of note.

Stereo loudSpeakerS What to look forThe good The best way to enjoy most music, which is recorded in

stereo Additional speakers can be added for full surround sound Wide range of choices to get the best sound from your

music collection

The less good So many speakers, selecting the best performance balance

can be time consuming No loudspeaker is perfect in every respect so may be some

disappointment

A size fit for your home

Sound that best suits your tastes and preferred music

Models that have matching centre and surround channels

If you like loud music, high sensitivity to give you the biggest sound

Big and smallPart of the reason for that is our collection includes both floorstanders and compact models. Normally one chooses between these two categories for reasons unrelated to performance. Another part is that loudspeaker choice has to be the most subjective, individualistic part in assembling a s