Power Line Communication Developments – PLC may be the next big thing in broadband wired and wireless networks in the home. Semiconductor-maker Broadcom has just acquired Gigle Networks of Barcelona, who may come up with a master chip integrating power line networking with other kinds of networking in the same device. If Ethernet could be provided over coax cables there would be no limit to the exchange of AV signals between multiple home consumer devices. Someone could stream 3D video from their PC to their HDTV, for example. The new standard of G.hn for existing-wire home networking, is expected to hit the market this coming year, which should change everything. (And make whatever you now have instantly “legacy” gear.)
New AV Label to Distribute 32 Historic BSO DVDs – The Boston Symphony Orchestra and PBS station WGBH-TV, Boston, have partnered in the new AV label ICA Classics, to distribute 32 historic videos of the Boston Symphony going back to 1957. From that year thru 1979 more than 175 BSO concerts were recorded on 16mm kinescopes and two-inch videotape by WGBH-TV. A collection of over 100 of these programs is considered the most comprehensive collection of archived symphony film and video in the country. The performances have been expertly restored using SOTA techniques by the MSM Studios in Germany. They have carried out extensive restoration, authoring and encoding work, as well as repairs – including de-noising of video and audio, repairing scratches and dropouts, normalizing the audio and repairing a variety of video errors including jerking, fuzzing, missing frames, image shifts and flickering. The first BSO DVD will feature Charles Munch conducting Ravel’s Mother Goose and Debussy’s Iberia and La Mer. The second DVD will have excerpts of Wagner’s Die Meistersinger, Franck’s Symphony in d and Faure’s Pelleas & Melisande Suite. Other BSO archive materials will be made available to historians and scholars via bcarr@bso.org
The Latest From Dolby Laboratories – In a recent interview Craig Eggers, Senior Manager at Dolby Labs, went over some of Dolby’s recent efforts. As we reported, Dolby Digital Plus is now supported thru the RoxioNew Entertainment Platform. Dolby Digital Plus is also being used by China’s premier HD IPTV service provider – BesTV. Dolby Mobile consists of various technologies enhancing mobile entertainment. Their intent is to improve the compressed audio, expand the stereo image and enhance bass performance. Though the screens and speakers are tiny, it hopes to make the experience more immersive. He point out that surround playback systems must be capable of reproducing the dynamics and frequency response of lossless audio such as their 5.1 192/24 and 7.1 96/24 Dolby TrueHD (As well as DTS-HD Master Audio, of course). Eggers described the impressive results of their recent Pro Logic IIz decoding, which uses two additional frontal height speakers to add an additional layer of dimension and immersion to the surround experience. The process does not introduce artificial DSP effects or make any changes to the audio mix – it merely identifies non-directional elements of the mix that create a sense of enhanced dimension and feeds those to the two front height speakers. (If you set up for Pro Logic IIz, you will only have to find a way to switch your center channel and subwoofer signals to the two height speakers to properly play back all the MD&G 2+2+2 SACDs and DVD-As, as well as the early height-signal SACDs of Telarc, DMP & Chesky.)
New Ford Focus to Feature Sony Audio System – Ford’s small Focus – due for early 2011 – will feature an audio system from Sony Corp. which includes HD Radio and iTunes Tagging capability thru a 355-watt amplification system. Its Sony controller mimicks the appearance of Sony home audio equipment. Ford also has partnerships with SIRIUS, THX and Microsoft.
