Audio News for September 29, 2007

103-inch 1080p Plasma Display – The largest high-performance flat panel video display for the luxury home has been introduced by Runco International, a pioneer in home video display and technology.  The Cinema Wall XP-103DHD delivers 1920 x 1080 native resolution (instead of something much less as do most plasma displays), provides ISF calibration modes, RS-232 inputs for connecting to an outboard DHD Digital Controller, which has many options for inputs and switching, Runco’s digital video processing, which prevents distortion-causing “double scaling,” premium aspect ratio control, and VirtualWide technology which converts any 4:3 video to 16:9 while retaining image integrity. Orthogonal Line Correction adjusts for unwanted time-elapsed artifacts and 3:2/2:2 pull-down assures maximum quality for film-originated sources. The Cinema Wall will be available in December at an SRP of $99,995.

New Crestron Home Theater System – Crestron, a leader in home theater and whole-house AV, has expanded its Adagio technology with the Adagio Media System of integrated architecture including built-in tuners, amps, multiroom processors, 2-Series control system, e-Control web browser and Ethernet connectivity with front panel control. Video scaling up to 1080p is provided. The AMS state-of-the-art surround sound processor has powerful 100w amps to drive any 5.1, 6.1 or 7.1 speaker system. DTS 96/24 decoding is provided for the latest generation of DVD titles. Audyssey MultiEQ corrects time and frequency response problems to remove sound distortion at each listening position. There are 10 analog stereo inputs, one analog 7.1 surround input, built-in hi-def video switching of 3 HDMI, 6 HDTV/component, 4 S-Video and 4 composite sources. The unit has the latest generation of hi-def scaling and de-interlacing, true 10-bit video processing with resolutions up to 1920 x 1080.  Dual video sources or video and graphics may be displayed simultaneously. Stereo audio distribution for 4 to 6 rooms with 45w per channel for 4 rooms and mono for the other two. Each room has independent volume and tone controls, and expanders are available to add more rooms. The main AMS unit has a backlit LCD display, and in other rooms either Crestron 12-button keypads or APAD wall mount LCD controllers enable control of sources, CD titles, artists and songs, plus audio settings and other parameters. There is also an optional handheld Wi-Fi Touchpanel user interface.  The Audio Server has an iPod interface and dual-tuner cards for AM, FM, XM and Sirius satellite. The AMS allows nearly limitless expansion and customization.

SRS Labs Introduces iWOW2 Audio Processing for Macs – Leader in audio signal processing for consumer electronics SRS Labs announces the release of its latest iTunes plug-in for Mac computers.  iWOW2 provides 3D audio over desktop and laptop Macs as well as external speakers and headphones. It brings Mac users a richer and more powerful audio experience and provides new preset options, offering listeners the ability to enjoy movies and videos on iTunes in surround sound via headphones. Other features of the software maximize bass response, create stereo enhancement of mono content and can zoom in or out on the center channel dialog track.  iWOW2 is $20 at www.srslabs.com