CEDIA

Sept. 14, 2006--The Ubiquitous Platform Systems Division of Hitachi America, Ltd., a subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd. announced today that its new 2006 Director's Series product line, including plasma and LCD flat-panel televisions that combine original technologies and sophisticated designs, has begun shipping. The new plasma HDTVs feature 42- and 55-inch screen sizes, and exclusive technologies that produce razor sharp images and deep, rich colors. Hitachi's 42-inch model introduces 1080 vertical lines of resolution to the 42-inch plasma screen size for the first time. This original Hitachi plasma technology creates a line for vertical line match with the dominant 1080 HDTV format. The 55-inch model uses similar proprietary technologies that produce more active picture area and a brighter picture. The new 37-inch LCD HDTV features Hitachi's proprietary black frame insertion technology and 120Hz high speed double refresh drive, allowing for a sleek, sophisticated design and the best picture quality possible. Read more

September 14, 2006 — ELAN Home Systems, a leading manufacturer of award-winning Multi-Room audio/video and home control systems, announced today the trade debut of PlayRoom™ - a totally new, patent-pending line of Intelligent Speaker Selectors that redefines the use, performance and flexibility of speaker selectors in multi-room audio systems. CEDIA, the custom electronics industry’s largest trade show, is being held in Denver, Colorado through September 17. The announcement was made by Bob Farinelli, ELAN’s President and Chief Technology Officer.

The most significant advancement in speaker selectors in 20 years, ELAN’s PlayRoom Intelligent Speaker Selectors are IR-controllable and feature patent-pending Dynamic Power Distribution (DPD) circuitry. Users can utilize their favorite remote to turn music on or off and adjust the volume in each room, independently, without have to go back to the head end. IR sensors in each room also allow for pass-thru IR control of other stereo components. Read more

Sept. 14, 2006--The Ubiquitous Platform Systems Division of Hitachi America, Ltd., a subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd. today announced that it will demonstrate the industry's first 42-inch full high-definition plasma television (HDTV) at the CEDIA EXPO in Denver, Colorado this week, as well as a 60-inch full HD plasma display. The Hitachi 42-inch plasma display introduces 1920 x 1080 lines of resolution to the 42-inch plasma screen size for the first time, offering a pristine vertical line match with the dominant 1080 HDTV format.

Hitachi's development of the world's highest resolution 42-inch plasma display is made possible through the application of a number of original technologies. Using its proprietary electrode sharing technology, the 42-inch full HD panel delivers more than two million pixels and more than six million individual lights. A patented "slim-rib" feature enables a wider aperture ratio, creating an intense brightness of 1,000 cd/m2 and dazzling picture quality for the viewer. Picture quality is also enhanced and better controlled through more effective signal processing that enhances grayscale performance and reduces noise for a smoother and more beautiful viewing experience. Read more

Sept. 14, 2006-- Universal Electronics Inc. today announced that a limited edition high gloss black version of the award-winning NevoSL controller will be unveiled at the upcoming Custom Electronic Design & Installation Association (CEDIA) Expo to be held in Denver, CO on September 14 -17. The High Gloss Black NevoSL will be available only through select distributors for the custom electronics professional.

One year after its introduction, the NevoSL has quickly gained recognition from the professional custom installer community. Spurred by the feedback from custom installers around the world, UEI developed the new High Gloss Black NevoSL to complement the home theater environments of the most discerning home entertainment enthusiast. This High Gloss Black NevoSL will provide custom installation professionals a control option to match the growing trend of high definition television monitors that are offered in gloss black or dark wood finishes. Read more

Sept. 14, 2006-- Universal Electronics Inc. today announced a development relationship with SIRIUS Satellite Radio to provide a custom solution that would allow SIRIUS subscribers to access comprehensive information directly from the handheld media controller, while also providing seamless universal control of other traditional home entertainment devices, wirelessly, from up to 150 feet away.

SIRIUS Satellite Radio delivers more than 125 channels of the best programming in all of radio. SIRIUS is the original and only home of 100% commercial free music channels in satellite radio, offering 67 music channels available nationwide. SIRIUS also delivers 61 channels of sports, news, talk, entertainment, traffic, weather and data. SIRIUS looked to UEI to help design a system that could wirelessly communicate with and control the company's satellite radio service throughout the home. The solution would have to serve as an affordable accessory to enable users to enjoy content on any home audio system. It would also need to support the addition of a SiriusConnect Home Tuner, enabling users to listen to two different SIRIUS channels in different rooms of the house, all controlled from the SIRIUS Conductor handheld controller. Utilizing the Z-Wave wireless protocol, a wireless radio frequency (RF) based communications technology designed for residential control, UEI will be able to develop a truly unique and cost effective solution for SIRIUS subscribers. Read more

September 14, 2006 — ELAN Home Systems, a leading manufacturer of award-winning Multi-Room audio/video and home control systems, announced today the trade debut of its revolutionary Ole`™ Film Interactive Touchpad at CEDIA 2006 in Denver, Colorado. The Company also reported that the product began shipping in limited first-production quantities to a number of its top Dealers around the country in August 2006. The announcement was made by Bob Farinelli, ELAN’s President and Chief Technology Officer.

As the first ever in-wall Film Interactive Touchpad (FIT), Ole` marries the best of all interface worlds by bringing together the speed, graphics and response of a traditional LCD touch panel with the simplicity and pricing of a keypad, thus creating a completely new interface product category within the Custom Installation industry. A radical departure from traditional, hard button keypads, Ole` offers the largest all-touch surface in a double-gang, in-wall product and new level of flexibility to match every Client’s décor. It’s easier-than-ever installation and “wizard” VIA!®TOOLS programming saves Dealers valuable time, thus increasing profits substantially. Read more

Sept. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Panasonic Projector Systems Company, Unit of Panasonic Corporation of North America, today announced the debut of its first LCD home cinema projector with 1080p (1,920 x 1,080 pixel) native resolution: the PT-AE1000U. Designed for savvy home theater enthusiasts and audio video professionals, the new projector accurately reproduces the original picture quality intended by Hollywood movie and television directors and displays the highest contrast ratio (11,000:1) in its class.

The PT-AE1000U model comes equipped with Panasonic's all new, carefully engineered optical system that's designed to achieve beautifully detailed images with a captivating brightness of 1,100 lumens. The new optical system includes Panasonic's unique aspherical glass lens system, a full high definition (HD)-compatible technology that reduces the amount of light dispersion to help produce crisper, more vivid images. In addition, it has incorporated next-generation, full high definition LCD panels (C2FineTM), which are characterized by inorganic, vertically aligned liquid crystals for enhanced black level performance. Panasonic's Dynamic Iris has also been improved to reproduce superior full HD images, providing consumers with a much richer home theater viewing experience. Read more

Sept. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Facilitating exceptional quality audio experiences in innovative home entertainment applications, Texas Instruments Incorporated today announced that three leading audio/video (A/V) receiver manufacturers have leveraged the award-winning Aureus generation of high-performance audio digital signal processors (DSPs) to deliver next-generation A/V receiver and digital media center applications. Harman Kardon, Onkyo and Yamaha are demonstrating their breakthrough products at CEDIA Expo this week (Sept. 14 - 17) in Denver, Colorado. (See www.ti.com/aureus1.)

"We're thrilled that such distinguished audio manufacturers found the Aureus generation of audio DSPs to be the ideal solution for their unique home entertainment products," said David Maples, Performance Audio business manager, TI. "Each features advanced functionalities that will be incredibly appealing to consumers, and we're glad that Aureus DSPs could help them get to where they wanted to go." Read more

Sept. 14, 2006 – Continuing to stretch performance and design boundaries, Sony Electronics announced its largest BRAVIA™ flat-panel LCD televisions: the 52-inch KDL-52XBR2 and KDL-52XBR3 models.

Both feature native 1920 x 1080 full high-definition resolution panels, HDMI™ inputs with 1080p capability, and Sony’s unique floating glass design. The company also added two new 1366 x 768 resolution models, KDL-40S2400 and KDL-32S2400, to the BRAVIA line. Read more

Sept. 14, 2006 – Sony Electronics and Stewart Filmscreen announced at the 2006 CEDIA Expo that they will join forces to promote the benefits of “Full HD” front projection to a broader consumer audience.

The effort will focus on both the new Sony VPL-VW50 SXRD projector, which delivers full 1920 x 1080 high-definition resolution; along with a new Stewart Filmscreen Firehawk SST screen whose reflectivity and gain has been specifically designed to optimize the VW-50’s performance under a variety of viewing conditions. Read more