Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. unveils the new Sanyo LP-Z2000, a home-use Full HD (1920 x 1080) projector with rich new 3D color management, a high contrast ratio of 15000:1, an advanced lens shifting function, and a very silent fan system to enjoy the movie’s quiet scenes.

Sanyo has been providing solutions to households for home theaters, allowing users to have their own taste of the theater in the privacy of their own homes. The LP-Z2000 model brings the home theater experience to the Full HDTV digital movie age, and is able to adjust to its environments through lens shifting capabilities, allowing a large screen to be projected from a variety of settings.

The new projector will be on display in Germany at the IFA 2007 Show held in Berlin from August 31 to September 5, 2007, as well as in the United States in Colorado at the CEDIA Show in Denver from September 5 to September 9, 2007.

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Panasonic has started to ship a new line of High Definition LCD Rear Projection Display televisions featuring the revolutionary long-life LIFI(TM), a first-of-its kind light fidelity projection display application that ensures image brightness over an extended period of time as well as greatly reduced start-up time.

The Panasonic LIFI High Definition line includes two series - the LCZ and LCX. The LCZ series, available in three large-screen screen sizes, 61-inches, 56-inches and 50- inches, feature 1080p resolution and an elegant glossy black finish with a new floating panel design. The PT-61LCX70 and PT-56LCX70 offer 720p resolution.

“The unique LIFI technology provides the consumer with a viable, affordable option for big screen, 1080p High Definition entertainment,” said Dennis Eppel, Vice President of Panasonic Display Company. “The fact that the bulb will virtually never need to be replaced is a great benefit to the consumer and one of the reasons we strongly believe that LIFI will be successful. From our Plasma and LCD TVs to the LIFI HDTVs, we want Panasonic consumers to experience the absolute best in High-Definition home theater. With our breadth of High Definition choices we are confident that Panasonic can provide that experience.”

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At the Games Convention in Leipzig today, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe announced the introduction of PlayTV - the software that turns PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3™) into a Personal Video Recorder (PVR). PlayTV will be available in UK, France, Italy, Germany and Spain early in 2008, with other PAL territories to follow in due course.

With the ability to watch, pause and record live TV from a huge range of free channels, PlayTV reinforces PS3’s rightful place in the Living Room at the heart of the family’s entertainment needs. Whether it is recording a programme whilst watching another, simply recording a entire series1 at the touch of a button or for watching programmes on the go via remote play on PSP™ (PlayStation®Portable), PlayTV offers a simple solution to it all.

“The introduction of PlayTV really will extend the already broad entertainment credentials of PS3, and makes it an exceptionally attractive proposition for the whole family,” said David Reeves, President of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. “PS3 already provides High Definition gaming, Blu-ray Disc movies, music, video, photo album, web browsing and PLAYSTATION Network support. With the introduction of PlayTV’s state of the art TV tuner and PVR functionality, PS3 is now the best choice of home entertainment hub for the whole family.”

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The new Sony Cyber-shot H3 is an 8.1 megapixel digital camera with face detection and the ability to show you images in Full HD mode on your HDTV.

The beautifully-styled H3 is the smallest ever Cyber-shot featuring a Carl Zeiss 10x zoom lens (38-380mm equivalent; F3.5-4.4). The powerful optical zoom pulls distant subjects closer with superb clarity. Its wide range also broadens the scope of framing options for greater creative possibilities ”“ from expansive landscapes and intimate portraits to dynamic nature shots and sporting scenes.

Magnification is boosted further still by the 17x HD Smart Zoom (in 16:9 shooting mode) for powerful telephoto images that can be enjoyed with stunning quality on a large HD-Ready television.

Measuring 106.0mm (w) x 68.5mm (h) x 47.5mm (d), you’ll find the H3 is compact and light enough to carry with you on all occasions.

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The new Sony VPL-VW60 is a Full HD home cinema projector with Sony SXRD panel technology and extremely high 35000:1 contrast ratio displaying incredible picture quality for screen sizes up to 300 inch.

Sony BRAVIA Sony VPL-VW60 features
• Three 1920 x 1080 Sony SXRD panels deliver full 1080p HD resolution and cinema-quality smoothness
• 6.2 Mega Pixel resolution for stunning picture quality
• Extraordinarily high contrast ratio of up to 35.000:1 with Advanced Iris 2 for manual contrast settings
• Adjustable Lens Shift for easy set-up (Vertical: 65% up or down, Horizontal: 25% left or right)
• Accepts 1080p and 24p input signals via HDMI to meet the standard used in Hollywood and almost all cinema studios
• Powered by BRAVIA ENGINE EX for enhanced depth, clarity and definition
• Natural colour reproduction thanks to ultra-bright 200W Ultra High Pressure lamp that achieves better reds

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Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced the latest update for Adobe® Flash® Player 9 software, code-named Moviestar, which includes H.264 standard video support - the same standard deployed in Blu-Ray® and HD-DVD® high definition video players - and High Efficiency AAC (HE-AAC) audio support, as well as hardware accelerated, multi-core enhanced full screen video playback. These advancements will extend Adobe’s leadership position in Web video by enabling the delivery of HD television quality and premium audio content through the ubiquitous Adobe Flash Player and pave the way to expand rich media Flash experiences on the desktop and H.264 ready consumer devices. The latest update for Adobe Flash Player 9 will be available in beta for immediate download later today on Adobe Labs at http://labs.adobe.com .

With H.264 encoding already available in Adobe Premiere® Pro and Adobe After Effects® software, H.264 playback is now enabled in Adobe Flash Player, and will be supported by the Adobe Integrated Runtime (AIR) and applications developed with Adobe AIR™ software, including Adobe Media Player™. Adobe AIR is a cross-operating system application runtime that enables developers to use their existing skills to build and deploy rich Internet applications to the desktop. The Adobe Media Player, which leverages Adobe’s Emmy® Award winning Flash architecture, delivers engaging video experiences to viewers while offering content publishers new abilities to distribute, track and build businesses around their media assets.

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Broadcom Corporation (Nasdaq: BRCM) today announced a complete digital television receiver system targeted at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s (NTIA’s) digital-to-analog converter box program. The program, which is part of a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) initiative, includes a budget of $1.5 billion that will be used to assist U.S. households in making an affordable transition from existing analog televisions to digital by providing coupons to households to defray the cost of digital TV converter boxes. Broadcom has introduced a turnkey digital television-on-chip (TVoC) and associated software to enable these digital-to-analog converter boxes, extending the lives of analog-only TVs.

As written in the Department of Commerce’s Federal Register, dated March 15, 2007, the Digital Television Transition and Public Safety Act of 2005 (the Act) directs the FCC to require full-power television stations to cease analog broadcasting and to only broadcast digital transmissions after February 17, 2009. As a result, televisions that receive over-the-air broadcasts through rabbit ear antennas will no longer work after February 17, 2009. At that point, the analog television spectrum will be freed up for public safety initiatives and will be auctioned off by the U.S. government for such applications as wireless networking.

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Canon Europe today launches the Canon XEED SX7 and XEED X700 projectors. In a first for Canon’s projector range, the XEED SX7 will be distributed exclusively through the AV channel wherever possible across Europe.

With 4000 lumens, SXGA+ resolution, and AISYS enhanced LCOS technology, the SX7 is targeted at installations where the very best image quality is required. The XEED X700 is a 4000 lumens XGA resolution projector, providing highbrightness LCOS imaging at a very competitive price point.

“The front projector market is an important target for Canon,” said Mogens Jensen, Head of Canon Consumer Imaging, Europe. “A stable foundation has been laid with the XEED and LV projector ranges, but now it is important to partner with specialist providers in the industry. By negotiating new ways of doing business, Canon can enhance its offering to the projection market as a whole.”

The new projector releases coincides with an active drive to increase the numbers of Canon resellers and distributors across Europe. Canon has recently signed three key distribution deals with major partners in Italy, the Netherlands, and Norway and is in advanced discussions in several other countries. Canon is also building ongoing relationships with specialist suppliers in areas such as medical imaging and flight simulation. An advanced colour calibration system is also being launched for certain markets, together with new business plans that give partners innovative new ways of marketing and supplying their Canon projector offering.

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