In the market for a new Audio/Visual receiver and want to make sure it will be future proof for at least a few years? Then look no further than the just announced Sony STR-DN1010, the company’s first 3D offering:
Featuring HDMI 1.4 3D pass-through technology, ample high-definition connectivity and compatibility with all of the latest Blu-ray Disc audio formats, the new STR-DN1010 AV receiver is designed to create a simple solution for controlling any high-definition or 3D capable home theater.
The 7.1 channel STR-DN1010 AV receiver (110 watts power per channel @8-Ohms, 1kHz, 1% THD) features full high-definition 1080/24p support and seven HD inputs in total (four HDMI and three component) allowing for connection to a wide variety of HD devices. The receiver’s HDMI 3D pass through technology supports 3D video from connected devices and passes them through to a 3D compatible high-definition television, while decoding high-resolution audio codecs.
The receiver also features an icon-driven menu system for simple device and content navigation and has the ability to upscale analog video sources to 1080p resolution via HDMI. The model also boasts a sleek piano black gloss design that matches Sony’s line of Blu-ray Disc players and televisions.
The STR-DN1010 is compatible with all advanced audio codecs, including Dolby TrueHD, dts-HD Master Audio and features wireless 2nd zone capabilities through Sony’s S-AIR wireless technology. With the addition of an S-AIR transmitter (model EZW-T100) and separate S-AIR speakers (sold separately), the receiver can also drive wireless audio in up to 10 additional rooms.
The STR-DN1010 receiver also features a Digital Media Port (DMP) input for simple connection to external sources including an iPod and iPhone (compatible DMP accessories required and sold separately) and is compatible with both Deep Color and x.v.Color.
The STR-DN1010 AV receiver will be available this June for about $500.
Have doubts about the iPad as a gaming platform? Don’t think the PSP and DS have much to worry about? Think again. With its custom A4 chip running at a blistering 1 gigahertz, the iPad is more than capable at displaying impressive 3D, ushering in a whole new age for portable gaming. Expect the Unreal engine to be ported to the iPad, with other competitors soon to follow. iPad is the real deal. I can’t wait to see the iPad running a dedicated Dungeons & Dragons table-top RPG app or a game like Populous, two areas where the iPad can really deliver a new and unique experience.
You up for a little 3D Madden Football in the future? EA thinks you will be and is hoping the sports genre will usher in a new era of 3D gaming. EA seems to think sports games will be the key to early acceptance of 3D gaming technology, but I beg to differ: first-person shooters will be the big lure, not Madden. Here is EA Sports head-honcho Peter Moore:
“None of the games I’ve seen [so far] have been built that way – they’ve been regular games running in 3D. The real secret sauce will be when somebody says: ‘I’m going to build this game specifically for a 3D platform.’
“Absolutely. I’m not making any announcements, but it’s no coincidence that of the 3D [TV] broadcasts I’ve seen in the last two years, I can count the NBA All-Star event in Las Vegas, while ESPN has announced 3D programming – perhaps even a full channel. There have also been a number of announcements around the [football] World Cup, with some games broadcast in 3D.
“This is reminiscent of where we were with HD five or six years ago. It seems like a lifetime ago now, but you’d go to CES and be in awe of HD – and it was sports games that showed up the technology.
“I think there’s great opportunity for EA to bring sports to life in unbelievably imaginative ways, once we can grasp what 3D means to us.”
With the Consumer Electronics Show in full-swing, one thing has become crystal clear: the electronics industry is hell-bent on making consumers look like complete tools by the end of the year. By “tool” I mean, “Who is that dork sitting on the sofa wearing the nerdy 3D glasses?”
3D TVs are all the rage. Every major television manufacturer, and a few minor ones, are jumping on the bandwagon without hesitation. ESPN and DirecTV have both announced imminent, full-time 3D channels. Sony has finalized their specifications for 3D Blu-Ray and the industry will have the home version of Avatar to use as consumer-bait.
But…we’re still going to look like complete tools with our 3D glasses.
Is this really what the consumers wants? Probably not. I think it is safe to say we want 3D without the frickin’ glasses. It’s not just the aesthetic-hit your once macho appearance will take, but the real, cold hard facts of reality that will take its toll. WTF am I talking about?
I’m talking about your dog munching on your beloved pair of 3D glasses while you are at work. I am talking about your rug-rat kids bending, throwing, playing and breaking your 3D glasses. I am talking about your 3D glasses disappearing under the sofa or between the cushions. I am talking about your big, fast ass sitting down hard on that pair of 3D glasses.
3D glasses only work in theory and the safety of an IMAX theater. All other locations will spell constant hassle and small-scale disasters.
Hence, this brave new world they want us so desperately to enter will only work sans glasses.
Beyond the hurdles of every-day life we have the tech itself. Everything on display at CES is first-generation technology without a unified standard. Early-adopters will undoubtedly be screwed by the time the second generation is greatly improved and enhanced. The 3D TV you buy today could be tomorrow’s HD-DVD.
So wait. Be patient. What is available now will be considered garbage by CES 2011, a date that will hopefully see a whole new generation of 3D that can be attained without glasses and the punishing hit to your fashion sense.
Fandango has revealed some interesting statistics in regards to Avatar. All data is based upon customer surveys completed by ticket buyers for Cameron’s 3D epic:
* 76% consider themselves fans of James Cameron
* 45% say that “James Cameron’s return as a director” was the main draw
* 75% say it’s important for them to see the movie in IMAX 3D
* 72% say the positive advance reviews have increased their interest in the movie
* 70% say they do not care about the film’s budget
* 72% had seen STAR TREK in theaters
* 62% had seen TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN in theaters
* 48% had seen TERMINATOR SALVATION in theaters
* 68% of ticket-buyers are male
* 15% are ages 18-24
* 37% are ages 25-34
* 33% are ages 35-49
With Avatar opening in a month, many Hollywood analysts and journalists are preparing and publishing stories that focus on the bloated budget, the troubled history of 3D movies, and the likelihood that Avatar has the potential to be the biggest bomb in cinema history. Now, all of this sounds very familiar, as I heard and read all these stories when the subject was instead Titanic, which proved itself the most successful movie ever made.
Having seen the exclusive 15-minute 3D preview several months ago, I can safely say that whatever experience you’ve had with 3D in the past has no bearing on what you are about to witness on the big-screen. Judging the visual quality of the movie based on 2D trailers is futile.
Now we have Kim Masters of The Daily Beast droning on about Hollywood concerns, going the extra mile to say that because Robert Zemeckis’ latest 3D movie, A Christmas Carol, tanked at the box office that there is great cause for concern when it comes to Avatar. How these two movies relate is beyond me. The only thing they have in common is “3D” and even there they use two completely different processes. That, and very few people give a crap about Charles Dickens or A Christmas Carol, or Robert Zemeckis’ sloppy version of a classic tale.
Still, she describes Avatar as “iffy.” And that may not be the adjective that executives at Fox and their partners on the film want to hear. Given that it’s taken 12 years for Cameron to produce a follow up to Titanic, and considering the immense cost of the technology, the industry and the media have been guessing at Avatar’s budget, with the Los Angeles Times recently putting it at $310 million with additional marketing costs of about $150 million. Other estimates are even higher. (Fox co-chairman Jim Gianopulos told Reuters earlier this week that rumors the movie will cost $500 million are “ridiculous,” acknowledging nonetheless that it was “quite expensive.”)
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(Ratings Average: 3.50 out of 5)
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