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Panasonic has announced the arrival of its latest plasma TV – the TX-P42G20B . The plasma TV arrives waving a word’s first banner, because it has both Freeview HD (DVB-S) and Freesat HD (DVB-T2) tuners inside. So, if you still can’t decide which free service to get your HD from, Panny is handing both of them to you on a plate. The G20 is, of course, part of Panasonic’s Viera series of TVs and offers THX audio certification and smoother images, courtesy of its 600Hz Sub-field Drive technology. Skype and SD There is also Viera Cast on board, so you can check out the company’s widget selection and you will also be able to Skype to your heart’s content on the TVs – a feature which was originally shown of at CES 2010 .

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Sony has revealed its latest batch of home cinema setups which bring Full HD 3D compatibility to the home. Ever since IFA 2009, Sony has pledged its allegiance to 3D and this latest range proves this, with the technology integrated into five new Blu-ray systems. First up is the 2.1-channel setup BDV-F500. This is being positioned at those who watch movies but have little space

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Toshiba has announced a new PVR capable of recording Freeview HD streams for the UK. The new HDR5010 has a twin Freeview HD tuner and Freeview+ HD capability – allowing users to watch and record HD channels simultaneously. The box is packing 500GB of internal storage, which should be good for 120 hours of HD recording, and there are three HDMI slots with two USB sockets too. Boosting the experience It’s also got an Ethernet port too, for viewers wishing to take advantage of ‘new digital interactive features’ if that’s your bag. Toshiba is making a big deal about how glossy and lovely the HDR5010 is, as well as the masses of storage on offer – so if you think a UK price of £350 is fair for this box, perhaps you should clear some space under the TV

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Toshiba has announced its second standalone Blu-ray player for the UK – with the BDX2100KB positioned for the ‘entry-level’ sector of the market. The BDX2100KB offers 1920×1080p HD resolution, deep colour support, HDMI 1.3 and REGZA-LINK tech that ensures seamless integration with HDMI-CEC compatible TVs and audio systems. The player is also BD Live Profile 2.0 and and brings Dolby True HD and DTS Master Audio compatible. Entry level “Positioned in the entry-level sector of the market, the player is designed to offer consumers value for money, blending a strong set of specifications with a striking design at a price point that will appeal to the mass market consumer,” says Tosh’s release.

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Bringing 3DTV to the home is ‘not going to be easy, and there will be surprises’ said standards expert Peter Symes of SMPTE yesterday. Speaking at a high-end Digital Television Group (DTG) seminar to which HCC had exclusive access, Symes explained that the technicalities of encoding 3D signals were proving a challenge – for instance, early attempts at compressing signals using MVC (Multi-View Coding) delivered disappointingly inefficient results. It wasn’t the only note of caution sounded at the seminar, at which the DTG announced that it would be working to set standards for 3D delivery to UKTVs and computers. Chris Johns, Chief Engineer of BSkyB,explained that new techniques had to be developed to create 3D material which delivers ‘Emotional involvement, rather than the spear-in-your-face effect’. Johns demoed Sky’s 3D sports footage, which concentrates on creating a wide immersive sense of perspective, rather than gimmicky effects.

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When it comes to intuitive media streaming and integrated NAS (network attached storage) the family of Network Media Tank products from Popcorn Hour spring readily to mind. Using simple but effective middleware from Syabas, these boxes have built a huge (and deserved reputation) for being easy to use and generally bomb-proof in a sector riddled with flakiness. Indeed, the A-110 and the upmarket HDX-1000 variant from HD Digitech, remain firm favourites. So when news of an upgraded version, the C-200, first began to filter through, I was undeniably excited. However, after using one for a couple of weeks, I’ve come to the conclusion that the C-200 may not be a clear step in the right direction.

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Onkyo has announced that the arrival of its latest high-end Blu-ray player – the BD-SP807. Packing a massive audio punch, the Blu-ray setup has been THX-certified and brings, according to Onkyo, a bit of ‘cinematic excellence’ to the home. This means that it allows bitstream output of Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio Essential soundtracks and, for those using analogue audio, there’s 7.1-channel analogue outputs on-board. The BD-SP807 also sports realistic HD video quality, courtesy of a state-of-the-art 297Mhz/12-bit video DAC from Analog Devices, and offers 1080p upscaling via its ABT1030 Video Reference Series chip

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NAD Electronics has unveiled its latest contribution to the home cinema market – the NAD M56 Blu-ray player. Sporting the sort of technology which makes AV enthusiasts drool, the M56 is a BD-Live toting machine that’s designed so that you get the best from your Blu-ray discs. On-board is HDMI connectivity (1080p at 24 frames) and Component video output (1080i), a proprietary upscaling engine and a USB 2.0 port on the rear panel.

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There has not been a more important decade for home entertainment technology than the noughties. Fact! John Logie Baird may have unveiled the first basic design of a TV in the 1920s, but did he think of adding a HDMI socket? Visionary? Pah! And the emergence of VHS in the 1970s may have introduced the dazzling new concept of cinema in the home, but did it allow you to play stuttering, partly broken Java games while communicating in three-letter street slang to a 65-year-old widower via on-screen chat? No it did not

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The Netgear EVA2000 compact media player resembles one of Netgear’s popular routers. It connects to one of these via Ethernet, and to your TV via HDMI. The EVA2000 then allows you to view content stored on your network or USB devices, and among the formats claimed to be supported are Matroska, MPEG-1/-2/-4, DivX/XviD, JPEG, Dolby Digital, WMV, MOV, FLV, MP3, WMA, WAV and M4A. Not enough?

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