Upgrade Your Home Theater with a Blu-Ray Player, DVD Player or DVR

Upgrade Your Home Theater with a Blu-Ray Player, DVD Player or DVR
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Innovations in Blu-ray, DVD and DVR Technology at CES 2009

Of all the advanced home theater products that were shown at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas in 2009, the Blu-ray player, DVD player and DVR selections were among the most exciting. There were quite a few innovative players and recorders introduced, including several types of products never before seen on the market, such as wireless and portable Blu-ray players. In this article, the third in a series about the top home theater gadgets of 2009, you’ll learn about the advancements currently being made in Blu-ray, DVD, and DVR technology. Among the best improvements in this area include the introduction of wireless features, SD card slots, and HD support. These devices can help you to ramp up your enjoyment of your current home theater system without putting a huge hole in your wallet. If you haven’t set up a home theater system yet, you should consider using these Blu-ray, DVD and DVR players as part of a do-it-yourself home theater system.

Samsung Wireless Blu-ray Player

Samsung has recently introduced the first Wi-Fi enabled Blu-ray player ever made. The Samsung BD-P4600 has a sleek, slim case and supports large file downloads from popular media services such as Netflix, Blockbuster, Pandora video and radio, and Youtube. The Samsung BD-P4600 comes with a feature called BD-Live, a service you can use to download other Internet content, such as previews, ringtones, wallpaper and games. A Wi-Fi USB dongle is included. The player has HDMI, composite video, coaxial digital audio, optical digital audio, and analog audio outputs. It also has 1 gigabyte (GB) of on board memory and supports HD upconversion of standard resolution DVDs to full 1080p HD resolution. In addition, it can be mounted on the wall. To use the wireless features of the Samsung BD-P4600, you will need a computer, a wireless home network and an Internet connection.

Panasonic Portable Blu-ray Player

Yet another first comes from Panasonic; the first portable Blu-ray player. The Panasonic DMP-B15 Portable Blu-ray player has a widescreen 8.9 inch WSVGA high-resolution LCD viewscreen. It plays a variety of Blu-ray and DVD disks, including DVD-R and DVD-RW. The included portable rechargeable battery pack can last for up to 2 and a half hours. The Panasonic DMP-B15 Portable Blu-ray player isn’t just ideal for travel; it can also be used with your HDTV to watch content in full HD. It also has a wide range of inputs and outputs, including HDMI, A/V and Ethernet. You can also use an SD card with this portable Blu-ray player to enjoy your personal files, such as JPEG pictures and MP3 songs, from your computer. The player supports BD-Live, 7.1 channel lossless audio and Viera Cast, Panasonic’s Internet TV service.

Toshiba 9-inch Portable DVD Player

The Toshiba SDP93S 9-inch Portable DVD Player has a 9 inch thin film transistor (TFT) LCD widescreen display that can swivel up to 180 degrees. It supports several formats such as DVD, DVD-R and DVD-RW, and can function as a JPEG viewer and MP3 player. The Toshiba portable DVD player can output a digital signal by coaxial cable, and also comes with an A/V input and output and two headphone jacks. In addition to DVDs and CDs, you can use an SD card to play back content from your computer on this portable DVD player. The included battery pack can last for as long as 5 hours of playback before needing a recharge.

Moxi HD-DVR

Using a Moxi HD-DVR, you can watch and record programs and other content from digital cable, from the Internet or from your home computer. The 2-Tuner Moxi HD-DVR comes with 500 gigabytes (GB) of storage, which can record up to 75 hours of programming in full HD. You can also add 6 terabytes (TB) more storage by adding an external hard drive to your HD-DVR. Best of all, aside from your digital cable service and broadband Internet service, you don’t have to subscribe to a paid service to just use the Moxi HD-DVR. You can also schedule your Moxi HD-DVR to record over the web or from your mobile phone. The Moxi HD-DVR also requires a multi-stream cable card to function.

For more ideas on how to upgrade your home theater, read The Best DVD Player Brands.

Sources:

CNET: “Samsung BD-P4600” https://reviews.cnet.com/blu-ray-players-recorders/samsung-bd-p4600/4505-9991_7-33488071.html

CNET: “Panasonic DMP-B15K” https://reviews.cnet.com/blu-ray-players-recorders/panasonic-dmp-b15k/4505-9991_7-33676681.html

CNET: “Toshiba SDP93S” https://reviews.cnet.com/portable-dvd-players/toshiba-sdp93s/4505-6498_7-33574728.html

This post is part of the series: Top Home Theater Gadgets of 2009

There have been considerable innovations in home theater during 2009. Many of these advanced gadgets can connect your HDTV to the Internet and enhance your home theater audio experience. There have also been advances in Blu-ray, DVD and DVR technology.

  1. TV and Internet Connectivity Gadgets for Home Theater
  2. Innovative Home Theater Speaker Systems
  3. New Advances in Blu-ray, DVD and DVR for Home Theater