Tag Archives: videophile

Hidden Treasure SATA Data Cable Upgrades Music Server & Computer Audio Performance

January 28, 2020 The Silo Leave a comment

San Marcos, CA– Audience is now shipping its Hidden Treasure SATA Data Cable. The new SATA (Serial AT Attachment) cable is designed as an upgrade for internal connections of music server/computer storage devices, solid-state and disk drives and other hardware.

The new Hidden Treasure SATA cable provides better data transfer by reducing jitter and RF contamination, resulting in a lower noise floor and notably improved sound quality in audio components such as computer-based music systems. It can be easily installed as a DIY upgrade.

“More audiophiles are turning to music servers and other data storage, drive-based devices for their music listening, and these devices require a SATA cable for connecting the drive to the rest of the internal electronics,” noted John McDonald, president of Audience. “As a cable manufacturer it was a logical area for us to look into. We’ve discovered that upgrading the stock SATA cable with our Hidden Treasure cable can significantly improve the sound.”

Transmission of data including digital audio signals through a SATA cable happens at a much higher speed than via a USB connection and as a result, is more susceptible to jitter and internal system noise. The Audience Hidden Treasure SATA cable employs newly developed proprietary design techniques intended to block noise and ensure optimum signal condition and data integrity. By removing layers of sonic “grunge,” the audible result is greater low-level detail and a smoother, more inviting sonic presentation.

Although the retrofit of a component’s stock SATA cable with a Hidden Treasure SATA cable is a simple un-plug and re-plug function, Audience recommends that the upgrade be performed by a qualified technician. Audience also recommends consideration of the manufacturer’s warranty that could potentially be voided when modifying a particular music player. Audience accepts no liability for damage caused by improper installation.

The Audience Hidden Treasure SATA data cable is currently available. Suggested retail pricing in USD is as follows: 12-inch cable, $180; 18-inch cable, $200; 24-inch cable, $220.

About Audience

Audience was formed in November 1997 by John McDonald and the late Richard Smith, as a design and production company focused on building the best possible audio and video equipment. To pass the Audience test, each product must truly make a significant contribution to the reproduction of audio and/or video. Audience offers loudspeakers, electronics, cables, power conditioners, high-resolution capacitors and the Auric Illuminator optical disk resolution enhancement.

Audience’s commitment is to develop the very best products possible, and the company is committed to unexcelled customer service and product support. All Audience cables have an unconditional lifetime warranty and power conditioners have a ten-year warranty.

Sci-Tech

Portable LED Bluetooth Projector Is Game Changer- Has Short Throw Lens

July 27, 2016 The Silo Leave a comment

BenQ America Corp., the No.1 DLP^® projector brand worldwide, today introduced the Colorific™ i500, a completely new way to enjoy immersive entertainment in small spaces. A compact device that combines wireless streaming, short-throw LED projection and rich integrated audio, BenQ’s i500 instantly delivers big-screen entertainment designed for today’s modern, tech-friendly lifestyles. With access to the most popular apps, the i500 opens unlimited possibilities for thousands of movies, shows, apps, games and even live broadcast — all without cables, set-top boxes or streaming dongles.

Cute as a button right? It's only about 20cm x 9cm or 8" x 3" — Cute as a button right? It’s only about 20cm x 9cm or 8″ x 3″

“The i500 smart projector is an entertainment game-changer,” said J.Y. Hu, vice president at BenQ America Corp. “At just 3.3 pounds and 3 inches tall just about the size of today’s tablets, the i500 is a powerful and versatile device for even the tightest spaces. Simply turn on the i500 and you’re ready to stream videos and music wirelessly for the ultimate big-screen experience anywhere.”

Thanks to its short-throw lens, the i500 projects images up to 80 inches from as close as 3 feet from the wall or screen, enabling supersized movies, shows, apps and games in WXGA (1280 x 800) native resolution. Supporting a variety of streaming content, the i500’s Colorific technology features a long-life LED light source rated for 20,000 hours without lamp replacement and is capable of projecting high-definition videos with supreme clarity and sharpness. Its vertical keystone correction means the projector can be placed at an indirect angle without any distortion — perfect for placement on a coffee table. With its contemporary gold finish, it blends in seamlessly with existing décor.

On the other side of the dual-sided device users will find a pair of 5W fine-mesh-covered chambered speakers specially tuned to produce clear voices and rich sound quality without external audio connections. When the i500 is not projecting, it can double as a powerful, portable Bluetooth® speaker system.

The i500 comes out-of-box-ready and maintains its flawless performance with the latest software and streaming apps via over-the-air live updates to provide years of unlimited hassle-free entertainment. It is preloaded with popular streaming services and apps such as YouTube, Spotify, Vimeo, Netflix, Hulu and many others. Also, with available game pad and controllers, the i500 unleashes a universe of heart-pounding games including action/adventure, strategy, role-playing and even first-person shooter games.

The i500 does all of this via wireless LAN with no other connections required, and it can play video or music content from a USB stick or display Excel, Word, or PowerPoint documents without a PC. For even more convenience and versatility, the projector offers a selection of the latest inputs, including HDMI x 1, USB 2.0 x1, USB 3.0 x 1, audio I/O as well as a mic in.

The BenQ i500 is now shipping in North America at a retail price of U.S. $749.

Supplemental: Did we mention this beauty is also 3-D compatible?

Reviews

BenQ’s Flagship Home Theater Projector Delivers Breathtaking Picture

July 14, 2016 The Silo 1 Comment

COSTA MESA, Calif. — BenQ America Corp., an internationally renowned provider of visual display solutions, today announced its new professional-grade home theater projector, the HT6050. The Colorific™ HT6050 leverages the Rec. 709 HDTV standard to deliver best-in-class color accuracy at native full HD resolution — right out of the box — to give movie enthusiasts and discerning videophiles a stunning entertainment experience.

Rec. 709 is the international HDTV standard that guarantees the accurate reproduction of HD cinematic color as the director intended. With a 6X speed RGBRGB color wheel, the HT6050 is calibrated for cinematic quality to deliver refined colors that are the truest possible reproduction of the original video palette. Generating industry-leading levels of contrast ratio performance, the HT6050 produces deep, true blacks and its high native contrast clearly resolves subtle layers and fine details in dark scenes for a truly awe-inspiring visual experience. Furthermore, BenQ has taken extreme measures to guard against stray light leakage from the light tunnel affecting contrast and obscuring fine details with a special black paint that seals the projector’s light engine to boost contrast and render all dark scene details superbly. Featuring class-leading high fill factor, the HT6050 shines more light into each pixel, improving definition for small text and fine details, while eliminating the “screen door effect” for stunning image realism.

“The new HT6050 projector uses the latest DLP DarkChip3 technology and a unique color wheel design to deliver HD cinematic color right out of the box,” said J.Y. Hu, vice president at BenQ America Corp. “Customers no longer have to settle for a less-than-cinema-grade experience and can enjoy excellent video quality and accurate colors just as the director intended — right in the comfort of their own home and at an affordable price point compared to models that cost two to three times more.”

Along with HD cinematic color quality, the HT6050 uses BenQ’s exclusive CinemaMaster™ advanced audio and video processing suite to enhance video content with smoother motion, more true-to-life color saturation, sharper pixel detail and improved flesh tones. It boasts stunning 1080p resolution with 2,000 ANSI lumens and a 5000:1 contrast ratio. It’s equipped with five optional big zoom lenses from 0.77:1 to 5:1 with -20~60% vertical and ± 5% horizontal lens-shifting. Along with its flexible placement design, integrators have more image-adjustment settings for faster setup.

Featuring a newly designed cooling system, the HT6050 delivers whisper-quiet operation without distracting fan noise interrupting the viewer’s movie-going experience. Its dual HDMI connectivity (HDMIx1, HDMI/MHLx1) means one cable can stream video and audio to the HT6050 without multiple wires cluttering the space. Customers also have even more content options. With a simple MHL cable or dongle, customers can directly stream full HD content from any MHL-enabled smartphone or tablet to the big screen. Its auto power on/off with HDMI-CEC option helps customers save power by allowing them to turn off a Blu-ray player through the HT6050 remote.

The HT6050 is ISFccc-certified by the Imaging Science Foundation^® (ISF^®), enabling viewers to enjoy a professionally calibrated picture with two optimized modes — ISF Day and ISF Night. The projector also features BenQ’s renowned SmartEco™ energy-saving technology to automatically adjust lamp brightness based on content to project richer blacks and increase contrast for tiny text and subtle details. The HT6050’s full HD 1080p optical system uses only the highest-grade glass for superior light penetration and realistic image quality. Proprietary low-dispersion lens coatings minimize chromatic aberration, so viewers can enjoy their favorite HD content in brilliant clarity.

The HT6050 also offers an optional full HD wireless kit, which is a perfect add-on to stream uncompressed 1080p content, including 3D from a central location to the projector. Easy setup pairs with the projector automatically, while zero latency performance gives viewers smooth video and gaming with virtually no lag. Four powerful antennas provide up to 100 feet of wireless coverage and Dynamic Frequency Selection switches channels for smooth, sharp streaming, even through walls.

The HT6050 home theater projector is now available via BenQ Integrators’ Choice distribution partners and retails for $3,799 USD. More information about BenQ’s full line of professional projectors is available at www.BenQ.us.

About BenQ America Corp.
The BenQ digital lifestyle brand stands for “Bringing Enjoyment and Quality to Life,” fusing lifestyle with technology, enjoyment with productivity and aesthetic design with purpose-built engineering. It is this mantra that has made BenQ the No. 1-selling projector brand powered by TI DLP^® technology in The Americas⁽¹⁾. BenQ America Corp. offers an extensive line of visual display and presentation solutions that incorporate the very latest technologies. The company delivers a broad range of Colorific™ projectors, ZOWIE eSports monitors and gear, monitors featuring Eye-Care technologies, interactive large-format displays, mobile audio products, cloud consumer products and lifestyle lighting for any application and market — home, gaming, eSports, education, enterprise, government, house of worship, digital signage, A/V and IT — with cutting-edge models that lead the industry in performance, reliability, environmental sustainability and aesthetics. Whether it’s interactive projectors or flat panels for classrooms, full HD 3D projectors for home theaters, short-throw projectors for boardrooms, digital signage in retail spaces or LED backlit monitors for eSports, BenQ continues to defy the limits of digital displays. The company’s products are available across North America through leading value-added distributors, resellers and retailers. More information is available at www.BenQ.us. ⁽¹⁾ Based upon 2016Q1 data from the Quarterly Projector Shipment and Forecast Report from PMA ResearchAbout BenQ Corporation
Founded on the corporate vision of “Bringing Enjoyment and Quality to Life,” BenQ Corporation is a world-leading human technology and solutions provider aiming to elevate and enrich every aspect of consumers’ lives. To realize this vision, the company focuses on the aspects that matter most to people today — lifestyle, business, healthcare and education — with the hope of providing people with the means to live better, increase efficiency, feel healthier and enhance learning. Such means include a delightful broad portfolio of people-driven products and embedded technologies spanning digital projectors, monitors, interactive large-format displays, audio products, cloud consumer products, mobile communications and lifestyle lighting. Because it matters.About BenQ Group
The BenQ Group is a $22+ billion powerhouse comprised of nearly 20 independent companies operating in over 30 countries across numerous industries with a combined workforce of over 100,000 employees. Each Group member is a recognized leader in its own field, contributing to the BenQ Group’s vast resources, broad R&D and distinct strategic strengths. By leveraging each company’s vertical specialization to create true scale across horizontal markets, the BenQ Group controls a highly efficient value chain with the unrivaled ability to deliver critical components and world-class solutions in the following industries: TFT-LCD, green energy, fine chemicals and advanced materials, lighting, IC design, precision components, system integration, branded business and service. The Group is committed to profitable and sustainable businesses that share its long-standing vision of Bringing Enjoyment and Quality to Life. The BenQ Group companies are: BenQ Corporation, AU Optronics Corporation (world’s top manufacturer of large-size TFT-LCD panels), Qisda Corporation, Darfon Electronics Corporation, BenQ ESCO Corp., BenQ Materials Corp., BenQ Guru Corp., BenQ Medical Center, BenQ Medical Technology Corp., BenQ AB DentCare Corp., Daxin Materials Corp., Dazzo Technology Corp., Forhouse Corp., Lextar Electronics Corp., LILY Medical Corp. and Raydium Semiconductor Corp.

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