I ran across this scene today outside Park Avenue Audio on 29th and Park in Manhattan—a shop that caters to A/V junkies (I bought my Grado SR60s there), and it's a shipment fresh from Japan. The guys at Park Ave. say that it's becoming quite a battle to secure whatever Kuro inventory remains, but they've got a source that should keep them in Kuros for at least a little longer.

If you're just joining us, Pioneer's Kuros have been the King of All Plasmas for the last several years, with blacks blacker than the depths of cold space. Park Avenue is moving the final generation Elite Pro 111FD 50-inchers for $3,500 and the 60-inchers for $5,000, which is a bit of a markup from the best prices you could find online right now (from the few retailers that still have any stock), but not horrible for an audiophile-centric brick and mortar. Those prices are sure to go up as supply becomes scarcer, though, so if you want to save this dodo from extinction before you'll have to proffer some rare golden doubloons for the privilege, act fast.

You'll have to email the guys at Elite Sim Design to get more info on this (like pricing and release date), but it definitely won't be cheap. And when you compare the potential price of this to the price of a movie ticket, you'll probably prefer filling up on Diesel. [Elite Sim via Chip Chick via New Launches]

NEW PIONEER ELITE A/V RECEIVERS DELIVER UNPRECEDENTED SOUND EXPERIENCES TO THE HOME THEATER Designed Specifically to Complement 2008 KURO Displays and Blu-ray Disc Players, Pioneer Elite Receivers Boast Revolutionary Amplifier Technology

NEW YORK (May 7, 2008) - Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc. today introduces four new A/V receivers delivering high-definition (HD) audio and video experiences for emerging home theaters - the Elite® SC-07, SC-05, VSX-03TXH and VSX-01TXH. Acting as the HD control center, Pioneer®'s full line of A/V receivers work seamlessly with Pioneer's 2008 KURO displays and Blu-ray Disc® players to deliver the ultimate HD picture and sound performance for a truly emotional response in the living room.

Pioneer's flagship A/V receiver, code named "Susano," has set the industry standard for home theater performance and its 2008 top-of-the-line receivers, the SC-07 and SC-05, continue to incorporate the Direct Energy HD Amplifier with ICEpower™ analog class D amplification technology to produce a level of multi-channel power output, fidelity, and efficiency never before seen or heard in a home A/V receiver. Supported by the Company's legacy sound-tuning technology, the SC-07 and SC-05 were designed from the ground up to produce a 3-dimensional aural experience that will take listeners to the next level of high resolution multichannel surround sound in the entertainment room.

The Elite VSX-03TXH and VSX-01TXH join Pioneer's leading receiver from 2007 - the VSX-94TXH - to round out the entire 2008 offering. All three models flawlessly pass a 1080p picture with full reproduction capabilities of all new high resolution audio formats.

"Our flagship A/V receiver, the Susano, represents the pinnacle of high-end design and engineering in home theater equipment. We are now delivering that premium experience into our core line of Elite A/V receivers," said David Bales, audio marketing manager for the home entertainment division of Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc. "The new Direct Energy HD amplifier with ICEpower technology was integral for us to provide the full impact of new uncompressed audio soundtracks now available on Blu-ray Discs. Just as HDTV and Blu-ray have brought new levels of high definition video performance to consumers, the new high resolution surround sound formats coupled with our expertise in multi-channel amplifier design truly deliver a high-definition, multi-channel A/V experience far beyond anything we have produced before."

Built for High Definition Surround Sound
The SC-07 and SC-05 in Pioneer's line of Elite receivers deliver robust, realistic sound quality as a result of the exclusive Direct Energy HD Amplifier. Pioneer combines its industry-leading amplifier design and sound tuning technologies with the most advanced digital signal processing (DSP) to produce high resolution surround sound at unprecedented efficiency levels. Now the receiver can operate at extraordinary output levels with extremely low distortion and virtually no wasted energy; all in an effort to develop the most advanced home theater amplifier to date.

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Pioneer Introduces Four New Elite A/V Receivers / pg. 2

Entertainment enthusiasts can take advantage of internal decoding of new advanced lossless surround sound formats - DTS-HD™ Master Audio, DTS-HD High Resolution, Dolby® TrueHD and Dolby® Digital Plus - to finally experience the full impact these high resolution audio codecs deliver to the viewing experience with ultra-rich surround sound that complements, and completes, on-screen imagery.

For accurate, natural surround sound reproduction of all connected HD and SD devices, Pioneer employs its exclusive room tuning feature in all four new Elite receivers. Advanced MCACC ensures studio quality surround sound regardless of the room configuration. This feature makes subtle adjustments to optimize the audio experience for even the most discerning ear. In addition, Pioneer's Elite SC-07, SC-05 and VSX-94TXH incorporate the exclusive Full Band Phase Control, which eliminates "phase lag" or group delay between all speakers in a home theater system. This innovative DSP maintains soundtrack synchronization, ensuring the most accurate multi-channel sound reproduction is achieved and heard. All models include new symmetric equalization (EQ) for the most precise speaker calibration.

Pioneer's new Elite receivers (SC-07, SC-05 and VSX-94TXH) include Neural-THX™ allowing for encoded content to be delivered in a two-channel stereo format and decoded for dispersion among up to 7.1 channel surround sound. In addition, the full line of Elite receivers includes dialogue enhancements, a wide range of listening modes, Mid-night Listening and Lip-Sync A/V synchronization. For the ultimate digital signal processing, all Elite receivers utilize anti-jitter technologies. The SC-07 is equipped with a professional level Burr Brown Sampling Rate Converter (SRC) to scale all digital audio signals up to 192 kHz 24-bit resolution.

HD Digital Connectivity
Pioneer brings HDMI 1.3a with full support of 12-Bit Deep Color to deliver a stellar picture from connected sources with a range of hues and shades not previously possible. In addition, for analog video sources, Pioneer's Elite receivers are engineered for 1080p video processing with a Pioneer digital video converter and Faroudja video scaler chip that ensures up to full 1080p resolutions to best match the incoming video signal to the native resolution of a connected display.

Pioneer Audio Synergy
Pioneer's engineers developed unique settings in its A/V receivers to harmonize audio performance like never before. Pioneer created jitter-free playback and dynamic sound quality for music CDs. When connected to a new Blu-ray Disc player via HDMI, Pioneer's SC-07 and SC-05 receivers utilize a proprietary Precision Quartz Locking System (PQLS) that synchronizes data between the Blu-ray Disc player and the receiver, providing listeners with the ultimate precision in CD playback.

Networking and Consumer Convenience Features
Home Media Gallery
The SC-07 and SC-05 enhance the home theater experience with the exclusive Home Media Gallery. Pioneer's home networking feature enables users to select and playback personal digital music and JPEG photo files direct from a PC hard drive or USB for playback in the living room through the main HD home theater system.
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Pioneer Introduces Four New Elite A/V Receivers / pg. 3

Through the receiver, users can easily access and stream digital media files directly from a connected home PC or laptop computer with IP networking capability. Home Media Gallery is compliant with Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA), Windows Vista or Windows Media Connect as well as Microsoft playsforsure™ DRM technology.

Additional Connectivity Options
Pioneer continues to provide full-feature entertainment connectivity with Advanced Digital iPod® USB for pure digital audio fidelity. It allows users to navigate and select personalized music playlists from their iPods. Users can control these digital components player with the receiver's remote control and on-screen display.

The proliferation of portable music devices has resulted in reduced audio file sizes that have negatively affected the reproduction quality of audio entertainment. Recognizing this, Pioneer employs its proprietary Sound Retriever DSP technology, which works by "filling in" and compensating for the audio data removed from the compressed files (WMA, MP3, MPEG-4 AAC) for music playback that is near CD quality.

Full Custom-Installation Ready
Pioneer's full of Elite A/V Receivers are ready for custom installation with the following features:
Multi-zone, multi-source capabilities allow Pioneer's Elite receivers to serve as the entertainment centerpiece of up to 3 A/V zones in the home
The SC-07 has dual HDMI video output and second zone component video output for zone 2 HD video capabilities
RS232 Port for PC and 3rd party custom control and connectivity
Advanced Direct Construction ensures enhanced reliability and performance
New product cosmetics synchronizes with design of the KURO displays and Blu-ray Disc players

The VSX-01TXH and VSX-03TXH will be available in June for a suggested price of $750 and $1,000, respectively. The SC-05 and SC-07 will be available in August for a suggested price of $1,800 and $2,200, respectively. The VSX-94TXH is currently available for $1,600.

Hotness. [benheck]

The top of the HP brand is the Elite series, and the updated m9100 desktop is packed with an Intel Quad Core processor and up to a TB of storage, starting at $1160. The monitors are 24- and 22-inch widescreens, the w2408h (1920 x 1200 res) and 2207h (1680 x 1050), respectively, and they each come with HDMI ports and better, contrast-y ratios. They're also HDCP-enabled, the DRM scheme intended to block piracy of HD content at the video stream level. The w2408h will go for $500, or $350 for the 2207h.

Not a basket of brand brand, new but nice little updates nonetheless—the desktops and monitors will all be available next month.

The concept is simple. Plug this into the back of a Core or Premium machine—the ones that don't have an HDMI slot built in—and you'll get a brand new HDMI port of your very own. It's unclear how the image quality is going to be when it converts analog VGA-out to digital HDMI. We've contacted Madcatz for details and we'll update when we know more. If you really want HDMI, you can always just grab an Elite. The price difference between the two is just about the same as the $80 you'd spend on this. [Gamestop]

Bundled with software and a cradle that doubles as a tripod mount, the device is Windows XP, Vista and Mac OSX friendly. Coming in two packages, the basic Elite costs $279, while advanced Studio, which also incorporates printer profiling, will set you back $599. Assimilation into the Matrix costs extra. – Kit Eaton [Impress]

The winner was, in part, determined by how much better the plasma displayed blacks compared to the LCD.

But when we looked over at the Pioneer, we immediately knew we were seeing something special. The same features were so deep that it made the blacks on the LCD look gray—even though this Samsung had the best blacks we've ever seen from an LCD. On the plasma, the car appeared more etched and dimensional against the dark background, thanks to the extra low-level detail, and the letterbox bars virtually disappeared into the set's black frame.

The LCD also got points docked for having a smaller horizontal viewing angle, having an unusually glossy screen surface, and very slightly less good picture uniformity. However, this was the best LCD they've ever seen, and they claim that the technology still hasn't shown the best it can do—meaning there may still be hope yet for LCD fans. In the meantime, this plasma TV is the Best. TV. Ever. [Sound and Vision]

It's almost infinitely configurable, or you can go automatic with its one-touch calibration. There are plenty of HDMI inputs and outputs, too, with 6 in and 2 out. Best of all, it pumped out some squeaky-clean audio with extraordinary power. Not bad for $7K.

Pioneer Showcases New Flagship A/V Receiver Outfitted for High End Home Theater Performance Like Never Before

DENVER—(BUSINESS WIRE)—

At CEDIA Expo today, Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc. unveils a new flagship A/V receiver; a sophisticated powerhouse that sets the benchmark for multi-channel sound in 1080p home theaters with pristine reproduction of emerging high resolution audio and high definition video formats. The Pioneer(R) Elite(R) SC-09TX A/V receiver features a reengineered "direct energy high HD" amplifier that takes advantage of ICEpower(TM) analog class-D amplification coupled with Pioneer sound tuning technology. Reinforced with proprietary digital signal processing (DSP) capabilities, the receiver ensures maximum high resolution sound reproduction of new audio formats, Dolby(R) TrueHD, Dolby(R) Digital Plus and DTS-HD(TM). A seamless user experience is achieved with a sizeable LCD screen on the receiver's front panel allowing users to navigate and control all connected devices as well as manage digital media playback.

The receiver's realistic sound quality is a result of a new professional build with premium, hand selected parts that harnesses the amplification power. The result is an impressive chassis construction, which truly realizes the audio and video engineering prowess of the new Pioneer reference A/V receiver. Pioneer outfitted the new receiver with enough connectivity options for an array of components as well as its industry-leading room tuning function for realistic surround sound performance in any room layout. It is one of the first A/V receivers to take advantage of new THX Loudness Plus(TM), which preserves an original sound mix for an accurate listening experience at any volume level.

"The evolution of digital home entertainment and rapidly growing number of high definition devices necessitate a component such as our new reference A/V receiver. The SC-09TX represents the pinnacle of absolute high end design and engineering in home theater equipment," said David Bales, marketing manager of audio products for the home entertainment division of Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc. "Home audiences will see and hear entertainment that they never realized was possible - this is truly a new generation of home theater performance."

Designed as the centerpiece of high end home theaters, discerning entertainment enthusiasts gain the most realistic seeing and listening experience with the SC-09TX A/V receiver. As the industry's first to have home networking functionality, the SC-09TX allows users to enjoy favorite digital video, audio and image media files direct from a home PC to any room in the house for an entertainment experience like never before.

Powerful Direct Energy HD Amplifier

Pioneer developed the SC-09TX to deliver the absolute best-in-class high resolution audio reproduction. Current amplifier designs are no longer capable of handling the high power performance required for a memorable listening experience.

Engineers realized that notable ICEpower analog Class-D technology when combined with Pioneer's sound tuning technologies and super DSP room tuning results in a revolutionary new level of amplification typically found only in professional studios.

The exclusive Direct Energy HD Amplifier found in Pioneer's reference SC-09TX A/V receiver provides a staggering drive capability that realizes true multi-channel continuous power output (200W x 7 simultaneously) to achieve a level of surround sound performance with overwhelming accuracy and heart pounding HD entertainment.

The ICEpower analog Class-D amplifier boasts a unique design with raw digital power in a dense enclosure. By employing Pioneer DSP technology, the SC-09TX can deliver precise sonic reproduction that goes beyond traditional audio capacity.

"We are very satisfied with our collaboration with Pioneer and have enjoyed developing a dedicated, customized multi-channel audio power conversion solution for them. The multi-channel module is the very latest of ICEpower's developments - it is quite revolutionary in its technology," said Peter Sommer, President and CEO of Bang & Olufsen ICEpower. "We have worked hard to deliver excellent audio performance, power density and efficiency in this solution, and hope that the Pioneer customers will be able to enjoy a new level of sound quality with the new home theater system."

Industry Leading Processing

Pioneer's Advanced Multi-Channel Acoustic Calibration (MCACC) is a precise room tuning function that ensures studio quality sound for an array of room configurations. With True One-Touch activation, the MCACC microphone immediately begins optimizing the acoustics in a room, making subtle adjustments to the connected speakers, neutralizing the sound field of the primary listening area with meticulous fine-tuning. Sonic performance is unlike anything previously possible in home theaters. With new Full Band Phase Control technology, the SC-09TX effectively eliminates "phase lag" caused by crossover networks inherent in loudspeakers ensuring audio arrives at the listening position in sync for a whole new level in accurate multi-channel sound reproduction.

Pioneer continues to lead sound processing innovation by incorporating the world's finest technological features to deliver smooth, natural sonic performance in consideration of the new high powered digital enhancement and ICEpower amplification. The SC-09TX is the first A/V receiver to feature Sampling Rate Converter (SRC), a high quality process traditionally used in professional audio equipment for sound studios. SRC is a key audio scaler that oversamples all audio signals to 192 kHz creating accurate time information of a sound field for jitter-free playback.

The SC-09TX excels in surround sound reproduction with the integration of a new volume control technology developed by THX. Consumers can take advantage of THX Loudness Plus, a new technology that ensures an audio mix is reproduced with full details and natural sounds at any volume level.

All movies, music and games are mixed at a reference level in-studio that is often too loud for home theater playback; however, reducing volumes can jeopardize the entertainment experience. Featured in the new Elite A/V receiver, home theater audiences can enjoy every audio nuance in movies, music and other soundtracks with THX Loudness Plus, which maintains the integrity of soundtracks when listening below the reference level giving the true impact of movies, music and games regardless of the volume setting.

As the first flagship A/V receiver in nearly three years, Pioneer engineers utilized hand selected, professional-grade digital components, notably the renowned Wolfson 192 kHz/24-bit digital analog converter (DAC). Approved by professional sound engineers, the addition of Wolfson DACs ensure significant prowess in Pioneer's new flagship model. Highly regarded among professional sound engineers, the SC-09TX boasts six Wolfson WM8741 D/A converters. By including the industry's most superior sounding DAC, entertainment enthusiasts, notably audiophiles, will recognize the high performance capability only found with Pioneer's new reference receiver.

High Resolution Audio Playback

As the popularity of 1080p home theater devices including, flat panel televisions and Blu-ray Disc players grows, the Pioneer SC-09TX A/V receiver delivers the full impact of lossless DTS-HD Master Audio, Dolby TrueHD and Dolby Digital Plus multi-channel audio formats via HDMI. Internal decoding of these advanced audio formats provides audiophiles robust, vivid surround sound performance that has long been desired. Video enthusiasts will appreciate the full impact these new audio codecs deliver to the viewing experience with rich, realistic sound that illustrate on-screen imagery. Sports fans will be able to feel the impact of hard-hitting tackles when watching sports movies and musicians can distinctly hear the acoustic guitar when enjoying concert discs.

High Performance Build Quality

For uncompromised high resolution audio playback performance, Pioneer engineers set out to develop a strong, rugged chassis build that could handle the powerful amplification without hindering sound quality. The revolutionary chassis construction rivals professional A/V products with its state-of-the-art modular build. The unique Separated Power Block Design isolates digital processing and amplification blocks and prevents internal interference between each block while improving the receiver's overall operation.

The SC-09TX has an ultra rigid, separated construction for digital, analog, audio, and video sections and further insulates hand selected premium components with a dual chassis internal construction. Unlike any receiver before it, the SC-09TX delivers the subtle nuances of delicate sounds with accuracy that audiophiles have been seeking. The ultra-rigid separation brings the true excitement of HD film for videophiles that ensures dynamic, smooth playback for high resolution products. While featuring maximum connectivity and a higher power output, the receiver's depth remains unchanged allowing it to easily fit on traditional A/V racks.

Home Media Gallery

The Pioneer SC-09TX delivers the most impressive home theater experience with the integration of Home Media Gallery, Pioneer's exclusive home networking functionality that allows users to select and playback personal digital media files direct from a PC hard drive for enjoyment in stunning high definition. Through the receiver, users can easily access and stream digital media files directly from their home PC or laptop computer with Home Media Gallery's IP networking capability. It is also compliant with Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA), Window and Apple computers video, Windows Vista or Windows Media Connect as well as Microsoft playsforsure(TM) DRM technology.

Enhanced Digital Connectivity

Pioneer continues to provide the most robust entertainment connectivity with the SC-09TX:

— Sirius(R) and XM(R) Satellite Radio: The new receiver
continues to lead digital entertainment options allowing users
to enjoy both SIRIUS and XM Satellite Radio crystal clear,
programming via dedicated connectivity to both a
SiriusConnect(TM) SC-H1 tune and XM Connect & Play(TM) antenna
(both sold separately; monthly subscription needed). Users can
access and control each satellite radio devices with the
unit's remote and large on-screen display capability. HD music
can be enjoyed with XM HD Surround broadcasts powered by
Neural Audio(R) in 5.1 surround sound

— Advanced iPod Operation: Users can navigate and select
personalized music and video playlists from their iPod(R) with
the SC-09TX. The receiver supports LPCM audio transmission,
via an included cable, for a more vivid and natural sound
performance. Owners can control their personal digital player
with the receiver's remote control and on-screen display.

Taking advantage of its audio heritage, Pioneer incorporated an improved Front Stage Surround Advance 2.1 channel surround sound feature as well as Advanced Sound Retriever to process and improve the playback of compressed audio files including MP3, WMA and iPod(R) song lists to ensure a premium listening experience from the wide variety of new digital audio formats common to PC and internet entertainment sources.

The SC-09TX will begin shipping this winter for a suggested price of $7000.

Pioneer's Home Entertainment and Business Solutions Group develops high definition home theater equipment for sports and entertainment junkies. Its flat panel televisions, Blu-ray Disc players, A/V receivers and speakers heighten the emotions created by great HD content. The company brands include Pioneer(R) and Elite(R). When purchased from an authorized retailer, consumers receive a limited warranty for one year with Pioneer products and two years with Elite products. More details can be located at www.pioneerelectronics.com.

Pioneer and Elite are registered trademarks of Pioneer Corporation.

HDMI is a registered trademark of HDMI Licensing, LLC.

BLU-RAY DISC is a registered trademark of Sony Corporation.

Dolby is a registered trademark of Dolby Laboratories.

Microsoft and Windows Media are trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.

THX is a trademark of THX Ltd. which may be registered in some jurisdictions. All rights reserved.

Source: Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc.

The receiver does a few other things too, most notably acting as a media streamer for PC content from Pioneer's Home Media Gallery system. The box will be available in October.

Pioneer® Elite® BDP-95FD Blu-ray Disc Player

The new Pioneer Elite BDP-95FD offers unprecedented high definition picture and sound as a result of HDMI 1.3 connectivity. In addition to superb picture performance, the increased bandwidth capacity means the player has internal decoding of high resolution audio formats: Dolby® TrueHD, Dolby® Digital+, and DTS-HD™ as well as bit-stream output for all advanced audio formats including DTS-HD Master for 7.1 surround sound performance. The BDP-95FD can faithfully reproduce the 1080p 24 frames per second (fps) rate needed to preserve feature film sequences as the director intended. The Pioneer Elite Blu-ray Disc player incorporates HDMI Consumer Electronics Control (CEC) to ensure streamline integration with other HDMI-CEC enabled high definition theater components. This feature allows users to control a whole home theater setup with a single remote for maximum convenience capability.

The new Blu-ray Disc player offers Pioneer's exclusive Home Media Gallery that allows users to directly access and playback music, movies and photos stored on a home PC. The user-friendly home networking feature also provides IP networking for immediate downloading and of new digital media files straight from the computer through the BDP-95FD to a connected flat screen television. The Pioneer Elite Blu-ray Disc player is compliant with Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA), Window and Apple computers video, Windows Vista or Windows Media Connect as well as Microsoft playsforsure™ DRM technology.

Availability/Suggested Pricing: October 2007/$1000

It sports an Intel Core 2 Quad Processor Q6600 and a DX10-happy NVidia GeForce 8400 GS card. You can order it with a dual-format blue-laser combo drive that will play back both Blu-ray and HD DVD discs. It has "unlimited" storage expandibility, starting with double-HDD bays for secure mirrored disc arrays, and it's the first HP computer to have the all new Easy Back-Up button, which we assume will come in handy once you get your hands on HP's Windows Home Server.

Additional options include wireless keyboard, mouse and remote control, plus integrated 802.11b/g.

And if you're looking for our own coverage of the Elite, there's where it is. – Jason Chen

Watch first Xbox 360 Elite commercial [DigitapSpy via Kotaku]

Under the corporate codename Project Kuro, the XGA and WXGA (768-line) panels will ship in June and July, while a full lineup of 1080p models will ship in September. Check out the gallery below, or follow the jump for screen size, price, press release and a Gizmodo interview with Pioneer home-entertainment honcho Russ Johnston.

The Pioneer-branded XGA and WXGA sets will be available in June:
Pioneer 42" XGA PDP-4280HD - $2,700
Pioneer 50" WXGA PDP-5080HD - $3,500

The Elite-branded XGA and WXGA sets will be available in July:
Elite 42" XGA PRO-950HD - $3,200
Elite 50" WXGA PRO-1150HD - $4,500

All 1080p sets will be available in September:
Pioneer 50" PDP-5010FD - $5,000
Pioneer 60" PDP-6010FD - $6,500
Elite 50" PRO-110FD - $6,000
Elite 60" PRO-150FD - $7,500

When we talked to Russ Johnston, senior VP of marketing and product planning for Pioneer's home entertainment division, he told us that Pioneer had essentially spent the last two years redesigning everything about its plasma technology. "We created a brand new panel, new color filter and new video processor, all from scratch," he said. All that plus a room-light sensor embedded in the screen.

How do you get the 20,000:1 contrast ratio?
"In traditional plasma technology, there's a priming charge which means idling luminance in each cell, even when it's off. It's a very slight charge, and it's waiting for firing to bring it up to peak brightness." By increasing the availability of electrons at the base of the cell using a "newly developed material," Johnston says, engineers were able to crank the idle down 80% without any compromise in brightness.

Did it reduce the energy consumption of the panel?
"It's a give and take," says Johnston. "We reduced the idling luminance but in order to maintain peak brightness, we had to keep same energy level." He did add however that, in Japan, Pioneer has won awards for energy-efficient plasma technology.

What about the color filter?
"Another drawback [for plasma] was bright room performance. Plasma technology tended to wash out a bit on a retail floor under big bright mercury lights. Other technologies [and I think he means LCD] tended to look brighter and have more contrast." The solution? "A new color filter that blocks all ambient light from the environment." We'll get more on that at today's unveiling ceremony.

And the new processor?
"We've taken a six-chipset environment and created an ASIC—six chips in one—great for keeping cost down and condensing the board structure. We've replaced the entire software application for video processing in our chip." His explanation was this: "We know not everybody is watching 100% HD content, and that there's disappointment in how TVs handle digital content that's not HD. Numbers and letters on news programs sometimes have 'mosquito noise,' there might be interpolation of digital signals in the black areas, giving a noisy look to the blacks."

Johnston says that much of the standard-def viewing is improved, as well as the content of broadcasters such as Fox Sports who use a lot of MPEG compression. He says the processor cleans up all signal coming in, and not just the analog input, like some TVs.

Pioneer has also added a light sensor on the face of the screen. "Depending on the type of content on screen and room light condition, the light sensor adjusts the content color and brightness. It's a new thing for us, and a new thing for plasma technology. Other technologies need it, rely heavily on it because of drastic compatibility with room-light conditions. We're using it to make an optimized picture."

We'll be hitting Pioneer's launch today. If there's anything more that we haven't covered, we'll clue you in soon. In the meantime, check out the press release below. – Wilson Rothman

PIONEER LAUNCHES NEW FLAT PANEL TELEVISIONS WITH GAME-CHANGING TECHNOLOGY FOR SERIOUS ENTERTAINMENT JUNKIES

NEW YORK (May 9, 2007) - With ten years experience delivering flat panel televisions to the U.S. market, Pioneer continually develops display technology that creates an emotional impact for those who experience its unrivaled picture quality. That's why the company's new flat panel televisions, launched worldwide this week, allow viewers to see, hear and feel an emotional experience like never before. The game-changing technology creates significantly deeper black levels, which ultimately lead to richer colors, sharper details and unrivaled performance. The eight new models, ranging in size from 42-inches to 60-inches diagonal, will be available beginning next month.

Pioneer's engineering team originally selected plasma technology because its self-emissive nature creates the deepest blacks. Since black is the starting point for all colors, the deeper and more accurate the blacks, the more vivid and lifelike the colors become The newest Pioneer technology is led with black level reproduction that is 80 percent darker than the previous generation. This is achieved through a series of proprietary technologies harmonized to work together.

Oscar winning cinematographer Dion Beebe ("Memoirs of a Geisha", nominated for "Chicago") spoke recently about the importance of black and light and color in the work that he does. "Where light becomes interesting to me is not just in blacks and whites but the shades between light and dark and the subtle tones and textures within shadows," Beebe said. "In terms of what I do as a cinematographer, it's the ultimate tool in terms of creating a situation and imposing a look on a situation. The interplay of light, darkness and color captures everything, without a word being said."

Pioneer's goal in creating its newest flat panel displays was to capture the images created by artists like Beebe and ensure they are reproduced in a form as close to the original as possible. As a result of these efforts, Pioneer flat panel displays evoke emotion from viewers unlike any other television.

- Colors Like Never Before. As the foundation for all color, the ability to create deep black results in the richest, most three-dimensional colors. The deep blacks and vivid colors are the result of Pioneer's newly developed cell structure, crystal emissive layer and newly designed filter.

- Performance Like Never Before. Pioneer's engineering goal was to create errorless and noiseless video signal processing for a heightened emotional experience. This was achieved through the company's new video processing and an "Optimum" mode that automatically processes images based on the signal and room conditions. Optimum mode can detect the difference between a news program, cartoon, sporting event, music video or other content based on the signal. It also detects the room lighting condition. Using internal intelligence, it adjusts the parameters that are used to process the image, optimizing it for the viewer.

- Sound Like Never Before. As a leader in audio technology for nearly 70 years, Pioneer placed significant emphasis on speaker technology to enhance the high definition experience. Without clear vocals, cymbals crashing and guitar picking, a music video would not make the viewer feel as if he/she were at the concert. Likewise, the lack of crystal clear sound effects minimizes the emotional impact of action films and video games. Pioneer is the first company to put an emphasis on the audio quality of its video products.

These new flat panel televisions developed as part of Pioneer's Project KURO bring game-changing performance to consumers who demand only the best. With this introduction, Pioneer breaks away from the commoditization model, placing focus on its premium position in the market. The company will maintain its focus on quality, performance and design.

"In the art world, a plain white canvas represents a blank slate waiting for an artist to create. In the world of television, a black screen is a similarly blank canvas ready for content to be displayed. Pioneer engineers reached a monumental achievement by creating black levels that are 80 percent deeper than previously possible - defining the ultimate "blank canvas" ready for high definition movies, television and sporting events," said Russ Johnston, senior vice president of marketing and product planning for the Home Entertainment and Business Solutions Group at Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc.

It's free for a limited time, since Microsoft didn't really target Elite at upgraders, but didn't want to piss them off either. Grab one and transfer your stuff already. – Jason Chen

Update: There's some confusion as to what the transfer process does. If you don't use this cable to transfer, yes you lose your downloaded game videos which you can download again, but you also lose access to your Arcade games, which end up as demos if you try and download them again.

Also, it doesn't render the 20GB one useless. It just wipes out the old data on there. You can still use it as a spare drive.

Migration Help [Xbox via Kotaku]

So for you guys who made a little wish to your fairy godmother that the Xbox 360 Elite was going to have cooler parts, you may want to wait until fall. And for those of you who already purchased an Elite? We're sorry. – Jason Chen

Xbox 360 GPU to go to 65nm in fall, TSMC to see side benefits, says paper [Digitimes]

Product Page [EBGames]

However, if you're one of owners of the white Xbox 360 who just want some black accessories, those can be sold whenever. So keep checking your local Best Buy, and as soon as they get the black controllers, chargers, and headsets in, you can grab one for yourself. – Jason Chen

Thanks Tipster!

While you already know that the new Xbox Elite will feature HDMI like its PS3 counterpart has since launch, the Elite's HDMI will be slightly gimped, running at the 1.2 standard instead of the 1.3. What does this mean for you? Neither of the newest Lossless formats (Dolby Digital+ nor True HD) can be passed through its HDMI (not that you'd notice in most TV audio setups).

This is not to say I wouldn't still trade my 20GB model for the Elite—I'd just be a bit less pleased with the whole experience. On the plus side, a Spring update should bring 1080p IRE-level adjustments to the VGA port on all 360 models. – Mark Wilson

AVS Forums Thread [via loot ninja]

Exclusive Video: First look at the Xbox 360 Elite [on10]

Jump past the gallery for the complete details.

[Gallery Updated to Include Major Nelson's first hand photos. Thanks Ryan and Kotaku.]

Again, jump for more details.

The company also announced that an HDMI cable will be included in the package. Also, the Elite won't be a limited edition and Microsoft told us there would be plenty of systems available on its April 29 ship date. Component and composite cables will still be shipped with each Xbox 360 system, and there will also be an HDMI cable in the box. The Elite will retail for $479.99. Microsoft told us there would be no new hardware inside the Elite except for that 120GB hard drive, alluding to the often-rumored cooler-running processors manufactured with the 65nm process.

Microsoft told us it will also ship a standalone 120GB hard drive for existing Xbox 360 owners on April 29. That will be priced at $179.99. Microsoft will also offer black accessories, including a black wireless controller as well as a rechargeable battery pack and Play and Charge kit.

Also, anyone else feel like we need an upgrade path that doesn't include a black can of spraypaint? I'm happy to see this come to life, but I'm also kind of upset that I have a functional, but now second-best Xbox 360 Premium. Will we have an upgrade path? – Charlie White

By the way, don't miss our interview with Albert Penello, Director of Global Marketing for Microsoft's Xbox 360.

PRESS RELEASE:
Microsoft Unveils Xbox 360 Elite

Premium black console includes 120GB hard drive and line of new accessories.

REDMOND, Wash. — March 27, 2007 — Microsoft Corp. today announced the upcoming availability of Xbox 360™ Elite, a new model of the video game and entertainment system that will include a 120GB hard drive, a high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI) port, a high-definition cable, and a premium black finish for the console, wireless controller and Xbox LIVE® headset. Xbox 360 Elite has enough space for a library of Xbox LIVE Arcade games and thousands of songs, as well as downloadable high-definition TV shows and movies available on Xbox LIVE Marketplace. The new 120GB hard drive also will be sold as a stand-alone accessory to give current Xbox 360 owners greater choice and flexibility in their games and entertainment experience. Additional Xbox 360 Elite accessories, such as the black Xbox 360 Wireless Controller, Xbox 360 Play & Charge kit and the Xbox 360 rechargeable battery, will be available separately. The Xbox 360 Elite and its accessories are expected to begin arriving in U.S. stores on April 29.

"Today's games and entertainment enthusiast has an insatiable appetite for digital high-definition content," said Peter Moore, corporate vice president for the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft. "Xbox 360 Elite's larger hard drive and premium accessories will allow our community to enjoy all that the next generation of entertainment has to offer."

Distinguished by its black finish and signature metallic detailing, Xbox 360 Elite will have an estimated retail price1 of $479.99 (U.S.) and will come packed with components and accessories for the ultimate high-definition entertainment experience:2

· Xbox 360 Elite console. The console is equipped with a premium black finish and three powerful core processors capable of producing the best in HD entertainment (up to 1080p), 16:9 cinematic aspect ratio, anti-aliasing for smooth textures, full surround sound, HDMI output and DVD playback with upscaling capabilities right out of the box.

· Xbox 360 120GB hard drive. The 120GB detachable hard drive allows gamers to save their games and store television shows, movies, music, pictures, trailers, levels, demos and other content available from Xbox LIVE Marketplace.3 The hard drive is sold separately for an estimated retail price of $179.99 (U.S.).

· Xbox 360 Wireless Controller (black). This award-winning, high-performance wireless controller, now in black, features the Xbox® Guide Button for quick, in-game access to friends and music. It has a range of up to 30 feet and a battery life of 30 hours on two AA batteries. It is sold separately for an estimated retail price of $49.99 (U.S.).

· Xbox 360 headset (black). Now available in black, the headset lets gamers strategize or trade taunts while playing games and send voice messages to friends on Xbox LIVE.

· Xbox 360 HDMI cable. New to Xbox 360, HDMI allows consumers to get HD video (up to 1080p) and multichannel surround sound, all from one cable.

· Xbox LIVE Silver Membership. With this, gamers can chat with friends online, collect achievements and gamerscores, send and receive voice and text messages, and access Xbox LIVE Marketplace content such as game demos, HD movies and TV, as well as the best in downloadable games from Xbox LIVE Arcade.

· One-month subscription to Xbox LIVE Gold. An Xbox LIVE Gold Membership provides a complete online entertainment experience. Those who subscribe to this premium service can engage in competitive online multiplayer matches, tailor their matchmaking via feedback and accomplishments, chat with more than one person at a time, and take advantage of unique privileges in the Xbox LIVE Marketplace and Xbox LIVE Arcade.

The following accessories for the Xbox 360 Elite console will only be sold separately:

· Xbox 360 Play & Charge kit. Complete with a charging cable and a black rechargeable battery pack, the Xbox 360 Play & Charge kit allows gamers to recharge their Xbox 360 Wireless Controller without interrupting their gameplay. it is sold separately for an estimated retail price of $19.99 (U.S.).

· Xbox 360 rechargeable battery (black). The rechargeable battery pack provides more than 25 hours of gameplay per charge. It is sold separately for an estimated retail price of $11.99 (U.S.).

Other bullet points from Microsoft:

· For the first time ever, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment will be releasing its direct to video movies exclusively in high definition on Xbox LIVE simultaneous with their availability on DVD, starting with "Sublime" and later offering "Babylon 5: The Lost Tales."

· A&E Network. "Dog the Bounty Hunter," "King of Cars," "Gene Simmons Family Jewels," "Driving Force" and "Criss Angel Mindfreak"

· ADV Films. Top offerings from the #1 producer-distributor of Japanese animation ("anime") outside of Japan

· National Geographic. The television series "Is It Real?" and "Taboo" as well as programs such as "21 Days to Baghdad" and "Air Force One"

· New Line Cinema. "Snakes on a Plane," "Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning" and "Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny," plus top titles including "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me" and "Magnolia"

· TotalVid. A broad action-sports offering including extreme skiing and snowboarding, skateboarding, motocross, surfing and mountain biking

Current partners include:

· CBS Broadcasting Inc., Lionsgate Entertainment, MTV Networks Co., New Line Cinema, Paramount Pictures Corp., Turner Broadcasting System Inc., Ultimate Fighting Championship and Warner Bros have all made content available on Xbox LIVE. Through those partnerships, content is available from [adult swim], CBS, Comedy Central, CW, Lionsgate, MTV, MTV 2, NASCAR.com, New Line Cinema, Nickelodeon, Nicktoons, Paramount TV and Film, SPIKE, TBS, UFC, VH1 and Warner Bros TV and Movies. In fact, more than 1,500 hours of content is available today for download.

Data points:

· To date there have been more than 135 million downloads from Xbox LIVE Marketplace and 70 percent of our connected customers are downloading content

· TV and movie downloads have been a blockbuster success, driving a 400 percent increase in Marketplace since launch

· Users are spending more than 40 percent of their time using their Xbox 360 for music, movies and TV

· Within four months of launching, Xbox LIVE has become the number one online distributor of television and feature film content in the living room where it's most easy for consumers to access.

· Is currently the ONLY online distributor of major feature films and television programming in high definition (HD) resolution.

About Xbox 360

Xbox 360 is the most powerful video game and entertainment system, delivering the best games, the next generation of the premier Xbox LIVE online gaming network and unique digital entertainment experiences that revolve around gamers. Xbox 360 has a catalog of more than 160 high-definition games and is available in 37 countries. More information can be found online at http://www.xbox.com/xbox360.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

Most of our conversation was about denying 65nm process chips and quieter disc drives, but he did confirm that new marketplace announcements would be made later in the week. Is that related to the Netflix speculation we were toying with yesterday?

Gizmodo: Will there be a new processor inside the Xbox 360 Elite, perhaps one using a cooler-running, 65nm process?

Penello: It's interesting. There's been a lot of questions about that, and the answer is, the insides of the boxes change all the time. There's nothing specific going on with Elite regarding anything like that. We make changes to the boxes all the time, just as part of cost reductions and continuous improvement, so no, there's nothing really interesting to talk about there.

Gizmodo: There was talk about how the processor was going to be cooler-running and perhaps quieter.

Penello: No. we haven't announced anything like that.

Gizmodo: So it's pretty much the same innards, except for that HDMI connectivity and a 120GB hard drive?

Penello: Right. It still plays all the same great games that the core system plays and the regular Xbox 360 plays. It's just the black finish, the HDMI and the upgraded hard drive, right. And obviously it also includes the cable, which we feel is important—to make sure that no matter what HD interface you have on your TV, when you take the console out of the box, we provide you with the cable that you need.

Gizmodo: That's good, a lot of big box retailers are selling those HDMI cables for about the same price that's the difference between the regular Xbox 360 and the Elite upgrade.

Penello: Yep. Exactly right. HDMI cables are pretty expensive. I would say the average price is about 50 bucks just for the cable.

Gizmodo: Is this same release date going to happen with the outboard hard disk as well?

Penello: Yes. It'll be out at the same time, as well as the black accessories.

Gizmodo: So pretty much what we're going to report is that all the rumors are true.

Penello: Yes, there are a couple of things that they didn't get. They obviously didn't know about the inclusion of the cable, and there are a lot of questions about whether it was going to be a limited edition or not. But yes, a lot of the stuff that I've seen was pretty close.

Gizmodo: You can't give us any sort of information about the future of the processor and how that might be upgraded?

Penello: Again, the thing about that is, it's not going to really be particularly newsworthy. Components have changed since we launched it and will continue to change. There's no upgrade of the processor. We might be doing cost reductions and things like that, but it's nothing that the consumers will ever notice.

Gizmodo: You did change the DVD drive, didn't you, so that it's quieter?

Penello: What's interesting is, that was a rumor that was going around that's also interesting in its propagation, but the reality is, we have several different manufacturers of DVD drives, and people claim that they believe that they've heard ones that are quieter, which is interesting, because I don't really know anything about that.

Gizmodo: That's not true, then? You're denying that?

Penello: What I'm saying is people seem to have observed quieter drives, and I obviously can't say that they're not observing something, but what I am saying is we have multiple vendors of drives. There isn't a louder drive and a quieter drive.

Gizmodo: So one week you might have one in there, and then another week you might have another, depending on availability?

Penello: We have a lot of different components in the box. There are 1,500 different components in the box. I'm really not trying to be flippant, because a lot of the sites are sort of claiming that there is these specific components that are going to do specific things, and the truth is, there are infinite numbers of combinations of the console in terms of components and who they're manufactured by.

Gizmodo: That 120GB drive in the Elite and the stand-alone drive is big enough to hold a lot more HD movies. Will there be more downloadable content with the Xbox Live Marketplace service?

Penello: There's going to be a couple of other announcements coming later in the week around Marketplace and some new partnerships we have there. I can't really share a lot of the details right now, but there's going to be some more exciting news around Marketplace later in the week.

So there's a lot of excitement around HD right now, particularly around the success of Xbox Live, and the digital distribution that's really blown us away. We had good expectations for it, but it's exceeded our expectations. There's been 135 million downloads from Live Marketplace, and 70 percent of the people connected to Live are downloading something.

Since we launched the service, there's been a 4x increase in Marketplace activity since Video Marketplace launched. People are spending about 40 percent of their time using the Xbox 360 for a lot of these entertainment-type experiences like music, movies and TV. So Marketplace has been a tremendous success, and something we're very excited about.

It was important for us, and one of the pieces of feedback we previously had was that for heavy Marketplace users, our existing storage capacity was not exactly where people wanted.

Gizmodo: Tell us more about the partnerships.

Penello: It depends on a lot of things coming together. We'll get back to you with more on that. We're not making any announcements right now, but there are going to be some later this week.

Gizmodo: It must have something to do with IPTV, right?

Penello: No, it's going to be an announcement around partnerships that we're going to have coming onto the Video Marketplace service.

Gizmodo: When will we be able to record live TV and have some of the same networks that are on cable using Xbox 360?

Penello: That's the announcement we made at CES around the IPTV and Xbox 360.

Gizmodo: When is that going to be available? How's that going?

Penello: What we're saying is that we'll be in trials later, late in the summer, and possibly consumer rollout in the fall, but we haven't made any...what we were really showing at CES was the two technologies, the IPTV technology which has already been announced, and then we actually had it running on an Xbox 360. We haven't really announced any specifics about when that's rolling out. Of course, IPTV was already rolled out last year in many markets.

Gizmodo: How's it going with games on the 360?

Penello: It's really about the games this year. This is going to be an unbelievable year for games. We feel really good about our game lineup. We've had the number one title across all platforms for four months in a row with Gears of War, Lost Planet and just most recently, the release of Crackdown. We have multiple million units sellers on the console, with Call of Duty, Gears of War, Ghost Recon, Advanced War Fighter and Madden. So we've got a really great ecosystem of titles out on the market right now.

There's also a sea change going on around exclusivity, and I'm sure you're familiar with the recent announcement around Devil May Cry coming to Xbox. Many franchises that were previously associated with the PlayStation brand, like Guitar Hero, Grand Theft Auto and Virtual Fighter are all coming on Xbox.

On top of that, we have our own exclusives, with things like Forza 2, Mass Effect, BioShock, Splinter Cell, and obviously Halo 3. So, for us right now, it's really important to emphasize, because there are a lot of discussions and a lot of things going on around Xbox Live and Video Marketplace that are really exciting, but it's important for us—it's still all about the games, and clearly this is going to be an amazing year for games. I don't know where people are going to get the time. – Charlie White

For more, check out our lead story about the Microsoft Xbox 360 Elite:
100% Official: Xbox 360 Elite Moves from Fanboy Wet Dreams to Reality

Even though we already have an original Xbox 360, we're kind of tempted by this blackness. – Jason Chen

Update: There's a good possibility that this could be some fake pics. They sure look nice though.

Consolas

According to Ben "Bones" Kuchera at Ars Technica, Microsoft's told game distributors that data from your existing hard drive can be transferred to the new one via a cable that comes with the kit. Unless someone else comes up with another logical way to transfer data from one Xbox 360 hard drive to another, this cable seems like a sure bet. – Jason Chen

New, upgraded 360 may ship with data-retention cable [Ars Technica]

Quick and Easy Explosive Detector Kit [Crave]

When asked, Pioneer said they manufacture the player itself, so does that mean they make Sony's as well? Is that the reason for their massive delays? Does Sony not even make their own Blu-ray players, something they've been pushing like crazy?

Hard to say. But that's the way it looks now. Fortunately for Sony, their version of the player is $1000 compared to the Pioneer's $1500. But for the extra $500 you get an ethernet port, a longer warranty, a more conventional black finish, and BD-R/RE recordable playback.

If you're looking to author your own discs or enjoy updating firmware over the net, the Pioneer seems like a better buy. – Jason Chen

EXCLUSIVE: First Review of the Pioneer Elite BDP-HD1 Blu-ray Player [HDGuru]

Pioneer's practically run by engineers. Which means their stuff is good, but often doesn't come out til they've got it right. This Fall, their Elite Blu-ray player will hit, and we're sure that it's going to be a stunner, unlike the buggy first gen players.–Brian Lam

Pioneer BDP-HD1 Elite Blu-ray Player [AVS Forum]