Home Entertainment, 7.1, hdmi, playstation, ps3, psp, receiver, sony, str-da5200es, surround

Sony STR-DA5200ES Receiver has PSP/PS3 Menus

John Falcone, lone-star-gadget-sherriff at CNET, tips us off to his exclusive look at this Sony A/V receiver that uses, of all things, an onscreen PSP/PS3 Interface. The point? To let people configure the labels on inputs to say non-Sony things like Xbox, and make configuring the 7.1 channel monster by moving around icons, rather than dealing with the monstrous multi buttoned remotes and front panels on today's home theater schwag. Schweet.

The HDMI capable, multi-room receiver will go for less than $2,000. It'll upconvert analog and digital sources to HD resolutions. And the interface will keep us cozy while we pretend it's a Playstation 3, since we won't get our mitts on those for a long time. To be officially unveiled at CEDIA, on September 13th. More screenshots after the jump.–Brian Lam

Sony STR-DA5200ES with PS3 Type Menu [CNet]

7:36 PM on Wed Sep 6 2006
By Brian Lam
8,039 views
7 comments

Comments

Namarrgon at 07:53 PM on 09/06/06
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So... will have it have one of those ubiquitous Cell-chip thingies in it too, as Ken promised us?
liquidsoapdispenser at 08:19 PM on 09/06/06
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Damn, I was hoping the link would have a picture of the back of this sexy beast. I wonder how many inputs it has? Can't wait to see the full specs.
volsfan91 at 08:32 PM on 09/06/06
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I'll just go ahead and tell you-

The PSP/PS3/PSX* menu style is known as an "XMB" (cross menu bar), and Sony has a patent on it.

*In this case, PSX, refers to the PS2 redesign in Japan only.
liquidsoapdispenser at 08:33 PM on 09/06/06
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Full Specs:
www.sony.com.au/homecinema/product.jsp?id=STRDA5200ES
Liam McNulty at 08:41 PM on 09/06/06
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These "PSP/PS3 menus" are XMB, or "Cross Media Bar."

It's a menu system used by all kinds of Sony products (several of them before the PSP/PS3): the PSX, WEGA/BRAVIA TVs, Sugo Roku (Sony's DVR line in Japan), VAIOs, and even some Sony Ericsson handsets for KDDI's au.
Slab at 08:14 AM on 09/07/06
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I really like that interface for this applicaion and I'm far from a PlayStation fanboy. I don't know how many friends and family members who had me set up their surround systems for them. This looks pretty straight forward and easy to use. Mybe they can do it for themselves and I'll be able to enjoy my own system more!
Worf at 12:54 PM on 09/07/06
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Does it come with a microphone and a nice "Auto setup" mode?

(It's very useful to quickly get the room settings correct for surround sound rather than having to calculate the figures manually for room size and such. Plus it can compensate for room odditites a bit better.)

It's how I set up the system last with a Yamaha receiver. Much nicer than having to manually adjust the delays and crap.