News

Habitech Launches Vision HD HDMI Range and Shows New Products from Key Brands (28/5/2010)

Stand B8, CEDIA Home Technology Event 2010

Brands to be exhibited at Home Technology show:

Vision HD

Habitech are pleased to announce the launch of their Vision HD range of HDMI products. Vision HD is exclusive to Habitech and is the result of 2 years working with the best HDMI manufacturer in the world. Key points to note are: The comprehensive range. We aim to carry a product for all applications. The majority of products are UTP (Cat5/6) cable based. However there are low cost HDMI socket only options. All products are HDMI1.3b compliant ensuring true 24bit deep colour. The Matrix switchers and baluns have EDID fixing which ensures ultra-fast source switching and minimises hand-shake issues. Another unique feature is the baluns extender option which will enable an HDMI signal to be run up to 250m on CAT5/6. No more HDMI range issues.

• Matrix switch range o 4x4,4x8,8x8,8x16,16x16
• Splitters o 1:2, 1:4, 1:8, 1:12, 1:8 UTP
• Scalers
o Composite >> HDMI
o SCART (RGB, YUV, Composite, SVideo) >> HDMI
o YUV >> HDMI o VGA >> HDMI
o Multi-format Scaler
     - 11 inputs, including 2 component video (YPbPr), 4 HDMI, 2 Composite video, 1 VGA and 1 DVI (both DVI-A and DVI-D) and 1 S-video.
     - 2 HDMI outputs, with R/L stereo audio, 1 Toslink Output Scaling up to 720P or 1080P
• Baluns
o Twin Cat5/6 and single Cat5/6 options
o EDID Handshake fixing. Provide ultra fast switching
o IR pass-through option o 50m range
o Can be cascaded up to 250m with range extenders
• IP Baluns
o HDMI over IP

NuVo Technologies

• MPS4 Music Server
With the new Music Port Server, NuVo offers the ultimate in variety and convenience for whole home audio. The Music Port Server means more choice and more control. Consolidating networked computers’ digital audio content from iTunes and Windows Media Player into a single, easily navigated library, the NV-MPS4 provides superior access to a home’s music collection. Additionally, the Music Port Server opens a system up to streaming audio from online sources such as Pandora, Radio Time, Last FM and Spotify(coming soon). Operation is simple through any of NuVo’s control options, including a sleek client software interface. And when coupled with NuVo’s Colour Touch Pad, control reaches new heights with full-colour album art and the ability to rate songs and build custom channels for a music experience as unique as the listener.
• CTP36 Colour Touch Screen
The new Colour Touch Pad provides the most user-friendly full system control, from a sleek, easy-to-navigate touch screen. Give thumbs-up to the current Pandora song. Search your entire library of personal music from the networked Music Port Server. Enjoy access to over 100,000 Internet Radio Stations with metadata from Radio Time. Manage an entire house of music from one central location.
• On-Wall iPod Dock
Less clutter with all the features of the existing table top dock. The on-wall dock is only 35mm deep and will fit into a standard UK single gang back box. It accepts all formats of iPods, iTouches and iPhones. The facia is available in Apple white and piano black with the option of metallic customisable bezels.
• D2120 Power Amplifier
The new Digital Power Amplifier (D2120) delivers quality stereo amplification, in a compact and high-efficiency package. Sounding off at 2 x 120 watts, this amp is first in a new generation of digital power amplifiers that offer a powerful and versatile answer to any installation’s needs, even in large rooms and outdoor areas. Using only 50 watts of power in typical use, the ENERGY STAR rated D2120 stands out as the eco-friendly amplification solution.

SCP – Structured Cable Products

SCP is a specialised cable manufacturer dedicated to the CI market. SCP manufacture a number of cables that have been born out of 25 years of listening to CI Resellers. One of the product ranges is called Home Networking Cable, HNC. HNC cables are all multi-core cables and are ideally suited for HD Video.

HNC9 is the highest spec cable of them all and incorporates, 2x 3.0GHz RG6 Quad shielded coax cables for all HD satellite signals, 2x Cat6 cables for HDMI distribution and 1x Cat5e for an IP network. or additional control.

If the client’s budget won’t stretch to HNC9, then HNC2 is a close second. It also has 2x Quad Shielded RG6 coax cables and 2x Cat5e cables. The cost of HNC2 is the same as purchasing the cables individually.

One of the key benefits of HNC is the bend radius. We have found that 90% of all HDMI over UTP solutions is damaged or poor cable. The coax cables and the outer sheaf protect the Cat cables and ensure that they do not get damaged. It does not take a lot to break a Cat cable core and as HDMI uses every core, there are no quick fixes.

Following on from the previous paragraph concerning quality, Habitech have worked with SCP to produce very high quality twisted pair cables, HNC Pro and HNCPro Plus. These cables are very high quality cables and are individually certified. They actually have a certification certificate in every box. From a CI perspective, the other great news is that they are only available from Habitech and therefore are available from the “stack it high sell it for nothing brigade”. HNC Pro are Pro Plus are available in 8 different colours and we aim to keep stock at all times.

Current Audio

Current Audio has introduced FastLoc to its range of Focussed Image Technology (FIT) in-ceiling pivoting woofer/tweeter loudspeakers. The FastLoc system is designed to provide greater flexibility and a cleaner, easier install, by providing a loudspeaker grille that simply and easily snaps into place and is almost invisible. Installers and end-users can now adjust woofers and tweeters more quickly, whilst ensuring they stay protected by the FastLoc grille.

There are four 6.5in models in Current Audio’s in-ceiling range featuring FIT, each with a woofer with 50° of adjustability and a ‘diffraction-less’, pivoting tweeter. In addition, installers benefit from the inclusion of the ‘installation handle’ which enables the installer to remain in control of the speaker throughout the install process. There are also counter-sunk mounting screws and a 3DP locking mechanism that allows the installer to lock the woofer baffle in place after finding the desired setting.

King of the range is the FIT654 which includes a woven carbon fibre cone (with butyl rubber surround), three-position EQ switches, gold press terminals and weatherised, perforated aluminium grills. The pivoting, ceramic-coated Ferrofluid-cooled tweeter allows for deeper sound penetration and a greater focus to the sweet spot – providing superior, more natural sound. The FIT654 can deliver 5 - 150W with a frequency response of 35Hz - 21kHz. The rest of the range differs in terms of cone and tweeter composition, power and frequency response: FIT652 (aluminium cone, aluminium Ferrofluid-cooled tweeter dome, 5 - 125W, 38Hz- 20kHz); FIT651 (injection-moulded carbon fibre cone, aluminium Ferrofluid-cooled dome, 5 - 125W, 40Hz - 20kHz); FIT650 (MetaPlex Composite Cone, silk Ferrofluid-cooled dome, 5-100W, 42Hz - 20kHz).

Stealth Acoustics Announces Pending Release of New High-Performance Invisible Speaker Line

Stealth Acoustics is announcing new model versions of invisible speakers to its world-wide group of representatives and distributors. Building upon proven and award-winning custom carbon-fiber motor and cone woofer technologies, Stealth Acoustics have created a new invisible speaker panel that enhances fidelity, high-frequency smoothness and bass performance over previous models, while streamlining installation practices. The new speakers are direct replacements of the existing FX and AX lines and maintain the same basic model alignments and performance ratios of the existing models, only with enhanced sonic performance, increased durability, and easier installation.

The Linear Response (LR) Series of invisible in-wall or in-ceiling speakers from Stealth Acoustics incorporate an all-new polymetrictm face-panel material which provides a flatter front surface area - minimizing the need for plaster or fill materials to be placed on the face-panel prior to final finishing with normal paint, wallpaper or other previously supported finishes. In prior models, slight variations in the face-panel sometimes required a light skim coat of plaster to fully flatten the panel face. By eliminating this requirement and revising the speaker’s edge to more easily receive tape and joint compound, the installation and finishing process becomes even easier and the consistency of the speakers’ performance across various installations is improved. The new polymetrictm face-panel material also improves the audio response characteristics of Stealth Acoustic’s invisible speakers, by providing a warmer-sounding high frequency response and increased bass output.

The LR Series has the exact same height and width dimensions as the models being replaced and the minimum 3.5” (88mm) depth required behind the speakers remains unchanged. However, the panel-face is now 1/6” (1.58mm) thinner than before, making the panel more suitable for mating with certain wallboard sizes used internationally. The basic mounting attachment and shimming processes remain unchanged. Power handling has been increased to overcome a slight loss of efficiency.

JVC

We are very pleased to have been appointed as their UK Distributor for Home Theatre projectors. The Home Technology show is the official launch of the partnership and Habitech aim to gain market share with this amazing range of projectors. The DLA HD950 has just been awarded “Best Projector under £5000 SRP” at the Home Cinema Choice awards. These projectors are lost jewels waiting to be found.

D-ILA was invented by JVC and is its proprietary technology. That is why these projectors are so much better than LCD or DLP units. There is only a certain amount you can do if you are all using the same engine.

There are many benefits of D-ILA technology:
• Smooth picture reproduction due to the smaller gap between pixels
• Exceptional contrast ratios, 70,000:1
• Clear motion drive for high speed picture reproduction
• Certified by ISF (Imaging Science Foundation) (DLA-HD990/DLA-HD950
• Certified by THX* (DLA-HD990/DLA-HD950)
• Flexibility and easy of set up. ±80% vertical and ±34% horizontal lens shift function.
• 2x motorised zoom
• Electric lens cover The range consists of 3 models, DLA HD550, DL HDA950 and the DLA HD990 and the prices range from £3000 SRP to £9000 SRP. See the projector demonstrated at the Home Technology Show.

Fusion Research – Not just another MCE media server

Fusion was started in 2003 by a small team of successful entrepreneurs from the cutting edge world of dynamic medical imaging and storage. So why Fusion when there are so many media servers to chose from.

• Reliability. - Fusion is a closed platform PC. It uses the kernel of Windows NT but everything we know about Windows and PCs has been stripped out. Why? Well they are all the bits that keep falling over and give Windows the tag of “unstable” Actually the core of Windows is very stable. It also is very cost effective and as it runs on a PC platform, the hardware is the best value you will ever get.
• Proprietary Movie database. - There are only 2 Movie Server companies that have their own database and the other one is the market leader. Everyone else is using Media Centre Edition with a variety of front ends. So what? Well All the other servers decrypt every film that comes out and store them in an unencrypted format. Technical this is totally illegal and every customer could be sued. But more importantly, every film that Hollywood bring out has got a new layer of encryption to try to stop people ripping it. Well that encryption has to be broken and that is why All MCE media servers have to be constantly updated with patches to beat the latest encryption. Nightmare. Do you want to sell your customer a technically illegal product that needs patches every 5 mins?
• PC based. – As Fusion is built on a PC platform, the hardware is so much cheaper than its only real competitor. It also enables Fusion to adopt new technology very quickly. Fusion uses the best graphics cards on the market and they have got deep pockets as their core market is the PC Gaming sector.
• Bluray compatible. – Because Fusion is PC based they were able to adopt the Bluray format very quickly. Can the market leader playback Bluray. If you are buying expensive leading edge technology, do you not want the true 1080p native format? Of course you do.
• Storage. – The entry level studio is supplied with a 1.5TB hard drive. If you run out of space just add a USB or NAS drive for very little money. It’s that simple
• Modular. – The range includes a simple standalone server and continues through to the Cinema server with a maximum of 25 clients.
• Control4 Interface – Fusion Research is the only 2 way certified Control 4 media server. It really is plug and play if you hook it up to a C4 system

Lowell

Lowell have been manufacturing AV equipment since 1947. They pride themselves on quality engineering designed specifically for the CI market. There are a number of specialist products designed for the residential CI market.

• LVRs – VariRacks. VariRacks can be set to a range of depths (10U-44U) and heights to suit each installation. Available as cost effective open frame racks or with side panels, steel doors, Perspex doors etc
• LPT2 & LPT4 – Rotate and slide. The ideal residential rack for applications where space is at a premium. When you need to work on the rack, just slide it out and rotate to get proper access to the back. No more squeezing into the back of a cupboard dislodging cables and creating more problems. Available in sizes (10U -36U)
• Stock – Habitech realise that the CI needs products next day and have invested in £100k of stock to ensure everything you need is on the shelf for a next day delivery

Airfonix

Airfonix specializes in engineering superior-quality wireless audio products for the professional and semi-professional audio markets. With a team consisting of the foremost experts in wireless technology, Airfonix wireless audio products provide interference-free, reliable surround sound with no compromises to the professional demands of hi-fi digital sound quality. Airfonix offers the industry’s only dual-band wireless audio products with patent-pending Smart Channel technology, making them impervious to interference from other co-located wireless equipment. Included in the Airfonix commercial-level product offering are wireless solutions for both passive and active speakers for indoor or outdoor audio systems in auditoriums, recording studios, amphitheatres, corporate campuses, hotels/resorts and more.

There are 4 versions, 2 transmitters and 2 receivers. The options are balanced line level or SPDIF and speaker level transmitters and passive and active receivers. The active receiver has an integral 50w amp that can be driven in mono or stereo modes.

Tripplite

As an early innovator in the power protection industry, Tripp Lite introduced the first UPS system designed for personal computers and the world's most trusted premium surge suppressor, the Isobar®.Today, Tripp Lite is an ISO 9001 company that is committed to increasing the business availability and profitability of its customers.

• IP and Browser switchable PDUs
Having problems with your client’s Sky Boxes hanging? We have the solution. Remotely turn on and off any item in your clients rack from your PC on your desk. Think how much time this will save your engineers and your client will love you forever as the problem was solved in 10 minutes. Switched, Metered PDU with Remote Monitoring - 1U Rack mount Power Distribution Unit for Networks with Individually Switchable Outlets, Current Metering, Remote Monitoring and Control.
• UPS
Tripplite SMX1500LCD Line-Interactive Digital UPS System offers voltage regulation, surge suppression and long-lasting battery support for personal computers, network workstations, home entertainment systems and media centres. Internal UPS circuits support entry-level PCs for up to 60 min. or individual VCR/DVR components for up to 3 hours during power failures. Prevents data loss, viewing interruptions, lost recordings and loss of component programming. Automatic Voltage Regulation (AVR) circuits regulate brownouts as low as 176V back to usable levels without consuming battery power. Offers complete power protection in an attractive black tower configuration. Includes 8 battery-supported AC outlets. USB port enables optional unattended system shutdown without data loss in case of extended power failure; USB cable included. Power Alert Software available via free download from www.tripplite.com.
• Line Conditioners
Line Conditioner / AVR System - Automatic voltage regulator / power conditioner / AC surge suppressor. Tripplite LR1000 automatic voltage regulation system offers complete protection from brownouts, over voltages and transient surges for computers, printers, fax machines and more. Transformer-based voltage correction circuits maintain usable 220-240V nominal AC output during brownouts as low as 168V and over voltages to 278V.
• Power Management Tools - Outlet Adapter UNIPlUGINT
Tripplite UNIPLUGINT outlet adapter enables the connection of a wide variety of international plugs into a standard IEC 320 C13 computer interface receptacle. Direct plug-in module connects directly to a power distribution unit or power protection device outlet.

www.habitech.co.uk