There's some new technology from JVC called "Slim HD-ILA Optical Engine" that allows rear-projection TVs to have a drastically reduced thickness, to the point that they can be mounted on a wall. The new engine has allowed JVC to reduce the thickness of its 56" rear-projection TV from 47cm to about 27cm.

The new technology is pretty heavy on technical details, but basically, the use of a concave mirror allows the light coming from the projector to be more focused than when using a convex mirror. This in turn means the projector can be closer to the mirror, allowing for a smaller body size.

More details are in JVC's English press release. A picture of a potential model appears below.

JVC has some new technology called "Near Speaker Surround" that creates surround sound using a single 2ch speaker unit. The speaker unit is placed close to the listener. Incoming multichannel signals are processed to be converted to binaural signals. Binaural signals are typically listened to using headphones, since they get the maximum channel separation -- use standard speakers and you will experience what is known as "crosstalk," where signals that are intended for just one ear also reach the other ear. However, with JVC's new "Transaural Processing" technology, crosstalk is cancelled, enabling listeners to achieve a headphone-like experience using a standard 2ch speaker setup. Because near-field involves placing the speaker nearby and requires only a single speaker unit, sound leakage can be reduced by as much as 56% versus standard multi-speaker setups.

Just as a side note, for those that doubt 2ch stereo's ability to provide true surround sound, put on a pair of headphones and listen to this.



Inspired by:
http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/av/docs/20060912/victor2.htm

Press Release:
http://www.victor.co.jp/press/2006/near_speaker.html

This new adapter from JVC plugs right into the optical port of an audio device, adding a surround sound-like signal to any standard pair of headphones.

Moving right along, JVC has announced two new digital video cameras, the GZ-MG77 and MG67, with respective 30GB and 20GB capacities.

There are four new models of JVC's "Alneo" audio players due out soon. The company will also introduce a portable speaker to match.

We've addressed JVC's J4 robot o­nce in the past. It's a 20cm robot that can be controlled via Bluetooth.

JVC did another demo of the robot o­n the 14th, and more details have been revealed.

Not o­nly are JVC's new headphones cordless, they're also armless. It's a bit difficult to find cordless headphones that aren't gigantic, let alone o­nes without any sort of arm. They also announced some "armed" cordless headphones, but since they're unexciting, we won't be covering them. Info o­n the good o­nes inside.

And now we take a look at the "XM-C17" from JVC.

Here's an update to an article we ran nearly a year ago. JVC got a bit behind o­n the release of the W1000 digital wireless headphones, and even cancelled them. It appears they're back, this time in the form of the "W1500" digital wireless headphones.

Here is JVC's press release about the W1500, but I won't bother with it since they seem to be the same product as the W1000. They're o­nly a year late.

Here's a nice new portable audio player from JVC with a 6GB capacity, called the "Alneo." Its product code is XA-HD500, and the primary features are high audio quality and utility in a home stereo environment.

We heard about their MG40 and MG50 a few months back, but JVC also recently introduced their "MG70." It features an integrated 30GB hard drive, and takes the 1.33MP sensor of the MG50 and kicks it up to 2MP.

JVC has a new minicomponent system with, you guessed it, a multi-color backlit LCD. It has MD and CD, but no fancy stuff like MP3 or USB. Shucks.

JVC will be introducing a new model of their "Lip Lap" series of minicomponent systems, which responds to touch. How does it respond? Changing the colors of various backlights throughout the product, such as that of the disc tray and buttons.

Two new camcorders come from JVC today, the first of which is the "GR-D250." It's allegedly the industry's first DV camera to feature a 25x optical zoom.

Japan Victor Corporation (JVC) will begin sales of "HP-AL301" headphones, a new model in their "Be!" series of clip-on headphones with fully retractable cord storage, from 1 November. The headphones are the world's thinnest retractable cord headphones. I know it's hard but try to contain your excitement.

Apparently this makes portable Blu-Ray players and notebook Blu-Ray drives possible, so here it is.

Japan Victor Corporation (JVC) announced on 11 October that they have joined the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA). They are the first organisation to join the BDA since its establishment on 4 October.

BDA membership is composed of three levels - the Board of Directors, which determines overall strategy and purpose, Contributors, which is responsible for standards development, and General Members. Victor/JVC will participate in the BDA as a Contributor.

Victor/JVC explained that they chose to join the BDA because they believe that "the Blu-ray Disc is the best choice for content providers and consumers." The support from the consumer electronics industry for the Blu-ray format was also important.

Source: http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/av/docs/20041012/bda.htm

I've been real suspect when it comes to creating 3D sound from two speakers. Beyond the technology demonstrated at NTT's R&D center, I have a hard time imagining exactly how two speakers could do the work of four (or more).

But when you think about it harder, you o­nly have two ears, right? Let's hope so. Yet you can probably place sounds - it's not like you have a set of ears o­n the back of your head and another set o­n the front.

JVC has applied the "two eared" concept to microphones for camcorders. Expect to see these introduced as early as Spring 2005.

JVC is demonstrating a small bipedal robot called J4 at CEATEC JAPAN 2004. "So what?", you say, "small bipedal robots are a dime-a-dozen these days." Well, J4 is no ordinary robot - JVC plans to use him (or her, I suppose - whatever takes your fancy) to make operation of complex AV systems easier for users. And that's not all! - J4 can also do the "Hustle! Hustle!"

This new JVC projector can do 4096 x 2160 dots of resolution - four times Full HD.
Holy crapola.

I was under the impression that all infrared transmissions were digital, but I guess I was wrong.
JVC has announced the "HP-W1000" headphones that feature a full digital transmission process, from input to output. Except when it leaves the headphones, I presume.

I'm sure everyone here has seen their share of optical wireless transmission systems in their lifetime...
Oh, that's right, probably nobody has!

As far as wireless optical transmission systems go (I love saying that, it just sounds so technical), I'm under the impression that this new JVC system is towards the top of the pack. Yeah, it will cost you about $2000 USD to not lay a cable, but this is an uncompressed 1080i signal we're talking about here.

Those ultra-creative gentlemen down at Japan Victor Corporation have finally allowed that LCD screen to come OFF of your headunit, and be attached to a cradle in the back seat.

That's a lot of hours of battery life.

Apparently making them out of glass allows for Blu-ray masters' production costs to be as low as DVD masters' production costs. English press release in here.

Not o­nly does the LCD glow 63 different color combinations, the tray does too!
For some reason.

Put your MD or CD player in o­ne of these pouches, and there you go - it's a speaker.

I won't lie and say that I knew the USB Video Class even existed before reading this article, but it sounds pretty cool. You can not o­nly transfer video using USB 2.0, you can control it right from the PC.
Wait, didn't IEEE 1394 do that? Oh well.
After researching into just how many USB classes (after all, nearly all new MP3 players support the Storage class) there were, I came across this page.

Victor has released details of several plasma and LCD TVs with "GENESSA" intelligent image processing. They will be available in June. Read on for photos.

Title says it all...

Victor Japan has announced that on December 26th 2003 they will release a CD listening booth equipped with a 15 inch LCD touch panel. The system will be able to receive music data at high speeds from the central server over the Internet with a scan of a CD’s barcode. The device allows users to always listen to the most up to date information.

Original Article

The video player is meant to be used with the "GR-HD1" HDV video camera. It supports the 720p HDV format, and can also dub via i.Link.