Sharp, which had one of the more prominent Blu-ray displays at IFA, showed their upcoming BD-HP20 Blu-ray Player which will be available shortly. While Sharp has previously released Blu-ray recorders in Japan this will be their first Blu-ray player available to consumers. The BD-HP20 features 1080p/24, HDMI 1.3, Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital+, DTS-HD, 7.1-channel audio output, as well as a quick start mode that should speed up the time it takes to load Blu-ray discs. The BD-HP20 will be released in the US and Europe in September and the price will be $550 and €599 respectively.
Sharp also displayed their BD-MPC70 Blu-ray Home Cinema System, which comes complete with a 7.1 high fidelity sound system including amplifier and speakers. The BD-MPC70 features 1080p/24, HDMI 1.3, Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital+, DTS-HD, 7.1-channel surround sound and a next generation audio formats decoder, which we assume means internal decoding of Dolby TrueHD. As the BD Home Cinema System won't be released until Spring 2008 it will have to support at least Profile 1.1. The price for the whole setup will be around €6,000 in Europe. While this system might not appeal to the average consumer at this price, we liked what we saw and heard.
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Sharp overview
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Sharp's 108" LCD TV
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BD Home Cinema System
demonstration
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1-Bit Cinema Rack System
demonstration
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BD Home Cinema System
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Sharp's BD-MPC70 Blu-ray Home Cinema System
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"Time to View Blu"
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Sharp's BD-HP20 Blu-ray player
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