Upper Saddle River, N.J. - Onkyo's new $1,099-suggested TX-NR809 AV receiver will expand the company's selection of receivers capable of upscaling 1080p sources to full 4K (3840 x 2160) resolution.
The NR809 also brings down the opening price of ISF video calibration technology in the Onkyo line from $1,399.

Onkyo, the first AVR maker to support 4K upscaling, offers the technology in only two other AVRs, which are priced at $599 and $899.

The 7.2-channel networked AV receiver, which is THX Select2 Plus certified, will be in stores this month.

Among other enhancements compared to its predecessor, the 7x135-watt TX-NR809 adds bidirectional customizable remote and Audyssey's MultEQ XT, which corrects for frequency-response and time-domain errors at several hundred points across the frequency spectrum.

The receiver also adds Dolby Volume, which maintains a consistent volume level when connected audio and video sources are switched, when TV channels are changed, when a TV program transitions to a commercial and from louder to softer scenes, and when a broadcast source is switched from analog to digital.

Also new is the addition of Marvell's Qdeo and IDT's Vida video-processing technologies. Qdeo, which enables Onkyo to implement ISF calibration, upscales 1080p sources to 4K. Vida upscales 480i/p, 576p, and 720p video sources to 1080p, eliminates compressed-video noise, and features multi-cadence tracking, expanded 12-bit color processing, and four-field motion-adaptive de-interlacing to improve the quality of standard- and high-definition video, the company said.

Incorporating ISF calibration in the AVR makes it possible to individually optimize video signals for each video source connected to the AVR without resorting to complex cable routing and customized remote-control macros that make system operation more complex for consumers.

Compared to its predecessor, the AVR also adds front USB ports to complement rear USB ports. The ports accept Onkyo's optional wireless USB adapter for networking and accept such digital storage devices as USB flash drives, iPods and iPhones to play back music files in the MP3, WMA, WMA Lossless, FLAC, WAV, Ogg Vorbis, and AAC formats. A separate U-Port is available to connect an iPod/iPhone dock to stream iPod-iPhone-stored video to a TV. The U-Port can also be used for an optional HD Radio Tuner and planned wireless multiroom-audio products.

The included bidirectional remote can be connected to the Internet to download  remote-control codes for components connected to the AV receiver, which includes macro presets for four activities and bi-directional Ethernet and RS232 ports for control and IR input and output.

Home integration capabilities have been upgraded to include zone 2/3 preouts, and bi-directional remote control with on-screen RC set-up for attached components, and macros for four activities, the company said.

Other features include Audyssey DSX post-processing to add front-height or front-width channels (or both with the addition of a two-channel amp) and Dolby ProLogic IIz to add front-height channels.

The receiver is Windows 7- and DLNA-certified for networking with PCs, streams Internet radio stations via vTuner technology, and streams the Mediafly, Pandora, Slacker, Napster, Rhapsody, Last.fm, and SIRIUS XM Internet Radio services.