Upper Saddle River, N.J. – Onkyo joined sister brand Integra in taking video-display calibration technology out of high-definition display and putting it into AV receivers. The brand also plans fourth-quarter shipment of its first Blu-ray player.
The two Onkyo and two Integra AVRs are the industry’s first AVRs with built-in video-calibration technology to individually optimize video signals for each video source connected to an AVR to simplify installation and daily use. The AVRs’ coarse-grain and fine-grain calibration adjustments correspond to the Imaging Science Foundation’s Certified Calibration Controls (ISFccc) protocols
The introductions make it possible to individually optimize video signals for each video source connected to the AVRs without resorting to complex cable routing and customized remote-control macros that make system operation more complex for consumers, the company said.
The two new Onkyo-brand AVRs, already shipping, are the $2,299-suggested TX-NR906 and $1,799 TX-SR876, both with embedded HD Radio tuner, Sirius- and XM-ready ports, and decoders for all Blu-ray surround formats. They bring to two the number of HD Radio-equipped AVRs in the brand’s lineup.
The NR906 adds network capability to stream content from a networked PC and stream Internet radio stations directly through a broadband modem. The unit features the vTuner internet-radio interface and Certified for Windows Vista status.
Both models also feature THX Ultra2 Plus certification, THX Neural Surround, HQV Reon-VX upscaling of all video sources to HDMI 1080p, and a full suite of Audyssey technologies: Dynamic Volume for automatic volume leveling, Dynamic EQ for loudness correction, and MultEQ XT for room correction.
The planned Blu-ray player, due by year’s end, will be a single-disc Profile 1.1 model, no additional details were unavailable.
That model will join an Integra Blu-ray player due at the end of September. The Integra BDS-6.9, also a Profile 1.1 model, features 1080p/24fps video output, 1080p upscaling, HDMI CEC control, SD Card slot, Deep Color and x.v. Color support, stereo analog-audio output, and built-in Dolby Digital and DTS Surround decoders. Its HDMI 1.3 port enables bitstream output of all other surround formats approved for Blu-ray discs for processing by AV receivers such as the TX-NR906 and TX-SR876.
Price and additional details were unavailable.
