Thomson announced it will soon ship seven RCA-brand DVD players, a DVD/VCR combo product and its first line of “Xbox-ready” television sets.
The DVD players include two progressive scan units with 3:2 pulldown, a five-disc changer, and a portable player with a 7-inch screen. Six of the seven new DVD players offer Digital PhotoView, which enables playback of JPEG files from a CD-R/RW disc in a slideshow format with rotating capability on a television.
Other key features in the DVD line include Dolby Digital and DTS compatibility, Scene Again (one button instant replay), and CD-R/RW, mp3, Video CD and DVD+R/RW playback in all players.
The progressive-scan players include the RCA DRC480N ($249 suggested retail), which incorporates Faroudja’s Directional Correlational Deinterlacing (DCDi) progressive scan technology. The second progressive scan player, model DRC350N ($209), has 1.5x, 2x and 4x zoom capability, five-disc memory, and virtual surround sound.
Other DVD models include the DRC500N ($229) five-disc changer that features one-disc memory, special effects, zoom, random play and 30-minute auto off.
Due later in the summer is model DRC300N ($199), which includes an mp3PRO decoder, Nuon processor, jog shuttle control and 30-minute auto off.
The entry DRC220N ($179), features 1x to 4x zoom, five-disc memory, SRS TruSurround and 30-minute auto off.
The latest DVD/VCR combination unit — model DRC6000N ($329, August availability) — offers special effects such as multispeed fast forward/rewind and multispeed slow motion, zoom, and SRS TruSurround, while the VHS Hi-Fi VCR incorporates VCR Plus+ and auto-clock set.
The new RCA portable DVD player — model DRC600N ($549, August availability) — includes a 7-inch widescreen LCD display, over three hours of life per charge of the lithium-ion battery, five-disc memory and special effects.
Under a two-year exclusive arrangement with Microsoft, Thomson introduced a line of 11 analog TV sets that incorporate the RCA VPORT connection. The VPORT enables improved picture detail from the Xbox game player. In addition to an Xbox connection point, the jack also doubles as a second component video input.
New sets will carry the “Xbox Ready” logo. Models in the 32-inch and 36-inch screen sizes have just started shipping to dealers.
The product lineup includes three 36-inch, three 32-inch, four 27-inch and one 20-inch models in both flat and non-flat picture tube configurations. All feature Gemstar Interactive TV GUIDE Plus+ Gold with one-touch record, and component video inputs.
The 36-inch models include the F36TF720 ($1,499, August) with TruFlat picture tube, twin-tuner PIP and 3-line digital comb filter; the F36718 ($1,049, July) with twin-tuner picture-in-picture, digital 3-line comb filter, and the F36650 ($899, now) with digital 3-line comb filter.
The 32-inch models include the F32TF720 ($1,049, August), the F32718 ($799, July) and the F32650 ($649, now).
The 27-inch models include the F27TF720 ($649, August), F27TF700($599, August), F27718 ($499, August) and the F27650 ($399, August). The lone 20-inch model is the F20TF20 ($349, September).
