James Delahunty
12 Nov 2007 16:22
Pinnacle Systems, Inc., the consumer division of Avid Technology, Inc. has announced a new UPnP (Universal Plug n' Play) digital media adapter that enables users to link any home entertainment center with all of their networked PCs or network storage devices. The ShowCenter 250HD can be used with Windows Vista, Windows XP or Mac OS and is targeted at users with large digital media collections to stream to a home entertainment system.
The device has a built in Ethernet port, along with WiFi support (802.11b/g) to enable simple streaming from source network devices particular to HDTV sets. "The growth in the home theater and HDTV markets has created the need for a simple, cost-effective solution for linking PC-based digital media to a home entertainment system," said Tanguy Leborgne, Pinnacle Systems' Vice President of Worldwide Marketing.
Leborgne added: "PC users and home entertainment enthusiasts want to be able to have their friends and family join them in viewing their digital media collections on their large-screen home entertainment system, rather than in front of their PC. With Pinnacle ShowCenter 250HD, they can do that and more." Browsing through shared media is achieved by using a provided remote control.
The ShowCenter 250HD supports high-quality video playback of the Windows Media Video 9, WMV-DRM, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4 AVI, DivX, and XviD files and HD playback of Windows Media Video 9, DivX HD and MPEG-4 file formats with resolutions of up to 1080i. Supported music formats range from MP3, WMA, WMA Pro and WMA lossless to WMA-DRM and PCM WAV uncompressed.
To ensure broad connectivity support with display devices, the ShowCenter 250HD incldes a SCART 21-pin connector for composite, Y/C, RGB, and stereo audio; a component video output (YPrPb, 3 x RCA), a composite video output (RCA), an S-Video output (Y/C, MiniDIN), two stereo audio outputs (4 x RCA) and two S/PDIF digital audio outputs (1 x RCA coaxial, 1 x Toslink optical).
Other inputs/outputs include Ethernet RJ-45 (100BASE-T) and an Integrated Wi-Fi 802.11g module with detachable antenna as well as a 100-230V power cable connector, an Infrared receiver and a USB 2.0 connector which is conveniently located on the front panel. It will be available by November directly from the Pinnacle eStore, at Amazon.com, Buy.com, TigerDirect.com and other fine etail stores with an MSRP of US$199.99.
Source:
Press Release