We knew that video cards that could bitstream all the latest HD codecs wouldn't always cost $380, but we certainly didn't expect a cheaper alternative in two weeks. Of course price and HDMI audio capabilities aren't the only factors when choosing a video card for your HTPC, so you might want to keep waiting -- you know another few weeks -- for a version that doesn't take up two of your card slots for a fan that is no doubt anything but quiet. Anandtech is predicting you might have to wait another year for the perfect HTPC video card in the way of the 5600 series.

[Via Missing Remote]

The good news is that you can finally get both compressed and uncompressed HD audio off a Blu-ray Disc and into your A/V receiver without the need of a dedicated sound card. The bad news is that at $380, the ATI Radeon HD 5870 still costs more than a stand-alone Blu-ray player and that price doesn't even include playback software. That's ok with us though, as we're used to being charged early adopter tax, and now the first video card with this ability is released, it should only be a matter of time before this feature trickles down to video cards we can actually afford.

If you've been considering making the jump to Blu-ray via a PS3 but even after the price drop you're still waiting to see how it fared as a movie player, then you should check out our review on Engadget classic. Most of the important details are covered, like its ability to bitstream the latest HD codecs or the power consumption at idle as well as while playing a Blu-ray Disc. Even the noise level was examined, which showed that the slim was about 10db quieter while watching a Blu-ray Disc -- which is actually a lot. In fact the only knock was that it was a little slower at loading discs than its older brother and the Bravia Sync wasn't all it was cracked up to be.

When we first got our hands-on the 400 disc MegaChanger pictured above we'd hoped it would be out a little earlier; but never the less the wait is almost over as Sony officially announced plans to release the BDP-CX7000ES in August, for the hard to swallow price of $1,900 -- about $400 less than rumored. The good news is that it does just about everything we can think of, like handle any Blu-ray Disc, DVD or CD with ease, and of course works with the latest codecs delivered via bitstream or LPCM. Now if you just have to have a Blu-ray changer, but wish it was half the price, you can wait a few more months for the BDP-CX960 for $800. You will however have to be willing to forgo things like RS-232 and IR-in, as well as the ES badge. Also shipping in August with the ES MegaChanger is the BDP-S1000ES. This standalone Blu-ray player is at the top of line and for $700 you get just about every feature and spec Blu-ray has to offer, as well as built-in WiFi and a DLNA client. The full details of all three are in the release after the jump.

Samsung's latest Blu-ray HTIB features just about anything an all-in-one customer could want; in fact we're not sure how you can even build a 5.1 system with rear wireless speakers and a Blu-ray player for $799. The HT-BD3252 of course supports the latest HD audio codecs like TrueHD and DTS-HD, and a mic for automatic calibration. Not wanting to leave anything out from its stand-alone players, Samsung has also included the same internet services like Pandora, Netflix and Blockbuster via the included WiFi dongle. Oh, and don't forget the very important iPod dock, we mean, who would buy a HTIB in this day and age without one? Not us, that's for sure.

We questioned the strategy of Marantz delivering a nearly $800 Bonus View Blu-ray player last fall, but it appears ready to settle things with customers who believe in its superior construction and components and want a few newer features (though access to streaming movie services is still missing) with two BD-Live compatible players on the way in August. Both support AVCHD, DivX, Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD bitstreaming and more, with the BD7004 adding 7.1 analog outs, internal TrueHD and DTS-HD MA decoding, an Anchor Bay Reference Series video processor and additional reinforcement against vibrations. Look for the BD5004 (pictured above) for $549 and the BD7004 at $799. In the interests of matching equipment, announced along with the BD7004 in Japan is the 7.1 channel NR1501 amplifier due this month, supporting the latest HD audio formats in a 105mm x 367mm deep resin and fiber reinforced design for ¥60,000 ($635), check for additional pictures after the break.

This is an on going debate on certain forums and for good reason. The fundamental question is where should you decode your lossless audio? In DVD players we almost always decoded compressed audio in the A/V receiver, but when it comes to Blu-ray features like Bonus View, there is at least one specific reason to decode in the player.

With AV software and hardware alike carrying at least one Dolby logo, not to mention the presence of that same branding on big screen cinema, Dolby is truly a household name. If you ask people exactly what Dolby does, however, you're likely to get a pretty fuzzy picture, which isn't too surprising -- the brand is so prevalent in the media space that it's kind of like asking a fish to describe what water feels like. So when Dolby invited us to spend a day with them to talk about their current goings-on in home theater, we just couldn't pass up the opportunity.

To get a look behind the familiar logo, we spent a day at Dolby's lab in San Francisco. During our time there we talked about TrueHD, Digital Plus, Dolby Volume, the new Pro Logic IIz, and even got a short peek at some current research efforts. It was a fast run over a lot of ground, for sure!

It wasn't that long ago that there wasn't a way for Blu-ray fans to enjoy the latest and greatest audio encoded with TrueHD and DTS-HD on their home theater PCs and now there are about to be two. That's thanks to the fact that Auzentech is going to start shipping its X-FI HomeTheater HD sound card by the end of July -- no word on the price. Unfortunately just like the ASUS Xonar before it, you'll still need a separate video card for a complete solution. From there you'll connect the X-FI to your HDTV via HDMI 1.3 to enjoy your choice of bitstream or PCM lossless audio. You can even use analog outputs if you desire as well as other sources. We're really happy to see some competition in this space, but still wonder how long before you'll be able to just buy a video card that can do both.

It's hard to tell if this is a coincidence or not, but just hours after the Blu-ray Disc Association granted the DRA audio coding technology approval for use on Blu-ray flicks, Dolby has come forward to proudly proclaim that its TrueHD and Digital Plus audio technologies can now be used by select Chinese firms. TCL Technoly Electronics, MIT Technology and Lite-On have all been given the green light under license to use Dolby's tech on Blu-ray Disc products, though it does seem a bit curious to us that only these three were selected. Maybe those other guys didn't pass the "apt-to-ape" test?

Next-gen audio on a HTPC was starting to seem like a dream, but tonight at the Digital Experience we got a chance to witness first hand Dolby TrueHD pass through on an HTPC thanks to ArcSoft TotalMedia Theater and the Asus Xonar HDAV1.3 HDMI Deluxe sound card. Although the Xonar HDAV has been available for some time, it was just recently that ArcSoft and Asus were able to finally get their act together. As cool as this is, we can't help but think this solution is still a bit too complicated for most, but no one ever said being the first was easy.

Blu-ray player? Check. An AV receiver? Check. Loads of cables? Check. Knowledge of how to hook everything up for maximum impact? Uh, not so much. BigPictureBigSound has hosted up a nice how-to guide for making the most of the multi-channel audio that's just waiting to ooze out of your Blu-ray player. The writeup covers both HDMI and analog approaches, and it breaks it down in five easy-to-digest steps so that you don't get all overwhelmed. Go 'head, give it a look -- it's not that difficult, we promise.

Still hanging onto that old Sony BDP-S300 Blu-ray player? Your faith has been rewarded now that the 4.20 firmware update adds Dolby TrueHD audio decoding. Support was rumored in past firmware updates, but as of 8/29, it's official, along with BD-Java fixes and BD-/RE BDMV compatibility. Remember when we thought $600 for a player with limited audio support and no Bonus View or BD-Live compatibility was cheap? Oh, how expectations change.

[Thanks, Mick]

Ooh, goodie! A full five months after Corel released its WinDVD 9 Plus Blu-ray application, the first major update pack has arrived. The unimaginatively named WinDVD 9 Plus Blu-ray Update Pack checks in at just under 50MB and size and promises to resolve the "Enable S/PDIF Out" / "HDMI output to speaker" issues while expanding the list of compatible commercial titles and enhancing compatibility for a slew of VGA chipsets within Windows Vista / XP. There's no direct mention of BD-Live support, but for those who purchased the original, why not give the update a go and report back?

[Thanks, Tyler]

Earlier this month, ASUS introduced the "world's first HDMI 1.3a compliant audio / video enhancement combo card." Who knew numero dos was so close behind? Auzentech has just announced its very own HDMI 1.3-native PCIe audio combo card, which is built around Creative's X-Fi processor and enables PC users to easily output 7.1-channel audio with no downsampling. Essentially, the Auzen X-Fi HomeTheater 7.1 "accepts video from either an internal or external connection, mixes it with digital audio, and outputs the combined video and lossless multichannel audio via a single HDMI 1.3 port." Yep, that means Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio codecs are fully supported. The only digs? For one, pricing remains a mystery, but the real kicker is the September release -- talk about a long wait.