Enjoy all-in-one simplicity and cutting-edge versatility with Panasonic's SC-HT1500 home theater, which puts you in the middle of the action whether you're watching progressive-scan DVD movies, listening to your favorite albums in high-resolution DVD-Audio surround sound, or archiving your camcorder footage to recordable DVD (DVD-R, DVD-RAM). The system even includes an integrated 80 GB hard-disk drive (HDD) for storing up to 142 hours of programming. The TV Guide onscreen electronic program guide simplifies advanced recording of broadcast TV programs to either DVD or HDD. The DVD-RAM format allows for simultaneous playback and recording and the ultimate in time-shifting capability. You can record one program while watching another live or recorded program, or watch a live TV program in progress from the beginning while continuing to record the show until the end. You can also edit content on disc with DVD-RAM--perfect for compiling only the best bits from your home videos for sharing with loved ones.
Delivering a total of 470 watts of power, the system's audio components are just as impressive as its video counterparts. The receiver features a built-in Dolby Digital and DTS decoder, along with Dolby Surround Pro Logic II (which generates 5.1 sound from any 2-channel source) and a digital AM/FM tuner.
Whether your living room is currently home to an HDTV or you're merely thinking of "someday," the SC-HT1500 is ready to deliver the full potential of your DVDs. Progressive scanning, referred to as 480p for the number of horizontal lines that compose the video image, creates a picture using twice the scan lines of a conventional DVD picture, giving you higher resolution and sharper images while eliminating nearly all motion artifacts.
DVD-Audio offers super high-fidelity (192 kHz/24-bit) sound. DVD-Audio discs provide multichannel and stereo sound, incredible storage capacity, and unique bonus materials not available on regular audio CDs.
The acoustically matched speaker system is designed to reproduce the wide frequency range of DVD-Audio. OmniCast Surround Speakers widely disperse the sound, creating extraordinary acoustic imaging to envelop the listener. The system also includes a powerful 150-watt subwoofer with an 8-inch cone woofer.
In addition to being able to deliver the fidelity of DVD-Audio, the unit's Sound Field Control can convert 2-channel audio from conventional sources into dynamic 5.1- channel surround sound--a great enhancement whether you're listening to music, watching live TV, or viewing a recorded program. Choose from 12 different acoustic effect modes to recreate the ambience that best complements the audio source.
Other features include high-speed recording from the hard disk to DVD-RAM and DVD-R discs (though please be aware that this process erases the program from the HDD), Direct Navigator (which displays thumbnail scenes of recorded content), Time Slip (which lets you replay a scene recorded 30 seconds earlier without disrupting the recording process), one-touch recording, playlist playback, and Panasonic's Dialogue Enhancer.
What's in the Box
DVD player/integrated surround amplifier/HDD, 2 tallboy speakers with adjustable-height stands, a center speaker, 2 OmniCast surround speakers, a powered subwoofer, a remote control, remote batteries, a user's manual, all requisite cabling.
