Rocking Team

We suppose it was just a matter of time before iPod docks and HTIBs achieved some sort of unholy union, and their demonic lovechild has appeared at IFA — say hello to the Philips CinemaOne. Essentially a mashup of an iPod speaker system, a DVD player, and a soundbar, it’s designed to plug in to your flatscreen via HDMI and provide surround audio through five DSP-driven speakers and 4-inch sub, all in a package about the size of a football. The DivX-compatible DVD player seems decent, with 1080p scaling and Dolby Digital and DTS support, but even though the speakers use the same soundbar tech found in Philips’ Ambisound line, we’ve got our doubts that this thing sounds any good — most soundbars we’ve heard require a separate large sub to be effective. No pricing or release date yet, but we’d wait to actually hear this thing in person before we started to set aside spare change. Action shot after the break.

Philips has found a new way to put a complete home theater system into another surprising form factor without compromising on quality: The Philips CinemaOne  combines a DVD and CD player, an iPod dock, a five channel amplifier, six speakers, and a subwoofer all into a single stylish box of the size of a football, This small, stylish all-in-one home cinema system is the perfect fit for small spaces and budgets.

Measuring just 27.3 x 17.2 x 27.3cm (wxhxd) the Philips CinemaOne surprises with a great surround sound experience caused by six precisely angled speakers which are positioned around the body of the CinemaOne. The 4” subwoofer is built into the base of the unit whereby the installation is clutter free without the need for extra power cables and speaker wires. With the Philips CinemaOne a cinema like experience can be created also in smaller spaces like the living room of a student appartment, the bedroom, or in the office.

Technical details
CinemaOne’s five channel amplifier and DSP (Digital Signal Processing) unit can process Dolby Digital, DTS, MPEG2 multichannel or stereo sound tracks and uses Philips’ proprietary sound and array processing technology to create a realistic and immersive cinema sound effect with distinct and clear dialogue, a convincingly wide sound stage and powerful deep bass.

The CinemaOne is compatible with nearly any format of movie – including DivX, Mpeg and WMV – from just about every type of DVD, CD or iPod. The dock also allows an iPod to be controlled via the units remote control while all track information can be accessed via the TV screen.

Movies can be upscaled to 1080p HD resolution with a pristine digital quality transfer to the TV via the HDMI connector. The CinemaOne also offers the high quality display of jpeg photos and includes flip, rotate, slideshow and zoom functions.

A hi-speed USB port and MP3 link allows connection to a huge variety of portable devices – using PCM, WMA or MP3 – while Philips’ unique Fullsound technology uses the CinemaOne’s DSP to restore the emotion, warmth and dynamics to compressed MP3 music tracks.