Sherwood America SD-871 Universal DVD Player

Sherwood America showed off two new Universal CD/DVD players both capable of full playback of DVD-A and SACD discs. The new models, the Newcastle SD-860 and the Newcastle SD-871 mark Sherwood's first foray into players that support DVD-Audio and SACD.

According to Jeffrey Hipps, Sherwood's Sr. VP for Marketing and Product Planning, "Both models feature the superb construction and high performance that is now synonymous with our Newcastle line." As proof, Hipps notes that both feature, "three year parts and labor warranties." >

Both models boast comprehensive software playback capability. The disc types supported include: SACD, DVD-A, DVD-V, CD, DVD +/- R/RW, CD-R/RW, MP-3, JPEG, Kodak Picture CD, WMA, WMV, and DivX. And both support Sherwood's proprietary DigiLink III communictions protocol which eases consumer use by allowing interconnected Sherwood components to respond automatically to commands made to other components in the system. For example, pressing play on the DVD player will turn on a DigiLink III receiver and autmatically select its DVD input.

The SD-860 inlcudes support for progressive scan playback, Pure Audio mode that turns off all video processing and Pure Black mode that allows the user to choose between black levels of 7.5 or 0 IRE. The Sherwood Newcastle SD-860 has an MSRP of $499.95 and will be available in March, 2005.

The Newcastle SD-871 steps beyond the SD-860 by adding Faroudja DCDI processing, HDMI output including 720p and 1080i upconversion, 216 MHz Video DAC's, dual Component video output with RCA and BNC connectors and RS-232C control.

The Newcastle SD-871 has an MSRP of $799.95 and will be available in May, 2005.