Blu-ray was able to beat HD DVD early this year to become the HD format champion. After it won the format wars many hoped that the price for Blu-ray players would become more affordable. So far that price drop hasn’t really materialized.

According to ABI Research, the Blu-ray price drop may finally be here. ABI says that prices for Blu-ray players this holiday season could be as low as $150 to $200. Amazon has a Samsung Blu-ray player for $200 that includes four Blu-ray movies with it. According to ABI Blu-ray hardware makers need to reduce prices to gain the momentum needed to penetrate the market further.

Blu-ray finally killed off the HD DVD format early this year meaning that many were expecting to see Blu-ray players drop in price quickly. That didn’t really materialize with Blu-ray players staying at levels about the same as before HD DVD died. At least one Blu-ray player has finally come down into the reach of most consumers.

Sherwood has announced a new Blu-ray player called the BDP-5003 that retails for $299.95 and offers upscaling, 1080p resolution and video playback at both 60Hz and 24Hz. The player is fully compatible with HDMI 1.3 and supports Dolby TruHD and DTS-Master Audio HD.

We had the opportunity to check out the Epson MovieMate 55 all-in-one projector, which offers a high-quality projector, a CD/DVD player and stereo speakers in a portable unit. Epson’s goal with the MovieMate 55 seems to be to offer consumers an affordable, easy and convenient home entertainment console that goes anywhere. Did they succeed? Read on.

This may not be the most portable home theater ever, but it conveniently keeps all of your devices in one spot so they can be stored away out of sight. The Pinel Pinel Movie Trunk boasts a Bang & Olufsen Beolab 6000 subwoofer, Two Beolab 3 speakers, BeoVision 6-26 TV and a DVD1 DVD/CD player.

You can choose from 51 flavors of different leathers, all with nickel plated brass hardware, and you even have three drawers for you to store your DVDs. Up to four dozen DVDs. No word on price yet, but I think most of us love the idea, but would want a larger TV at the expense of portability.

I remember trying to get my wife to agree to let me put 5.1 surround sound in our living room when we bought our first house. She was of the opinion that two small speaker wires running along the bottom of the wall would be the first thing other women would see when they walked in the house. I was of the opinion that she was crazy, but as is the way of women, she won out — for a while.

Thankfully, guys can preempt the old “wires are ugly” argument when they tell the wife or significant other that they want a surround sound system in the living room thanks to JBL. The new JBL WEM-1 Wireless Expansion module will turn wired loudspeakers into wireless units. The JBL system uses a receiver and amplifier unit with 50W of power.

Epson announced their latest addition to the MovieMate line up, the MovieMate 55. The 55 model will have the same WVGA (854 x 480) resolution as the 50 model, but with a brighter 1200 ANSI lumens. The MovieMate 55 will also have a built-in DVD player inside the projector, which will play standard DVDs and CDs. If you want HD quality you can connect an external player.

It’s able to display an image up to 150 inches, diagonally, from a projection distance of less than 15 feet, making it an ideal portable to take movie night with you wherever you go. It also sports 8 watt stereo speakers with Dolby 5.1 Digital DTS technology for the best sound possible. The MovieMate 55 is already available for purchase on the Epson website and will retail for $699.

Today we got a chance to go hands-on with the DSM-330 DivX Connected HD Media Player that D-Link debuted last month. This media player is a handy piece of wireless-capable hardware that bridges the gap between your computer and your TV bringing your downloaded digital media into the living room at up to 720p, and in our tests it did so with ease.

Samsung has done a rather unique spin on the whole sound bar in front of the flat panel thing, unveiling the other day a sound bar which doubles as a self-contained DVD system. It is called the Samsung HT-X810 and pricing is said to be around $700.

The Samsung HT-X810 is, according to Samsung, a virtual 5.1-channel system which incorporates an upconverting DVD player and FM tuner. It makes use of 5.8 GHz technology to connect with the included wireless subwoofer and also incorporates Bluetooth so one can stream from Bluetooth-enabled mobile devices and home theater components.

Samsung is kicking out another home theater in a box system which sports an included Blu-ray Disc player. This one is called the Samsung HT-BD2E and pricing will be at around $800.

The Samsung HT-BD2E, which will be available in August, joins two similar systems Samsung already offers. This particular system reportedly offers the same quality features as the others while also offering a more “user friendly” 5.1-channel design. It includes your four typical statellite speakers, a center channel and a passive subwoofer.

Do you feel like you already have the ultimate geek home theater room? What might take it beyond that, you ask? How about your own ticket booth? If charging your guests to see a movie at your house sounds like a nice way to finance the monthly payments on your setup, Bass Industries has a couple of ticket booths you’ll want to check out.

Two ticket booths seem to make the current Bass line up - a regular and a deluxe model. The regular one includes an illuminated header, optional curtain background image and is available in a variety of finishes and curtain colors. The deluxe model adds to this, it seems, by just looking more classy.

Onkyo yesterday made some new product annoucements associated with mid-year releases. These new products include two mid-price home theater receivers and two packaged home theater systems. The Onkyo TX-SR706 receiver is now available around $900.  HT-S7100 and HT-S6100 systems are also currently available around $900 and $800 respectively. The TX-SR806 will price around $1,100, and it will be shipping in mid August.

Highlights of this new gear include both receivers being THX certified and including the new THX Loudness Plus audio processing technology for improved low-volume-level listening and the home theater systems being seven-channel. You can get full details after the jump.

Most of us know thanks to the gobs of press and TV commercials that early in 2009 most broadcasters are switching to all digital broadcasts as mandated by the FCC. The switch means that TV watchers without cable, satellite or new digital ready TVs will need a converter box to keep watching TV.

Sears announced today that it would be carrying the Dish Network DTVPal converter box in all of its stores across the country. Dish says that its converter box is the only one with nationwide customer care and service. The box also features an electronic program guide and a remote that can control the TV volume for users.

During the summer several local parks in my area have movies that you can watch outside for free. If the idea of movies outside appeals to you; but you don’t want to have to sit around watching with a bunch of stinky, sweaty strangers Open Air has exactly what you need with its new backyard home theater kits.

The kit is called the CineBox Home and comes with everything you need for showing movies in your backyard. Options for either a 10-foot or 12-foot inflatable screen are available. In addition to the screen the kits also include the other gear you need to get started.

Is your room configured to handle 1080p video footage streaming over a network? Then you’ll like the Aztech WL850MS Wireless Multimedia Streamer. It’s got some specs that make it different: 802.11n Wi-Fi technology, Multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) antennas for extra coverage, 2.4/5GHz dual-band capability.

It will be less prone to interference from cordless phones, bluetooth and the like with the dual-band capability. It will cost you about $263 for the WL850MS transmitter/receiver kit.

Here’s a way to satisfy your Stargate fetish if you happen to have lots of spare change in your pocket. A guy by the name of Andrew Caldwell worked with a home theater outfit called Visual Concepts and others to build a Stargate-themed home theater room. Sweet!

The centerpiece of the theater is the 10-foot diameter “Stargate” screen, according to CE Pro. The ceiling sports a dome with “a sky mural and twinkling stars” and there’s even air-piston doors which open at a hand swipe as well as replications of the wall panels from Atlantis.