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 On Wednesday, Sony launched the STR-DA5200ES home theater receiver. Receiver launch announcements don't do much for me until I can hear it live or see the all the connections on the back panel. But, the most interesting thing about this receiver is its on-screen menus. Home theater receiver on-screen menus are generally the worst interfaces in entertainment technology. Sony's top-end receiver, however, takes a new approach. It borrows from the Sony PSP gaming handheld. While still not stylized, the result is a more intuitive interface that provides a logical tiered scrolling setup with better on-screen explanations for most menu options.
I really hope this trickles down to their complete receiver line. Other manufacturers take note -- we do care about interface. The STR-DA5200ES (rolls right off the tongue, doesn't it) also has many other nice features including full HD (1080p) output capability with upscaling from all video inputs. This means that composite, S-video, and non-1080p component video will be scaled to full HD at 1920x1080. Your older gaming machines, DVD players, VCRs, etc., will look a lot better because the built-in Faroudja DCDi scaler will reduce the jaggies. Estimated MSRP of $1500 with October availability. The photo of the menu system in this link shows both the receiver menu and a DVD menu. So that the Sony on-screen menus are easier to see, we have modified the image to highlight the Sony receiver on-screen menus and to minimize the DVD menu.
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