Pioneer Electronics of Canada recently announced the release of several new products in Pioneer's Elite brand of consumer electronics. The Elite brand represents Pioneer's flagship line of products.

     Wading into the high end, full function receiver wars is the VSX-49TX. Featuring 160 watts on each of its seven channels the VSX-49TX also features the latest in surround processing including THX Ultra2 Processing and Certification, Dolby Digital and THX Surround EX Decoding, DTS, DTs 96/24 and DTS-ES Decoding. Digital hardware specs are also impressive, with Burr-Brown 192kHz/24-bit digital-analog converters throughout. The VSX-49TX retails for $5499.00 in Canada.

     The DVR-7000 is a feature packed DVD-RW player and recorder, capable of recording video onto DVD-R and DVD-RW discs. It will also play traditional CDs and DVDs and includes a 181 channel cable television tuner. The DVR-7000 also features progressive scan video output and 96/24 internal digital to analog converters. It will retail for $2999.00 in Canada.

     The big ticket item in the new product release is the PRO-1000, 50" plasma display. Featuring full high definition and UXGA resolution - 16:9 (1280 x 768p), 4:3 (1024 x 768p). The Pro-1000 will up-convert any signal to 768 progressive and it also features 5 step adjustable colour temperature. Input options and flexibility are extensive, and ought to be for $27,999.

   Those looking for a high def display without the price tag vertigo there are three new rear projection sets in the Elite line, the PRO-520 - 53", PRO-620 - 58", and PRO-720 - 64". All are 16:9 with 1080i and 480p capabilities with over 1200 lines of available resolution. Prices are as follows: PRO-520 $ 8,499 PRO-620 $ 9,499 PRO-720 $10,499.