At the end of 2001 several variations of the BeoVision Avant were on offer – the BeoVision Avant 28 with and without VCR, and BeoVision Avant 32 with VCR or DVD player built in as standard. Then from March 2002, the BeoVision Avant 28 DVD was introduced to join its larger-screened brother.
BeoVision Avant encourages you to lose yourself in a sound and picture experience – and not in the technology. That’s why Bang & Olufsen hang the 16:9 Real Flat wide-screen on its own smooth wall and conceal everything else behind it – including a set of speakers that will outpace the average hi-fi and a video recorder that tunes itself automatically.
You could choose a built-in DVD player or video tape recorder and from a range of five colours. There was also the option of a simplified 66cm version – the BeoVision Avant CTV – with no integrated entertainment source.
Features
Watching movies should be about simple entertainment, not complicated technology. That’s why the Avant is available with its own built-in DVD or video recorder. Its presence is only given away by a discreet lid on the front. All cables are hidden in the back of the set.
To ensure even greater viewing comfort, the Avant has its own motorised stand that turns effortlessly through a 70 degree arc. You can program it to turn automatically towards your favourite viewing chair, or use the Beo4 to turn it in the opposite direction. When you switch the Avant off again, it returns silently to its original position in line with your furniture.
A red LED display on top of the cabinet gives you a discreet status of the source you are viewing, without intruding on the picture. It also shows the volume status when you adjust the volume level, and other information related to recording, Dolby Surround and so on. On the back of the display is a hidden push button panel for the most frequently used controls.
The Beo4 remote control is used to access all the various functions of video-playback and recording, menus, tuning, text-television, picture optimisation, sound properties and so on. Beo4 is designed for user-friendly and ergonomical operation with one hand. The buttons in a star-shape for search, ultra-sharp still-picture, super slow-motion, programme shift and fast forward can be controlled by your thumb only, you don’t even have to move your eyes.
Beo4 also controls all the latest B&O audio systems as well – it’s the key to complete home entertainment!
A discreet display on the upper right hand corner of the Avant lets you know what source is playing and a small control panel placed behind it offers hands-on control of all basic functions.
The sound quality of the active loudspeakers can compete with any modern audio system. When the herd of horses approaches your seat from within the widescreen, you can feel the tremble of the horses’ hooves – so powerful is the bass. And as a video-master in a Beolink® system, Avant can distribute sound and vision all over your home – just as it can play the music from your audio system in its speakers.
The Perfect Illusion
Press a key on the Beo4 remote and the electronic curtain glides aside to reveal a perfect picture. A theatrical gimmick or another technological leap forward? Actually, a bit of both! In the short reaction time before the curtain glides aside, a comprehensive circuit adjusts contrast levels, brilliance and colour to the prevailing light conditions in the room, ensuring the optimum picture reproduction every time.
An anti-reflective coating on the picture tube, as well as on the contrast screen is provided to eliminate reflections from windows, carpets and furniture. If you watch television during the day you’ve probably experienced the glare and reflections caused by direct sunshine. To minimise the problem, the Avant’s picture tube and contrast screen have been given a special anti-reflection coating that reduces reflections by up to 99%.
Home Cinema
There was a time when watching a movie on TV was a poor imitation of the real thing. But not anymore! BeoVision Avant brings the movies directly into your living room with a smooth, true-to-life picture and totally convincing sound.
BeoLab 2 completes this ultimate surround setup and – together with the other four active loudspeakers – allows you to make the most out of the advanced sound opportunities offered by the Avant’s built-in Dolby® Digital* module.
Colours
BeoVision Avant comes as one integrated unit. All you have to do is to plug in the mains and the antenna and you’re ready to watch. There are no other visible cords, allowing the Avant to be viewed from all sides – so it does not have to be set up in a corner or next to a wall. It fits nicely into any kind on home, thanks to the range of many available cabinet colours: pearly blue, pearly black, pearly red, pearly green and silver.
When the system is turned off, it turns back to its original position, the sound fades away and the curtains glide in front of the screen. Just like being in your own private small-screen cinema!
Features of the two Avant DVD models: Set-Top Box Controller module and Anti-Reflex coated Contrast Screen fitted as standard. All other modules are optional.
Motorised stand
The motorised stand of the Avant is rigorously tested. It’s built to be able to turn through an arc of 70° at least 20,000 times. If the TV was turned on and off 5 times a day, the motorised stand should perform flawlessly for more than ten years. In its tests, B&O stopped after 80,000 turns. A painted iron base plate, an aluminium top plate which carries the entire weight, with the actual turning mechanism of a 36 ball bearing race between them is how the stand is made up. Tests such as dropping it several centimetres directly onto the rim of the bottom plate ensure that the stand has many years of life in front of it.
*Dolby Digital is a trademark of Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation
TV isn’t just something you watch, it’s something you experience. That’s why BeoVision Avant makes a big deal about giving you the best in audio-visual entertainment. The BeoVision Avant was created as a video system, but during its design, the idea came up of making the television a picture on the wall. This has been achieved by deceiving the eye: this is a familiar ploy in the very best of designs.
The BeoVision Avant gives you a television that acts like a picture on the wall: a wall you personally position in the room. It has a built-in video which is invisible to the viewer. Everything is operated via the Beo4 remote control. You have full control from the best seat in the living room, and the television turns towards the viewer using the motorised base.
BeoVision Avant – designed by David Lewis – was a totally new concept from Bang & Olufsen and was introduced in 1995. This video system is completely integrated holding a widescreen television, a hi-fi stereo VCR and a couple of active speakers in its attractive-looking cabinet. It was also the first wide-screen TV from Bang & Olufsen ever. Although by the end of the twentieth-century widescreen TVs were taking more and more market share, most TVs still used the 4:3 format. When Bang & Olufsen started planning for this model they originally envisaged to use the same technology then currently used in the MX series but along the way they decided to develop a completely new chassis. This new chassis is much more advanced.
The Avant is also a very environment-friendly TV using a lot of recycled material as well being recyclable itself at the end of its serviceable life. The set can also be expanded with several add-ons. For example: picture-in-picture (PIP), satellite receiver and Dolby Pro-Logic or Dolby Digital decoder. The Avant is the pathway to the future of video systems; a whole new concept of the most advanced video system from Bang & Olufsen to date.
The widescreen format 16:9 picture tube is used for the first time in the BeoVision Avant. This created conflict between designer David Lewis and Bang & Olufsen’s technicians, as the designer could not see the point of it. A new picture tube that could not be filled by the TV picture. Where randomly placed grey stripes on the picture tube were a part of the framing of the picture most of the time. The technicians did not think it could be their fault. Wide format 16:9 was an attempt to consolidate a whole industry around a new market standard. The designer’s talk of trimming and stretching the picture to fill out the frame was, in their eyes, simply distortion. There was no ideal solution to the dilemma.
Together they had to find the solution that would work best in practice. It was not possible to fill the 16:9 format with a 4:3 TV picture. The necessary trimming and stretching annoyed the eye too much. On the other hand, wide format had a lower limit. In the eyes of designer David Lewis, that lower limit lay in the 14:9 format. The technicians struggled to implement the format with as little distortion as possible. They also checked to see whether designer David Lewis would notice the difference if the format was a little bit smaller. Just a few millimetres smaller on the longer element! But David Lewis saw it straight away. There was a distinct limit in the eye’s perception of the transition to wide format, and it lay at 14:9.
Finally, they managed to come up with a method that could handle the problem satisfactorily in practice. A method that has subsequently been further developed to implement the 15:9 format that is close to the aesthetic ideal: the golden rectangle. Programmes recorded and distributed in 16:9 are the ideal way of filling the wide format, but the range is still limited. Bang & Olufsen’s wide-format TV offers a practical solution to filling the screen with ordinary TV and video programmes. It was created by trained eyes.
TOP TIP
Information valid for:
BeoVision Avant 50 HZ MK I MK II
Intermittent jamming of cassettes during eject; VTR fails
Symptom: Intermittent jamming of certain types of cassettes in the tape mechanism during eject.
Cause: An edge of the cassette or a misfitted label, etc. may catch the lower part of the cassette lid and prevent the cassette from being ejected.
Solution: Replace the cassette lid by the new type, which is fitted with two small round knobs on the lower part of the lid.
To avoid colour differences the lid is supplied together with side panels and the small triangle (BeoVision Avant TV, service manual pos. 9016).
This solution is implemented in the production as from Avant serial number 12159658 (week 38 of 1996)
Its standard features were: VisionClear Technology and multi-format picture. It houses a 16:9 widescreen television with automatic picture adaptation, which means that every broadcast, no matter where it originates, is automatically shown with the optimum reproduction, from news reports in standard format, to movies in widescreen.
BeoVision Avant features the same functions as Beosystem AV 9000. When you turn it on, first it turns on its motorised stand toward your favourite watching-place. Then comes the sound, produced by four active loudspeakers hidden directly underneath the widescreen, while behind the black curtain the picture adapts to its format and to the lighting conditions in the room, before the curtains glide aside and reveal a perfect picture.
BeoVision Avant encourages you to lose yourself in a sound and picture experience – and not in the technology. That’s why we hang the 16:9 Real Flat wide-screen on its own smooth wall and conceal everything else behind it – including a set of speakers that will outpace the average hi-fi and a video recorder that tunes itself automatically.
You can choose a built-in DVD player or video tape recorder and from a range of five colours. There’s also the option of a simplified 66cm version with no integrated entertainment source.
Design
Close your eyes and imagine the perfect TV. Open them again and take a look at BeoVision Avant. It’s a widescreen TV that’s easy to understand, effortless to use and always a pleasure to watch.
Though a widescreen TV is never going to be small in size, it doesn’t mean that it has to dominate its surroundings. The Avant has a subtle presence and comes in a range of colours that allow it to compliment any environment in which it’s placed.
At Bang & Olufsen, it is taken for granted that when you watch TV, you want to concentrate on the experience rather than on the technology. That’s why the Real Flat screen is ‘hung’ on its own “wall” with everything else concealed behind.
Widescreen
The picture quality provided by the Avant is as close to the real thing as you can get. Its smooth Real Flat widescreen provides the perfect format for movie watching – and together with the exceptional sound creates a spatial illusion that’s second to none.
Switch on the Avant and it automatically adjusts any broadcast to the optimal widescreen picture – no matter what format it was produced in. News and sports broadcasts are expanded from the traditional 4:3 format into 15:9, while movies shot in widescreen are reproduced in a 16:9 format that’s as close to the original cinema version as you can get. And, if you don’t like the picture as it is, you can easily change to another format with the Beo4 remote control.
BeoVision Avant models:
BeoVision Avant 100Hz MK III (832x)
BeoVision Avant 100Hz MK I MK II (830x)
BeoVision Avant 28 DVD (834X)
BeoVision Avant 32 MK II MK III (842x)
BeoVision Avant 32 DVD (844X)
BeoVision Avant 50Hz MK III MK IV (810x)
BeoVision Avant 50Hz MK I MK II (81xx)
BeoVision Avant CTV (836x)
BeoVision Avant RF 28 (833x)
BeoVision Avant RF 28 CTV (837x)
BeoVision Avant RF 32 (843x)
BeoVision Avant US (8490)
Features
Watching movies should be about simple entertainment, not complicated technology. That’s why the Avant is available with its own built-in DVD player or video recorder. Its presence is only given away by a discreet lid on the front. All cables are hidden in the back of the set.
To ensure even greater viewing comfort, the Avant has its own motorised stand that turns effortlessly through a 70 degree arc. You can program it to turn automatically towards your favourite viewing chair, or use the Beo4 to turn it in the opposite direction. When you switch the Avant off again, it returns silently to its original position in line with your furniture.
A red LED display on top of the cabinet gives you a discreet status of the source you are viewing, without intruding on the picture. It also shows the volume status when you adjust the volume level, and other information related to recording, Dolby Surround and so on. On the back of the display is a hidden push button panel for the most frequently used controls.
The Beo4 remote control is used to access all the various functions of video-playback and recording, menus, tuning, text-television, picture optimisation, sound properties and so on. Beo4 is designed for user-friendly and ergonomical operation with one hand. The buttons in a star-shape for search, ultra-sharp still-picture, super slow-motion, programme shift and fast forward can be controlled by your thumb only, you don’t even have to move your eyes. Beo4 also controls all the latest B&O audio systems as well – it’s the key to complete home entertainment!
A discreet display on the upper right hand corner of the Avant lets you know what source is playing and a small control panel placed behind it offers hands-on control of all basic functions.
This television became the basis for renewed efforts in the US television market which has been overall successful.
Let the show commence!
It has been said that ‘Bang & Olufsen’s products are enchanting’ ! And the magic, the good idea, often comes into being in the course of finding a solution to some practical problem. The practical problem here was that there was a short time lag between pressing the button and a picture appearing on the screen. So you would sit and wait expectantly for a little while. The experience of waiting reminded designer David Lewis of a theatre before the curtain went up! Behind the curtain, preparations are being made for the performance.
The lighting and sound are adjusted and the actors take their places. The curtain only goes up when everything is ready. The first television to have a curtain was the BeoVision AV 9000. The curtain was a thin steel sheet that was slid to one side by a clever mechanism when the stage was set. Bang & Olufsen’s wide-format television, the BeoVision Avant, is equipped with an electronic curtain. From the moment you press the button until the curtain slides away, the technology is busily working unnoticed. No pop from the loudspeakers, no random flash of light from the screen. Only when the sound is ready and the picture is in place can the performance begin.
VCR
Underneath the loudspeakers is the access to the VCR. The Avant incorporates the same video-technology as the V8000 systems, namely a stereo VCR that can play back recordings of all standards. The video machine has, naturally, record indexing and it can show the elapsed or remaining time of any cassette being played. Dolby Surround is an option, and when installed, Avant can take the place of the AV9000 video system. Another option is a PIP-module (Picture-In-Picture).
Sound
The perfect picture deserves a sound to match and that’s exactly what the Avant offers. A pair of specially developed loudspeaker units – capable of outperforming many traditional hi-fi setups – are discreetly placed below the screen and offer an exceptional sound performance that will enhance the best action-movie or concert footage.
The BeoVision Avant features a built-in Dolby® Digital* module that lets you bring the cinema directly into your living room. With a pair of loudspeakers from Bang & Olufsen’s BeoLab range positioned at either side of the TV and two more placed at the rear, you can put yourself in the middle of a surround sound experience that’s second to none.
The sound quality of the active loudspeakers can compete with any modern audio system. When the herd of horses approaches your seat from within the widescreen, you can feel the tremble of the horses’ hooves – so powerful is the bass. And as a video-master in a Beolink system, Avant can distribute sound and vision all over your home – just as it can play the music from your audio system in its speakers.
The Perfect Illusion
Press a key on the Beo4 remote and the electronic curtain glides aside to reveal a perfect picture. A theatrical gimmick or another technological leap forward? Actually, a bit of both! In the short reaction time before the curtain glides aside, a comprehensive circuit adjusts contrast levels, brilliance and colour to the prevailing light conditions in the room, ensuring the optimum picture reproduction every time.
An anti-reflective coating on the picture tube, as well as on the contrast screen is provided to eliminate reflections from windows, carpets and furniture. If you watch television during the day you’ve probably experienced the glare and reflections caused by direct sunshine. To minimise the problem, the Avant’s picture tube and contrast screen have been given a special anti-reflection coating that reduces reflections by up to 99%.
Home Cinema
There was a time when watching a movie on TV was a poor imitation of the real thing. But not anymore! BeoVision Avant brings the movies directly into your living room with a smooth, true-to-life picture and totally convincing sound.
BeoLab 2 completes this ultimate surround setup and – together with the other four active loudspeakers – allows you to make the most out of the advanced sound opportunities offered by the Avant’s built-in Dolby® Digital* module.
Colours
BeoVision Avant comes as one integrated unit. All you have to do is to plug in the mains and the antenna and you’re ready to watch. There are no other visible cords, allowing the Avant to be viewed from all sides – so it does not have to be set up in a corner or next to a wall. It fits nicely into any kind on home, thanks to the range of many available cabinet colours: pearly blue, pearly black, pearly red, pearly green and silver.
When the system is turned off, it turns back to its original position, the sound fades away and the curtains glide in front of the screen. Just like being in your own private small-screen cinema!
Wax & fix
The weight of the Avant’s widescreen picture tube called for new thinking in terms of construction. High density fibre board turned out to be as solid a solution as it is environmentally healthy. To disguise its low tech appearance, it is treated to a high quality two-component lacquer of the same type as is used at the upper end of the car industry. It will not scratch easily, but should this happen, a minor scratch can be polished away using liquid silicone car wax.
*Dolby Digital is a trademark of Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation
At the end of 2001 several variations of the BeoVision Avant were on offer – the BeoVision Avant 28 with and without VCR, and BeoVision Avant 32 with VCR or DVD player built in as standard. Then from March 2002, the BeoVision Avant 28 DVD was introduced to join its larger-screened brother.
BeoVision Avant encourages you to lose yourself in a sound and picture experience – and not in the technology. That’s why Bang & Olufsen hang the 16:9 Real Flat wide-screen on its own smooth wall and conceal everything else behind it – including a set of speakers that will outpace the average hi-fi and a video recorder that tunes itself automatically.
You could choose a built-in DVD player or video tape recorder and from a range of five colours. There was also the option of a simplified 66cm version – the BeoVision Avant CTV – with no integrated entertainment source.
Features
Watching movies should be about simple entertainment, not complicated technology. That’s why the Avant is available with its own built-in DVD or video recorder. Its presence is only given away by a discreet lid on the front. All cables are hidden in the back of the set.
To ensure even greater viewing comfort, the Avant has its own motorised stand that turns effortlessly through a 70 degree arc. You can program it to turn automatically towards your favourite viewing chair, or use the Beo4 to turn it in the opposite direction. When you switch the Avant off again, it returns silently to its original position in line with your furniture.
A red LED display on top of the cabinet gives you a discreet status of the source you are viewing, without intruding on the picture. It also shows the volume status when you adjust the volume level, and other information related to recording, Dolby Surround and so on. On the back of the display is a hidden push button panel for the most frequently used controls.
The Beo4 remote control is used to access all the various functions of video-playback and recording, menus, tuning, text-television, picture optimisation, sound properties and so on. Beo4 is designed for user-friendly and ergonomical operation with one hand. The buttons in a star-shape for search, ultra-sharp still-picture, super slow-motion, programme shift and fast forward can be controlled by your thumb only, you don’t even have to move your eyes.
Beo4 also controls all the latest B&O audio systems as well – it’s the key to complete home entertainment!
A discreet display on the upper right hand corner of the Avant lets you know what source is playing and a small control panel placed behind it offers hands-on control of all basic functions.
The sound quality of the active loudspeakers can compete with any modern audio system. When the herd of horses approaches your seat from within the widescreen, you can feel the tremble of the horses’ hooves – so powerful is the bass. And as a video-master in a Beolink® system, Avant can distribute sound and vision all over your home – just as it can play the music from your audio system in its speakers.
The Perfect Illusion
Press a key on the Beo4 remote and the electronic curtain glides aside to reveal a perfect picture. A theatrical gimmick or another technological leap forward? Actually, a bit of both! In the short reaction time before the curtain glides aside, a comprehensive circuit adjusts contrast levels, brilliance and colour to the prevailing light conditions in the room, ensuring the optimum picture reproduction every time.
An anti-reflective coating on the picture tube, as well as on the contrast screen is provided to eliminate reflections from windows, carpets and furniture. If you watch television during the day you’ve probably experienced the glare and reflections caused by direct sunshine. To minimise the problem, the Avant’s picture tube and contrast screen have been given a special anti-reflection coating that reduces reflections by up to 99%.
Home Cinema
There was a time when watching a movie on TV was a poor imitation of the real thing. But not anymore! BeoVision Avant brings the movies directly into your living room with a smooth, true-to-life picture and totally convincing sound.
BeoLab 2 completes this ultimate surround setup and – together with the other four active loudspeakers – allows you to make the most out of the advanced sound opportunities offered by the Avant’s built-in Dolby® Digital* module.
Colours
BeoVision Avant comes as one integrated unit. All you have to do is to plug in the mains and the antenna and you’re ready to watch. There are no other visible cords, allowing the Avant to be viewed from all sides – so it does not have to be set up in a corner or next to a wall. It fits nicely into any kind on home, thanks to the range of many available cabinet colours: pearly blue, pearly black, pearly red, pearly green and silver.
When the system is turned off, it turns back to its original position, the sound fades away and the curtains glide in front of the screen. Just like being in your own private small-screen cinema!
Features of the two Avant DVD models: Set-Top Box Controller module and Anti-Reflex coated Contrast Screen fitted as standard. All other modules are optional.
Motorised stand
The motorised stand of the Avant is rigorously tested. It’s built to be able to turn through an arc of 70° at least 20,000 times. If the TV was turned on and off 5 times a day, the motorised stand should perform flawlessly for more than ten years. In its tests, B&O stopped after 80,000 turns. A painted iron base plate, an aluminium top plate which carries the entire weight, with the actual turning mechanism of a 36 ball bearing race between them is how the stand is made up. Tests such as dropping it several centimetres directly onto the rim of the bottom plate ensure that the stand has many years of life in front of it.
*Dolby Digital is a trademark of Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation
Everything is operated from the remote control and you have full control from the best seat in the living room
TV isn’t just something you watch, it’s something you experience. That’s why BeoVision Avant makes a big deal about giving you the best in audio-visual entertainment. The BeoVision Avant was created as a video system, but during its design, the idea came up of making the television a picture on the wall. This has been achieved by deceiving the eye: this is a familiar ploy in the very best of designs. The BeoVision Avant gives you a television that acts like a picture on the wall: a wall you personally position in the room. It has a built-in video which is invisible to the viewer. Everything is operated via the Beo4 remote control. You have full control from the best seat in the living room, and the television turns towards the viewer using the motorised base.
BeoVision Avant
Designed by David Lewis – was a totally new concept from Bang & Olufsen and was introduced in 1995. This video system is completely integrated holding a widescreen television, a hi-fi stereo VCR and a couple of active speakers in its attractive-looking cabinet. It was also the first wide-screen TV from Bang & Olufsen ever. Although by the end of the twentieth-century widescreen TVs were taking more and more market share, most TVs still used the 4:3 format. When Bang & Olufsen started planning for this model they originally envisaged to use the same technology then currently used in the MX series but along the way they decided to develop a completely new chassis. This new chassis is much more advanced.
The Avant is also a very environment-friendly TV using a lot of recycled material as well being recyclable itself at the end of its serviceable life. The set can also be expanded with several add-ons. For example: picture-in-picture (PIP), satellite receiver and Dolby Pro-Logic or Dolby Digital decoder. The Avant is the pathway to the future of video systems; a whole new concept of the most advanced video system from Bang & Olufsen to date.
The widescreen format 16:9 picture tube is used for the first time in the BeoVision Avant. This created conflict between designer David Lewis and Bang & Olufsen’s technicians, as the designer could not see the point of it. A new picture tube that could not be filled by the TV picture. Where randomly placed grey stripes on the picture tube were a part of the framing of the picture most of the time. The technicians did not think it could be their fault. Wide format 16:9 was an attempt to consolidate a whole industry around a new market standard. The designer’s talk of trimming and stretching the picture to fill out the frame was, in their eyes, simply distortion. There was no ideal solution to the dilemma.
Together they had to find the solution that would work best in practice. It was not possible to fill the 16:9 format with a 4:3 TV picture. The necessary trimming and stretching annoyed the eye too much. On the other hand, wide format had a lower limit. In the eyes of designer David Lewis, that lower limit lay in the 14:9 format. The technicians struggled to implement the format with as little distortion as possible. They also checked to see whether designer David Lewis would notice the difference if the format was a little bit smaller. Just a few millimetres smaller on the longer element! But David Lewis saw it straight away.
There was a distinct limit in the eye’s perception of the transition to wide format, and it lay at 14:9. Finally, they managed to come up with a method that could handle the problem satisfactorily in practice. A method that has subsequently been further developed to implement the 15:9 format that is close to the aesthetic ideal: the golden rectangle. Programmes recorded and distributed in 16:9 are the ideal way of filling the wide format, but the range is still limited. Bang & Olufsen’s wide-format TV offers a practical solution to filling the screen with ordinary TV and video programmes. It was created by trained eyes.
TOP TIP
Information valid for:
BeoVision Avant 50 HZ MK I MK II
Intermittent jamming of cassettes during eject; VTR fails
Symptom: Intermittent jamming of certain types of cassettes in the tape mechanism during eject.
Cause: An edge of the cassette or a misfitted label, etc. may catch the lower part of the cassette lid and prevent the cassette from being ejected.
Solution: Replace the cassette lid by the new type, which is fitted with two small round knobs on the lower part of the lid.
This solution is implemented in the production as from Avant serial number 12159658 (week 38 of 1996)
Its standard features were: VisionClear Technology and multi-format picture. It houses a 16:9 widescreen television with automatic picture adaptation, which means that every broadcast, no matter where it originates, is automatically shown with the optimum reproduction, from news reports in standard format, to movies in widescreen.
BeoVision Avant features the same functions as Beosystem AV 9000. When you turn it on, first it turns on its motorised stand toward your favourite watching-place. Then comes the sound, produced by four active loudspeakers hidden directly underneath the widescreen, while behind the black curtain the picture adapts to its format and to the lighting conditions in the room, before the curtains glide aside and reveal a perfect picture.
BeoVision Avant encourages you to lose yourself in a sound and picture experience – and not in the technology. That’s why we hang the 16:9 Real Flat wide-screen on its own smooth wall and conceal everything else behind it – including a set of speakers that will outpace the average hi-fi and a video recorder that tunes itself automatically.
You can choose a built-in DVD player or video tape recorder and from a range of five colours. There’s also the option of a simplified 66cm version with no integrated entertainment source.
Design
Close your eyes and imagine the perfect TV. Open them again and take a look at BeoVision Avant. It’s a widescreen TV that’s easy to understand, effortless to use and always a pleasure to watch.
Though a widescreen TV is never going to be small in size, it doesn’t mean that it has to dominate its surroundings. The Avant has a subtle presence and comes in a range of colours that allow it to compliment any environment in which it’s placed.
At Bang & Olufsen, it is taken for granted that when you watch TV, you want to concentrate on the experience rather than on the technology. That’s why the Real Flat screen is ‘hung’ on its own “wall” with everything else concealed behind.
Widescreen
The picture quality provided by the Avant is as close to the real thing as you can get. Its smooth Real Flat widescreen provides the perfect format for movie watching – and together with the exceptional sound creates a spatial illusion that’s second to none.
Switch on the Avant and it automatically adjusts any broadcast to the optimal widescreen picture – no matter what format it was produced in. News and sports broadcasts are expanded from the traditional 4:3 format into 15:9, while movies shot in widescreen are reproduced in a 16:9 format that’s as close to the original cinema version as you can get. And, if you don’t like the picture as it is, you can easily change to another format with the Beo4 remote control.
BeoVision Avant models:
BeoVision Avant 100Hz MK III (832x)
BeoVision Avant 100Hz MK I MK II (830x)
BeoVision Avant 28 DVD (834X)
BeoVision Avant 32 MK II MK III (842x)
BeoVision Avant 32 DVD (844X)
BeoVision Avant 50Hz MK III MK IV (810x)
BeoVision Avant 50Hz MK I MK II (81xx)
BeoVision Avant CTV (836x)
BeoVision Avant RF 28 (833x)
BeoVision Avant RF 28 CTV (837x)
BeoVision Avant RF 32 (843x)
BeoVision Avant US (8490)
Features
Watching movies should be about simple entertainment, not complicated technology. That’s why the Avant is available with its own built-in DVD player or video recorder. Its presence is only given away by a discreet lid on the front. All cables are hidden in the back of the set.
To ensure even greater viewing comfort, the Avant has its own motorised stand that turns effortlessly through a 70 degree arc. You can program it to turn automatically towards your favourite viewing chair, or use the Beo4 to turn it in the opposite direction. When you switch the Avant off again, it returns silently to its original position in line with your furniture.
A red LED display on top of the cabinet gives you a discreet status of the source you are viewing, without intruding on the picture. It also shows the volume status when you adjust the volume level, and other information related to recording, Dolby Surround and so on. On the back of the display is a hidden push button panel for the most frequently used controls.
The Beo4 remote control is used to access all the various functions of video-playback and recording, menus, tuning, text-television, picture optimisation, sound properties and so on. Beo4 is designed for user-friendly and ergonomical operation with one hand. The buttons in a star-shape for search, ultra-sharp still-picture, super slow-motion, programme shift and fast forward can be controlled by your thumb only, you don’t even have to move your eyes. Beo4 also controls all the latest B&O audio systems as well – it’s the key to complete home entertainment!
A discreet display on the upper right hand corner of the Avant lets you know what source is playing and a small control panel placed behind it offers hands-on control of all basic functions.
This television became the basis for renewed efforts in the US television market which has been overall successful.
Let the show commence!
It has been said that ‘Bang & Olufsen’s products are enchanting’ ! And the magic, the good idea, often comes into being in the course of finding a solution to some practical problem. The practical problem here was that there was a short time lag between pressing the button and a picture appearing on the screen. So you would sit and wait expectantly for a little while. The experience of waiting reminded designer David Lewis of a theatre before the curtain went up! Behind the curtain, preparations are being made for the performance. The lighting and sound are adjusted and the actors take their places. The curtain only goes up when everything is ready.
The first television to have a curtain was the BeoVision AV 9000. The curtain was a thin steel sheet that was slid to one side by a clever mechanism when the stage was set. Bang & Olufsen’s wide-format television, the BeoVision Avant, is equipped with an electronic curtain. From the moment you press the button until the curtain slides away, the technology is busily working unnoticed. No pop from the loudspeakers, no random flash of light from the screen. Only when the sound is ready and the picture is in place can the performance begin.
VCR
Underneath the loudspeakers is the access to the VCR. The Avant incorporates the same video-technology as the V8000 systems, namely a stereo VCR that can play back recordings of all standards. The video machine has, naturally, record indexing and it can show the elapsed or remaining time of any cassette being played. Dolby Surround is an option, and when installed, Avant can take the place of the AV9000 video system. Another option is a PIP-module (Picture-In-Picture)
Sound
The perfect picture deserves a sound to match and that’s exactly what the Avant offers. A pair of specially developed loudspeaker units – capable of outperforming many traditional hi-fi setups – are discreetly placed below the screen and offer an exceptional sound performance that will enhance the best action-movie or concert footage.
The BeoVision Avant features a built-in Dolby® Digital* module that lets you bring the cinema directly into your living room. With a pair of loudspeakers from Bang & Olufsen’s BeoLab range positioned at either side of the TV and two more placed at the rear, you can put yourself in the middle of a surround sound experience that’s second to none.
The sound quality of the active loudspeakers can compete with any modern audio system. When the herd of horses approaches your seat from within the widescreen, you can feel the tremble of the horses’ hooves – so powerful is the bass. And as a video-master in a Beolink system, Avant can distribute sound and vision all over your home – just as it can play the music from your audio system in its speakers.
The Perfect Illusion
Press a key on the Beo4 remote and the electronic curtain glides aside to reveal a perfect picture. A theatrical gimmick or another technological leap forward? Actually, a bit of both! In the short reaction time before the curtain glides aside, a comprehensive circuit adjusts contrast levels, brilliance and colour to the prevailing light conditions in the room, ensuring the optimum picture reproduction every time.
An anti-reflective coating on the picture tube, as well as on the contrast screen is provided to eliminate reflections from windows, carpets and furniture. If you watch television during the day you’ve probably experienced the glare and reflections caused by direct sunshine. To minimise the problem, the Avant’s picture tube and contrast screen have been given a special anti-reflection coating that reduces reflections by up to 99%.
Home Cinema
There was a time when watching a movie on TV was a poor imitation of the real thing. But not anymore! BeoVision Avant brings the movies directly into your living room with a smooth, true-to-life picture and totally convincing sound.
BeoLab 2 completes this ultimate surround setup and – together with the other four active loudspeakers – allows you to make the most out of the advanced sound opportunities offered by the Avant’s built-in Dolby® Digital* module.
Colours
BeoVision Avant comes as one integrated unit. All you have to do is to plug in the mains and the antenna and you’re ready to watch. There are no other visible cords, allowing the Avant to be viewed from all sides – so it does not have to be set up in a corner or next to a wall. It fits nicely into any kind on home, thanks to the range of many available cabinet colours: pearly blue, pearly black, pearly red, pearly green and silver.
When the system is turned off, it turns back to its original position, the sound fades away and the curtains glide in front of the screen. Just like being in your own private small-screen cinema!
Wax & fix
The weight of the Avant’s widescreen picture tube called for new thinking in terms of construction. High density fibre board turned out to be as solid a solution as it is environmentally healthy. To disguise its low tech appearance, it is treated to a high quality two-component lacquer of the same type as is used at the upper end of the car industry. It will not scratch easily, but should this happen, a minor scratch can be polished away using liquid silicone car wax.
*Dolby Digital is a trademark of Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation
An unforgettable fusion of Ultra High-Definition (4K) picture and iconic Bang & Olufsen sound, that unfolds before your very eyes.
Redefining TV sound
Precision tuned to Bang & Olufsen’s most exacting standard, BeoVision Avant redefines the audio impact a TV can deliver. The 3-channel speaker system harnesses three dedicated tweeters, three midrange units and
two powerful bass drivers. The result is a fusion of clarity and power that truly embodies Bang & Olufsen’s commitment to ultimate sound.
Contrasted imagery
BeoVision Avant combines local dimming across more than 8 million pixels, bringing out the tiniest details in the action. Experience the most extreme sports or action footage with crystal sharp, dynamic precision.
An unforgettable fusion of Ultra High-Definition (4K) picture and iconic Bang & Olufsen sound, that unfolds before your very eyes.
Redefining TV sound
Precision tuned to Bang & Olufsen’s most exacting standard, BeoVision Avant redefines the audio impact a TV can deliver. The 3-channel speaker system harnesses three dedicated tweeters, three midrange units and
two powerful bass drivers. The result is a fusion of clarity and power that truly embodies Bang & Olufsen’s commitment to ultimate sound.
Contrasted imagery
BeoVision Avant combines local dimming across more than 8 million pixels, bringing out the tiniest details in the action. Experience the most extreme sports or action footage with crystal sharp, dynamic precision.
Beovox Uni-Phase MS150 and M150 were Bang & Olufsen’s answer to the need for loudspeakers that could cope with greater dynamic range and increased demand for serious, no-gimmick sound reproduction.
They were B&O’s biggest and most perfected loudspeakers up to the time of their introduction, designed to reproduce sound with a natural, linear phase quality – even at very high sound pressure levels. Their power handling capacities were specified at 150 watts RMS. However, effective overload protection circuits enabled them to handle brief passages of music way above their ratings.
Both speakers reproduced all types of music – from the faintest to the loudest notes – with extreme accuracy and precision, without adding to or subtracting from the signals they received.
In addition, the MS150 was designed to reproduce a clean, powerful bass in a relatively large room. That is why it was fitted with a monitor quality sub-woofer and had a net volume of 64 litres. It reproduced the lowest of tones that any record, tape or FM broadcast could deliver. Apart from the sub-woofer, all other speaker drivers in both models were identical.
Behind this successful design lay a new acoustic technology, an integrated loudspeaker design which put Bang & Olufsen in control of all the parameters that affected the loudspeakers’ performance. That is, all, except the room acoustics in which they were situated.
The new technology was based upon the use of Fourier analysis, computer-aided design and simulation techniques and laser holography. It helped prove measuring, calculating and testing techniques and thereby led to better cross-over filters’ design, refinement of patented linear phase techniques, control cabinet resonances and the minimisation of diffractions caused by the cabinet’s traditionally sharp-edged profiles. There was also a redesigning of the necessary drivers in order to meet precise construction requirements and perform optimally.
A monitor quality sub-woofer, a 20cm bass unit and a 64 litre net cabinet secured clean, powerful, bass reproduction. The mid-range unit, a 7,5cm dome tweeter, was aperiodically tuned to secure the exact frequency response characteristic required, while the super tweeter ensured excellent high frequency response.
Beovox M150-2 featured a 3-unit configuration to ensure monitor-quality sound reproduction in the 38 – 22000 Hz frequency range. Power handling capacity was 150 watts RMS with overload protection on all drive units. The 7,5cm unit acted as a mid-range filler-driver to eliminate audible phase distortion, so the music was always crisp and well defined with individual instruments correctly ‘positioned’ in the musical landscape. Pedestals were included as standard equipment.
Beovox Uni-Phase MS150 and M150 were Bang & Olufsen’s answer to the need for loudspeakers that could cope with greater dynamic range and increased demand for serious, no-gimmick sound reproduction.
They were B&O’s biggest and most perfected loudspeakers up to the time of their introduction, designed to reproduce sound with a natural, linear phase quality – even at very high sound pressure levels. Their power handling capacities were specified at 150 watts RMS. However, effective overload protection circuits enabled them to handle brief passages of music way above their ratings.
Both speakers reproduced all types of music – from the faintest to the loudest notes – with extreme accuracy and precision, without adding to or subtracting from the signals they received.
In addition, the MS150 was designed to reproduce a clean, powerful bass in a relatively large room. That is why it was fitted with a monitor quality sub-woofer and had a net volume of 64 litres. It reproduced the lowest of tones that any record, tape or FM broadcast could deliver. Apart from the sub-woofer, all other speaker drivers in both models were identical.
Behind this successful design lay a new acoustic technology, an integrated loudspeaker design which put Bang & Olufsen in control of all the parameters that affected the loudspeakers’ performance. That is, all, except the room acoustics in which they were situated.
The new technology was based upon the use of Fourier analysis, computer-aided design and simulation techniques and laser holography. It helped prove measuring, calculating and testing techniques and thereby led to better cross-over filters’ design, refinement of patented linear phase techniques, control cabinet resonances and the minimisation of diffractions caused by the cabinet’s traditionally sharp-edged profiles. There was also a redesigning of the necessary drivers in order to meet precise construction requirements and perform optimally.
A monitor quality sub-woofer, a 20cm bass unit and a 64 litre net cabinet secured clean, powerful, bass reproduction. The mid-range unit, a 7,5cm dome tweeter, was aperiodically tuned to secure the exact frequency response characteristic required, while the super tweeter ensured excellent high frequency response.
Beovox M150-2 featured a 3-unit configuration to ensure monitor-quality sound reproduction in the 38 – 22000 Hz frequency range. Power handling capacity was 150 watts RMS with overload protection on all drive units. The 7,5cm unit acted as a mid-range filler-driver to eliminate audible phase distortion, so the music was always crisp and well defined with individual instruments correctly ‘positioned’ in the musical landscape. Pedestals were included as standard equipment.
Top of the range monitor speaker, these were much more like the Beovox S60 than the Beovox M75 that replaced them.
They were 4 way speakers with the tweeter and midrange level with each other and the Phase link and woofer below. They could be fitted with the dramatic trumpet stand and were the speakers specified for the Beosystem 6000.
Beovox Uni-Phase M100 and M75 were the top models in the 1979 – 1980 range of Bang & Olufsen speakers.
They reproduced sound with studio monitor quality, which, in practice meant that even at very high sound pressure levels (volume) they reproduced sound with constantly neutral, linear phase quality. They could also withstand hard-working conditions similar to those met in sound studios, because they were effectively protected against damage from overloading. Their power-handling capacities were specified at 100 and 75 watts RMS respectively; however, their unique overload protection circuits permitted them to handle music passages above these rated capacities.
Special emphasis was placed on Beovox M100’s ability to reproduce clean, powerful bass. That it why it was given a ported bass-reflex cabinet with a 30,5cm woofer. The cabinet’s volume was 89 litres. Bass response went down to 27Hz (measured at +/- 4 – 8 dB).
Beovox M75 had outstanding overall performance too, and was equally suitable for medium-sized or larger rooms. Both models had specially-designed pedestals which could be adjusted to the correct listening height and angle.
