Sony’s new upper-end STR-DAV5200ES receiver revolutionizes the user interface with remarkable new on-screen graphics and control. The “Cross Media Bar� concept, used in the forthcoming Play Station 3 gaming platform, overlays a series of easily understandable icons on top of the picture. In the too-short demo I saw, the user scrolls through large-type menus, with each menu item accompanied by simply explanatory text. Although this doesn’t sound much different from today’s on-screen displays, the new Sony’s graphic user interface is radically different, and may set the bar for ease of use.

The STR-DAV5200ES is more than a potentially great user interface. The unit sports 120Wpc (x7), three HDMI inputs, multizone audio and video, and an advanced new video processing chip from Faroudja called Cortez. The user can scale any source to 1080p (as well as480i/p, 720p, 1080i). The Cortez is reportedly incorporates significant improvements over the company’s previous (and highly acclaimed) video-processing chips. MSRP is $1499.

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