Audio Video News

The final curtain has fallen for the financially troubled Vidikron, as the company's dissolution has been announced by its secured creditor, Markland Technologies. As <A HREF="http://www.guidetohometheater.com/shownews.cgi?490">reported</A> nearly three years ago, in August of 1999, Vidikron narrowly escaped bankruptcy at that time by arranging a line of credit and was then <A HREF="http://www.guidetohometheater.com/shownews.cgi?516">independantly financed</A> by a group of international investors one month later.

A surprise announcement from the nation's second-largest consumer electronics retailer may put the decline of videotape into hurry-up mode.

The video display market has been revolutionized in the last few years as plasma screens and video projectors have gained widespread acceptance. Smaller, lighter, and brighter projectors are translating into healthy market growth: Worldwide unit shipments are expected to reach 2.7 million in 2006, a 24.6% compound annual growth rate from 2002&ndash;2006, according to figures released by analyst <A HREF="http://www.idc.com">IDC</A>.

Size is definitely an advantage in commodity retailing. In an antitrust suit begun in mid-June, the7800-store chain <A HREF="http://www.blockbuster.com">Blockbuster, Inc.</A>&mdash;the world's largest video retailer&mdash;admitted that it has an advantage over its smaller competitors, but claimed no wrongdoing in the process of negotiating favorable revenue-sharing deals with Hollywood studios.

<A HREF="http://www.madrigal.com">Madrigal</A> has announced a new media console claimed "to establish new standards for connoisseurs of multichannel audio and video." If early publicity and its spec sheet are any indication, the $30,000 Mark Levinson No. 40 media console may, in fact, live up to the hype.