Audio Video News

FCC commissioner Michael Copps has promised to look into dozens of complaints that have flooded his office in the wake of promotional spots for the November 15 airing of <I>The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show</I> on the Walt Disney Company-owned ABC television network.

Last week, <A HREF="http://www.magisnetworks.com">Magis Networks</A>, which develops <A HREF="http://www.80211-planet.com/">802.11a</A> wireless chipsets, announced it will offer what it is calling the world's first live demonstration of a wireless 5GHz network capable of transmitting HDTV. The company says that its chipsets enable wireless communications of TCP/IP data, high-quality video, and audio throughout the home and office. Magis adds the demonstration will be featured at the upcoming Western Cable Show, November 28&#150:30, in Anaheim, CA.

We ran a <A HREF="http://www.guidetohometheater.com/showvote.cgi?219">poll</A> on the Website a couple of weeks back, asking <I>Guide</I> readers what tops their holiday wish-lists for home theater equipment. Predictably, HDTV was a top contender, with DVD players and other components making the cut.

There are a variety of reasons you might want to watch a DVD while listening through a pair of headphones: You're on a plane, you need to be quiet while others sleep/work, or you've got a portable DVD player and no decent sound system to hook it up to. But there's also one big reason you wouldn't want to use headphones: no surround sound.

Recordable DVD has been struggling through a swamp of obstacles, from movie studio restrictions preventing DVD back-ups of movies to expensive, hard-to-find DVD recorders. Computer-based systems offer a popular alternative to pricey stand-alone units, but the real barrier to consumer acceptance of a recordable DVD format is likely the multitude of competing approaches fighting for domination: DVD-RAM, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, and DVD+RW.