Audio Video News

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Audio Video News
Evolve Communications Introduces "Guide Remote"
HT Staff  |  Aug 16, 2001  | 
Are you frustrated by the lack of information available through your onscreen program guides? Or bothered by the visual intrusions they create? Evolve Communications has the solution for you.
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Audio Video News
Zenith Drops Price on Biggest Plasma HDTV
HT Staff  |  Aug 16, 2001  | 
In a tactic intended to keep its top-level products moving in a sluggish economy, Zenith Electronics Corporation has announced a significant price reduction on its high-definition f 60-inch Plasma Display Panel (PDP), the DPDP60W. Originally announced at a suggested retail of $27,999, the PDP will actually debut at $24,999, according to a mid-August press release.
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Audio Video News
Panasonic Gets Real with $2.1K HD Rear Projector
HT Staff  |  Aug 16, 2001  | 
The entry fee to widescreen high-def video keeps dropping, thanks to companies like Panasonic. On August 8, the electronics giant raised the stakes in the HDTV race by introducing the PT-47WX49, its new 47-inch, 16:9 widescreen high-definition rear-projection monitor, at a suggested retail price of $2,099.95.
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Audio Video News
In the Line of Fire On DVD
Gary Frisch  |  Aug 12, 2001  | 

<I>Clint Eastwood, John Malkovich, Rene Russo, Dylan McDermott. Directed by Wolfgang Petersen. Aspect ratio: 2.35:1 (anamorphic). Dolby Digital 5.1. 127 minutes. 1993. Columbia TriStar Home Video 52317. R. $29.95.</I>

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Audio Video News
The HDTV Internet?
Jon Iverson  |  Aug 12, 2001  | 

Last week, <A HREF="http://www.2netFX.com">2netFX</A> reported that its ThunderCastIP technology was used successfully in a recent HDTV-over-IP live demonstration conducted by the government's NASA Research and Education Network (NREN). ThunderCastIP is a multicast server for high-definition video streaming over ordinary IP-based networks; it was also <A HREF="http://www.guidetohometheater.com/shownews.cgi?968">used last March</A> to send HDTV from Hawaii to California.

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Audio Video News
TI Announces New 16:9 DLP Chip
 |  Aug 12, 2001  | 

<A HREF="http://www.ti.com">Texas Instruments</A> continues to push the envelope of high definition video. On August 8, the Dallas-based technology company announced a new version of its HD-1 Digital Micromirror Device (DMD). The semiconductor chip is the heart of TI's Digital Light Processing (DLP) technology, considered by many to be the best choice for creating high-quality images.

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Audio Video News
Superbit DVDs Coming
Jon Iverson  |  Aug 12, 2001  | 

Is there still some video quality to be wrung out of the DVD format? Will you buy yet another version of <I>The Fifth Element</I> on DVD? <A HREF="http://www.cthe.com">Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment</A> (CTHE) thinks so, announcing last week the launch of "The Superbit Collection," slated for release starting October 9. CTHE says that the Superbit titles will utilize a special high^#150;bit-rate digital encoding process which "optimizes video quality" while offering a choice of both DTS and Dolby Digital 5.1 audio.

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Audio Video News
EchoStar in Merger Talks with GM
Barry Willis  |  Aug 12, 2001  | 

Direct broadcast satellite service <A HREF="http://www.echostar.com">EchoStar</A> is serious about acquiring <A HREF="http://www.directv.com">DirecTV</A>, its larger competitor, by acquiring Hughes Electronics, a subsidiary of General Motors. Hughes operates DirecTV. On August 5, EchoStar announced that it had proposed an all-stock transaction valuing Hughes at $32 billion based on EchoStar's stock closing price on August 3.

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Audio Video News
Philips Unveils DVD Recorder
HT Staff  |  Aug 08, 2001  | 
The veritable VCR is headed for obsolescence. Not neccessarily today nor tomorrow, but eventually. Its departure will be hastened by digital devices like Philips' new DVDR1000, a DVD recorder that made its official bow in June at the IFA 2001 Consumer Electronics show in Berlin.
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Audio Video News
Mordaunt-Short Speakers Round Out Marantz HT Lineup
HT Staff  |  Aug 08, 2001  | 
Is your enthusiasm for home theater bigger than your available space? Love great sound but hate stacks of amplifiers? Check out Mordaunt-Short's new Declaration Series System 500 THX select home theater speaker system. The legendary British loudspeaker maker has recently returned to the US with several high-performance lines.
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Audio Video News
DirecTV to Offer Broadband Services
 |  Aug 05, 2001  | 

Satellite television subscribers will soon be able to take advantage of a new satellite-based Internet service being rolled out by two subsidiaries of <A HREF="http://www.hughes.com"> Hughes Electronics Corporation</A>.

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Audio Video News
Ben-Hur On DVD
Thomas J. Norton  |  Aug 05, 2001  | 

<I>Charlton Heston, Jack Hawkins, Haya Harareet, Stephen Boyd, Hugh Griffith, Martha Scott, Cathy O'Donnell, Sam Jaffe. Directed by William Wyler. Aspect ratio: 2.76:1 (anamorphic). Dolby Digital 5.1 (English), Dolby Surround 2.0 (English, French). 212 minutes. 1959. Warner Home Video 65506. G. $24.95</I>

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Audio Video News
First of Many DTVs?
Jon Iverson  |  Aug 05, 2001  | 

According to new consumer research, more than 95% of digital television (DTV) owners would purchase a DTV set again. That overwhelmingly definitive stamp of approval for DTV was presented last week to conference attendees struggling with HDTV's rollout at the <A HREF="http://www.ce.org">Consumer Electronics Association</A>'s (CEA) DTV Summit, "Is Laissez-Faire Fair?" in Washington, DC.

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Audio Video News
Blockbuster Plan Rankles Studios
 |  Aug 05, 2001  | 

The world's largest video rental chain wants to renegotiate its video supply agreements with Hollywood film studios. In late June, <A HREF="http://www.blockbuster.com">Blockbuster Inc.</A> chairman John Antioco announced to Wall Street analysts that his company is reassessing its distribution deals with the studios&mdash;including possibly letting some deals lapse when renewal time comes.

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Audio Video News
College Football HDTV
 |  Aug 05, 2001  | 

Last week, <A HREF="http://www.samsung.com">Samsung</A>, <A HREF="http://www.sears.com">Sears</A>, and <A HREF="http://www.cbs.com">CBS Television</A> announced a partnership that will allow fans to watch a full season of college football games in HDTV. The agreement marks the first time a full season of college football will be broadcast in HDTV, as well as the first time a retailer, broadcaster, and manufacturer have joined forces to jointly promote HDTV usage.

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