Audio Video News

Last week, <A HREF="http://www.timewarnercable.com">Time Warner Cable</A> said that it has successfully tested distribution of a high-definition TV feed from Home Box Office and will soon begin delivering it in the upgraded areas of its Tampa, Florida cable operation using equipment from <A HREF="http://www.sciatl.com">Scientific-Atlanta, Inc.</A> According to Time Warner, this marks the first time HBO's HDTV signal has been made available to cable customers using a form of signal-modulation technology known as QAM, which allows two HDTV channels to be delivered in the same bandwidth needed for one off-air HDTV channel.

While the music industry reels from the explosion of freely traded music on the Internet, the looming possibility of a video equivalent has made Hollywood extremely interested in a small startup company in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. <A HREF="http://www.sightsound.com/">Sightsound.com</A>, as it was named by partners Authur Hair and Scott Sander, has what appears to be a secure patent on technology for digitally downloading movies over the Internet.

Direct broadcast satellite (DBS) television service might soon gain a competitive edge against cable, thanks to broadcasting-reform legislation passed by the US House of Representatives on Tuesday, April 26. The bill, which won near-unanimous approval in a vote of 422 to 1, lifts restrictions on the transmission of local television signals by satellite services, which is one of the primary advantages held by cable companies. Representative Robert Brady (D-PA) cast the sole dissenting vote. So-called "local-into-local" retransmissions are banned by the <A HREF="http://www.fcc.gov/">Federal Communications Commission</A>, whose arcane regulations have been upheld by Federal judges, as happened in Miami last month in a <A HREF="http://www.guidetohometheater.com/shownews.cgi?392">case</A> brought by major networks against <A HREF="http://www.directv.com/">DirecTV</A>.

Last week, <A HREF="http://www.westaim.com">Westaim Advanced Display Technologies Inc.</A> announced that it has unveiled a flat-panel display with 2 million colors using Solid State Display (SSD) technology. The company says the 5" high-contrast, full-color prototype display has a TV-like viewing angle and full motion video that is 20 times faster than the liquid-crystal display technology.

TV fans "will never have to miss another minute of their favorite shows," said Larry Chapman, executive vice president of <A HREF="http://www.directv.com/">DirecTV</A>, in announcing his company's investment in <A HREF="http://www.tivo.com/">TiVo Inc</A>. The direct-broadcast satellite (DBS) provider has bought a 10% interest in TiVo as part of its campaign to expand its line of services.

Last week, <A HREF="http://www.plasmavision.com">Fujitsu</A> announced a price reduction that brings their Plasmavision 42 below $10,000. According to the company, this move makes the technology more accessible for both corporate customers and home-theater enthusiasts. The new suggested list price will be $9995 for the PDS 4203, which was first introduced in January 1998 for $10,999.

J<I>ames Donald, Andrew Keir, Barbara Shelley, Julian Glover. Directed by Roy Ward Baker. Aspect ratio: 1.66:1 (letterbox). Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround/5.1. 98 minutes. 1967. Anchor Bay DV 10505. Rated PG. $29.95.</I>