OTHER TECH

GalleryPlayer high-def art DVD $25 each galleryplayer.com A flat-panel TV makes a nice addition to any room, but when you're not watching movies or TV, it just hangs on the wall looking blank. Why not use it to display art? GalleryPlayer's new DVD collection features works by Monet, Leonardo da Vinci, and significant American artists who painted in Paris during the late 19th century. There's also a DVD with lush pictures of great destinations - everywhere from Iceland to the Amalfi Coast.

The DVD images are crisp and have been formatted for widescreen TVs without stretching the original pictures.

The Dolby 2.0 music tracks sound clear and range from classical-lite staples such as Debussy to all-out Muzak. (Okay, you might want to just leave the audio off ...)

Art education isn't the point of these discs, but each one features documentation of the individual artists and paintings, just in case you get curious.

GalleryPlayer is obviously playing it safe with these initial releases. The Monet disc, for instance, is sure to be crowd-pleaser, but I'd prefer to see some Pop Art on my plasma.

At $25 each, these DVDs make an affordable gift for a flat-TV owner on your list. - Al Griffin

Sirius Conductor tuner with remote $150 sirius.com Satellite radio has satisfied that metadata jones - the need to know at all times what artist and song are playing. But until now, you've either needed a high-end audio distribution system with video touchpanels in every room or have had to sit and stare at the receiver's small LCD display with a pair of binoculars to enjoy that metadata from your preferred listening spot. The Sirius Conductor offers an incredibly affordable solution.

Installation couldn't be easier. The Conductor consists of a tuner and a remote. Plug the antenna into the tuner, connect the AC power adapter, activate your Sirius subscription, press the reset button on the tuner to pair it with your remote, and you're ready to rock!

You can enjoy all that song and artist info from the comfort of your easy chair, bed, or hot tub because the feedback is displayed right on the remote's LCD screen. Signals are transmitted wirelessly. While operating range is listed at an optimistic 150 feet, my real-world results were closer to 50. When in range, the remote tells you what's playing, even letting you browse ahead and see what's on other stations before making a channel change - a feature I love.

Sirius partnered with Universal Electronics (UEI), makers of the One For All and Nevo SL remotes, to build the Conductor universal. It's fully backlit and can handle up to 12 components.

Feeding Sirius to both your home theater rig and your multiroom audio system is a breeze since the tuner includes both analog and optical digital outputs.

Not satisfied with one stream of Sirius? Add a Sirius Connect home kit ($50) to enjoy independent control and metadata feedback from your Conductor remote. - John Sciacca