OTHER TECH

With the new deck running smoothly, I was amazed at how good the high-def image from the D-Theater demo tape looked on my widescreen rear-projection HDTV. In a close-up shot of incense sticks, I could see the fine powdery grains covering their surfaces. And the range of subtle hues in a sequence from Utah's Monument Valley made it seem breathtakingly real.

In addition to delivering pristine 1080i (interlaced) images and 5.1-channel Dolby Digital sound, JVC says, the deck can also record and play 720p (progressive) high-def signals as well as convert between the two formats. It also had no problems playing high-def tapes I made on other D-VHS recorders, either recently on Mitsubishi's HD2000U or two years ago on Panasonic's PVHD1000. The only difference I noted was that when I scanned forward or back through the D-Theater titles JVC sent me, I saw a progression of images, whereas only a static image appeared onscreen when I scanned through the other D-VHS tapes.

With the HM-DH30000 digital VCR, JVC has brought VHS technology into the age of high-definition. But that begs the question of whether there's room for a tape-based medium now that we've become so accustomed to the pleasures of optical discs. JVC's HM-DH30000 VCR is an exceptional component, and I was very impressed with its recording quality. But until HDTV tuners with FireWire ports become more widely available, it's hard to give it an unqualified recommendation. And as far as using the deck to watch movies on prerecorded D-Theater tapes goes, that's an idea that may eventually fly if there are enough titles - and enough people willing to lay out $2,000 for a VCR. In the meantime, I'll be saving up for a high-def DVD recorder.

JVC, Dept. S&V, 1700 Valley Rd., Wayne, NJ 07470; www.jvc.com; 800-526-5308

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