A/V Veteran

The pieces are rapidly falling onto place for Home Entertainment 2006, to be held from June 2 to June 4 at the Sheraton Gateway hotel in Los Angeles. It's the first time that this annual event has been held in the City of Angels since 1998—far too long a wait for those living here. If you're coming from out of town and plan to fly in, the hotel is located just a short shuttle ride from the airport. Even short enough to walk, if you aren't weighed down with baggage.

In the past, the show has catered heavily to the 2-channel audiophile. That continues to be the case (it began as the Stereophile show, and many still refer to it as such), but there should still be plenty of audio-video demonstrations to keep us home theater fans happy. For one thing, Sony will be a major exhibitor, and if they aren't featuring Blu-ray prominently with the launch of that format just weeks away, well, that would be a story.

Toshiba won't be there; they will still be recovering from their annual dealer/press line show, which I'm attending this week and will report on soon in our news section. But I'd be shocked if there aren't a few exhibitors sporting HD DVD players in their suites. If you're demonstrating home theater video and audio, it's a no brainer.

I'm taking bets (OK not really) on what will prove to be the hot HD DVD demo of the show. My money (it's legal to bet with myself) is on either Serenity or the launch scene from Apollo 13. Dj vu all over again.

On the other hand, maybe it will be the aria "Think of Me" from early in Phantom of the Opera. There's no action sprinkled in with the music, but it still sounds great. A new Diva scene, at last, with a far better looking Diva, as well!

On the other hand (I have three) we might even have to endure the (Blue) Diva scene. The Fifth Element will be one of the first Blu-ray discs. Would anyone be surprised if Sony brought that to the show?