OTHER TECH

Everybody's had the experience of being breathlessly told some fantastic tale of woe as if it were gospel truth. And the victim is usually that elusive "friend of a friend" - the one who died after his stomach exploded from combining Pop Rocks and Coke, or who woke up one kidney shy in a bathtub full of ice in Mexico.

Well, the audio/video world is no stranger to urban legends, though they tend to be less macabre. They usually pop up around the introduction of some new technology, they can often be traced back to a "trusted friend" or "knowledgeable salesperson," and their retelling often begins with the classic "I heard (or read) somewhere that . . . ." One that circulated in the audiophile community several years ago claimed that your CDs would sound better if you drew lines around their edges with a Magic Marker. Not just any marker, mind you - it had to be green. You might have come across some of these "improved" discs in secondhand CD stores.

Here's our pick of the top half-dozen legends currently making the rounds - with the truth behind their misguided fictions. Chances are you've heard one or more of them, but maybe you've never heard the real story.

1. The gas leaks out of plasma TVs, so you have to get them refilled every couple of years. 2. You're not seeing the whole image when you watch the letterboxed version of a DVD. 3. THX sounds better than Dolby Digital or DTS surround. 4. HDTVs can only show high-def programming, so there's no reason to buy one if you only watch regular TV. 5. My system isn't working correctly because there's nothing comig out of the surround speakers. 6. All TVs are adjusted for the best possible picture right out of the box.