LATEST ADDITIONS

Lexicon RT-10 Universal Disc Player
Steven Stone  |  Feb 29, 2004

One of the many reasons for home theaters' vexing complexity stems from the 5-inch discs that contain the vast majority of program material. Few players are made to handle the new, mutually incompatible formats of DVD-Audio and SACD along with DVD-Video and conventional CD. You can't expect an unsophisticated user to know what discs will and won't work in a particular player. The solution is simple: Short of a PB&J sandwich, a home-theater disc player should be able to handle anything loaded into its tray. A universal player is a necessary and fundamental building block of an ergonomically friendly home theater.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
The Adventures of Indiana Jones
Thomas J. Norton  |  Feb 29, 2004

<B><I>Raiders of the Lost Ark</I></B>
<BR>
<I>Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, Ronald Lacey, John Rhys-Davies, Denholm Elliot. 115 minutes. 1981. PG.</I>
<BR>
<I>Picture</I> ***
<BR>
<I>Sound</I> ** 1/2
<BR>
<I>Film</I> *** 1/2

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Audio Video News
TiVo Series2
HT Staff  |  Feb 29, 2004
TV fans that can't get enough should flock to the new TiVo Series2 DVR.
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Audio Video News
The Stars of the Battlestar
Chris Chiarella  |  Feb 27, 2004
Once more into the breach with Richard Hatch and Dirk Benedict.

Richard Hatch and Dirk Benedict helped make Sunday nights a lot more interesting in the autumn of 1978, starring as the best-in-fleet space pilots Captain and Apollo Lieutenant Starbuck in the science fiction series Battlestar Galactica. Upon the release of a lavish new DVD set of the TV show's first and only season, not coincidentally on the eve of the premiere of The SCI FI Channel's reinvented Galactica mini-series, the two gentlemen traveled back in time with Home Theater Magazine.

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Audio Video News
Latest Software Reviews
HT Staff  |  Feb 27, 2004
DVD: Time Bandits DiViMax Special Edition—Anchor Bay
Audio: 2
Video: 3
Extras: 4
This is the third DVD release of Terry Gilliam's 1981 fantasy about a British schoolboy and his adventures with a motley band of time-traveling thieves, assorted historical figures (including John Cleese as Robin Hood and Sean Connery as Agamemnon), a tech-obsessed Evil, and a not-so-wrathful Supreme Being. Anchor Bay's release includes several special features not previously available on disc. There's a funny and revealing interview with Gilliam and co-writer Michael Palin about the production of the film, an AFI-produced documentary on Gilliam's filmography (up to 1998's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas), and a DVD-ROM copy of the screenplay. The specials are well done, but a commentary track would have been a welcome addition. A 1999 Criterion release includes such a track from Gilliam, Palin, Cleese, and others.
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Audio Video News
Coming Attractions
HT Staff  |  Feb 27, 2004
Niles Audio
Looking for a sexy touchscreen to finish off that custom install? Niles' new IntelliPad TS-1 Ci touchscreen keypad uses the latest LCD touchscreen technology for a new level of elegance and control convenience, the company says. Use the TS-1 with Niles' multizone systems to distribute audio and video to destinations within your home. The hard keys are backlit, and your favorite function keys, which give you one-touch access to your favorite radio stations and satellite channels, are clearly labeled. The TS-1 features both manual and PC programming using the free software. With the white faceplate, the unit measures 5.19 inches wide by 4.5 high. The TS-1 will cost you $550.
Niles
(305) 238-4373
www.nilesaudio.com
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Other Tech
The Download Challenge
Michael Antonoff  |  Feb 26, 2004

Napster is dead. Long live Napster 2.0. Out of the battle between the recording industry and the illegal peer-to-peer file-sharing services has emerged a new generation of legal online services that's rapidly changing the way people buy music.

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Audio Video News
LA Video Editing Classes
HT Staff  |  Feb 25, 2004  |  First Published: Feb 26, 2004
Video enthusiasts both amateur and professional will be able to hone their editing and production skills through a series of classes to take place at Creative Computers, 1505 Wilshire Blvd. in Santa Monica, CA, during the months of February, March, and April.

Hosted by DVDcreators.net, all courses will be taught by Larry Jordan, a well-known Final Cut Pro (FCP) expert and one of only a few instructors in the world certified by Apple to teach advanced FCP classes. All workshops (except the free preview) are completely hands-on, according to an announcement released in mid-February. All students will have their own Power Macintosh G5 workstations for the duration of the workshop.

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Audio Video News
Sony KDL-42XBR950
HT Staff  |  Feb 24, 2004  |  First Published: Feb 25, 2004
Feeling the pressure from Sharp and Samsung, Sony Electronics has introduced what it describes as "the world's largest integrated high-definition flat-panel LCD television."
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Audio Video News
ClearPix2 Projection Screens
HT Staff  |  Feb 24, 2004  |  First Published: Feb 25, 2004
Many home theater experts contend that the proper place for a center channel speaker is directly behind the screen, as in a commercial theater. Such arrangements require perforated screens that are acoustically transparent but visually reflective, an arrangement that can wreak havoc with some fixed-pixel projectors. Annoying moire patterns can result from the relationship between a projector's image elements and the holes in a perforated screen.
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