V INC. You gotta love value, and V Inc.'s offering of a 46-inch plasma display for only $3,999 represents a value indeed. The Visio P4 display has a native resolution of 852:480, and it's compatible with 480p, 720p, and 1080i HD formats. It comes with an integrated 181-channel NTSC/PAL tuner, an attractive stand, and a fanless cooling system, which should provide you with nice, quiet viewing. The Visio P4 offers a good compliment of video inputs, including RGB, component, S-video, and composite, as well as a DVI connection. You'll also enjoy this 16:9 plasma's motion-adaptive deinterlacing, 3:2-pulldown recognition, and four adjustable aspect ratios. There's not much that the Visio P4 doesn't have on board, except, of course, a hefty price tag. V Inc. (714) 962-4848 www.vinc.us
DVD: Gunfight at the O.K. Corral—Paramount Video: 2 Audio: 2 Extras: 1 This 1957 version of the famous gunfight that pitted Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday against the Clanton gang rides on the performances of its stars, Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas. The pair's grudging respect for each other, their relationships with women, and the events that lead to the conflagration at Tombstone (which occupies about six minutes of the 122-minute running time) is at the core of this film, which meanders like a lazy creek in a dusty town. The film doesn't age well, primarily because it seems so cliche-ridden today. Viewers should remind themselves that this movie actually invented many of the Old West cliches we take for granted now, such as the outlaw firing shots at the saloon piano player to inspire him to play.
Photos by Tony Cordoza Just when you thought you had mastered the intricacies of video connectivity-having sorted out composite video, S-video, and the two flavors of component video (interlaced and progressive-scan)-V Inc.'s Bravo D1 comes along to make life complicated again.
High-definition programming will expand substantially this year, with the addition of up to three new full-time HD channels from pay-per-view-provider iN Demand. The announcement from the New York-based company was made April 28 by CEO Steve Brenner.
Thomas J. Norton listens to the <A HREF="http://www.guidetohometheater.com/showarchives.cgi?111">NHT Evolution T6 Tower surround speaker system</A>, which mates the M6 4-driver unit with the B6 subwoofer. TJN also reviews the company's A1 monoblock amplifer and X1 active crossover to determine how well NHT's unique approach to home theater surround works.
FCC feet to the fire: The Bush administration will hold the Federal Communications Commission to an early June deadline for rewriting regulations for media ownership. The changes will likely lift most remaining restrictions on control of radio and television stations in single markets, as well as throughout the nation.
<A HREF="http://www.dts.com">Digital Theater Systems Inc</A> hopes to get a financial boost through an initial public offering of stock to take place later this year.
Lowell/Edwards It's pretty. It's functional. It's Lowell/Edwards' Asymmetric Wall Unit. This elegant unit manages an entire A/V system. The central section is a matte-black-lacquered cabinet that houses all of your components, and you can add drawers to the 36-inch-high granite countertop to hold remotes, software, or whatever you like. The right section of the unit features a platform that can accommodate up to a 32-inch-diagonal display and swivels 180 degrees. Other nice perks are handsome display shelves, cherry-veneer pocket doors that open to reveal a dry bar, and space for three small monitors to suspend from the lower of the two horizontal top panels. This simply beautiful wall unit retails for $12,500. Lowell/Edwards (212) 980-2862 www.lowelledwards.com