LATEST ADDITIONS

In the United States, the government's traditional stance on big business has been to accommodate independent distributors whenever possible. The policy has long been seen as a way of encouraging competition and preventing the growth of monopolies; automakers don't operate their own dealerships, and cable providers typically don't produce their own programming. In general, you can't own the "pipes" and the "water," too.

In a low-key rollout last week, <A HREF="http://www.hd.net">HDNet</A>, which bills itself as "the world's only all-high definition national television network", went live on DirecTV channel 199 with a broadcast of the Minnesota Twins at Texas Rangers. HDNet, with offices in Dallas and Denver, says that this is the first of 15 Major League Baseball games it intends to air throughout the month.

The <A HREF="http://www.fcc.gov">Federal Communications Commission</A> (FCC) is considering forming a "task force" to tackle the botched rollout of digital television, according to reports from Washington in late August and early September.

The annual CEDIA show is the scene for the launch of many new home theater products. On September 10, Hitachi announced a high-definition rear projection monitor, the 55DMX01W, which uses Texas Instruments' Digital Light Processing (DLP)device as a light source. The 55"-diagonal high-definition set has a 16:9 screen and what Hitachi calls an "exclusive 10-element high contrast wide-angle lens system and high-resolution screen. Every component has been engineered to faithfully reproduce accurate images."