LATEST ADDITIONS

Face Off: The Bridge on the River DTV
Chris Lewis  |  Jun 28, 2001  |  First Published: Jun 29, 2001
Five DTV-ready combatants from Sony, Panasonic, RCA, Samsung, and Princeton enter our steel cage.

Bridge technology. I almost hate to use the phrase, since it undoubtedly originated on the PowerBook of some Madison Avenue hack. Still, the phrase works so well because we need so much right now. One cannot dabble in technology these days without instantly becoming familiar with the concept of bridging. We don't have it quite as bad as our cohorts in the computer industry, but (whether we like it or not) the grand digital-television experiment has put us all squarely in the gap between the present and the future of video. Sure, you could resist, as so many of us have been tempted to do. But your trusty old television is going to look pretty funny in 2006, when all it coughs up are 500 channels of blank screen. I wouldn't hold out hope that the FCC will balk on their blackout deadline for the analog transmissions. Word is that the analog portion of the spectrum has already been whacked up amongst the bandwidth-hungry cellular companies, which are willing to pay for it. Pop quiz: Who do you think the FCC wants in that space five years from now—television broadcasters (who they've been berating for some time now about dragging their feet on the digital transition and who don't pay a penny for the space) or cellular companies that are going to swoop in, drop a lot of cash, and swoop out with their bandwidth . . . no muss, no fuss. The first person to answer right wins a free chance to buy a new TV (and some expanded cellular service, too).

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In-Wall Speaker Reviews
See No Evil, Hear No Evil
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Jun 28, 2001  |  First Published: Jun 29, 2001
A tasty sampler of in-wall speakers that let you enjoy intoxicating performance without any of the headaches.

I love chocolate. No, I lust for chocolate. I'm incapable of walking down a candy aisle without lingering to look at the tight foil wrappings and the seductively enticing labels with their bold promises of the sinfully rich pleasure within. Sometimes, I stop, unable to control myself, and furtively fondle a bar of this darkly ambrosial substance that the Aztecs quite correctly considered the food of the gods. Certain no one is looking, I'll even bring a wrapped bar, more precious than its weight in gold, to my nostrils for a fleeting, stolen whiff of its wondrous scent. My mouth begins to water. My body shudders with excitement—an embarrassing moment of weakness in my struggle to remain pure.

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AV Receiver Reviews
Integra DTR-9.1 A/V receiver
Chris Lewis  |  Jun 28, 2001  |  First Published: Jun 29, 2001
Integra's DTR-9.1 A/V receiver has a sound battle plan, thanks to its potent mix of high-end tricks and approachability.

In case you hadn't noticed over the last year, the high-end-receiver war is on. With this donnybrook comes a blurring of the formerly distinct line between the bottom end of the separates market and the high end of the receiver market. It used to be simple: If you had X amount of money or less to spend, you bought a receiver; if you had more in your budget, you bought separates. Now, the competition for home theater dollars in the $2,500-to-$4,000 price range has become fierce, not only between receivers and separates but also amongst receivers themselves.

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Seeing the Digital Light
Al Griffin  |  Jun 26, 2001

Television is something we all know and love -- sometimes without good reason. Critics routinely argue that shows like Temptation Island and WWF Smackdown! have pushed us several steps down the evolutionary ladder, but people still watch them. One thing that has evolved is the technology for displaying video images.

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Subway Series
Tom Nousaine  |  Jun 26, 2001

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Other Tech
Doing Superman Justice
Josef Krebs  |  Jun 26, 2001

Besides Superman, director Richard Donner's films include the Lethal Weapon series, Scrooged, and The Omen.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Souped-Up Superman
Josef Krebs  |  Jun 26, 2001

Be sure to read our uncut, web-exclusive interview with Richard Donner.

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New Products
New Products / June 2001
SV Staff  |  Jun 26, 2001

JVC

Prep for the future with JVC's RX-9010VBK digital surround receiver. Rated to deliver 120 watts to each of five channels, it has such forward-looking features as a front-panel USB port and an extended frequency response, rated from 7 Hz to 50 kHz ±3 dB, to handle the wider bandwidth of DVD-Audio.

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Audio Video News
Panamax Announces Max 5500 AC Regenerator
HT Staff  |  Jun 26, 2001
The quality of electrical power is often the limiting factor for high performance audio and video systems. Many manufacturers have attempted to address this limitation---caused in large part by electromagnetic interference (EMI) and radio frequency interference (RFI)---by designing and marketing surge protectors, AC line filters, uninterruptible power supplies, and various sorts of AC enhancers and generators. Many of these solutions are bulky, expensive, or only partially effective.
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Audio Video News
Myryad Processor Accepts DVD-A, SACD
HT Staff  |  Jun 26, 2001
The surround processor is the heart of every high-end home theater system. Good ones, like Myryad Systems' MDP500, have flexibility built in for unanticipated new formats.
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