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Audio Video News
More D-VHS Films Announced
 |  Jul 28, 2002

If you're among the handful of home theater fans who have purchased JVC’s D-Theater videocassette machine, rejoice. On July 25, DreamWorks, Fox Home Entertainment, and Universal Studios announced the impending release of several new titles in the copy-protected ultra-high-resolution D-VHS format.

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Sony Grand Wega KF-60DX100 rear projection TV
Thomas J. Norton  |  Jul 28, 2002

The cathode-ray tube, or CRT, has been the mainstay of direct-view sets since Philo Farnsworth exclaimed, "Uncle Milty, come here, I need you!" And when projection television entered the scene, the trusty CRT stayed the course. While new technologies are beginning to make inroads on the market, virtually all of today's rear-projection sets still use three separate CRTs to produce an image. Despite its challengers, the CRT still provides the best combination of quality and affordability a consumer can get in a one-piece set. But CRT sets are complex, fussy, and, when used in the large screen sizes consumers now demand, massive. A typical 60-inch-diagonal RPTV can weigh 250 lbs and take up more space than a large refrigerator.

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Projector Reviews
Sony VPL-VW11HT LCD projector
Thomas J. Norton  |  Jul 28, 2002

The Sony VPL-VW11HT LCD projector is an update of the VPL-VW10HT, reviewed in the June 2000 <I>SGHT</I>. It uses the same 16:9 LCD panel as the Grand Wega KF-60DX100, but wraps it in a compact front-projector chassis. It offers the same wide range of aspect ratios plus a few additional ones, and accepts 480i, 480p, 720p, and 1080i component or RGB sources, scaling them all to the panel's native resolution of 1366x768. (Unlike in the Grand Wega, 720p is not first converted to standard-definition 480p.) There are also composite and S-video inputs, but no digital input. Six user-programmable video memories store, among other things, the user's calibrated picture settings, selected color temperature, and a default aspect ratio.

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Other Tech
Strings Attached
Brian C. Fenton  |  Jul 21, 2002
Photos by Eric Yang
An Intel AnyPoint PC Card wireless network adapter ($99).

Computer networking isn't a subject you'd necessarily expect to read about in Sound & Vision.

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Other Tech
No Strings Attached
Brian C. Fenton  |  Jul 21, 2002
Photos by Eric Yang

Computer networking isn't a subject you'd necessarily expect to read about in Sound & Vision. But because more and more home-entertainment gear wants to get connected to the Internet and because networking is a viable way to distribute compressed audio and video, it makes sense for us to look at where home networks are today.

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Big-League Receivers
David Ranada  |  Jul 21, 2002
Photos by Tony Cordoza

There are high-priced major-league baseball players (is that redundant?), and then there are the Mark McGuires and Sammy Sosas - players whose abilities and accomplishments leave even their overpaid teammates in awe. The same holds true as you approach the stratospheric reaches of high-end A/V receivers.

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S&V Picks
SV Staff  |  Jul 21, 2002
Illustration by Scott Angle

Planning a summer vacation doesn't have to mean skimping on your entertainment needs anymore.

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Custom Installation How-To
DVD Deals
Ken C. Pohlmann  |  Jul 21, 2002
Photos by Tony Cordoza
Feel like some shopping? How about a brand-new Porsche 911 for $10,000? Or an Armani suit for $200? Or maybe a vacation in the Swiss Alps for $1,000? I'm sorry, but those items are not available.
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Audio Video News
No Man's Land on DVD
Barry Willis  |  Jul 21, 2002

<I>Branko Djuric, Rene Bitorajac, Filip Sovagovic, Georges Siatidis, Simon Callow, Katrin Cartlidge. Directed by Danis Tanovic. Aspect ratios: 2.35:1 (anamorphic) and 1.33:1. Dolby Digital 5.1 (Bosnian, Serbo-Croatian, French, English). 127 minutes. 2001. United Artists 1003329. R. $26.98.</I>

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Audio Video News
Industry News Roundup
Barry Willis  |  Jul 21, 2002

The burgeoning market for digital television is being hindered by an increasing number of reports of radio-frequency interference from DTV transmitters. Although DTV is a "technology that is finally beginning to boom," according to a July 16 report from Reed Business Information, some broadcasters, in particular Paxson Communications, have complained about interference problems. Consumers who buy digital televisions are still disappointed by the skimpy high-definition programming offered by their local broadcasters. DTV's picture for the near future therefore remains unclear.

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