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While the music business is experiencing harrowing declines in CD sales (12% down in the first quarter of 2002, compared with last year), DVD movie sales are growing at a fantastic pace. According to figures released by the <A HREF="http://www.dvdinformation.com">DVD Entertainment Group</A> (DEG), more than 120 million DVD movies and music videos shipped in the first three months of 2002, which represents an impressive 74% increase over the same quarter last year.

The <A HREF="http://www.ce.org">Consumer Electronics Association</A> (CEA) has reacted strongly to a recent federal court order that would force consumer electronics manufacturer <A HREF="http://www.sonicblue.com">SonicBlue</A> to develop and install information-gathering software in its ReplayTV personal video recorders (PVRs).

A home theater in a box? Can it really be that simple? Do you really get everything you need in one package? HTIBs are huge sellers. Some complete systems sell for less than $500, and others cost more than $2,500. We gathered three that fall somewhere in the middle: the JBL Cinema ProPack600, the Sony DAV-C900, and the Unity, codeveloped by Kenwood and Boston Acoustics. All three retail for $1,200, but you should be able to find them for a bit less. Promising free ice cream, I gathered the usual suspects to participate in the Face Off: audio editor Chris Lewis, executive editor Adrienne Maxwell, copy editor Claire Lloyd, and the ubiquitous Ron Williams, our technical consultant. Much was voiced about the ruse of free ice cream, which was a lie.

In the past few years, DLP technology has come a long way in terms of both picture quality and affordability. Not long ago, an entry-level one-chip 800-by-600 projector cost about $10,000. With the advent of the higher-resolution (1,024 by 768 and now 1,280 by 720) one-chip projectors, the front-projection world has become accessible to many more people. As the technology is rapidly becoming one of the hottest of the new fixed-pixel-display alternatives for both rear- and front-projection applications, new companies are constantly joining the DLP fold. InFocus—a company that, until now, concentrated solely on the professional business market—has entered the home market. The company's first offering is the ScreenPlay 110, a dual-mode one-chip DLP front projector with a resolution of 800 by 600 in the 4:3 mode and 853 by 480 in the enhanced-widescreen or anamorphic mode.