Last week, <A HREF="http://www.yamaha.com/yec/index1.htm">Yamaha</A>, traditionally known to American consumers as a specialist in audio equipment, announced that it will enter the home entertainment projector market. The first offering in Yamaha's new product line is a high-resolution projector, based on <A HREF="http://www.dlp.com">Digital Light Processing</A> (DLP) technology and intended for home theater use. Yamaha says that the projector is due to be released next spring.
D<I>enis Leary, Billy Crudup, Ian Hart, Jason Barry, Famke Janssen, Colm Meaney, Martin Sheen, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Noah Emmerich, John Diehl. Directed by Ted Demme. Aspect ratio: 1.85:1 (widescreen). Dolby Digital 5.1. 94 minutes. 1998. Miramax 17093. R. $24.98.</I>
This week, <A HREF="http://www.2netFX.com">2netFX</A>, which specializes in providing streaming technology for intranet and broadband Internet media delivery, has announced that its new HDTV-over-IP streaming technology will be featured in a live demonstration of Gigabit Ethernet over fiber in conjunction with <A HREF="http://www.worldwidepackets.com">World Wide Packets</A> at Comdex in Las Vegas. The new approach is intended to enable Internet Service Providers, cable television companies, and telecommunication carriers to base new services on HDTV technology.
Convergence is more than a buzzword in the minds of the engineers at <A HREF="http://www.hauppauge.com/"> Hauppauge Digital, Inc</A>. The New York electronics manufacturer has announced what it is calling "the first personal video recorder for PCs." In development for eighteen months, the WinTV-PVR is built to occupy a single PCI slot, and allows the recording and playback of television programs via computer. The device is compatible with Microsoft Windows 98 and Windows ME, and comes bundled with a remote control and an FM receiver for the PC.
You want brightness? Toshiba's got it. The company's new X-Series LCD multimedia projectors produce up to 2400 ANSI lumens, bright enough to create startling images in well-lit rooms.
Business travelers often find themselves a captive audience for airlines movie offerings. Sharp Electronics now has a lightweight key to entertainment freedom: the DV-L80U portable DVD player. Sharp claims the player's 8" screen is the largest LCD of its type---more than 30% larger than that of the new unit's predecessor---and in widescreen 16:9 aspect ratio.
What would you pay for a display with more than four times the resolution of the best HDTV on the market today? Don't even bother to answer that unless you are an official at the US Department of Energy's Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, which is scheduled to receive the first such units from <A HREF="http://www.ibm.com/news/2000/11/10.phtml"> IBM</A>. The new 22-inch display boasts an astounding 200 pixels per inch and a total of more than 9 million pixels on its screen. It is said to create images "as clear as an original photograph."
Desktop theater has been taken to a new level by Samsung Electronics with the introduction of the SyncMaster 240T, claimed to be the world's first HDTV-ready 24" analog/digital LCD monitor. The dual-mode analog/digital monitor will debut at the Comdex trade show in Las Vegas, November 13-17.
A satellite receiver with programmable recording capability is now available nationwide from <A HREF="http://www.directv.com/">DirecTV</A>. The result of a four-way collaboration among the direct broadcast satellite service, hard disk recording pioneer <A HREF="http://www.tivo.com/">TiVo, Inc.</A>, Philips Electronics, and Sony Electronics, the DirecTV Receiver with TiVo technology allows consumers to select, record, and time-shift programming selected from among DirecTV's more than 225 channels, according to a November 2 press release.
M<I>ichael Douglas, Kathleen Turner, Danny DeVito, Alfonso Arau, Manuel Ojeda. Directed by Robert Zemeckis. Aspect ratio: 2.35:1. Dolby Digital 5.1. 106 minutes. 1984. Fox Home Entertainment 4110401. PG. $ 29.95.</I>