The Home Entertainment 2001 Show, held in New York City May 11-13, 2001, has received high marks and a standing ovation from show attendees, who came to experience some of the most innovative and exciting consumer electronics products in decades.
Venerable loudspeaker manufacturer JBL has added an impressive new series to its home theater offerings. The TiK line embodies an entirely new design, one that JBL is calling the "bending trapezoid," for its gently curving sides and truncated-cone appearance. The company has devoted special attention to chamber construction and resonance suppression, in addition to developing a new set of drivers. TiK speakers are new from the ground up.
If there's no computer in your entertainment system—or no entertainment in your computer—there probably will be soon.<A HREF="http://www.ti.com"> Texas Instruments</A> has announced two new digital-to-analog converters (DACs) that accept and output all available video and PC graphics formats—including HDTV signals. The new chips may make "all-formats video" economically viable for many manufacturers.
<I>James Caviezel, Dennis Quaid, Andre Braugher, Elizabeth Mitchell, Noah Emmerich. Directed by Gregory Hoblit. Aspect ratio: 2.35:1 (anamorphic). Dolby Digital 5.1. 119 minutes. 2000. New Line Home Video N5058. PG-13. $24.98.</I>
The Home Entertainment 2001 show, held in New York City May 11–13, 2001, received high marks and a standing ovation from show attendees, who came to experience some of the most innovative and exciting consumer electronics products in decades.
This summer, Bedford, MA-based Lexicon, Inc. will introduce two new digital controllers that will assume the lead in the company's audio product lineup. The MC-12 and MC-12 Balanced Digital Controllers feature "leading-edge audio processing technology, and a unique new industrial design," according to a May 14 announcement.
A light-sensing circuit that automatically adjusts the brightness and black level to compensate for ambient lighting is one of many refinements in the Sony VPL-VW11HT LCD projector, which debuted last week at the Home Entertainment 2001 show in New York.
Although it's taken longer than expected—copyright protection has become the bane of every new technology these days—IEEE 1394 (aka FireWire) is finally coming to life. Last week, <A HREF="http://www.mitsubishi-tv.com">Mitsubishi Digital Electronics</A> announced several new products based on 1394 at its National Product Line Show held in Long Beach.
A casual observer might think that even a slight economic downturn could have negative repercussions for a luxury industry like the home theater business, but the truth is that the only trend that anyone on the front lines can see is growth.
<I>Martin Lawrence, Paul Giamatti, Nia Long, Terence Howard. Directed by Raja Gosnell. Aspect ratio: 1.85:1 (anamorphic). Dolby Digital 5.1. 98 minutes. 2000. Fox Home Entertainment. PG-13. $26.98.</I>