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LCD HDTV Giveaway #4
 |  Oct 15, 2006

Sound & Vision LCD HDTV Giveaway#4

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Audio Video News
Slew Of Superman Releases Even More Super In HD, Plus More HD Announcements From Warner
 |  Oct 15, 2006

Back in July <I>UAV</I> <a href="http://ultimateavmag.com/news/072306supernews/">reported</a> the exciting news that accompanying the November 28th DVD release of this summer's <I>Superman Returns</I> would be new, vastly expanded special editions of <I>Superman: The Movie</I>, and the fabled, somewhat legendary <I>Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut</I>. Well, the news gets better still. Not only will <I>Superman Returns</I> see a day-and-date release on both Blu-ray and HD DVD, <I>Superman: The Movie</I> and <I>Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut</I> will also be released on HD DVD November 28th with the now de rigeur 1080p video and Dolby Digital Plus sound.

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Other Source Component Reviews
LiteOn HD-A740GX HDD/DVD Recorder
Chris Chiarella  |  Oct 15, 2006
A set-top convergence device for the common man.

When you're in the market for a convergence product, an important part of the decision-making process is compiling a list of exactly what you want it to do for you. Some of the most popular entertainment applications include DVD/CD playback, TV recording/time-shifting, and an MP3 jukebox. A DVD burner and a video jukebox typically add a level of complexity—and cost. But, if you're looking for an easy-to-use device that won't break the bank, check out LiteOn's latest round of DVD recorders with built-in hard drives.

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Other Source Component Reviews
MovieBeam MB2160 Video On Demand System
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Oct 15, 2006
Praise the Lord, and pass the remote.

Sometimes an idea is so appealing—world-shaping concepts like communism, capitalism, free love, or spandex clothing—that it blinds believers to shortcomings that are otherwise glaringly obvious to those on the jaded, dispassionate periphery. We may look down our noses and scoff, yet it's hard to dismiss the power of simple belief.

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Bookshelf Speaker Reviews
Klipsch RB-81 Speaker System
Mark Fleischmann  |  Oct 15, 2006
Return of the bodacious woofer.

When I ran across the Klipsch RB-81—in the newly renovated Reference Series—I couldn't resist ordering a set. It's been years since I've reviewed a two-way design with a great big 8-inch woofer. The very concept brought on one of my increasingly frequent bouts of nostalgia.

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Projector Reviews
InFocus Play Big IN76 DLP Projector
John Higgins  |  Oct 15, 2006
It's time to get a projector.

At the Home Entertainment Show this past June, the Home Theater staff put together the HTGamer Gaming Pavilion. The purpose was twofold. Not only did it give expo attendees a place to rest their weary feet for a spell, the pavilion allowed them time to relax and experience gaming on three different home theater systems. The first image these lucky attendees set their eyes on as they entered the room was a small rebel force attempting to break through the tyrannical Empire's lines of storm troopers in Star Wars: Battlefront II. An Alienware Aurora 7500 high-performance PC fed the image to the InFocus Play Big IN76 DLP projector and onto a Stewart GrayHawk screen. Even in a less-than-optimal convention environment, the IN76 produced an awe-inspiring image. But how would it perform in a theater?

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Tower Speaker Reviews
Phase Technology dARTS DCB1.0-LCR Speaker System
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Oct 15, 2006
Why settle for a sweet spot when you can have a sweet room?

There's nothing unusual about a father who's eager to show off pictures of his kids and rave about how great they are. This is one of those moments, except Ken Hecht, the president of Phase Technology, isn't showing me pictures (I'm getting a real-life look), nor is he exaggerating how good these particular offspring are. In truth, we're not talking about little people at all. What Hecht is so proud to show me is a very special—I know, that's what they all say—home theater speaker system he's been dreaming about and working on for the better part of 15 years. It's a system that, he tells me, "will make any room sound like the best theater in the country." As if that weren't enough, he claims that the system can expand the sweet spot from the typical single-pair-of-ears hot seat to an area large enough for half a dozen or more people to sit comfortably and enjoy a movie. He's christened the system with the name Digital Audio Reference Theater System, or dARTS for short. (Thankfully, his real children have names that roll a little more easily off the tongue.)

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Blu-ray Player Reviews
Samsung BD-P1000 Blu-ray Player
Geoffrey Morrison  |  Oct 14, 2006
The war begins. . .with a whimper.

With more than a little excitement, I hooked up the Samsung BD-P1000 Blu-ray disc player. Here it is, the first Blu-ray player to hit the world. I put it right on top of the Toshiba HD-XA1 HD DVD player, which I'm sure the Blu-ray people would love to hear, and the HD DVD people not so much. I ran the HDMI cable to the virtually reference-quality Yamaha DPX-1300 projector, put in my old standby The Fifth Element (of course), and sat back, ready to enjoy. The disc started up promptly (take that, Toshiba!), and, within seconds, there was Blu-ray. It only took a few seconds more before I uttered something along the lines of, "What the hell?"

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Audio Video News
Bling and Fling your iPod Thing
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Oct 14, 2006
It's hard to believe, but more iPod-related stuff is on the way. Soon to be available are kiddie cases from ifrogz, a company started by the same guys who developed Reminderband custom silicone bracelets. (And how many times haven't we all wondered how the world existed before those came along?) The new company's Tadpole line of video iPod cases are made specifically for children ages one and up - but they do not come with sedatives or tension relieving headache medicine for adults of child-rearing age.
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Ears On
Disc Maker to Test Chipped DVD
Mark Fleischmann  |  Oct 13, 2006
A company that stamps out half a billion DVDs a month has developed a way for movie studios and other software makers to track discs from factory to store to your home. The strategy is yet to be tested but the underlying technology is nothing fancy. It's RFID, or radio-frequency identification, the same chip-based system increasingly used in driver's licenses, U.S. passports, stores like Wal-Mart, and the EZ-Pass booth on toll roads. RFID can operate in a range from two inches, like the new credit/debit-card readers, to 69 feet. In this case the range for "chipped" discs will be six meters, or just under 20 feet. The RFID reader can be built into players, which would shut down when fed discs with the wrong regional coding. The AACS system built into the Blu-ray and HD DVD formats already allows copyright holders to shut down players in the home, but thanks to RFID, it will soon be possible to do the same in existing DVD as well. Developers of the new technology are iPico, an RFID specialist, and Ritek, whose U-Tech subsidiary manufactures discs for Disney, Fox, Warner, and other studios in factories all over the world. The first RFID-enriched discs will be made in Taiwan and tested in Australia.
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