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We had our 3rd bi-annual RPTV face off yesterday. It will be in the February issue, which you subscribers should be getting in about 7 weeks. As I mentioned previously, all the sets were 1080p. They ranged in size from 50 to 62 inches diagonal with an average price just over $4000. We had a panel of 5 judges rank each of the 6 TVs on a variety of factors and on a variety of material. What is perhaps most interesting is that the TV that came in last place this year was better than at least half of the TVs from the 2004 face off. TV competition is fast and furious, and the buyer/enthusiast profits the most from this. For example, the average full on/full off contrast ratio was right around 5000:1, a vast improvement over the digital sets from two years ago. And as far as CRTs go, well, CRT is dead. Sorry. We loved you dearly.

Lions Gate Movie •••½ Picture/Sound ••• Extras ••½

Co-writer/director Paul Haggis'

I just can't resist poking fun at Sony's seemingly unending supply of strange and unpronounceable nomenclature. It has no direct bearing on a product, per se, but keeping track of all of the acronyms, abbreviations, and manufactured words takes up a sizable chunk of the already overtaxed (and undersized) mind of a reviewer. Regardless, Sony wasn't content just using the name LCOS (Liquid Crystal on Silicon) to describe their version of the technology. They instead call it SXRD (sex-erd?), or Silicon X-tal Reflective Display. Believe it or not, the "X-tal" is short for crystal. I'm not saying that JVC's name for their version of LCOS is any better: D-ILA. (This is an even less logical abbreviation: Direct-drive Image Light Amplifier? It doesn't amplify anything.) Each company takes pains to describe how different their version of the technology is from everybody else's. To be fair, this is true. Each of the two companies' core design and manufacturing are different. When it comes down to it, though, the proof is in the pudding, or, in this case, the RPTV.

Three shows, “Invasion,” “Threshold,” and “Surface” all made a big splash with their hyped-up summer ad campaigns. I bit. Before the first episode aired, I had moved them to my Tivo’s “Season Pass” list, meaning each episode would be recorded, non-fail, each week. After eight or so episodes, here’s the prognosis.