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Audio Video News
Industry Roundup
Barry Willis  |  Dec 27, 2004

Chips galore: <A HREF="http://www.ati.com">ATI Technologies Inc</A>. announced December 20 that in 2004 its digital television division shipped more than five million chips for high-definition TVs, HD cable and terrestrial set-top boxes. ATI's "NXT Theater" and "Xilleon" chips are claimed to "enable consumer electronics manufacturers to create a wide variety of products that feature exceptional reception and video display performance," according to the announcement. OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) that purchase ATI chips also "have access to ATI's extensive software support and reference designs to help them bring to market unique products that conform to worldwide industry standards." ATI Technologies will be exhibiting its DTV solutions at the upcoming International CES 2005 at booth 3/30342 at the South Hall, Upper Level, in the Las Vegas Convention Center.

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Audio Video News
JVC's Dual-Format DVD
Barry Willis  |  Dec 27, 2004

Backward compatibility with today's DVDs is important to the success of any new high-definition format. Japan Victor Corporation (JVC) may have the solution with a hybrid prototype that combines the high-definition Blu-ray disc with a standard DVD.

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Audio Video News
Uncertain Fate for Voom
Barry Willis  |  Dec 26, 2004  |  First Published: Dec 27, 2004

<A HREF="http://www.voom.com/">VOOM</A> isn't going anywhere, at least not yet.

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Audio Video News
New Furniture Rigs for Your Home Theater Digs
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Dec 26, 2004  |  First Published: Dec 27, 2004
As if having a flat-panel plasma or LCD TV hanging on your wall weren't enough to cause the neighbors and friends to drool with covetous envy, New York-based ready-to-assemble furniture maker Bush Industries is primed to introduce several new console and entertainment wall units designed specifically to complement - rather than emphasize - the newest, highest tech TVs. Bush says the new designs are the result of the fact that "the days of the silver video base that places the TV prominently in the center of attention are numbered." Bush's primary design criteria are now media and component storage.
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Audio Video News
DualDisc Gets Heady Multichannel Treatment
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Dec 26, 2004  |  First Published: Dec 27, 2004
Although the new DualDisc format - a two-sided hybrid disc with a CD on one side and a DVD-A on the other - has had a rough beginning, a recent announcement from Dolby and 5.1 Entertainment's Silverline Records label brings to light another benefit of the flipping disc.
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Audio Video News
Sanus Brings Sanity to Surround Speaker Placement
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Dec 22, 2004
First there's theory.
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Custom Installation How-To
Yamaha DVD-S1500 Universal DVD/SACD Player
David Ranada  |  Dec 21, 2004

Yamaha's remarkably trim DVD-S1500 manages to go beyond most other "universal" players. Of course it plays DVD movies plus DVD-Audio and Super Audio CD music discs, most varie-ties of recordable DVDs, and CDs with standard audio, MP3 files, or JPEG-format still images. But it also plays DVDs in the European PAL format on a U.S.-standard TV.

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Infinity TSS-1100 Home Theater Speaker System
Rich Warren  |  Dec 21, 2004

A few minutes into Cold Mountain, a U.S. Civil War version of The Odyssey , the Union Army detonates massive explosives hidden beneath a Confederate encampment. To say that I flinched would be an understatement - diving for cover was more like it.

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Audio Video News
Sex and the Single HDTV
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Dec 21, 2004
Despite the results of recent statewide elections banning same-sex marriages, consumer electronics retailers and manufacturers may not want to dismiss the gay, lesbian, and bisexual (GLB) community quite so readily. A recent nationwide Harris Interactive/Witeck-Combs on-line survey found that the tallied responses are indicative of "the enthusiasm and affinity that gay and lesbian consumers have for electronic technology and their propensity to seek out the latest trends in consumer electronics and television." The survey looked at preferences for service providers (both cellular and TV) as well as HDTV ownership and intent to buy and HDTV.
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Audio Video News
Industry Roundup
Barry Willis  |  Dec 20, 2004

Video-on-demand: The Holy Grail of the cable industry, VOD is getting a boost from underutilized ("dark") fiber optic networks. Early attempts at VOD were glitchy at best, but computer technology is increasingly making the service a reality via large-capacity servers that can offer thousands of hours of programming to thousands of digital cable subscribers. Many of the fiber networks are owned by telecommunications companies that lease use to cable providers. Cox Communications Inc., Time Warner Inc., and Comcast Corporation have all bet heavily on the potential of fiber optics to deliver more to their subscribers. "80% to 90% of the fiber installed during the telecom boom is still sitting unused," reports Peter Grant in a recent analysis in <I>The Wall Street Journal</I>.

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