LATEST ADDITIONS

Screener ban blocked: A federal judge in New York has sided with a group of independent film producers in their effort to overturn a ban by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) on issuing preview copies of potential nominees for the annual Academy Awards. On Friday, December 5, US District Chief Judge Michael Mukasey found in favor of the plaintiffs, ruling that the ban runs counter to US antitrust law. He granted a preliminary injunction to lifts the ban, after hearing testimony from filmmakers who claimed that it could severely damage their ability to reach critics and viewers. One filmmaker estimated that the ban could reduce box office sales for independents by as much as 75%, a potential loss claimed to constitute "an unreasonable restriction of trade."

Federal regulators appear to have few objections to the proposed buyout of the satellite broadcaster by News Corporation—which makes for a completely different scenario than last year's aborted acquisition of DirecTV by rival Echostar.

The most common form of video pro-cessor, the deinterlacer-scaler, serves two primary functions. First, it acts as a video switcher, so you need to run only one cable to your display. More important, a video processor converts standard-definition 480i (NTSC) sources either to 480p or a higher resolution, depending on the needs of the video display.

Falling prices and improved availability of programming combined to boost sales of high-definition television sets by 50% during the past year, according to figures recently published by Port Washington, NY-based research firm NPD Group.