LATEST ADDITIONS

Barry Willis  |  Oct 10, 1999

As TVs become much more like computers, computers may become much more like TVs. That's one implication of a $10 million deal signed in early October by <A HREF="http://www.hearstargyle.com/">Hearst-Argyle Television</A> and <A HREF="http://www.geocast.com/">Geocast Network Systems</A>. The two companies plan to deliver a new-media program service to personal computers using a portion of Hearst-Argyle's over-the-air digital broadcast spectrum. The programming to be offered will originate with national networks, local TV stations, and other information and entertainment services.

Barry Willis  |  Oct 03, 1999

Think there's a huge market for personal video recorders, or PVRs? So does Wall Street. On September 30, <A HREF="http://www.tivo.com/">TiVo Inc.</A>, the Sunnyvale, California-based maker of hard-disk time-shifters, earned more than $88 million with an initial public stock offering. TiVo shares rose from an opening price of $13.94 to $29.94 each in the first day of trading, a gain of 87%. A total of 5.5 million shares were sold at $16 each.

Barry Willis  |  Oct 03, 1999

As most home-theater fans know, DVD, the format, arrived ahead of digital television. Despite the fact that video is encoded on a DVD as 480 lines of progressive-scan MPEG-2, the first generations of DVD players put out signals in 525 interlaced lines, otherwise known as NTSC "legacy video." Converter circuitry inside the players makes MPEG-2 video back-compatible with existing TVs. Until recently, it was primarily consumers with DVD-ROM drives in their computers who could enjoy the full benefits of progressive-scan video.

 |  Oct 03, 1999

Digital television (DTV) sales to dealers exceeded 50,000 units at the end of August, according to figures released last week by the <A HREF="http://www.cemacity.org/">Consumer Electronics Manufacturers Association</A> (CEMA). At CEMA's recent DTV Summit, the organization's fifth, CEMA president Gary Shapiro stated that "DTV is moving forward at a promising pace, and we expect continued success in the third and fourth quarters."

 |  Oct 03, 1999

DVD is finally getting the endorsement it deserves. On Monday, September 27, <A HREF="http://www.blockbuster.com/video">Blockbuster Video</A> announced an aggressive plan to bring the format to 3800 domestic rental locations and 1000 foreign stores by the end of the year. DVDs currently enjoy shelf space in only 900 of Blockbuster's 6600 outlets.

Jon Iverson  |  Oct 03, 1999

Last week, <A HREF="http://www.warner.com/">Warner Home Video</A> announced North American shipments to dealers of 1.5 million DVDs of <I>The Matrix</I>, generating $23.4 million in revenues and establishing yet another benchmark in DVD's market acceptance. Setting another industry record, <I>The Matrix</I>, released on DVD September 21, generated sales to consumers of approximately 780,000, or 52% of the shipment totals mentioned above, making it the most successful DVD in first-week sales. According to VideoScan, first-week consumer sales of <I>The Matrix</I> on DVD were three times greater than the next-highest-selling title to date.

Jon Iverson  |  Sep 26, 1999

Last week, <A HREF="http://www.cirrus.com">Cirrus Logic</A> and <A HREF="http://www.digitalharmony.com">Digital Harmony Technologies</A> announced a licensing agreement that aims to "proliferate affordable, high-bandwidth digital home-entertainment systems." Under the terms of the agreement, Cirrus Logic has licensed the rights to Digital Harmony's IEEE 1394 intellectual property, thereby merging its Crystal audio technology with Digital Harmony's non-proprietary high-bandwidth data bus.

Dave Thompson  |  Sep 26, 1999

J<I>imi Hendrix, The Who, The Doors, Free, Joni Mitchell, Jethro Tull, Joan Baez. Directed by Murray Lerner. Aspect ratio: 1.66:1 (widescreen). Dolby Digital stereo. 120 minutes. 1995. Sony/Legacy LVD 49335. NR. $19.95.</I>

 |  Sep 26, 1999

L.A.'s Beverly Hilton Hotel will be swarming with television executives and technical gurus this week as the <A HREF="http://www.cemacity.org/">Consumer Electronics Manufacturers Association</A> (CEMA) hosts its fifth Digital Television Summit conference. The conference officially begins Tuesday, September 28, preceeded by a reception Monday evening featuring a high-definition broadcast of <I>Monday Night Football</I>.

 |  Sep 26, 1999

Last week, <A HREF="http://www.motorola.com">Motorola</A> and <A HREF="http://www.mds.com/">Momentum Data Systems</A> announced that the THX Surround EX (see <A HREF="http://www.guidetohometheater.com/shownews.cgi?277">previous story</A>) audio technology, co-developed by <A HREF="http://www.thx.com">Lucasfilm THX</A> and <A HREF="http://www.dolby.com">Dolby Laboratories</A>, will now be available to THX licensees with their Symphony digital signal-processing (DSP) technology.

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