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 |  Aug 29, 1999

Gary Shapiro is after the US Congress to reconcile House and Senate versions of the Satellite Home Viewer Act (SHVA). Shapiro, president of the <A HREF="http://www.cemacity.org/">Consumer Electronics Manufacturers Association</A> (CEMA), has asked legislators to incorporate provisions of a recent agreement between direct broadcast satellite (DBS) service <A HREF="http://www.directv.com/">DirecTV</A> and the <A HREF="http://www.nab.org/">National Association of Broadcasters</A>, allowing DBS services to transmit local TV signals&mdash;a practice known as local-into-local&mdash;as cable companies have always done.

Fred Manteghian  |  Aug 29, 1999

T<I>his is Part 2 of a two-part review of the Sony VPH-20U CRT projector. Click <A HREF="http://www.guidetohometheater.com/shownews.cgi?509">HERE</A> for Part 1.&mdash;Ed.</I>

Fred Manteghian  |  Aug 29, 1999

T<I>he following review was scheduled for publication in the print edition of </I>SGHT<I>, but we were recently told by Sony that the VPH-20U has been discontinued. Although this review won't run in </I>SGHT<I>, we thought some of you might find it useful if you're interested in purchasing a projector soon, as there will undoubtedly be some VPH-20Us in stores for a few weeks.&mdash;Ed.</I>

Barry Willis  |  Aug 29, 1999

Japanese researchers have developed a digital storage device the size of a laserdisc with a capacity of 200 gigabytes, Reuters news service reported August 25. 200GB is more than 40 times the capacity of a DVD's 4.7GB&mdash;enough to put 40 two-hour movies on a 12-inch disc.

Barry Willis  |  Aug 22, 1999

Curiouser and curiouser. Wonderland's Alice would feel right at home in the topsy-turvy world of Silicon Valley, where companies never have to show a profit to make their founders wealthy, and where probable courtroom adversaries invest in each others' businesses. That's exactly what happened August 17 at <A HREF="http://www.replaytv.com/">RePlay Networks</A>, which received a whopping $57 million in financing from a group of investors including Time Warner Inc., The Walt Disney Co., Liberty Media Group, United Television Inc., Showtime Networks Inc., and a division of industrial giant Matsushita, whose Panasonic company makes one version of the RePlay hard-disk-based video recorder.

Jon Iverson  |  Aug 22, 1999

Last week, <A HREF="http://www.panasonic.com">Panasonic Consumer Electronics Company</A> announced that it will release its first progressive-scan DVD player this October. The company says that the DVD-H1000 will deliver 480p images directly to a progressive-scan display at a retail price of $2999.95. According to Panasonic, the unit will feature composite, S-video, and component-video outputs, standard L/R audio outs, and 6-channel and optical digital audio outputs.

Jon Iverson  |  Aug 22, 1999

Fans of <A HREF="http://www.disney.com">Disney</A>'s animated films are about to finally get what they've been asking for this past year. Nine films are scheduled for release on DVD, starting October 26 with <I>Pinocchio</I>&mdash;which was also the studio's first animated classic to be released on video, back in 1985. Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Disney's home-video division, will release the remaining eight features on DVD over the next four months as part of what the company calls a "once-in-a-millennium celebration."

 |  Aug 22, 1999

Digital technology is changing everything&mdash;especially the marketing of entertainment. DVD-Audio has the music industry excited about interactive features like artists' bios, still pictures, and other as-yet unimagined marketing opportunities. Free MP3 audio files are being used by some music companies as promotional tools for new releases.

Paula Nechak  |  Aug 22, 1999

M<I>el Gibson, Sigourney Weaver, Linda Hunts. Directed by Peter Weir. Aspect ratio: 1.85:1 (letterbox). Dolby Digital 5.1. 115 minutes. 1982. MGM/UA Home Video 906638. Rated R. $24.95.</I>

Leonid Korostyshevski  |  Aug 22, 1999

E<I>ditor's Note: The photos in this article were taken last week by Mr. Korostyshevski.</I>

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