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Audio Video News
CableLabs Certifies the First Consumer Cable Modems
Jon Iverson  |  Mar 07, 1999

Competition to dominate the market in providing high-speed data connections to the home keeps heating up. In an effort to make cable modems broadly available, the cable industry has recognized the need for the modems to use a common interface. Thus was born the Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification (DOCSIS) process. Just as computer owners today know they can buy a modem that will work on any phone line, cable-industry leaders want their subscribers to be able to buy a "CableLabs Certified" modem at a retail outlet and know it will work with any cable system that uses the DOCSIS platform.

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Audio Video News
The Thing Rises on DVD
Derek Germano  |  Mar 07, 1999

K<I>urt Russell, Wilford Brimley, T.K. Carter, David Clennon, Keith David, Richard A. Dysart, Charles Hallahan, Peter Maloney, Richard Masur, Donald Moffat. Directed by John Carpenter. Aspect ratio: 2.35:1 (letterbox). Dolby Digital 5.1. 109 minutes. 1982. Universal Home Video 20329. Rated R. $34.98.</I>

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Audio Video News
DTV Summit Concludes
 |  Mar 07, 1999

Four major industries banded together last week to focus on the business issues necessary to bring digital TV to the American consumer. More than 300 people attended the fourth DTV Summit, which was sponsored by the <A HREF="http://www.cema.org">Consumer Electronics Manufacturers Association</A> (CEMA) in conjunction with the <A HREF="http://www.mstv.org/">Association for Maximum Service Television</A> (MSTV), the <A HREF="http://www.nab.org">National Association of Broadcasters</A> (NAB), the <A HREF="http://www.ncta.com/">National Cable Television Association</A> (NCTA), and the <A HREF="http://www.sbca.com/">Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Association</A> (SBCA). The one-day summit featured leaders from the consumer-electronics, broadcast, cable, satellite, and retail industries discussing their latest plans and strategies for the DTV transition.

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Audio Video News
DTV Sales Figures for 1998
 |  Mar 07, 1999

Based on DTV-sales data released by the <A HREF="http://www.cema.org">Consumer Electronics Manufacturers Association</A>, <A HREF="http://www.mitsubishi-tv.com">Mitsubishi</A> is the market-share leader in digital televisions sold in the US for 1998. According to its own figures, Mitsubishi sold 9639 units, which constitutes 73.2% of all units reported by CEMA to have been sold last year.

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Tower Speaker Reviews
Pioneer Elite Reference loudspeaker system
Thomas J. Norton  |  Mar 03, 1999

When Pioneer commissioned Allen Boothroyd, a British industrial designer best known for his work with Meridian Audio, to come up with a unique appearance for its new surround-sound speaker system, they apparently knew what they <I>didn't</I> want: another boring set of square boxes. Nor did they want a speaker system that would blend into Ethan Allen surroundings.

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Audio Video News
Creating Video in a Digital World
 |  Feb 28, 1999

As the professional-broadcast industry readies itself for the technology transformation brought about by the rapid growth of digital-media distribution, the need for a single, high-resolution digital master format is becoming essential. In an effort to fill this need, Sony Electronics, in collaboration with LaserPacific Media Corporation, has unveiled the 24 Frame Progressive (24p) High Definition Post Production System.

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Audio Video News
Divx Discs Top One Million in Unit Sales
 |  Feb 28, 1999

Read it and weep, fans of open DVD: more than one million Divx discs have been sold since the official launch of the pay-per-view format on September 25, 1998. The magic number was reached over the weekend of February 20-21, according to an announcement released last week by <A HREF="http://www.divx.com/">Digital Video Express</A>.

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Audio Video News
Universal and Columbia TriStar Join for International DVD Distribution
 |  Feb 28, 1999

Last week, <A HREF="http://www.cthv.com/">Columbia TriStar Home Video</A> (CTHV) and <A HREF="http://www.universalstudios.com">Universal Studios Home Video</A> (USHV) jointly announced an agreement to distribute USHV DVDs outside North America. According to the companies, the agreement represents a milestone in the international expansion of DVD. CTHV, the first major Hollywood studio to release films on DVD outside the US (i.e., in Europe, Latin America, and Japan), is now joined by USHV as one of the few major studios releasing its movies on a consistent basis internationally.

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Audio Video News
Israel Could Be Next in Piracy Crackdown
Barry Willis  |  Feb 28, 1999

Move over, Brazil. Step aside, China. Make room for Israel, king of the copyright-violation hill. US Trade Representative Charlene Barshevsky announced in mid-February that sanctions could soon be imposed on the Middle Eastern nation for what the State Department calls piracy of "epidemic proportions."

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Audio Video News
Digital Watermark Technology Announced by DVD Group
Barry Willis  |  Feb 21, 1999

On Tuesday, February 16, five major computer and consumer-electronics companies---<A HREF="http://www.hitachi.com/">Hitachi</A>, <A HREF="http://www.ibm.com/">IBM</A>, <A HREF="http://www.nec.com/">NEC</A>, <A HREF="http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/">Pioneer</A>, and <A HREF="http://www.sony.com/">Sony</A>---announced that they have achieved an acceptable copyright-protection system for digitally reproduced movies and videos. The five companies are original members of the 11-member Copy Protection Technical Working Group (CPTWG), which has been at work on the problem for two years under the auspices of the DVD Forum.

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