Audio Video News

Scott Wilkinson casts his critical gaze at the <A HREF="/dvdplayers/1203v">V, Inc. Bravo D1 DVD player</A> to find out just how good a DVI connection can be on a machine that sells for around $200. "The D1 is by no means perfect, but it occupies a unique place in the vanguard of the digital future, and so deserves a serious look," says SW.

KEF
What if you could get the same digital surround sound from a speaker system without running all of those wires across the floor of your home theater? If that's your wish, then KEF's new Instant Theatre, or KIT100, is right up your alley. The system—which features two compact front speakers, a hideaway subwoofer, and a DVD/receiver unit with an AM/FM tuner—utilizes NXT's flat-panel technology to produce surround sound from just two speakers. Each die-cast aluminum speaker is designed to minimize cabinet vibrations and features a 4-inch Uni-Q driver array with a 0.6-inch tweeter. It's nearly impossible to mess up the setup process, as the four supplied cables are shaped for their respective fittings. The progressive-scan DVD player is compatible with CD-Rs/-RWs and MP3-encoded CDs, and the unit includes Dolby Digital, Dolby Pro Logic II, and DTS decoding. The Instant Theatre is all yours for $1,500.
KEF
(732) 683-2356
www.kef.com

JVC hopes to make a major splash in the video market this year. The company has announced plans to release a variety of new products in the coming months, including plasma displays, LCD TVs, DVD recorders, and big-screen rear projection HDTVs using displays its "Digital Light Amplification" (D-ILA) technology.

Home theater products continue to get better and cheaper. One example is <A HREF="http://www.panasonic.com">Panasonic</A>'s new PT-AE500, a high-definition widescreen LCD projector. The PT-AE500 incorporates several advances, including integrated cinema quality circuitry, full 10-bit digital processing and gamma correction, and new "smooth screen technology." Many of these advances derive from research and development and collaborative work done at the Panasonic Hollywood Laboratory in Hollywood, California, with top Hollywood studio colorists who helped ensure the projector's color fidelity.

Vidikron's PlasmaView family has a new sibling. Officially introduced at the recent Consumer Electronics Show, the VP-42HD is a high-resolution 16:9 plasma display monitor ("PDP"), boasting a native resolution of 1024x768. The VP-42HD is "a high-resolution alternative to the enhanced resolution VP-42," states a company announcement.

Robert Deutsch and Thomas J. Norton provide us with follow-ups on a pair of classic HT products with <A HREF="/videoprojectors/1103dlp">Take Two: Marantz VP-12S2 and SharpVision XV-Z10000U DLP projectors</A>. Two different reviewers and two different systems. Will they get the same results as noted in the original reviews?

St. Louis&ndash;based <A HREF="http://www.charter.com">Charter Communications, Inc</A>. has become the first cable provider in the US to rollout an all-digital network, according to a January 16 announcement. The new service was implemented without the use of analog set-top boxes, using an existing HFC (hybrid fiber-coaxial) network. The service, in Charter's Long Beach, CA system, combines digital programming with basic analog programming. The bandwidth-intensive service is made possible by use of a digital compression system consisting of "<A HREF="http://www.harmonicinc.com">Harmonic</A> DiviCom MV 50 variable bit-rate encoders and third-generation DiviTrackXE closed loop statistical multiplexing system," according to the announcement. For Charter subscribers, the new digital service can be activated "remotely and instantly" without the need for in-person service calls, said Charter vice president of engineering Wayne Davis.