Audio Video News

Russ Herschelmann (<I>Stereophile Guide to Home Theater</I>'s "Home Theater Architect") will be conducting a special two-day intensive home theater workshop on Saturday and Sunday, June 29&ndash;30, 2002, in Napa, California. For more information concerning what will be covered during the two-part event, go to <A HREF="http://www.home-theater-guy.com">www.home-theater-guy.com</A> and click on "Workshops."

<I>Michael Douglas, Kathleen Tuner, Danny DeVito, Marianne S&#228;gebrecht. Directed by Danny DeVito. Aspect ratio: 1:85:1 (anamorphic). Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround. 116 minutes. 1989. 20th Century Fox 25392. R. $19.98.</I>

The great thing about a video store is being able to walk right in, see what's available on the shelf, and then grab what you like for some instant home theater gratification. The bad thing about video stores is that getting your rental back on time can be a hassle, not to mention the late fees the stores count on to bolster their profits.

Ask most folks what it will take to get HDTV rolling and the answer is content, content, and more content. Two weeks ago, Discovery Network announced its <A HREF="http://www.guidetohometheater.com/shownews.cgi?1273">first all HDTV 24-hour/day</A> channel, which is set to go live in a couple of months, and last week Showtime Networks and DirecTV announced that the satellite provider will carry the East Coast SHO HDTV channel beginning April 30.

One of the hottest buzz phases in telecommunications is "video-on-demand," a service that allows customers to plug into the universal content library and watch anything they wish whenever they wish. VOD and interactive television (ITV) are the twin holy grails of cable companies and Internet service providers.