Audio Video News

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Audio Video News
No Surprise: Survey Says Consumers Like DTV, Dislike Lack of Programming
Barry Willis  |  Jul 23, 2000  | 

Owners of digital television (DTV) products are extremely satisfied with their performance, but are unhappy with the lack of available programming in the new format, according to a survey conducted by the <A HREF="http://www.ncl.org/">National Consumers League</A> (NCL) and released July 21, 2000.

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Audio Video News
Blockbuster Enters 20-year Agreement for Video-on-Demand
Barry Willis  |  Jul 23, 2000  | 

Blockbuster has seen the future, and it ain't video rentals&mdash;at least not the kind you pick up in person. The video chain has signed an agreement with Enron Broadband Services to begin offering video-on-demand, one of a host of entertainment services to be developed as part of a 20-year pact. The announcement was made July 19.

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Audio Video News
'90s Interactive Hallucination Turns Real
Jon Iverson  |  Jul 23, 2000  | 

A study released last week claims that in the next five years, smarter TV devices and content will dramatically change how viewers consume television programming. The result, according to a new report from <A HREF="http://www.forrester.com">Forrester Research</A>, will be a significant shift in the business model for television: "Even as they drain $18 billion in ordinary TV advertising revenues, smarter devices will create $25 billion in new revenues from viewers interacting with their TV screens."

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Audio Video News
Where Broadcasters Should Put those HDTV Bucks
 |  Jul 23, 2000  | 

A recent study&mdash;presented at the NAB convention in Las Vegas by Dr. Marvin A. Hecht, assistant professor of psychology at <A HREF="http://www.lacollege.edu/">Louisiana College</A> in Pineville, Louisiana&mdash;examined "how broadcasters can make the most use of digital television." The college reports that, in the study, some of its students were shown identical scenes in both high-definition digital television (HDTV) and standard-definition digital television (SDTV) in six different content areas: action, drama, sports, documentaries, entertainment television, and news.

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Audio Video News
Theta's New DVD/CD Transport Offers Prog-out Option
HT Staff  |  Jul 21, 2000  | 
Many home theater fans believe Theta Digital Corporation is primarily an audio company, but Theta also makes excellent digital video gear. Case in point: the company's new Carmen DVD transport.
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Audio Video News
Vidikron's Bright, New Epoch D-2200
HT Staff  |  Jul 20, 2000  | 
Three ultra-high resolution LCD panels and twin projection lamps make Vidikron's new Epoch D-2200 a frontrunner in the home theater projection race.
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Audio Video News
Martin Logan Debuts “Theater” Center Channel
HT Staff  |  Jul 19, 2000  | 
Lawrence, Kansas—based MartinLogan, one of the world’s premier manufacturers of electrostatic loudspeakers, has announced its new “Theater” center channel speaker for home theater use. The Theater is intended to accompany any of the company’s CLS[TM] (curvilinear line source) electrostatic panels, which range in price from $1,695 to $70,000 per pair. The “Theater” is claimed to offer a “new reference level” for center channel speakers.
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Audio Video News
Lucasfilm THX’s Optimode Makes HT System Calibration Easy
HT Staff  |  Jul 19, 2000  | 
When serious home theater fans want their systems calibrated, they often have to call in highly paid experts. Even then, variations from one DVD to the next mean that even perfectly calibrated systems may not be perfect for all films.
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Audio Video News
New Speaker Line from B&W Includes Center Channel, Surrounds
HT Staff  |  Jul 19, 2000  | 
British loudspeaker maker B&W is moving into the home theater market in a big way with its new affordable CDM NT series. Four high-performance models include a center channel, freshly designed surround speakers, and two new full-range stereo pairs.
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Audio Video News
Hafler Launches Subwoofer Systems for HT
HT Staff  |  Jul 19, 2000  | 
Nothing adds to the thrill of action/adventure movies like earthshaking bass, and nothing creates earthshaking bass like a good, powered subwoofer. Hafler has announced several new subwoofers that might please even the most demanding home theater fans.
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Audio Video News
DVD Watermarking Proposal Announced
Barry Willis  |  Jul 16, 2000  | 

With DVD-based video recorders and disc burners for personal computers now coming on the market, a video industry coalition has announced a comprehensive watermarking technology for digital video that it hopes will prevent a copyright-infringement nightmare like the one now plaguing the music business. The Millennium Group, consisting of <A HREF="http://www.philips.com/">Philips Electronics</A>, <A HREF="http://www.macrovision.com/">Macrovision</A>, and <A HREF="http://www.digimarc.com/">Digimarc</A>, claims that its system will inhibit unauthorized copying of DVDs and will prevent illegal copies from playing.

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Audio Video News
A Bug's (New) Life
Thomas J. Norton  |  Jul 16, 2000  | 

V<I>oices of Dave Foley, Kevin Spacey, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Denis Leary, Phyllis Diller, Hayden Panettiere, Madeline Kahn. Directed by John Lasseter. Aspect ratios: 2.35:1 (anamorphic), 1.33:1 (full-frame). Dolby Digital 5.1. 95 minutes (film), 202 minutes (films and extras). 1998. Walt Disney Home Video 17989. G. $49.99.</I>

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Audio Video News
Hard-Disk–Based Home-Theater Products?
 |  Jul 16, 2000  | 

Last week, <A HREF="http://www.Thomson-multimedia.com">Thomson Multimedia</A> and hard-disk manufacturer <A HREF="http://www.seagate.com/">Seagate Technology</A> announced an equally owned joint venture to form an independent company, called <A HREF="http://www.cachevision.com">CacheVision</A>, that the companies say will be focused on "value-added storage-centric systems" for home consumer electronics. The companies are anticipating that advanced consumer-electronics hard disk&ndash;based storage modules may soon be needed in many consumer-electronics devices, including TVs, set-top boxes, Personal Video Recorders (PVRs), and DVD players (see <A HREF="http://www.guidetohometheater.com/shownews.cgi?735">previous report</A>).

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Audio Video News
Coming Soon: DVD Recorders, DVD/VCR Combo
 |  Jul 16, 2000  | 

The market for DVD recorders is expected to explode in the near future, and major manufacturers are positioning themselves to benefit. In mid-July, Japanese electronics firms <A HREF="http://www.sharp.co.jp/">Sharp Corporation</A> and <A HREF="http://www.pioneer.co.jp/">Pioneer Corporation</A> announced an alliance to cooperate on the development of new digital products, in particular DVD recorders.

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Audio Video News
Studios Finally Get to Hang Gold DVDs on their Walls
Jon Iverson  |  Jul 16, 2000  | 

Musicians and record labels have long been able to back up their bragging with gold records hanging on their walls, but film directors and movie studios have had to rely on mere sales statistics when it came to a DVD's success. But last week, the Video Software Dealers Association (VSDA) announced the first eight titles to qualify under its new DVD Certification Program to recognize "outstanding sales performance" of DVD titles. The titles were announced during the Association's 19th Annual Convention in Las Vegas by VSDA president Bo Andersen.

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