Audio Video News

Factory-to-dealer sales of digital television sets exceeded 20,000 units in October, a new one-month record. October's total of 21,432 units shipped was an increase of 42% over September's 15,600, the previous one-month record. More than 88,000 units have been sold since the new format was rolled out in 1998, with 75,000 of those units sold in 1999.

Both <A HREF="http://www.sony.com/professional">Sony Electronics</A> and <A HREF="http://216.33.77.103/panastore/default.asp">Panavision</A> say they will soon deliver the first prototype 24-frame-progressive high-definition camera system to <A HREF="http://www.Lucasfilm.com/">Lucasfilm</A> for testing prior to its being used in shooting the next two <I>Star Wars</I> films. The companies say that this announcement signifies the beginning of a new era in high-definition digital cinematography.

Last week, <A HREF="http://www.disney.com">The Walt Disney Company</A> and <A HREF="http://www.ti.com/dlp">Texas Instruments</A> announced that DLP Cinema technology will be featured in an all-digital showing of Disney/Pixar's new computer-animated film, <I>Toy Story 2</I>, at six locations in North America. According to the companies, <I>Toy Story 2</I> will be the first major studio feature to be released simultaneously in both digital and traditional film formats.

What's an American industrial icon worth? Try 200 million bucks. That's what <A HREF="http://www.lgeus.com/">LG Electronics</A> paid when it acquired <A HREF="http://www.zenith.com/">Zenith</A> in a bankruptcy settlement completed November 8 in a Federal court in Glenview, Illinois. As Zenith's largest creditor, LG electronics agreed to accept 100% of Zenith's assets in exchange for $200 million in claims against the former consumer-electronics giant.

Children's programming seems to fill a huge number of time slots on television these days. What once was a minor business in the broadcasting industry has become a giant in its own right. The industry is throwing increasing amounts of capital at developers of children's programming in the hope of creating brand loyalty and thereby pulling in lucrative advertising dollars.

In recent months, <A HREF="http://www.plasmavision.com">Fujitsu</A> has steadily lowered the prices for its groundbreaking 42" plasma display (see <A HREF="http://www.guidetohometheater.com/shownews.cgi?450">previous story</A>), while steadily improving the basic design's performance. Last week, the company announced that the newest models will be jumping back up in price with the latest additions to their Plasmavision product line, the PDS4221 and PDS4222. These two new models increase the number of current Plasmavision offerings to seven.

B<I>ill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Harold Ramis, Rick Moranis, Ernie Hudson, Annie Potts. Directed by Ivan Reitman. Aspect ratio: 2:35:1 (anamorphic). Dolby Digital 5.1. 107 minutes. 1984. Columbia/TriStar COL04139DVD. PG. $29.98</I>