If you're frustrated with the radio programing in your area (and, seriously, how could you not be these days?), the premise of satellite radio is like a dream come true: dozens of channels playing near-CD-quality music, organized by genre, brimming with vitality, and, best of all, almost uninterrupted.
To the uninitiated, TiVo owners can seem a bit cultlike. And if you're still living in the Dark Ages of analog tape recording, having yet to experience the divine Renaissance afforded by the video hard-disk recorder, or HDR, then the devotion might seem a bit absurd.
When we select gear to review at Sound & Vision, we shy away from stuff that seems inferior or merely mimics what's already available. We look for products that represent an important trend or new development - whether a technological breakthrough, a leap in performance, or a bold design statement.
MiniDV is the most popular camcorder format even though you still have to endure that quaint ritual of rewinding tape. But the days of stringing out digital bits on tape are numbered.
1. SMALL WONDERS Most multimedia speakers make audiophiles laugh, but the Spherex 5.1 Surround Sound System ($500) - based on Mirage's critically acclaimed Omnisat 6 home theater speakers (reviewed in "Thinking Outside the Box II," May 2003) - is worth a serious listen.
They say memories are precious. Well, if that's the case, why do so many of us have years of treasured moments captured on videotapes gathering dust in closets? Recordable DVDs would make a better resting place for your home videos.
One of the best things about home theater is the thrilling realism and impact that surround sound brings to the experience. Having a great sound system can make the difference between just watching TV and feeling like you're in a movie theater, immersed in the onscreen action. But what kind of surround setup is best for you?
Spider-Man 2 was great, but the operating-room scene with Doc Ock was terrifying!We call that the Birth of Doc Ock. I wanted to frighten the audience and make Doc Ock a very feared adversary for our hero. I started in horror films, and I employed a lot of techniques I learned from making those movies in that sequence.
Since many kinds of TV can deliver the high-def experience, choosing a set often comes down to finding one that fits your budget and has the right screen and cabinet size. Here are the four most common ways of producing a high-def picture.
So your new HDTV and surround sound system are all set up and ready to rock, but you still need a DVD player. What's that? You saw one at Wal-Mart for 50 bucks but can't remember the brand?
Whether it's because of newspaper ads, TV shows saying they're being broadcast in HDTV, or the buzz from co-workers, relatives, and friends, you've probably been thinking about testing the HDTV waters. And now is a great time to buy a high-definition set.
Along with a deluge of bigger, flatter HDTVs of various technological stripes, a hot TV news item at CES 2005 was the arrival of digital cable-ready TVs with slots for a CableCARD. This credit-card-size device was designed to eliminate set-top cable decoders - those ugly black boxes that have squatted, like parasites, on or below our TVs for the past two decades.
Winning product: Bose Lifestyle 38 uMusic home entertainment system. Accepting the award (left to right): Jim Scammon, Bob Maresca, and Chris McCann.
