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.

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.

Plastic film may soon be coming to a home theater near you&mdash;not as a food wrap, but as a video screen. London-based <A HREF="http://www.cdtltd.co.uk/">Cambridge Display Technology</A> (CDT), in association with its Japanese partner, Seiko Epson, has announced a new development that bonds light-emitting polymers (LEPs) to such film. Properly charged, the red, blue, and green pixels will emit bright light while using very little power. Unlike liquid-crystal displays, LEPs require no backlight and have a wide dispersion pattern.

In the long term, interactive television (ITV) may not be the joke it has been so far. On June 21, Los Gatos, California&ndash;based <A HREF="http://www.ictv.com/">ICTV</A> announced that it has pulled in $57 million in investments from financial sector and telecommunications industry heavyweights. ITCT describes itself as the "leading provider of the cable industry's most robust solution for delivery of broadband Internet TV services to digital set-tops."