Industry News Roundup

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Michael Powell has replied to criticism from the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) over FCC insistence that new television sets include digital tuners. The CEA has long maintained that digital tuners are superfluous additions in a market where most viewers use cable provider–supplied set-top boxes, and that cable compatibility problems and lack of HD programming were far bigger impediments to the digital television changeover. "What continues to be a mystery to us is why the cable industry's view on compatibility continues to be so different," said Thomson Multimedia spokesman Dave Arland.

On July 22, Powell said the CEA's response to his April proposal for expediting the HDTV transition was "so limited, and loaded down with so many conditions, that I believe it amounts to no commitment at all. Not only does the consumer electronics industry demand that certain issues be resolved before they act, they demand that they be resolved to their satisfaction," the chairman stated. "Other industries could have made similar demands. Thankfully, they did not."

Bowing to pressure from Powell, the nation's ten top cable operators have agreed to carry up to five DTV programming services by the beginning of next year. Some have already begun offering HD programming to their subscribers. In September, US House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Billy Tauzin (R-La.) will introduce legislation dealing with many digital-TV-transition issues, including cable compatibility and content protection.

In late July, AOL Time Warner reported net income of $394 million ($0.09 per share) for the second quarter. The figure is a huge improvement over the company's net loss of $734 million for the same period last year. Revenues for the quarter were up 10%, to $10.6 billion, partially due to heavy sales and rentals of home video versions of hit films Harry Potter and Ocean's Eleven. The Securities and Exchange Commission recently launched a probe into AOL Time Warner's finances.

Stock prices for New York's Cablevision Systems rose sharply on Friday, July 26, up 16% to $6.75/share, on news of growth in the company's subscriber base, which increased in June. The company's stock has declined 85% in the past year, but may be on the rebound. Cablevision projects 25% growth in its basic operations for the coming year.

Plus Corporation, widely known for its affordable "Piano" DLP projector, has announced that its new Piano HE-3200 projector employs the Rembrandt-1 multimedia display processor from Oplus Technologies, Ltd. of Yokne'am, Israel. The HE-3200 is said to be a significant step up in image quality and ease of use over the original—and generally well-received—Piano HE-3100. The Rembrandt-1 chip offers built-in HDTV compatibility, improved image quality, and support for a wide range of video and PC input sources.

"We are very impressed with the perfect image quality and sophisticated functionality that the Rembrandt-1 display processor brings to our home theater projector," said Nobutoshi Sekiguchi, deputy director at PLUS. "The Oplus chip played a key role in our success at taking Piano projectors to the next level in terms of quality and features, while still maintaining a highly competitive price point."

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