Last week, <A HREF="http://www.cbs.com/">CBS</A> and <A HREF="http://www.mitsubishi-tv.com">Mitsubishi Digital Electronics America</A> (MDEA) announced that they have entered into an agreement by which MDEA will sponsor high definition coverage of the semi-finals and finals of the 2001 US Open Tennis Championships. It is the third consecutive year MDEA has sponsored CBS's HDTV coverage of the US Open. According to CBS, this year's coverage will feature the HD primetime broadcast of the Women's Final on Saturday evening, September 8.

In a tactic intended to keep its top-level products moving in a sluggish economy, Zenith Electronics Corporation has announced a significant price reduction on its high-definition f 60-inch Plasma Display Panel (PDP), the DPDP60W. Originally announced at a suggested retail of $27,999, the PDP will actually debut at $24,999, according to a mid-August press release.

The entry fee to widescreen high-def video keeps dropping, thanks to companies like Panasonic. On August 8, the electronics giant raised the stakes in the HDTV race by introducing the PT-47WX49, its new 47-inch, 16:9 widescreen high-definition rear-projection monitor, at a suggested retail price of $2,099.95.

Is there still some video quality to be wrung out of the DVD format? Will you buy yet another version of <I>The Fifth Element</I> on DVD? <A HREF="http://www.cthe.com">Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment</A> (CTHE) thinks so, announcing last week the launch of "The Superbit Collection," slated for release starting October 9. CTHE says that the Superbit titles will utilize a special high^#150;bit-rate digital encoding process which "optimizes video quality" while offering a choice of both DTS and Dolby Digital 5.1 audio.