LATEST ADDITIONS

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<LI>$6,499</LI>
<LI>Technology: Plasma Display Panel</LI>
<LI>Resolution: 1366x768</LI>
<LI>Size: 50"</LI>
<LI>Inputs: One HDMI, two component, one each composite and S-video, one RGB on 15-Pin DSUB</LI>
<LI>Feature Highlights: CableCARD HD Tuner, AVM-II video processing, advanced color management,built-in speakers, tabletop stand</LI>
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Fujitsu plasmas cost more but have the enviable reputation for offering the kind of flexibility and improved processing that separates the premium designs from the loss leaders you see at Costco. This latest Fujitsu 50" plasma has a model number that's too long for me to repeat, but it costs $6499 and aims to justify its premium price.

Samsung showed off its first LED-driven DLP model yesterday at a press briefing in New York. The 56-inch HL-S5679W ($4199) replaces the arc lamp and color wheel used in conventional DLP rear-projectors (left) with light-emitting diodes (right). This provides longer lamp life (20,000 hours), more uniform performance over the lifetime of the set, quicker turn-on, quieter operation, no color-wheel "rainbow effect," and as an environmental bonus, toxic mercury has been eliminated from the design. The only catch is that the light engine (optics) are left over from last year's lamp-based sets, and that won't change until the next model-year, though what I saw showed impressive smoothness and uniformity of brightness. Also shown were new plasmas using an anti-glare scheme combining a blue backcoating on the glass with a brown matrix between pixels. The picture was watchable, with what subjectively appeared to be very good black level, even with direct light pouring in the window of the fancy hotel. Finally, would you like your iPod to sing through your TV? You can do just that with LCD-HDTVs in the 92 Series (46, 40, and 32 inches starting at $2199). An RS232 port connects the music player, Apple or Samsung (the iPod requires an optional $40 adapter cable). Then you can navigate music files onscreen through the TV's remote.

The Video Software Dealers Association (VSDA) - the dudes who spend most of their working hours watching and selling movies and video games (man, what a life - it'a almost as devoid of real "work" as being an audio/video gear reviewer) - have released its nominations for the organization's 2006 Home Entertainment Awards. While some of the categories include such blockbusters as "Marketing Campaign of the Year", "Sell-through Title of the Year", and "Rental Title of the Year", others are likely to be of more interest to the average video junkie.

Yup, the U.S. of A. Love it or leave it, we're the country everyone wants to break into, not out of. Although if I ever end another sentence in a preposition, I'll agree to be expelled. People from other countries used to say the streets of America were paved in gold. Now they think there's a home theater in every house.