LATEST ADDITIONS

 |  Mar 09, 2006  |  0 comments

Report for 03/24/06:

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Mark Fleischmann  |  Mar 09, 2006  |  2 comments
Samsung is the object of a Hollywood feeding frenzy. Five studios are suing the manufacturer for selling the DVD-HD841 DVD, DVD-Audio, and SACD player, though it was available for only a few months in 2004. Apparently this universal player was a little too universal. Like many players still sold, it allowed the regional coding feature to be easily hacked with a few remote keystrokes. Worse, from Hollywood's point of view, was its content-security weakness. Hackers found ways to defeat HDCP, allowing upconverted DVD content to be copied from the DVI output. Of course, the new Blu-ray and HD DVD formats have state-of-the-art security features, but they're being rushed onto the market before the ink has dried on the security-tech agreements. Looks like the studios are ready to pounce if any little accidents give pirates an advantage.
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Mar 08, 2006  |  0 comments
Can't watch the NCAA March Madness tournament in the cozy confines of your living room because your kids are watching their favorite episode of SpongeBob Squarepants (again)? Or maybe you need a way to watch the games at the office and still look like you're doing real work. The NCAA feels your pain.
Mark Fleischmann  |  Mar 08, 2006  |  3 comments
LG will bring out a player that handles both Blu-ray and HD DVD later this year, according to a leaked memo to dealers. That would be an interesting change in strategy from the company's former Blu-ray only policy. In fact, LG is dropping a previously announced Blu-ray player. It will also drop two LCoS models from its lineup, 71 and 62 inches, due to a chip shortage and what executives see as a waning microdisplay market. New 60- and 50-inch plasmas will be delayed and their current equivalents carried over. Finally, say hello to the world's largest LCD panel, a 100-inch prototype shown by LG.Philips at this week's CeBIT show in Hannover, Germany.
Thomas J. Norton  |  Mar 07, 2006  |  First Published: Mar 08, 2006  |  0 comments

Our annual Home Entertainment show, sponsored by Primedia's home tech and photography publications&mdash;<I>Ultimate AV</I>, <I>Stereophile</I>, <I>Home Theater</I>, <I>Audio Video Interiors</I>, and <I>Shutterbug</I>&mdash;is still three months away. But time has a way of catching us off guard. If you plan on attending from out of town, you need to make plans now!

Geoffrey Morrison  |  Mar 07, 2006  |  10 comments
Judging from the sheer number of comments I got on my last blog entry about Blu-ray, I’m beginning to suspect you don’t care about these next generation DVD formats. If so, why? Or if it’s just because ya’ll find me boring and aren’t reading my blog anymore, that is just fine with me. I can just talk to myself. I find myself very amusing. Ask anyone.
Mark Fleischmann  |  Mar 07, 2006  |  0 comments
For a band that steadfastly denies its existence, Pink Floyd sure manages to keep the product coming. I've been spending time with Nick Mason's 2004 book Inside Out: A Personal History of Pink Floyd, now updated to include a postscript about last year's miraculous reunion gig. Although he acknowledges having had a good editor, Mason really knows how to tell a story and does so with enormous wit and candor. Pink Floyd's rise from London's psychedelic underground to international megastardom would be great material for any writer—I couldn't put it down and ended up killing a whole weekend. A three-CD audio book read by the author is also available albeit hard to find. The 1994 concert video Pulse will be reissued in September as a double DVD extravaganza. The reunion is already available on the five-disc Live 8 DVD set. David Gilmour's 2002 In Concert DVD is extraordinarily beautiful. His third solo album On an Island came out yesterday and he's touring this year to support it. Roger Waters now has a whole opera, a Ira, to his credit. He has two albums in the works and is also touring this year.
Rob Sabin  |  Mar 06, 2006  |  0 comments
March 7 - If your ears have been buzzing lately, I can guess your problem.
Rob Sabin  |  Mar 06, 2006  |  0 comments

March 6 - Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (SPHE) now says it will release its first Blu-ray high-definition discs on May 23 - the same day the first Blu-ray player goes on sale.

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