Just when it seemed like the Blu-ray camp was starting to gain an upper hand in the high-res DVD format war, HD DVD scored a major coup. But did the industry shoot itself in the foot again? Paramount Home Entertainment announced this week that all...
According to one industry source with whom I spoke recently, the odd communication problem reported on in <I>Part 1</I>, below, is an artifact of CEC. CEC is a new feature offered by many manufacturers that allows the user to control various components through their HDMI connections. Often, these operations are automated.
As a postscript to my Genesis scoop below: Rhino has just announced that Genesis: 1983-1998, the second boxed set of the band's complete studio recordings in surround sound, has been bumped from October 23 to sometime in November. Meanwhile, an...
Tuesday's surprise announcement that Paramount and DreamWorks would drop Blu-ray for HD DVD caused quite a flutter in the home theater community. Following are a few notes in the aftermath of the PR explosion.
I've always loved going to the movies. Most of my childhood Saturday mornings were spent at the Palace Theater in Winchester, Virginia, where I could watch two films, cartoons, a newsreel, a short, and coming attractions—all for a quarter. About three years ago, I was surfing eBay and ran across a listing for a movie poster from the 1956 horror film The Mole People. I became obsessed with that poster and soon found myself in a fierce bidding war. Later, I realized what was really going on. The Mole People poster had rekindled those childhood memories, and I somehow wanted to go back in time and relive those special Saturdays. That's when I decided to design and build an ornate 1950s style home theater.
How do I build a home theater or media room? The question is a complicated one that every reader wants answered. That's why we created this new, ongoing column in AVI. Whether you're going to build the room yourself or hire a custom installer, there's information you can use in Home Theater Builder. We'll discuss all facets of building a home theater here—from construction, to equipment selection, to room tuning. Our first column is devoted to budgeting. How much can I spend, and how do I allocate my budget? Building a theater is a personal experience, so how far you want to go and the design of your system and room will determine your budget. This overview will help you start to think about how to spend your hard-earned cash.
