Audio Video News

High-Definition Television will make its broadcast debut next month, and television stations in most parts of the country will participate. The <A HREF="http://www.nab.org/">National Association of Broadcasters</A> announced last week that 42 stations are good to go for the November 1 launch of 21st-century television. The first HDTV stations include the original 26 volunteers in the 10 largest US markets, as mandated by a schedule agreed to by the NAB and the <A HREF="http://www.fcc.gov/">Federal Communications Commission</A>; and an additional 16 that have completed their equipment upgrades ahead of time.

B<I>ridget Fonda, Gabriel Byrne, Dermot Mulroney, Miguel Ferrer, Anne Bancroft, Olivia d'Abo, Richard Romanus, Harvey Keitel. Directed by John Badham. Aspect ratio: 2.35:1 (anamorphic). Dolby Digital 5.1 (English), Dolby Surround (French), monaural (Spanish). 109 minutes. 1993. Warner Home Video 12819. Rated R. $24.98</I>.

CD is the dominant software medium today, but DVD will gradually replace it, according to panelists at the DVD-Audio Forum conference last week at the Hyatt Regency Hotel near the San Francisco airport. Higher storage capacity and greater versatility, including multichannel audio, mean greater value for consumers. The panel also predicted that the popularity of DVD-ROM will grow exponentially in the next three years, and the use of DVD-RAM---recordable media-----will easily triple within that period. Computers equipped with DVD "burners" are already on the market.

P<I>eter Weller (Robert John Burke in 3), Nancy Allen, Daniel Herlihy. Directed by Paul Verhoeven (1), Irvin Kershner (2), Fred Dekker (3). Aspect ratio: 1.85:1. Dolby Digital Surround. 103 minutes (1), 116 minutes (2), 105 minutes (3). 1987, 1990, 1993. Image Entertainment ID4071ORDVD (1), ID4072ORDVD (2), ID4073ORDVD (3). Rated R, R, PG-13. $24.95 each.</I>

Five and one half years after the formation of digital television's Grand Alliance, the resulting technology has been honored with an <A HREF="http://www.rdmag.com/"><I>R&D Magazine</I></A> 100 Award as one of this year's most important new developments. "The key criterion of winning this award is technological significance," said the publication's Editor-in-Chief, Tim Studt. "This new DTV standard will change the quality and nature of television. It offers vastly increased visual impact, broader programming options, and the ability to use TV as an information appliance instead of just for passive entertainment."

It's hard enough to transform one facet of the consumer-electronics industry, let alone three or four. But if Motorola's recent gamble with their new set-top box technology (code-named "<A HREF="http://www.motorola.com/semi/blackbird">Blackbird</A>") pays off, they could accomplish just that.

Less than four years old, <A HREF="http://www.directv.com">DirecTV</A> announced last week that it has hit the four million subscriber mark, a number that the company says puts it in one of every 25 TV households in the US. Other interesting statistics about DirecTV: 120 million pay-per-view movies and special event purchases have been made; A total of approximately 200,000 hours of professional and collegiate sporting events have been broadcast; Maintained a monthly churn rate (percentage of subscribers who disconnect) of 1 percent (DirecTV claims that this is the lowest in the multichannel video industry. )