Audio Video News

This is another one of those bad news, good news stories. The bad news is that the Federal Communications Commission has caved in to the movie industry's demand to disable the component video interface on high-def devices. The good news is that the studios can use this so-called selectable output control only under very specific circumstances, to protect fresh video on demand titles.

Cablevision's network DVR, long delayed by court battles with the entertainment industry, finally reached some homes in April, having cleared its final legal hurdles.

Talk about lost in space. Intelsat, a communications company, says it has lost control of one of its satellites. The rogue satellite is likely to drift into the path of another satellite, possibly interfering with the latter's ability to transmit cable and satellite TV programming to the United States.

Kaleidescape is adding Blu-ray to its world-class media servers.

Alfred Hitchcock fans will get a special treat this fall: Psycho is going to be released on Blu-ray in a new 5.1-channel DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack.

Warner is sweetening its DVD2Blu program, which lets you exchange your old DVDs for new Blu-ray discs. The price per exchange has dropped from $7.95 to $4.95.

Filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola divides his time these days between making wine at his Rubicon vineyard in Napa Valley, California and making movies. He acquired the large vineyard, formerly owned by the Inglenook brand, over several decades as the land became available. It was at this facility that SIM2 Multimedia conducted the recent launch of a new advertising campaign featuring Coppola's endorsement of SIM2 DLP projectors.