Audio Video News

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Audio Video News
Coming Attractions
HT Staff  |  Aug 30, 2004
AViC
Now that everyone's jumping aboard the DVD and high-definition bandwagons, it's time to start thinking about the necessary cables for your system. At the top of your short list are component video cables, no doubt. AViC has what you need with their CV3002 RCA-to-RCA component video cable. The company says that upgrading to this cable will give you brighter colors and more-vivid detail from your DVD player or HDTV receiver. The color-coded connectors make installation trouble-free, and the 3.3-gigahertz bandwidth capacity supports all ATSC signals with room to spare. Two meters are available now for $130.
AviC
(215) 825-5310
www.aviccables.com
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Audio Video News
Latest Software Reviews
HT Staff  |  Aug 30, 2004
DVD: Dallas: The Complete First and Second Seasons—Warner Brothers
Video: 3
Audio: 2
Extras: 2
Dallas' premiere in 1978 helped to usher in a new television genre: the prime-time soap opera. It had been tried before, but the amazing success of Dallas spawned an instant wave of imitators. Flamingo Road, Falcon Crest, and Dynasty all soon hit the airwaves in an attempt to cash in on the craze. The attentive viewer will notice something similar about these shows: All of the characters are filthy rich. Yes, it seems that America loves to watch shows about miserable wealthy people. They say that money can't buy happiness, but I bet you'll have some trouble convincing Aaron Spelling of that fact.
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Audio Video News
Hollywood vs. Chipmakers
Ultimate AV Staff  |  Aug 30, 2004

For the second time, the Motion Picture Association of America (<A HREF="http://www.mpaa.org">MPAA</A>) has sued chipmakers for selling chips to makers of DVD players capable of violating industry-wide copy-protection rules.

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Audio Video News
Flat Panels Surging
Ultimate AV Staff  |  Aug 30, 2004

All bodes well for those who've waited for flat-panel display prices to drop.

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Audio Video News
Added to the Archives This Week
Ultimate AV Staff  |  Aug 30, 2004

Thomas J. Norton evaluates the <A HREF="/accessories/704avia">Avia Pro multi-disc test suite</A>, remarking, "it wouldn't surprise me to see more than one enthusiast invest in the package&mdash;especially after seeing just how much it offers."

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Audio Video News
Hide-Away-Home-Theater Exposed
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Aug 30, 2004
Considering how focused they are on designing ways of incorporating high-performance home theater gear into the smallest amount of space possible, you might think that the folks at Ginni Designs spent their formative years growing up in one of the tinier regions of Munchkin Land. (Although they deny it, I suspect that Ginni Designs has at least one elf - or perhaps a couple of interior-design-oriented descendants of the Seven Dwarfs - secreted away in the back offices helping design their magical cabinetry. It's a "Small Eye for the Home Theater Guy" kind of thing.)
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Audio Video News
Home Theater Speaker Three-For-All
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Aug 30, 2004
Plasma, plasma, on the wall, who's the fairest speaker of them all? ("Fairest", of course, meaning "least visibly obnoxious while sitting next to one of those sleek, sexy, and usually silver-finish flat-panel TVs" with added elements of "gee, it'd be nice if it were easy to install - like maybe if the L, C, and R speakers were all one unit".) Boston Acoustics claims to have the answer with the new P400 slim theater speaker, a unique compound speaker unit that incorporates discrete left, center, and right front speakers in a single, thin chassis that's "designed to perfectly complement a 42-inch plasma or LCD television or monitor, a DLP rear-projection console, or a traditional screen."

Yes, Boston Acoustics knows all you plasma lovers out there hate speakers - or at least hate to look at speakers. (It's truly a love/hate relationship. You love to listen to good sound, but you hate to look at the speakers that are necessary to create it. My advice is that you should seek professional help about this, you know.)

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Audio Video News
Pre-CEDIA New Products
Ultimate AV Staff  |  Aug 23, 2004  |  First Published: Aug 24, 2004

The annual CEDIA convention is only three weeks away, and equipment makers are generating plenty of pre-show excitement with new product announcements.

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Audio Video News
Added to the Archives This Week
Ultimate AV Staff  |  Aug 23, 2004

Thomas J. Norton evaluates the <A HREF="/directviewandptvtelevisions/704sony">Sony Grand Wega KF-50 WE610 LCD rear-projection television</A>, noting that the CRT is pretty much dead as new technologies take its place. TJN checks to see how this one measures up.

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Audio Video News
Coming Attractions
HT Staff  |  Aug 23, 2004
PSB Speakers
Nothing pleases us more than to hear that the manufacturer of a solid product has introduced a complement to said product. Such is the case with PSB's new SubSonic 9 subwoofer ($1,599), which the company designed to be the perfect complement to their Platinum Series speakers. The sub has dual 10-inch woofers in an opposing-woofer design. According to PSB, this design cancels the opposite directional force exerted by a single woofer so that less energy is lost as the two forces interact with the cabinet. The Class H amp delivers a rated 400 watts of continuous output. Look for the SubSonic 9 early in the fourth quarter.
PSB Speakers
(905) 831-6555
www.psbspeakers.com
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Audio Video News
Latest Software Reviews
HT Staff  |  Aug 23, 2004
DVD: The Girl Next Door—20th Century Fox
Video: 4
Audio: 3
Extras: 3
OK, I'll admit up front I'd give this movie a good review if Elisha Cuthbert sat for two hours reading the 9/ 11 Commission Report. But here we get to see Cuthbert—best known as Jack Bauer's daughter on 24—in the role she was born to play: a porn actress who's house-sitting next door to a sexually frustrated high school senior (Emile Hirsch). As such, she swims, teases, drips and, yes, strips, more than once. Ah, the joys of DVD, and the A-B repeat function.
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Audio Video News
Industry Roundup
Barry Willis  |  Aug 23, 2004

USDTV makes headway: Fledgling over-the-air pay TV service US Digital Television (USDTV) has signed more than 8000 subscribers in its six months in business, according to a <I>Broadcast Engineering</I> report August 16. The startup is the first terrestrial digital subscription TV service in the US to piggyback new digital broadcast channels of local television stations by leasing unused spectrum from participating broadcasters. Based in Salt Lake City, USDTV is also available in Albuquerque, NM and Las Vegas.

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Audio Video News
Sex, Surveys, and Your Home Theater
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Aug 23, 2004
Having nothing better to do with their time after installing FlatTVs with Ambilight technology in George Clooney's (and other cast members') Hotel de Russie hotel room so he (and they) could live better than the average bear while filming the new "Ocean's Twelve", the friendly folks at Philips commissioned Harris Interactive to ask pointed questions about home entertainment of consumers in 13 countries. (Sorry, Iraq wasn't included.) The results of the Philip's Global Home Entertainment Survey are sure to be studied by generations of historians to come for the deep insights they provide into the shallow nature of humans all over the globe.
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Audio Video News
The Sweet Snell of THX Home Theater
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Aug 23, 2004
Snell Acoustics is tightening the grilles and polishing the dust caps on three new upgraded speakers which they'll introduce to the world during the CEDIA Expo in Indianapolis on September 7th. But you don't have to wait to hear about these new THX Ultra 2 Certified models, because we're going to spill the beans here before anyone else does. (Besides, unless you're a dealer or custom installer - or unemployable writer-type like most of us here - you wouldn't be able to crash the heavily armed security at the CEDIA Expo anyway. Just be thankful you've got us working for you. We sure are.)
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Audio Video News
Coming Attractions
HT Staff  |  Aug 16, 2004
LG Electronics
LG's new plasma is available in three different sizes—42, 50, and 60 inches—to suit theaters of any size. The 50-inch DU-50PY10 is fully integrated, with ATSC/NTSC/QAM tuners and a built-in CableCARD slot. The television also features a 1,366 by 768p resolution and a rated 3,000:1 contrast ratio. The TV uses LG's proprietary XD Engine, which, according to the company, minimizes distortion, improves brightness, and enhances the overall picture quality. Inputs are plentiful, including HDMI, DVI with HDCP, RGB, and IEEE 1394. Pricing wasn't available at press time.
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