Audio Video News

Scott Wilkinson takes a look at the <A HREF="/dvdplayers/204pioneer">Pioneer Elite DVR-57H DVR/DVD recorder</A> and taps into the new religion he calls TiVoism. As SW notes, "If you watch TV at all, a DVR can dramatically change your life, as it did mine."

Netflix ups rates: DVD rental firm Netflix Inc. will boost its monthly fees by 10.2%, effective mid-June. The news caused a 16.9% drop in the value of Netflix stock, which closed Friday April 16 at $30.75/share. The Los Gatos, CA&ndash;based operation reported a loss for the first fiscal quarter ended March 31 due to expensive TV advertising.

Fred Manteghian gets his paws on the <A HREF="/speakersystems/204dynaudio">Dynaudio Contour S5.4, SC, S1.4 suround speaker system</A> and carefully places each of them within his room. FM notes "At first I thought the Contours were at somewhat of a price disadvantage being manufactured across the Atlantic." But then he listened.

TDK and Blu-ray: Blank-media giant TDK has officially endorsed Blu-ray technology, according to an April 5 report out of the CeBIT technology show in Hanover, Germany. TDK is the latest to join the Blu-ray contingent, following Hewlett-Packard and Dell Computer. The 50-gigabyte capacity of Blu-ray discs will accommodate feature-length high-definition video programming and recording. TDK's contribution will make the 5" discs more user-friendly by eliminating a proposed "disc caddy."

<I>Editor's note: On April 7, the <A HREF="http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/07/movies/07PIRA.html"></I>New York Times<I></A> reported that the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) was planning to battle widespread DVD piracy in Russia on the only front that counts with consumers: pricing. In the report, Erin E. Arvedlund notes, Sony's "Columbia TriStar would price DVDs at no more than 299 rubles, or just over $10 . . . Warner Home Video has cut its DVD prices in Russia to the equivalent of $15."