Audio Video News

DVD: Mona Lisa Smile—Columbia TriStar
Video: 3
Audio: 3
Exras: 4
In Mona Lisa Smile, Julia Roberts stars as Katherine Watson, an art-history professor who comes to teach at Wellesley College, an all-women's school in Massachusetts. It's 1953, and, naturally, Katherine teaches the women more than just Picasso. It's a predictable movie; if you've seen Dead Poet's Society, you have a pretty good handle on how this film will play out.

Walt Disney Company's home entertainment division will expand its test marketing of self-destructing DVDs in Florida next month, according to an announcement from Los Angeles. In April, Buena Vista Home Entertainment plans to rollout the company's "EZ-D" disposable DVDs through retailers in Florida and other major markets in the Southwest.

UPDATE - Echostar Communications and Viacom Inc. settled their rate hike dispute late Wednesday, March 10.

Harman/Kardon
If you've been waiting for the perfect unit to come along before replacing that obsolete DVD player you're currently using, look no further. Harman/Kardon's DVD 31 is a progressive-scan player that can chew up almost any alphabetic combination you can think up: DVD-Audio, DVD-Video, WMA, CD, MP3, DVD-R/-RW, DVD+R/+RW, CD-DA, CD-R/-RW, CD-ROM multisession, 24/96 audio discs, and videoCD. Pixel-by-pixel processing upconverts images to progressive-scan component video output. The player also features digital-video circuitry to reconstruct the 3:2-pulldown process, so you get the full 60-frame playback with progressive-scan image quality for your DVD-Video. A long list of connections rounds out the package: component video, S-video, composite video, coaxial and optical digital audio, and multichannel and stereo analog audio. One last surprise for you: All of this retails for just $349.
Harman/Kardon
(800) 422-8027
www.harmankardon.com

Thomas J. Norton listens to the <A HREF="/amplifiers/104theta">Theta Dreadnaught II multichannel amplifier</A>, the latest in a growing family from a company known for its digital converters, transports and surround processors. TJN determines if the amp, which is configurable from two to five channels, lives up to Theta's admirable audiophile reputation.

Format wars got you down? Steven Stone settles in with the <A HREF="/dvdplayers/104lexicon">Lexicon RT-10 universal disc player</A> to see if you can have it all in one box. As SS notes, the RT-10 performs well with "All discs great and small."

TV fans that can't get enough should flock to the new TiVo Series2 DVR.