Audio Video News

Steven Stone takes on not one, not two, but three video processors: the <A HREF="/accessories/1003DVDO">DVDO iScan Ultra, DreamVision Optimizer, and Focus Enhancements CenterStage CS-1</A>. After several hours of screen time, SS finds that only one of the trio deserves your hard-earned cash and explains why.

HP entering TV business? The line between the computer and consumer electronics industry gets blurrier by the day. During the last week of November, computer giant Hewlett-Packard announced that it would begin offering its own brand of large flat-screen TVs. Already in discussions with several Asian manufacturers, HP will deliver both LCDs and plasma display panels (PDPs) under its own name, probably by spring.

Barry Willis sorts out the plusses and minuses fo the <A HREF="/surroundsoundpreampprocessors/1003parasound">Parasound Halo C 2 and Halo A 51 surround processor & 5-channel power amplifier</A>. BW notes, "Five years in development, the company's Halo C2 surround processor is a brilliantly executed piece of technology."

Joel Brinkley gets his hands on the <A HREF="/accessories/1003faroudja">Faroudja PlasmaSync 42MP4 & Native Rate Series Digital Cinema Source plasma display & DVD player-digital video processor</A> and puts it to the test. Combine a NEC plasma display with Faroudja processing and you get "an intriguing product for review," says JB.

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Michael Powell and his Republican-dominated agency have gotten their hands slapped by a year-end move by Congress to block proposed changes to rules limiting ownership of broadcast media by any single company.