Home theater enthusiasts with relatively efficient speakers are unlikely to need more than 100 watts per channel, but affordable multichannel amps in this power range are strangely hard to find.
Digital television is in a period of rapid growth that will continue for years to come, according to a study released in late March by Informa Media Group, a London-based research firm. As many as 96.7 million households worldwide could be enjoying digital television by the end of the 2003, according to projections cited by the authors of <I> TV International Sourcebook 2003</I>.
Digital TV is hot. Factory-to-dealer sales of DTV products jumped by 36% over the same period in 2002, with a total of 196,113 units shipped, according to figures released in late March by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA).
Scott Wilkinson unpacks the <A HREF="http://www.guidetohometheater.com/showarchives.cgi?103">Yamaha RX-Z1 A/V receiver</A> and wires it into his system, stating, "It was with eager anticipation that I agreed to review the company's current flagship receiver."
DVD: My Life as a Dog#&151;Criterion Audio: 3 Video: 4 Extras: 3 Life and death. Love and loss. Preadolescent sexual stirrings. Sounds like heavy stuff, no? In director Lasse Hallström's hands, this story of 12-year-old Ingemar Johansson and his mother's terminal illness is told with a light touch, balancing tragedy with a cast of eccentric characters that helps Ingemar cope with his tumultuous life. The film is tender and very funny, but Hallström doesn't let its goofy sense of humor dull its emotional impact.
Apex Digital It might look a bit small if you compare it with the 50-inch big boys, but Apex's 42-inch PL 42HD12W plasma display can hold its own in the category and has a wallet-friendly price. The wall-mountable PL 42HD12W's case is 53 inches wide by 28.5 tall by only 4 thick, and it supports 480p, 720p, and 1080i material. Inside, you'll find a digital comb filter and deinterlacing with 3:2-pulldown detection. On the outside, there's one DVI input and one RGB input, as well as inputs for component, S-video, and composite video and outputs for computer audio and standard speakers. It's a nice overall package that covers all of the bases for $3,999. Apex Digital (909) 930-1239 www.apexdigitalinc.com
The next generation of video projectors will be several magnitudes better than the best ones available now. A hint of things to come was unveiled by Sony Electronics earlier in March, with a public demonstration of its Silicon Crystal Reflective (SXRD) technology. At the heart of SXRD is a high-density fixed-pixel micro display generating over 2 million pixels (1920 x 1080 pixels) of picture data from a 0.78"-diagonal panel with a pixel pitch of 9mm each and an inter-pixel spacing of just 0.35mm.
Can you have it all? Thomas J. Norton takes a look at the new <A HREF="http://www.guidetohometheater.com/showarchives.cgi?100">Marantz DV-8300 SACD and DVD-Video/Audio player</A> to determine if universal is also better. As Norton notes, this player is almost there.
Personal video recorders (PVRs) may be hot technology, but <A HREF="http://www.sonicblue.com">SONICblue</A>'s business is as cold as Lake Superior in February. On March 19, the Santa Clara, CA owner of the ReplayTV, Go Video, and Rio brands announced it was mulling Chapter 11 reorganization. For its fourth fiscal quarter, SONICblue posted a $33.4 million net loss, with a 16% drop in sales, a total of $66.99 million.
Big-box rear-projection analog TV sets have long been a part of American domestic life. They are probably headed for extinction thanks to a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) mandate requiring digital tuners in coming generations of TV products.
Movie fans with deep resources and a hankering for ultra-quality images should take a look at Runco's VX-5000ci. This DLP projector is built from the ground up to generate stunning 16:9 pictures.
HDTV is poised to take off like a rocket, believes Bryan Burns, ESPN's vice president of strategic business planning and development. His network has made a big push with high-def programming over the past year, and is pushing it even harder this year.
DVD: Femme Fatale—Warner Brothers Audio: 3 Video: 3 Extras: 2 The good news is that the lovely Rebecca Romjin-Stamos has now removed all doubt that she can act well enough to anchor a major motion picture. The sad part of the story is that Femme Fatale is a strange blend of Run Lola Run and the worst of filmmaker Brian De Palma's own canon that made me repeatedly ask both, "What the hell is going on?" and "Why does any studio finance ridiculous De Palma movies like this?" Brunette doppelgangers, double-crosses, alternate realities: You figure it out, if you have two hours to kill.
DreamVision DreamVision's graceful gray ovule is sure to make an elegant statement in your home theater. The DreamWeaver DLP projector's design is said to provide natural airflow and eliminate stray light. It also incorporates its own cable-management system to keep your theater nice and tidy. The DreamWeaver isn't just stylish, though; DreamVision has packed some serious technology into this stunning package, including Texas Instruments' HD2 Digital Micromirror Device, Faroudja's DCDi technology, and a 1,280:720 native resolution, which makes it a natural choice for the HD buff. If you're in the market for a high-end projector, this $10,995 DLP will make for sweet dreams. DreamVision (800) 663-9352 www.audioplus-services.com