Audio Video News

According to research just released by <A HREF="http://www.strategyanalytics.com">Strategy Analytics</A>, manufacturers will increase worldwide shipments of set-top DVD players by 300% this year, while retail revenues across the three major regions (US, Europe, Japan) will rise by 220%, to $7 billion. SA says that this year's market is being driven by the launch of DVD-based games consoles, and that DVD recorders will fuel the momentum from 2001 on.

If it's true that a picture is worth a thousand words, then <A HREF="http://www.dvdpreview.tv"><I>DVD Preview</I></A> is likely the ultimate review "magazine" for new DVD releases. Arriving on newsstands in a cardboard package the size of a small magazine (think <I>The Reader's Digest</I>), <I>DVD Preview</I> bills itself as "a new kind of magazine coming to you on the very medium it reports on." To bring this point home, the magazine's website even has one of the recently minted ".tv" domain names (see <A HREF="http://www.guidetohometheater.com/shownews.cgi?269">previous story</A>) instead of the ubiquitous ".com."

H<I>illary Swank, Chlo&euml; Sevigny, Peter Scarsgard. Directed by Kimberly Pierce. Aspect ratio: 1.85:1 (anamorphic). Dolby Digital 5.1. 116 minutes. 1999. 20th Century Fox 2000173. R. $34.98.</I>

According to figures released last week by the <A HREF="http://www.ce.org">Consumer Electronics Association</A> (CEA), factory sales to dealers for digital television (DTV) displays for the month of June were 26,750 units, which the CEA claims is "the biggest sales month to date for DTV." The figures also show that the June figures brought DTV display sales for 2000 to 129,438, surpassing total display sales in 1999 (121,226). The CEA adds that these figures include DTV and HDTV display monitors that require the addition of a set-top box to receive digital broadcasts, as well as DTV and HDTV sets that include a DTV tuner. In addition, the CEA reports that 17,671 standalone set-top receivers have been sold to dealers since January 2000.

M<I>ark Bourchardt, Mike Schank. Directed by Chris Smith. Aspect ratio: 1.33:1 (full-screen). Dolby Digital 5.1. 104 minutes. 1999. Sony Pictures 04702. R. $27.95.</I>

Testifying last week before the House Commerce Committee Subcommittee on Telecommunications, Trade, and Consumer Protection, <A HREF="http://www.ce.org">Consumer Electronics Association</A> (CEA) president and CEO Gary Shapiro described what he called a "successful consumer transition" to digital television (DTV), this characterized by broad product offerings, increased programming from alternative media sources, steady sales, and high consumer satisfaction with DTV products. But all is not rosy: According to Shapiro, broadcast-industry delays in delivering significant HDTV programming and the industry's potential misuse of the DTV spectrum to provide subscription data services could seriously slow the transition's current momentum.