Audio Video News

CD is the dominant software medium today, but DVD will gradually replace it, according to panelists at the DVD-Audio Forum conference last week at the Hyatt Regency Hotel near the San Francisco airport. Higher storage capacity and greater versatility, including multichannel audio, mean greater value for consumers. The panel also predicted that the popularity of DVD-ROM will grow exponentially in the next three years, and the use of DVD-RAM---recordable media-----will easily triple within that period. Computers equipped with DVD "burners" are already on the market.

P<I>eter Weller (Robert John Burke in 3), Nancy Allen, Daniel Herlihy. Directed by Paul Verhoeven (1), Irvin Kershner (2), Fred Dekker (3). Aspect ratio: 1.85:1. Dolby Digital Surround. 103 minutes (1), 116 minutes (2), 105 minutes (3). 1987, 1990, 1993. Image Entertainment ID4071ORDVD (1), ID4072ORDVD (2), ID4073ORDVD (3). Rated R, R, PG-13. $24.95 each.</I>

Five and one half years after the formation of digital television's Grand Alliance, the resulting technology has been honored with an <A HREF="http://www.rdmag.com/"><I>R&D Magazine</I></A> 100 Award as one of this year's most important new developments. "The key criterion of winning this award is technological significance," said the publication's Editor-in-Chief, Tim Studt. "This new DTV standard will change the quality and nature of television. It offers vastly increased visual impact, broader programming options, and the ability to use TV as an information appliance instead of just for passive entertainment."

It's hard enough to transform one facet of the consumer-electronics industry, let alone three or four. But if Motorola's recent gamble with their new set-top box technology (code-named "<A HREF="http://www.motorola.com/semi/blackbird">Blackbird</A>") pays off, they could accomplish just that.

Less than four years old, <A HREF="http://www.directv.com">DirecTV</A> announced last week that it has hit the four million subscriber mark, a number that the company says puts it in one of every 25 TV households in the US. Other interesting statistics about DirecTV: 120 million pay-per-view movies and special event purchases have been made; A total of approximately 200,000 hours of professional and collegiate sporting events have been broadcast; Maintained a monthly churn rate (percentage of subscribers who disconnect) of 1 percent (DirecTV claims that this is the lowest in the multichannel video industry. )

Evolution, not revolution. That's how Fujio Nishida, president of <A HREF="http://www.sel.sony.com/">Sony Electronics</A> Consumer Products Marketing Group, characterizes the coming debut of high-definition television. "This is just the beginning," Nishida said at a press conference on September 16 at which Sony's first direct-view HDTV, the KW-HD1, was unveiled.

DVD will be getting a big boost this fall. <A HREF="http://www.sel.sony.com/">Sony</A> has announced a multipronged promotion with Internet film distributor <A HREF="http://www.netflix.com/">NetFlix</A> and several major video retailers that will expose thousands of movie lovers to the new format. The program will run simultaneously with one <A HREF="http://www.guidetohometheater.com/shownews.cgi?242">announced</A> recently by <A HREF="http://www.blockbuster.com/video/">Blockbuster Video</A> and <A HREF="http://www.philips.com/">Philips Electronics</A>. The Sony/NetFlix and Blockbuster/Philips promotionals were announced in the wake of <A HREF="http://www.circuitcity.com/">Circuit City</A>'s <A HREF="http://www.guidetohometheater.com/shownews.cgi?243">admission</A> that, without outside funding, it will have to cut back on its Divx marketing effort.