Audio Video News

K<I>athleen Turner, Nicolas Cage, Barry Miller, Catherine Hicks, Don Murray, Barbara Harris, Jim Carrey, Wil Shriner, Maureen O'Sullivan, Leon Ames, John Carradine, Joan Allen, Helen Hunt. Directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Aspect ratio: 1.85:1 (anamorphic). Dolby Digital 2.0 (Dolby Surround). 103 minutes. 1986. Columbia TriStar Home Video 81849. Rated PG-13. $29.98.</I>

According to <A HREF="http://www.cyberstar.com">CyberStar L.P.</A>, the world's first satellite-broadcast distribution of high-definition, all-digital motion-picture content to a movie theater was successfully conducted last week at the Cannes Film Festival. The company, which is a provider of broadband services developed by <A HREF="http://www.loral.com">Loral Space & Communications</A>, teamed with independent film producers/distributors <A HREF="http://www.tebweb.com/lastbroadcast/">Wavelength Releasing</A> and digital film-server manufacturer QuVIS to distribute and show two short films: the Academy Award-winning <I>Bunny</I>, directed by Chris Wedge, and <I>Protest</I>, directed by S.D. Katz. Audiences viewed both films at Cannes' eCinema exhibition at the Palais Miramar on May 18-20.

Move over, TiVo. Step aside, ReplayTV. Canada's <A HREF="http://www.mgisoft.com/">MGI Software</A> has introduced new software that will turn Pentium III computers into digital VCRs. The development was announced in mid-May at the Electronic Entertainment Expo '99 in Los Angeles.

R<I>obert Redford, Debra Winger, Daryl Hannah, Brian Dennehy. Directed by Ivan Reitman. Aspect ratio: 2.35:1 (letterbox). Dolby Digital 2.0 (Dolby Surround). 116 minutes. 1986. Universal ID4287US. Rated PG. $29.95.</I>

Last week, <A HREF="http://www.timewarnercable.com">Time Warner Cable</A> said that it has successfully tested distribution of a high-definition TV feed from Home Box Office and will soon begin delivering it in the upgraded areas of its Tampa, Florida cable operation using equipment from <A HREF="http://www.sciatl.com">Scientific-Atlanta, Inc.</A> According to Time Warner, this marks the first time HBO's HDTV signal has been made available to cable customers using a form of signal-modulation technology known as QAM, which allows two HDTV channels to be delivered in the same bandwidth needed for one off-air HDTV channel.

While the music industry reels from the explosion of freely traded music on the Internet, the looming possibility of a video equivalent has made Hollywood extremely interested in a small startup company in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. <A HREF="http://www.sightsound.com/">Sightsound.com</A>, as it was named by partners Authur Hair and Scott Sander, has what appears to be a secure patent on technology for digitally downloading movies over the Internet.

Direct broadcast satellite (DBS) television service might soon gain a competitive edge against cable, thanks to broadcasting-reform legislation passed by the US House of Representatives on Tuesday, April 26. The bill, which won near-unanimous approval in a vote of 422 to 1, lifts restrictions on the transmission of local television signals by satellite services, which is one of the primary advantages held by cable companies. Representative Robert Brady (D-PA) cast the sole dissenting vote. So-called "local-into-local" retransmissions are banned by the <A HREF="http://www.fcc.gov/">Federal Communications Commission</A>, whose arcane regulations have been upheld by Federal judges, as happened in Miami last month in a <A HREF="http://www.guidetohometheater.com/shownews.cgi?392">case</A> brought by major networks against <A HREF="http://www.directv.com/">DirecTV</A>.