Audio Video News

Frank Biondi is making a very lucrative career of resigning from high-level positions. The former television executive and second-in-command at Viacom, Inc. has been forced out of the chairmanship at Universal Studios. The film-production company has not done well at the box office lately, a factor in the depressed stock price of its parent organization, Montreal-based Seagram, Ltd., which owns 80% of Universal. Former Hollywood talent agent and Creative Artists Agency co-founder Ron Meyer, who was Universal's president and chief operating officer, will take Biondi's place.

Following up on the start of the US's digital broadcasting system on November 1, both <A HREF="http://www.panasonic.com">Panasonic Industrial Company</A> and <A HREF="http://www.philips.com">Philips Semiconductors</A> announced last week new all-format digital television (DTV) tuner/decoder cards. These cards will allow computer users to view Digital TV (DTV) signals using their desktop PCs hooked up to either a computer monitor or television set. As we reported <A HREF="XXXXX">last week</A>, this may help foster the availabilty of $500 DTV tuners for PCs by early next year.

C<I>arroll Baker, Lee J. Cobb, Henry Fonda, Carolyn Jones, Karl Malden, Gregory Peck, George Peppard, Robert Preston, Debbie Reynolds, James Stewart, Eli Wallach, John Wayne, Richard Widmark. Directed by Henry Hathaway, John Ford, George Marshall. Aspect ratio: approximately 2.23:1. Dolby Surround. Additional language: French. 150 minutes. 1962. MGM 906292. Not rated. $29.95.</I>

If ever there was a marriage made in heaven, it's big-time sports and high-definition television. CBS and Sony Electronics have teamed up to usher in the new era with four HD broadcasts of National Football League games. The first one, a Buffalo Bills/New York Jets matchup, took place November 8. The game---which the Jets won, 34-12---was seen in New York on WCBS's special channel 56. It was also available to fans in New York, Philadelphia, Raleigh, Cincinnati, Columbus, Charlotte, and Washington, DC.

If you don't have one of the pricey new digital TVs, but you're curious about those DTV broadcasts that started in your area last week (if you happen to live in one of the lucky cities), your PC might soon be able to provide some relief. With a graphics accelerator that can handle the various DTV formats and MPEG decoding and a low-cost DTV receiver card, viewing DTV on the PC is an affordable option. A graphics accelerator and receiver card with a combined cost under $500 can provide DTV at a fraction of the price for a new digital TV and tuner/decoder.

The next generation of flat-panel displays might be on the horizon, thanks to the work of scientists at the State University of New York in Buffalo. SUNY professor of physics and chemistry Zhifang Ren heads a group of researchers who announced last Thursday that they have found an easier way to grow "nanotubes" on thin sheets of glass, which might make them perfect for use as video screens.

H<I>elen Hunt, Jack Nicholson, Greg Kinnear, Cuba Gooding, Jr. Directed by James L. Brooks. Aspect ratio: 1.85:1. Dolby Digital 5.1. Additional language: French. 139 minutes. 1997. Columbia TriStar DVD 21709. Rated PG-13. $29.95.</I>