Audio Video News

Last week, <A HREF="http://www.prgr.com">Princeton</A>, a manufacturer of computer monitors and PC/TV convergence products, announced a contract with <A HREF="http://www.unitymotion.com">Unity Motion</A>, a high-definition distribution and programming company (see <A HREF="http://www.guidetohometheater.com/shownews.cgi?66">previous article</A>) to develop a flexible, high-quality, widescreen multiscan TV monitor for consumers.

Is DVD hot news or merely lukewarm? Will it sell like hotcakes this year or more like day-old bagels? It all depends on whom you consult.

Several manufacturers will be demonstrating state-of-the-art home-theater products at <A HREF="http://www.hifishow.com">HI-FI '98</A>---some of which have never before been seen by the public.

Home theater just keeps getting better. New products from <A HREF="http://www.toshiba.com">Toshiba,</A> <A HREF="http://www.meitca.com">Mitsubishi,</A> and other companies promise huge improvements in picture quality and greater system flexibility. For example, Toshiba's ColorStream PRO technology in its Platinum Standard SD7108 DVD-Video player preserves the MPEG-2 480-line progressive video scanning inherent in DVDs and outputs it directly to one of the company's new Cinema Series projection TV sets, such as the 71-inch TP71H95.

Like its nymphet namesake, <I>Lolita</I> seems to create nothing but trouble for those who fall under its spell. Director Adrian Lyne's cinematic interpretation of Vladimir Nabokov's still-controversial novel about a middle-aged man's obsession with a teenage girl spent a year in the Hollywood revolving door because no major studio was willing to risk a distribution deal---until now. <A HREF="http://www.viacom.com/press.tin?ixPressRelease=40000482">Showtime Networks</A>, a cable-TV unit of <A HREF="http://www.viacom.com">Viacom</A>, has picked up the film's US rights.

On May&#160;18,&#160;James D. Dunning, Jr., Chairman and CEO of the Petersen Companies, Inc., announced an agreement to acquire <I>Stereophile Magazine</I> and <I>Stereophile Guide to Home Theater</I>---two of this country's leading high-end audio and home-theater publications---as well as HI-FI '98, The Home theater & Specialty Audio Show.

Several manufacturers will be demonstrating state-of-the-art home-theater products at <A HREF="http://www.hifishow.com">HI-FI '98</A>, some of which have never been seen by the public before.