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Digital Cinema is Coming!
Thomas J. Norton  |  Nov 13, 2005  |  First Published: Nov 14, 2005  |  2 comments

And you thought it was already here. It's true that a number of films over the past few years have been digitally projected in a small number of theaters around the world, using primarily DLP technology (and occasionally LCoS). But these presentations have employed a wide range of formats. For example, 30 different release masters were reportedly made for the 30 theaters that showed <I>Van Helsing</I> digitally in 2003. This lack of standardization could never support the massive conversion to digital cinema (and the savings in print distribution costs) that the studios are hoping for.

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A/V Veteran
A Site to See
Thomas J. Norton  |  Nov 09, 2005  |  0 comments

If you checked into our website this week (and of course you did, or you wouldn't be reading this!) you've noticed a whole new look. Access to you favorite sections will be easier, thanks to a more detailed top line. Loading time—we anticipate—will be faster. And, most important—there's a whole new layer of content.

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A/V Veteran
Serenity in a Star Wars Universe
Thomas J. Norton  |  Nov 02, 2005  |  5 comments

The DVD of <I>Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith</I> hits the video stores this week. Fox didn't send us an advanced screener. Perhaps they read the rather negative review I wrote last summer during the film's <A HREF="http://www.guidetohometheater.com/thomasjnorton/505tjn/index1.html">thea... release</A>! I'll have more to say about the movie, and about the DVD release, in the upcoming November 2005 <I>UAV</I> eNewsletter, scheduled to be mailed out next week. You do subscribe, don't you? (If not, simply <A HREF="http://www.ultimateavmag.com/newsletter_subscribe/?Your%20E-mail"> click here</A> to sign up. It's free.)

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A/V Veteran
Blog on Blogs
Thomas J. Norton  |  Oct 27, 2005  |  8 comments

What's a blog? It's the hot topic on the Internet these days, but what, exactly, is it? Since we've just launched four new blogs here on <I>Ultimate AV</I>, this is a timely question. Three of the blogs have been converted directly from our previous monthly columns. A fourth is brand new.

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A/V Veteran
Viewpoint: A Video Revolution?
Thomas J. Norton  |  Sep 19, 2005  |  0 comments

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/headshot150.tjn.jpg" WIDTH=150 HEIGHT=194 HSPACE=6 VSPACE=4 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>Your favorite <I>first-run</I> movies could be coming soon to a theater near you&mdash;your own home theater&mdash;in full high definition.

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A/V Veteran
Viewpoint: A Modest Proposal
Thomas J. Norton  |  Aug 28, 2005  |  0 comments

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/headshot150.tjn.jpg" WIDTH=150 HEIGHT=194 HSPACE=6 VSPACE=4 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>I'm a huge fan of having a physical copy of video content (high-definition or otherwise) for my own personal use any time I see fit. The downloading paradigm scares me. It opens up all sorts of ways for the provider to stick it to the consumer. How about paying <I>every</I> time you want to watch? How about additional compression so our downloaded movies are "High-Definition Quality," like those "CD-quality" MP3s? How about spyware or adware along for the ride? Pop-up ads in mid-movie, anyone?

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A/V Veteran
Viewpoint: Bits and Pieces
Thomas J. Norton  |  Jul 24, 2005  |  0 comments

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/headshot150.tjn.jpg" WIDTH=150 HEIGHT=194 HSPACE=6 VSPACE=4 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>So many little things have flown over the transom this month (does anyone even have a transom anymore?) that a lapse into blogging mode seemed the best way to clear them out.

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A/V Veteran
Viewpoint: Sell the Mercedes?
Thomas J. Norton  |  Jun 26, 2005  |  0 comments

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/headshot150.tjn.jpg" WIDTH=150 HEIGHT=194 HSPACE=6 VSPACE=4 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>"Sell the Mercedes! Hock the mink!" So wrote a still-active audio scribe (Peter Moncrieff) a quarter century ago while reviewing a pricey (for the time) tube preamp. Today, you can still pay more than the price of a Mercedes for an amplifier or speakers. And while few people today would be caught alive wearing a dead rat, the proverbial mink coat wouldn't go far toward the price of that top-drawer, custom home theater installation, either.

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A/V Veteran
Viewpoint: Star Wars at the Dome
Thomas J. Norton  |  Jun 01, 2005  |  0 comments

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/headshot150.tjn.jpg" WIDTH=150 HEIGHT=194 HSPACE=6 VSPACE=4 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>George Lucas is a fan. I don't mean of <I>Star Wars</I> (though he is, I suspect, that, too); rather, he's a fan of digital cinema. And he wanted his magnum opus, <I>Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith</I>, to play in digital on the biggest screens in the world. That covers a lot of territory, but the screen at the Cinerama Dome in Hollywood, which measures 32 by 86 feet, just might be the biggest anywhere.

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Viewpoint: How Much, How Fast, How Legal?
Thomas J. Norton  |  Apr 25, 2005  |  0 comments

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/headshot150.tjn.jpg" WIDTH=150 HEIGHT=194 HSPACE=6 VSPACE=4 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>One of the hot, media-centric topics these days is Digital Rights Management, or DRM. I touched on this topic in a <A href="http://www.ultimateavmag.com/news/041405DRM/">report</A> on the recent Digital Hollywood conference. Put simply but politely, it involves managing how and what an individual may do with program material to which others own the copyright. Put more bluntly, it involves how to keep the public from making copies that Hollywood considers illegitimate and thus deny Hollywood the income it feels would otherwise come from the sale of that material.

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A/V Veteran
Viewpoint: Video Urban Legends
Thomas J. Norton  |  Mar 20, 2005  |  0 comments

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/headshot150.tjn.jpg" WIDTH=150 HEIGHT=194 HSPACE=6 VSPACE=4 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>It never ends. Today's fast-changing AV scene constantly generates an ongoing flow of myths, legends, and other blather that either arises spontaneously or is deliberately manufactured to push the bewildered consumer toward a certain product or technology. I'll make a valiant attempt here to explode a few of these video urban legends, nevertheless secure in the knowledge that, like Don Quixote, I'll find an endless supply of new windmills just down the road.

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A/V Veteran
Viewpoint:The Oscars are coming!
Thomas J. Norton  |  Feb 14, 2005  |  0 comments

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/headshot150.tjn.jpg" WIDTH=150 HEIGHT=194 HSPACE=6 VSPACE=4 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT><I>The Oscars are coming! The Oscars are coming! Which films are worthy contenders? Which will make good DVDs?</I>

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A/V Veteran
ViewPoint: Adventures on the Web, Adventures in Video
Thomas J. Norton  |  Dec 31, 2004  |  First Published: Jan 01, 2005  |  0 comments

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/headshot150.tjn.jpg" WIDTH=150 HEIGHT=194 HSPACE=6 VSPACE=4 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>Big things are happening on the <I>Ultimate AV website</I> (<A HREF="http://www.ultimateAVmag.com">www.ultimateAVmag.com</A>). Go there and you'll find the hottest new addition to the <I>Stereophile UltimateAV</I> world: our very own <I>eNewsletter</I>. Want more information on how to improve your home theater system? You'll find it. Want to know what's happening in the fast-changing AV world? You got it. Want to know what you should look out for in HDTV, or how that latest and greatest big Hollywood blockbuster DVD really stacks up? We'll tell you about it. There will be a new edition every month. It's yours free for just signing up, so check it out now!

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A/V Veteran
Viewpoint: Going to Bits
Thomas J. Norton  |  Dec 31, 2004  |  First Published: Jan 01, 2005  |  0 comments

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/headshot150.tjn.jpg" WIDTH=150 HEIGHT=194 HSPACE=6 VSPACE=4 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT><I>Ultimate AV is going completely to bits! But not to pieces. </I>

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A/V Veteran
ViewPoint: Show Time
Thomas J. Norton  |  Dec 14, 2004  |  First Published: Dec 15, 2004  |  0 comments

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/headshot150.tjn.jpg" WIDTH=150 HEIGHT=194 HSPACE=6 VSPACE=4 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>The booths are disassembled, the carpets are rolled up and stored, and the showgoers are back at their day jobs. CEDIA Expo 2004 is over, and there's no doubt that the planning for 2005 began the day after this year's installment closed.

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