Audio Video News

Business travelers often find themselves a captive audience for airlines movie offerings. Sharp Electronics now has a lightweight key to entertainment freedom: the DV-L80U portable DVD player. Sharp claims the player's 8" screen is the largest LCD of its type---more than 30% larger than that of the new unit's predecessor---and in widescreen 16:9 aspect ratio.

Weighing less than three pounds with it lithium ion battery, the DV-L80U will playback studio DVDs as well as DVD-RW discs, CDs, and CD-Vs. A stereo headphone jack with its own volume control ensures complete privacy while enjoying music or movies, which can be enhanced by switching on the DV-L80U's Dolby Virtual Surround feature. Two-channel audio is output at high-quality 24bit/96KHz level of resolution; video is enhanced by a 10bit video DAC, adaptive digital gamma correction, and Sharp's proprietary Digital Super Picture circuitry that optimizes the image by reducing video noise and correcting color, contrast, and detail anomalies.

Sports fans and action movie buffs will enjoy the video zoom feature, which lets you magnify parts of the image up to two times normal size. The player will run on battery power for 3.5 hours before needing a recharge.

The $1599 DV-L80U doubles as a home player, with internal Dolby 5.1 surround decoder, component and S-video outputs, 24/96 stereo audio output, and digital audio output for use with an external decoder. ``The DV-L80U is a groundbreaking product," says Robert Pleyer, marketing manager for Sharp's video division. "With the world's first eight-inch LCD screen, unique features and stylish, lightweight design -- combined with the widespread availability of DVD titles -- this is an ideal entertainment choice for consumers, movie buffs, families and even business travelers.''