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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
The Greatest Game Ever Played
Tom Norton  |  May 30, 2006  |  First Published: May 31, 2006

As noted in another blog, I've been having fun lately with unexpectedly good movies that fell through the critical and audience cracks during their theatrical releases. And <I> The Greatest Game Ever Played</I> certainly surprised me as much as any of them.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
The Bourne Supremacy
Tom Norton  |  May 30, 2006  |  First Published: May 31, 2006

I have mixed feeling about the Bourne films. This one is the sequel to the first, <I>The Bourne Identity</I>. The two movies feature a rogue, on-the-run, amnesiac CIA hit man trying to discover who he really is, and in the process discovering "talents" that he didn't know he had.

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HE 2006 Coverage Coming Soon!
 |  May 30, 2006

UltimateAVMag.com will begin its coverage of HE 2006 starting Thursday. Stay tuned for reports from all four days of the show.

Ears On
Hitachi's 42-Inch Plasmas Do 1080
Mark Fleischmann  |  May 30, 2006
Hitachi bills four new 42-inch plasma models as 1080-line-capable. The following information is for numbers-obsessed videoholics only: The relevant model numbers are 42HDF39 ($2299), 42HDS69 ($2499), 42HDT79 ($2999), and 42HDX99 ($5299). Nominally these are 1080i, as opposed to 1080p, displays though at 42 inches that distinction is negligible. However, it's the vertical resolution that's 1080 lines. Horizontal resolution is actually 1024 lines, as opposed to 1920 in the 1080i ATSC broadcast standard (1920 by 1080). So three of these models are 1024 by 1080, and the lowest-priced is actually 1024 by 1024. Got all that? The difference probably stems from the inherent limitations of Hitachi's highly rated plasma manufacturing technique, which involves vertical channels of pixels crisscrossed by horizontal lines of electrodes. I got a preview at last week's press event in New York though production models will not arrive till later in the year. Up close and personal, the prototype looked pretty spiffy. I could see the dots only from two or three feet. Beyond that the picture looked seamless. The bottom line is that these 42-inch plasmas can show 1080 lines in a test pattern. Try that with a crayon and a piece of paper. Bet you can't do it.
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Projector Reviews
Hitachi HDPJ 52 LCD Projector
Steven Stone  |  May 29, 2006

When I think of home theater video projectors Hitachi isn't the first brand that comes to mind. Hitachi is probably better known for microwaves, compact music systems, and other mass-market consumer electronics. When Tom Norton offered me the HDPJ52 LCD projector for review I wasn't expecting very much. Simply put, every LCD projector I've reviewed in the past has been fatally flawed by poor color, inadequate black levels, and less than optimal resolution. Why should Hitachi do any better with LCD projectors than other manufacturers? What I neglected to consider is that Hitachi not only makes its own LCD panels and most other major components, they have been manufacturing business and presentation projectors for years. I packed my preconceptions into a large box and put it in the garage. With a newly open mind I unpacked the Hitachi HDPJ52. Welcome to the bright new world of 21st century LCD projectors.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Casanova
Tom Norton  |  May 28, 2006

I've been experiencing an unusual run of good films on standard definition DVD lately, though most are not of any special demonstration quality, nothing gets blowed-up real good in most of them, few were big hits, and several are set in the past. But I'm a sucker for almost any historical film or TV miniseries (HBO's two part <I>Elizabeth I</I> resides on the HD PVR in my cable box even now waiting for me to find the 4 hours I need to invest in watching it!)

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
The Chronicles of Riddick HD DVD
Tom Norton  |  May 28, 2006

Yes, I know. This film was received by critics as if it was the sequel to <I>Battlefield Earth</I> instead of the follow-up to the cult favorite, <I>Pitch Black</I>. Riddick, you may recall, was once a dangerous, sociopathic villain. Here, like a gravel-voiced Captain Kirk, he arrives just in time to save the universe from the Underverse.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Mrs. Henderson Presents
Tom Norton  |  May 28, 2006

A bored, rich widow, Laura Henderson (Judi Dench) buys a failed London theater on the eve of World War II. But she soon discovers she has no idea what to do with it. After she hires an experienced producer (Bob Hoskins) the theater is briefly successful running music hall reviews. But soon reality sets in and the competition drives them into the red.

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Geoffrey Morrison Blog
The Toshiba HD-XA1
Geoffrey Morrison  |  May 26, 2006
As promised, here’s Gary’s review of the Toshiba HD-XA1. For those that want a little more depth, we’ll be running a longer version of the review and more in the August issue.
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Other Source Component Reviews
Toshiba HD-XA1
Gary Merson  |  May 26, 2006
HD DVD has (finally) arrived.

A new prerecorded video format is big news. It doesn’t come along every day. It’s been nine years since DVD was release, and it was 19 before that since LaserDisc. Enter HD DVD. Its higher transfer rate (35.5 mbps versus broadcast’s 19.4 mbps maximum) and advanced codecs (VC-1 and H.264) create a potential for audio and video quality to far exceeds broadcast HD, as well as containing a host of new features and capabilities. The first two models are the HD-A1 ($499) and HD-XA1 ($799). Both have the same performance; the step-up HD-XA model adds a better enclosure, a motorized door, RS-232, and a backlit remote.

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