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Federal regulators appear to have few objections to the proposed buyout of the satellite broadcaster by News Corporation—which makes for a completely different scenario than last year's aborted acquisition of DirecTV by rival Echostar.

The most common form of video pro-cessor, the deinterlacer-scaler, serves two primary functions. First, it acts as a video switcher, so you need to run only one cable to your display. More important, a video processor converts standard-definition 480i (NTSC) sources either to 480p or a higher resolution, depending on the needs of the video display.

Falling prices and improved availability of programming combined to boost sales of high-definition television sets by 50% during the past year, according to figures recently published by Port Washington, NY-based research firm NPD Group.

Give-and-take is the essence of politics. On Monday evening, November 24, demonstrating that it's better to compromise than to lose entirely, US lawmakers agreed to cap broadcast ownership at 39% of the national market of potential viewers—less than half-way between the old limit of 35% and a new one of 45% approved by the Federal Communications Commission last June. Some Democratic lawmakers decried the 39% deal as a betrayal by their Republican colleagues.