LATEST ADDITIONS

Bang & Olufsen is adding built-in Blu-ray Disc support to its 40-inch BeoVision 7 HDTV. Like the Sharp Aquos BD series, the new, upgraded BeoVision 7-40 has a Blu-ray Disc player built right into its stylish frame. This isn't the first...

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/enemyatgates.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT><i>The year is 1942, and the Nazis are cutting a deadly swath through Russia. Under the leadership of Khrushchev, the citizens of Stalingrad are mounting a brave resistance, spurred by the exploits of their local hero, Vassili Zaitsev (Jude Law). An expert sniper, Zaitsev's deeds have become legendary thanks to propaganda produced by his best friend, a political officer named Danilov (Joseph Fiennes). To stop Zaitsev, the Germans dispatch their best sniper, Major Konig (Ed Harris), to Stalingrad. When Zaitsev and Danilov both fall in love with a beautiful soldier, Danilov deserts his friend, leaving him to face his German counterpart alone. As the city burns, Zaitsev and Konig begin a cunning game of cat and mouse, waging a private war for courage, honor, and country.</i>

After extensive testing, I have finally found the ultimate power cable. It's from Mothra Research Unlimited. Their motto: "At Mothra, you won't get snake oil; you'll get the entire snake." While the Mothra Power Cord may be a bit pricey at $8899.95 per meter (one meter shown), doesn't this description excite the two-channel purist in you?: "Designed and engineered for proper frequency handling from the wall tap to your equipment, the Mothra Power Cord uses 0.0001 mm palladium wire in a helium atmosphere to carry high frequencies, 0.001 mm platinum wire in a xenon atmosphere to carry the upper midranges, 0.01 mm gold wire in an argon atmosphere to carry the lower mids, and 0.1 mm silver wire in highly reactive sulphur hexafluoride to carry the low frequencies. This is then shielded with over 700 Kg of 99.9999% copper, packed into a special neodymium-bismuth damping material, encapsulated in our specially bioengineered case, and irradiated with high intensity gamma rays from Three Mile Island reactor #2." No system would be complete without Ghidorah or Rhodan interconnects, not to mention Mothra's speaker cable. Here's the price list. Mothra's corporate philosophy is simple: "Our goal is to wrap the listener in an intense, passionate and lifelike embrace of sound at a price comparable to the US Navy's Trident Missile Program. The enormous soundstage and precise, realistic imaging of our products will bring out the beast in you and secure our comfortable retirement."

Blu-ray Blues
My TV is a Panasonic TH-42PZ80U and my Blu-ray player is a Samsung BD-P1500. They are connected with an HDMI cable. I've noticed that some Blu-ray discs aren't as sharp as others and really look just like a DVD. Am I being ripped off? Are some Blu-ray discs simply DVDs labeled as Blu-rays to make more money? I can't see anything wrong with my setup. Has anybody else had the same problem? How do I fix it so I get Blu-ray quality every time I watch a Blu-ray?