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Audio Video News
MPAA to Soften Screener Ban?
Barry Willis  |  Oct 20, 2003  |  0 comments

Movie studios, producers, writers, actors, and distributors are seeking a work- around of an edict issued only a couple of weeks ago by the <A HREF="http://www.mpaa.org">Motion Picture Association of America</A> (MPAA) that would ban free screening copies of Academy Award-nominated movies.

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Audio Video News
CEA Survey: HDTV Rising
 |  Oct 20, 2003  |  0 comments

HDTV is a hot technology, as any home theater fan will attest. That enthusiasm is shared by as many as nine million households, likely to purchase high-definition television (HDTV) products over the next 18 months, according to a recent <A HREF="http://www.ce.org">Consumer Electronics Association</A> (CEA) survey, titled <I>HDTV Consumer Awareness Update</I>. An additional 30 million consumers may buy into HDTV within the next three years, the trade group asserts.

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Audio Video News
Added to the Archives This Week
 |  Oct 20, 2003  |  0 comments

Thomas J. Norton encircles himself with the <A HREF="/speakersystems/903BW">B&W DM 602 Series 3 surround speaker system</A>, noting that "the model designation 'DM' might not sound like anything special, but it has a long history with B&W." And, as TJN discovers, what counts is how that tradition is put to use.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
The Lion King:Disney Special Platinum Edition
Thomas J. Norton  |  Oct 20, 2003  |  0 comments

<I>Voices of Rowan Atkinson, Matthew Broderick, Whoopi Goldberg, Robert Guillaume, Jeremy Irons, James Earl Jones, Nathan Lane, Ernie Sabella. Directed by Rob Minkoff and Roger Allers. Aspect ratio: 1.66:1 (anamorphic). Two discs. Dolby Digital 5.1 (English, French), 5.1 Disney Enhanced Home Theater Mix (English), THX. 88 minutes. 1994. Walt Disney Vista Home Entertainment 62971. G. $29.99.</I>

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Audio Video News
Software Reviews
HT Staff  |  Oct 20, 2003  |  0 comments
DVD: Hollywood Homicide—Columbia TriStar
Video: 4
Audio: 4
Extras: 2
Hollywood Homicide is the kind of film that probably looked much better in concept than it did on the scripted page—and far better than it does on screen. Two Hollywood detectives—one a real estate broker on the side, the other an aspiring actor—try to wedge in a murder investigation between their second lives. All of the buddy picture elements are here, notably the grizzled veteran (Harrison Ford) teamed with a green, slightly bumbling rookie (Josh Hartnett), but the screenplay by director Ron Shelton bumbles its own way through the story, creating zero believable chemistry between the two. Ford has never looked older or more dour as the long-timer who's more anxious to unload a turkey of a property than solve the case.
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Audio Video News
Coming Attractions
HT Staff  |  Oct 20, 2003  |  0 comments
ELAN
ELAN's new VIA!2 wireless touchpanel is perfect for controlling wholehouse audio, home theater, security, temperature, lighting, drapes, and just about any other wireless solution you could ask for. (Now, if only it could load and unload the dishwasher...) It uses an 802.11b wireless transmission method and comes with both the VIA!2 server and docking station. The 7.8-inch LCD touchscreen and large, easy-to-read buttons and user screens make the VIA!2 both intuitive and user-friendly. Using ELAN's VIA!TOOLS Windows-based software, you can complete the setup process in hours using simple point-and-click methods. ELAN says that the VIA!2 will last for 670 hours in hibernate mode, 24 hours in standby mode, or 6 hours in operation mode. The $3,500 price tag also gets you the Server Station, which can turn the unit's commands into IR or RS-232 commands for controlling other home devices. Look for this handy device in the first quarter of 2004.
ELAN Home Systems
(859) 269-7760
www.elanhomesystems.com
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Other Tech
Shopping Made Simple: DVD Recorders
David Ranada  |  Oct 19, 2003  |  0 comments
Photo by John Wilkes Visiting a local Circuit City recently, I saw several customers in front of the display of DVD recorders, mulling over the three or four models shown. Unfortunately, that's all they were doing - mulling. Although each of them probably yearned to replace an aging VCR with a shiny new DVD recorder, nobody had the gumption to lay down the bucks.
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Other Tech
HDTV Showcase
James K. Willcox  |  Oct 14, 2003  |  0 comments

For more than a decade, the arrival of high-definition television was trumpeted with all the bluster of a carnival barker and the sincerity of a contestant on a reality-TV dating show.

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Surround Processor Reviews
Rotel RSP-1098 A/V Preamp/Processor
Daniel Kumin  |  Oct 13, 2003  |  0 comments

Photos by Tony Cordoza Not too long ago, a loyal Sound & Vision reader wrote complaining that the "audio/video" preamps and receivers we regularly review are really just plain-audio components with a few video inputs and switching thrown in. Point taken. So here's an A/V component with some actual video: the Rotel RSP-1098.

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Audio Video News
Added to the Archives This Week
 |  Oct 13, 2003  |  0 comments

Pete Putman reveals that, at first, he paid the <A HREF="http://www.guidetohometheater.com/showarchives.cgi?159">Optoma H56 DLP front projector</A> little attention. And then he set one up for the 2003 Super Bowl, which lead to a complete review of the sub-$5k projector.

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