The recent Consumer Electronics Show was a good one for Zenith Electronics Corporation. The company appears to have strong faith in the future of the flatscreen market, having debuted four new plasma display panels (PDPs) in Las Vegas, ranging from 40" to 60" diagonally. The flat, thin monitors can be hung on the wall for an elegant installation solution.
Let me make one thing perfectly clear. This is not your father's stereo. In fact, it's not his home theater either. Kenwood has come up with a networked home entertainment system that promises to provide easy access to movies from a DVD megachanger and music from a variety of sources, including CDs, MP3 music files stored on a hard-disk drive - even Internet radio stations.
Running with a stack of my favorite CDs compressed into a player no larger than a deck of cards, I set a personal best on the trail around the Central Park Reservoir.
Marantz With its silver finish and flat, brushed-aluminum faceplates, the Marantz Duetto stereo music system has an elegantly futuristic look. Both the SR110 two-channel receiver (top) and the CD110 CD player measure 8 1/4 x 3 x 12 2/8 inches and have drop-down covers over their front-panel controls.
Any home theater or audio sales consultant will tell you that large speakers are among the biggest obstacles to closing a sale. There's a certain category of customer who wants big sound without the big boxes.
Flatscreen TV is on almost everyone's wish list. It's a product category that cuts across all demographic boundaries. From home theater enthusiasts to casual TV viewers, everyone agrees that flatscreens are "way cool."
<I>Mark Wahlberg, Tim Roth, Helena Bonham Carter, Michael Clarke Duncan, Estella Warren, Paul Giamatti. Directed by Tim Burton. Aspect ratio: 2.35:1 (anamorphic). Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS 5.1 (English), Dolby Surround (Spanish), THX. Two discs. 124 minutes (film). 2001. 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment 24543 02896. PG-13. $29.98.</I>
As evidenced by the recent Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, plasma screen television sets are steadily gaining market share, with every major consumer electronics manufacturer showing a variety of sizes and features. The thin displays look poised to dominate the market in coming years, providing resolution continues to increase and prices continue to drop.