OTHER TECH

One minute, I'm standing in the lobby of a Manhattan hotel - a total nobody, utterly ignored by the throngs rushing about. The next minute, people are stopping on the street to take pictures of me, an instant celebrity, as I step into a "storm black" Aston Martin DBS.

No matter your favorite color, green should be one of the first you consider when buying electronics. All A/V gear has the potential to be environmentally unfriendly; depending on its power consumption and its construction, your new HDTV could be anything from a modest electricity sipper to a toxic, power-guzzling time bomb.

When 7.1-channel surround sound came out a few years ago, no one knew if people would buy it. And no one knew if Hollywood would produce 7.1-channel soundtracks. But there's one thing everyone knew: Someday, somebody would come up with even more channels.

Okay. Let's begin by taking a deep breath. Breathe in and then out. Again. Good! Now, let me explain that it might be time for another paradigm shift. Remember the first time you drove a car? Or kissed your sweetheart? Or chugged an entire spray can of cheese? Yes, your life was never the same afterward.

In a wintry scene on a certain Blu-ray Disc I'm watching, I can see subtle shadings in the whites of the snow-covered yards. All around, contrast is crisp, and color is stunning - such as the perfect-hued skin tones of the leading man's face. Not to mention the brilliant shade of azure in his matching scarf and hat. (Has such a tint ever appeared onscreen before?)

By now, you've heard about the sudden death of actress Natasha Richardson. I wrote about her and husband Liam Neeson's home theater for the January '09 issue ("A Class Act"), and wanted to share a few thoughts about her: