Audio Video News

As we predicted last month, Bond's going Blu. Blu-ray, that is. Just announced from MGM and Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, the same six titles that were being released in France will be available in the States, just one day after their...

D<I>enis Leary, Billy Crudup, Ian Hart, Jason Barry, Famke Janssen, Colm Meaney, Martin Sheen, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Noah Emmerich, John Diehl. Directed by Ted Demme. Aspect ratio: 1.85:1 (widescreen). Dolby Digital 5.1. 94 minutes. 1998. Miramax 17093. R. $24.98.</I>

Home Theater's Joe Hageman loved RBH Sound, Inc.'s Signature Series loudspeakers. He may want to revisit the company's offerings now that they've launched the T1, a new flagship product.

The T1, which debuted at the 2002 Consumer Electronics Show, is intended "to provide the ultimate in performance in large-scale home theater systems." Capable of handling 500 watts of power, but boasting a sensitivity of 90dB, the T1 features four 6.5" aluminum cone midwoofers and three 1" tweeters, and is capable of putting out clean sound at an astounding 120dB sound pressure level---similar to a jet engine at takeoff. Low-end cutoff frequency is said to be 45Hz.

Until recently, the ticket price for consumers wishing to get into the high-definition TV game was $5000-$6000. With a new receiver/monitor combination that began shipping the first week of October, <A HREF="http://www.rca.com/">RCA</A> has slashed that price in half. The model MM36100 is a 36"-diagonal digital high-resolution television monitor with a suggested list price of $2499. A companion receiver/converter box, the DTC100, carries a suggested retail price of $649. The pair are expected to sell together for around $3000.

Good things come to those who wait, but great video sometimes takes longer to arrive than great audio thanks to the extensive image processing that is typical with high-definition video. The result is a kind of psychic audio ability wherein the viewer is able to hear things before he actually sees them. Although it has nothing to do with Millie Vanillie or Ashlee Simpson, the phenomenon is technically known as "lip-sync error".

T<I>he staff of </I>SGHT<I> would like to thank reader <A HREF="mailto:davidh@rochester.rr.com">David Henderson</A>, who provided this spreadsheet file in response to an article about room acoustics written by Russ Herschelmann in the March/April 1999 issue. Below are Mr. Henderson's notes for using the file.</I>