Audio Video News

Everyone's talking about waiting for the price of Blu-ray players to come down to an acceptable price, but what about movies? Until Blu-ray movies are closer in price to DVD, folks aren't about to make the switch, are they?Wal-Mart has...

Is the disc doomed? It isn't good news for hard-copy video formats when a chain the size of Walmart announces that it will devote less space on the sales floor to both DVDs and Blu-ray discs.

Over the years we've seen many home theater companies attempt to rekindle memories of Hollywood's grand, but nearly forgotten ballyhoo past (some of which would make even the great William Castle jealous). Several companies make devices that will shake, rattle, and roll your chair during passages with loud, deep bass. We've even seen subwoofers said to originate from research projects aiming to imitate the low frequency groans that elephants use to communicate to each other through dense brush.

Wouldn't it be convenient if all satellite radio--meaning Sirius XM--receivers also handled over-the-air HD Radio? A bill in Congress would mandate this pairing. The Federal Communications Commission is also considering it as an outgrowth of its approval for the Sirius XM merger.

The latest pay-TV operator to offer a reduced-priced “skinny” bundle is the Dish Network. The Flex Pack offers more than 50 channels including AMC, CNN, and other favorites for $29.99/month. The base price includes dish, receiver, free installation, and a two-year price guarantee for new subscribers. For another $4 to $10 a month, you can also get one of eight themed packages, which include local, regional, national, or kids’ channels. Another $10 a month will get you an upgrade to the Hopper 3 DVR with ad-skipping AutoHop (partly disabled to settle a lawsuit from the TV networks).

Warner Home Video has officially announced its first titles on the Blu-ray Disc format. On August 1st the studio will bow <I>Good Night and Good Luck</I>, <I>Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang</I>, <I> Rumor Has It</I> and <I>Training Day</I>.

If you're like most early adopters, you have a stack of HD DVDs in your collection. You might still have an HD DVD player as well, but you probably also have a Blu-ray player by now, and the HD DVD spinner is likely gathering dust awaiting disposal on eBay. But what to do with those HD DVDs?