Audio Video News

Last week, EchoStar Communications Corporation announced that, starting this week, its <A HREF="http://www.dishnetwork.com">Dish Network</A> will begin showing HDTV versions of popular motion pictures, beginning with the James Bond film <I>The World Is Not Enough</I>. EchoStar claims that the Dish Network currently serves more than 4.3 million customers.

Fire up your HD VCRs, <A HREF="http://www.NBCOlympics.com">NBC</A> and <A HREF="http://www.hd.net/olympics.html">HDNet</A> have managed to put together an impressive schedule of Winter Olympics coverage this year to broadcast in high-definition television on NBC's DTV affiliates and HDNet (channel 199 on DIRECTV). One important caveat however, all programming is delayed one day.

Testifying last week before the House Commerce Committee Subcommittee on Telecommunications, Trade, and Consumer Protection, <A HREF="http://www.ce.org">Consumer Electronics Association</A> (CEA) president and CEO Gary Shapiro described what he called a "successful consumer transition" to digital television (DTV), this characterized by broad product offerings, increased programming from alternative media sources, steady sales, and high consumer satisfaction with DTV products. But all is not rosy: According to Shapiro, broadcast-industry delays in delivering significant HDTV programming and the industry's potential misuse of the DTV spectrum to provide subscription data services could seriously slow the transition's current momentum.

A plasma display's compact physical size, perfectly flat screen, and pixel-sharp picture answer many prayers for home-theater enthusiasts. There are a few downsides, however, including a lack of true blacks and prices equal to a new small car. But one of the biggest drawbacks so far is far too few pixels to properly present an HDTV image. To solve this problem, several manufacturers are creating larger displays with higher resolutions.

The popularity of DVD and home theater is driving sales of big-screen television sets to new heights&mdash;despite the fact that the rollout of digital television may make them obsolete in the near future. Sales of big-screen sets are up 13% over 1998, according to the latest statistics from the <A HREF="http://www.cemacity.org/">Consumer Electronics Association</A>. Ninety percent of the approximately 1 million units sold in 1990 were equipped to display only NTSC analog signals&mdash;or "legacy video," as industry insiders call it.