Audio Video News

Dual formats or dueling formats? As recordable DVD gains momentum, consumers are apt to be confused by differences between DVD-RW ("DVD-rewritable") and an alternate version called DVD+RW ("DVD plus RW").

<B>Sony Pictures Goes <I>Full Throttle</I> On Blu-ray</B>
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On Friday Sony Pictures Home Entertainment made a curious announcement that it had authored its first full-length Blu-ray Disc in 1920x1080 high definition, and was shipping the disc to manufacturers of Blu-ray players for testing. Following Holt's Law that the technical quality of a piece of software is inversely proportionate to its artistic merit, this landmark Blu-ray title is none other than the box office disappointment <I>Charlie's Angel's: Full Throttle</I>.

<B>2009 Hard Date Set For DTV Transition</B>
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Just in time for Christmas both branches of Congress agreed in late December to a February 18th, 2009 "hard date" for the DTV transition. This will not only end analog transmissions in the US, but will also free up analog spectrum for emergency first responders and also reap an enormous windfall of cash to the federal government when it auctions off the remaining analog spectrum by January of 2008.

<B>Intel Leaps Ahead To Convergence</B>
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In what is sure to be a preview of CES 2006, word is out that Intel is going to be re-branding itself with a new product line focused on the nascent digital home entertainment market. Rather than staking its name awareness with consumers on its chips and microprocessors, Intel's new marketing campaigns will be focused instead on the digital lifestyles that the company's new product lines will enable.

<B>Blu-ray Players, Java Interactivity, And1080p</B>
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At the close of CES 2006 a few stories circulated around the Internet that some of the first Blu-ray players out of the gate would not support the full implementation of Java-based interactivity (dubbed BDJ, for Blu-ray Disc Java) touted as one of the format's chief selling points. These stories expounded that players would be classified as either basic or full profile, with the latter being the only players that would support full BD-J interactivity.