Audio Video News

Die-hard fans of the sci-fi film <I>The Matrix</I> will soon have a purchasing decision to make: Is Warner Home Video's latest <I>Matrix</I>-related DVD project a welcome new morsel of valuable information or the latest example of the movie industry's ongoing attempts to milk customers for all they're worth?

<B>Big Fourth Quarter For Blu-ray And HD DVD</B><BR>
The number of Blu-ray and HD DVD releases scheduled in the last quarter of this calendar year is growing rapidly. Warner's second wave of Blu-ray titles will hit stores on September 5th, followed by four more catalog titles from the Warner library on September 12th. Universal has announced four more catalog titles for HD DVD in late October.

NAD showcased a DVD player and an A/V receiver, both new at this year's CES. NAD's first DVD machine is called the T550 and will retail at $799. In addition to built-in Dolby Digital is a feature sure to please audiophiles using the machine as a music source: separate high-quality audio outputs when used with a 24/96 source. The T760 receiver includes both Dolby Digital and DTS and is modestly rated at 60W for all five channels. (NAD is known for conservative power ratings.) The T760 will retail for $999.

Three Blu-ray titles featuring Dolby Atmos soundtracks were announced this week. Paramount Pictures will release Hercules on November 4 and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on December 16. Lionsgate announced the November 4 release of Step Up All In on Blu-ray.

I've been attending the South By Southwest music festival for many years, but I can't ever recall ever hearing the particular sound I encountered late Friday night at Stubb's: squealing. And I mean the kind of squealing that means only one thing – female hormones on the march.