Audio Video News

Until prices for HDTV receivers come down from the stratosphere and high-def programming is available full-time, most viewers will be watching the new format on legacy TVs with the aid of set-top converter boxes. Hearing the clarion call of opportunity, <A HREF="http://www.sciatl.com/">Scientific-Atlanta, Inc.</A> has introduced a line of products to help meet the early demand for HDTV. Among these products is a new HD version of their Explorer 2000 advanced digital set-top box, which will be available in January. This "all-formats" decoder will translate incoming HDTV signals into NTSC video, easing a myriad of consumers into the coming age of digital television.

Scosche Industries, the company that made a name for itself as a leading supplier of car audio products and accessories, has outfitted its newest portable wireless speaker with a couple of clever features.

Screen Innovations (SI) has announced that it is offering its popular Black Diamond ambient-light-rejecting screen in 120- and 150-inch sizes with 16:9 and 2.35:1 aspect ratios, respectively.

The screens become the largest in the series rated for 1.4 gain and have a multi-layer optic said to reflect only the light generated by the projector resulting in a significant boost in contrast. In dark environments, the screen is designed to reduce light scatter by more than 75 percent for a sharper image with deeper blacks.

As with all Black Diamond screens, the new models are 4K ready and support active 3D. Prices start at $2,199.

One of the home theater industry's premier makers of projection screens is celebrating its 100th anniversary.

2017 was not a banner year for TV sales, despite growth for 4K (Ultra HD) TV and even 8K TV.

Several months into one of the biggest mergers the entertainment industry has ever seen, Seagram Company has announced that many of the film and video operations it acquired in its buyout of PolyGram NV will be absorbed into its Universal Studios division. A flurry of pink slips for PolyGram employees, a shuffling of Universal management following a box-office slump, and a hefty write-down for the current quarter are all part of the script.

Remember the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC)? They’re the folks who spent years hammering out the digital broadcast television standard that has brought high def and standard def to antenna-loving TV addicts around the nation. Now the standard-setting body is seeking proposals to replace the core transmission system for ATSC broadcasting. The ATSC 3.0 standard will use the latest in compression and transmission technologies to accommodate ultra-def video, mobile video reception, and greater efficiency in spectrum use. The process is just getting under way with a call for proposals, and several years will probably pass before the new standard emerges in final form.