Audio Video News

While the music industry reels from the explosion of freely traded music on the Internet, the looming possibility of a video equivalent has made Hollywood extremely interested in a small startup company in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. <A HREF="http://www.sightsound.com/">Sightsound.com</A>, as it was named by partners Authur Hair and Scott Sander, has what appears to be a secure patent on technology for digitally downloading movies over the Internet.

You pretty much can't read a review of a display or disc player here or anywhere without seeing references to the video processing test clips and patterns from Silicon Optix' <I>HQV Benchmark</I>. Now, the high-definiton <I>HD HQV Benchmark</I> is available to consumers on both Blu-ray and HD DVD for $20 each.

<A HREF="http://www.sim2USA.com">SIM2 USA</A>, a division of SIM2 Multimedia S.p.A., has become the first manufacturer to launch a projector and monitors using Texas Instruments' new HD2 Digital Micromirror Device (DMD) chipset. The company's new projector is the HT300 Plus, the latest addition to the renowned line of Grand Cinema DLP projectors. Also new are two models in its Grand Cinema RTX line.

High-end audio is the primary emphasis here at HE 2001, but home theater is getting plenty of exposure at demos put on by <A HREF="http://www.polkaudio.com">Polk Audio</A>, <A HREF="http://www.martinlogan.com">MartinLogan</A>, and other audio manufacturers who are pushing their products for surround sound. Polk's large suite&mdash;immediately next door to the show's Press Room&mdash;has been packed for the first two days, with show attendees waiting in long lines to get in. The emphasis: a new multi-channel audio system known as the Digital Solution 7200, which includes five two-way speakers, a powered subwoofer with an integral multichannel amplifier, and a tuner/processor/preamp.