Audio Video News

I know, it's a little TBS Superstation of me to post one of "the world's funniest commercials!" But, as an A/V nerd, this one got me. While itd doesn't quite have the wow-factor of Sony's ultra-elaborate Bravia ads, it's wroth a chuckle. I won't...

Don’t you just hate it when Netflix freezes? Acutely aware of how Internet speeds affect perception of its service, Netflix regularly ranks ISPs. In the November 2015 ranking, Grande Communications was the winner at 3.90 Mbps. The small outfit outpaced a bunch of big guys including Verizon (3.86), Cox (3.76), Bright House/Cablevision (3.74), Comcast (3.69), and Time Warner (3.65). These numbers are for Netflix performance only, not overall data performance.

The final curtain has fallen for the financially troubled Vidikron, as the company's dissolution has been announced by its secured creditor, Markland Technologies. As <A HREF="http://www.guidetohometheater.com/shownews.cgi?490">reported</A> nearly three years ago, in August of 1999, Vidikron narrowly escaped bankruptcy at that time by arranging a line of credit and was then <A HREF="http://www.guidetohometheater.com/shownews.cgi?516">independantly financed</A> by a group of international investors one month later.

In a move intended to broaden its home theater product line, <A HREF="http://www.projectavision.com">Projectavision, Inc.</A> of New York announced January 21 that it has signed a definitive agreement to purchase substantially all of the assets of <A HREF="http://www.vidikron.com">Vidikron Industries, S.p.A.</A>, including its US subsidiary, Vidikron of America. Vidikron, a privately held company founded 18 years ago and headquartered in Milan, Italy, is a manufacturer and marketer of high-end projection systems for the home-theater consumer and commercial markets, and serves customers in over 30 countries worldwide.

Three ultra-high resolution LCD panels and twin projection lamps make Vidikron's new Epoch D-2200 a frontrunner in the home theater projection race.

Vidikron is back in action.

Sharp is finally ready to begin selling - in Japan, at first, and then in the U.S. later in the year - the LC-65GE1, a jumbo 65V-inch¹ LCD flat-panel HDTV, touted by Sharp as "the world's largest LCD model". The new giant HDTV uses a full-spec high-definition low reflection Advanced Super View LCD panel with 1,920 by 1,080 pixels (1080i). Sharp says that high-speed full-motion video artifacts are significantly reduced as a result of Sharp's QS (Quick Shoot) technology. In the new model, crimson has been added to the standard red, green, and blue backlighting in order to recreate previously unreproduceable colors such as "the deep red of aged wine". (No mention was made of the set's ability to accurately reproduce the color of the $3.99 bottle of cheap rose I bought last week, but I guess that's to be expected.) The TV's audio package includes Sharp's 1-Bit Digital Amplifier and bottom-mounted High-Aperture Speaker System.