Other Tech

Most of the buzz about home-network entertainment applications has focused on wireless Wi-Fi connections and traditional wired Ethernet networks. But a potentially revolutionary new technology called Power Line Communications (PLC) was spotlighted at Panasonic's press conference the day before the 2005 International Consumer Electronics Show opened to the public.

Denon's AVR-2807 receiver is feature-packed.

Call it the projection paradox. Projector owners are so devoted to their pursuit of a cinematic effect that they're willing to spend thousands of dollars more than the average TV buyer and endure lights-out viewing. Yet all the hot technology seems to go into those sexy flat-panel TV sets that people who don't know a pixel from a pineapple buy at discount stores while they're picking up tube socks and army-size bags of Cheddar Jalapeño Cheetos.

Just days before boarding a plane in January for the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, I made a point of doing something that many other folks the world over had been doing in droves: I watched Avatar at my local IMAX 3D theater. And I don’t think I’m alone in saying that it was the most involving 3D movie I’d ever seen. The distinct illusion of depth conveyed by the image projected on that massive IMAX screen was an entirely new sensation. In many ways, Avatar was the greatest movie experience I’d ever sat through.

How many times has this happened to you? Irrepressible engineers invent a terrific piece of new hardware, but you can't find any content to play on it. the sampler that came in the box is awesome, but after playing it a thousand times, it's getting a little old.

Most of the big recent news in audio has involved a seemingly endless stream of new surround sound formats. First came uncompressed multichannel Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio soundtracks on Blu-ray Disc. Then last year the listening experience reached new heights as Dolby ProLogic IIz and Audyssey DSX processing brought the vertical axis of our home theaters into play. Now it looks like the surround folks are finally taking a breather, which means we can swing the spotlight back over to stereo, where some big changes have been taking place.