Audio Video News

Last summer we reported that JVC and Kenwood were contemplating a merger. It appears the merger is about to become official, pending a June 27 shareholder meeting. The new company will be called JVC Kenwood Holdings Inc.

Videophiles of a certain age recall the way Criterion swept through the laserdisc domain like a fresh wind, radically raising standards for both film to video transfer quality and alternate track interviews. Having continued its high standards in DVD releases, Criterion is now about to apply its magic touch to Blu-ray.

Panasonic recently announced the upcoming release of its new DMP-BD50 Blu-ray player, which I got to see in person on May 9 at the Panasonic Hollywood Labs right next to Universal Studios in Los Angeles. The BD50 follows the <A href="http://ultimateavmag.com/hddiscplayers/1107panabd30/">DMP-BD30</A>, which was the first standalone BD player to conform to Final Standard Profile 1.1 (aka BonusView). As you might expect, the new player is fully equipped for BD-Live (Profile 2.0), which lets it access the supplementary Internet content and online interactive features that are planned for future Blu-ray releases by connecting the player to a broadband access point such as a home-network router.

Bouncing back from the news that Pioneer is exiting the plasma-panel manufacturing business&mdash;Matsushita, Panasonic's parent company, will provide the panels for future Pioneer plasma TVs&mdash;the company debuted a new line of upscale, eye-popping products at a press event held May 7 at New York City’s appropriately upscale Gramercy Park Hotel.

Journalists are regularly treated to demos of new technologies that never make it into products. One great idea just rescued from limbo is Dolby Volume, which will soon find its way into Toshiba's world-beating line of LCD HDTVs.

Universal will support lossless DTS-HD Master Audio in many of its initial Blu-ray releases.