Audio Video News

Is the end near for HD DVD? A recent spate of bad news suggests that the format is running out of retail friends. But the situation may not be as bad for Toshiba's favorite format as it first appears.

"Train wreck" and "digital disaster" were just a few of the words being flung at the DTV transition in Congress last week. Analog television broadcasting is scheduled to end on February 18, 2009. And elected representatives are fretting that some analog-TV viewers may not have gotten the memo. Since those who watch also vote, they deem this a problem.

It's already been a hectic week for new product announcements, with Samsung and Denon unveiling a lot of new gear. But Sony was at this week too announcing three new AVRs with next-gen audio decoding and a host of other hot features related to streaming audio and networking.

Samsung this week made official its plans to introduce two new, 3rd generation Blu-ray Disc players as well is its highly anticipated <I>Duo HD</I> combi player, which will play both Blu-ray and HD DVD discs.

THX is about to take its home theater involvement to a new level with a new program whose working name is Blackbird. If the THX folks pull it off, Blackbird could resolve several issues that plague home theater buffs.

In an attempt to reverse declining CD sales, one label has settled on the novel idea of actually offering consumers more for their money. Disney's Hollywood Records will soon take the wraps off a new CDVU+ format with an initial release by the Jonas Brothers.

CinemaNow on Wednesday released an upgrade to its Media Manager software enabling its movie downloads to play back over a networked Xbox 360 and its burn-to-DVD download service to operate with Windows Vista.