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Audio Video News
"MODS" Discs
Barry Willis  |  Oct 04, 2004  |  First Published: Oct 05, 2004

Each step in the evolution of the optical disc has been astounding. With its 750-megabyte storage capacity, the Compact Disc revolutionized the way music was recorded and played back. The DVD's 4.7 gigabyte capacity—twice that for a dual-layered disc—made possible the archiving of high-quality feature films on a durable, affordable medium. DVD is the first format that made building a film library a reality for ordinary movie fans. It's not a vast overstatement to say that DVD revived the film industry, creating unanticipated revenue streams.

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Audio Video News
Latest Software Reviews
HT Staff  |  Oct 04, 2004
DVD: Saved!—MGM/UA
Video: 3
Audio: 2
Extras: 3
Saved! is the heartwarming story of love, redemption, religion, high school, hypocrisy, and teenage pregnancy. Movies have gone after far less heady subjects and done far worse. Remarkably, this film doesn't make fun of religion per se, but the hypocrisy found in far too many people who claim to be religious. It's a funny movie, but its need to tiptoe around heavy religion waters it down to some extent. Jena Malone plays Mary, one of the cool kids in her Christian high school. She sleeps with her boyfriend because Jesus told her that would "cure" him of being gay. She, of course, gets pregnant and disillusioned. I swear, it's a comedy.
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Audio Video News
Coming Attractions
HT Staff  |  Oct 04, 2004
AudioControl Imagine finally being able to have a high-end product in your home for a non-high-end price tag. AudioControl is set to make that happen with their new Architect Model 735 multiroom amp. The Model 735 delivers a rated 35 watts into all 12 channels simultaneously and allows for channel bridging. The amp can play into low impedances and runs very cool, the company reports. With AudioControl's room-correction equalization controls for each channel, you or your installer can maximize your in-wall or in-ceiling speakers' performance. Available in the company's Cool Blue style, the Model 735 is available now for $1,699.
AudioControl
(425) 775-8461
www.audiocontrol.com
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Audio Video News
(Screen) Size Does Matter
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Oct 04, 2004
While we can't vouch for the scientific nature of a recent survey conducted by Quixel Research at Best Buy stores in three different USA locations, the results do fill our hearts with gladness that the average consumer-type person (or at least the average Best Buy visitor) can tell quality when he or she sees it. At least that's how we interpret the results. Sponsored by "several major CE and component manufacturers", Quixel's survey team had "TV purchase intenders" compare Plasma TVs, LCD TVs, front projectors, and MicroDisplay rear-pro sets side-by-side. After careful evaluation in the retail store environment, the consumers then told the Quixel Research scribes what they wanted in a new TV and how much they were willing to pay for it. Quixel claims that the study "is the first of its kind to compare all the products side by side in a retail environment across the USA."
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Audio Video News
HD Disc Format Orgs Sound Off On Sound
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Oct 04, 2004
We have heard the soundtrack of the High Definition future on DVD, and it's compatible with the jillion1 or so digital surround sound receivers currently delighting home theater owners around the globe - or so says Dolby Laboratories and DTS. In separate recent announcements, each company proudly touted the fact that their audio technologies have been selected as a mandatory part of both the High-Definition Digital Versatile Disc (HD DVD) and the Blu-ray Disc high-definition video disc formats. The two rival disc formats are locked in a good-versus-evil, battle-to-the-death struggle to convince studios, manufacturers, consumers, and anyone else who will listen that their format makes the most sense (and cents) for the future of packaged optical media. Although most people immediately think video when they hear about High Definition on disc, the announcement of mandatory audio standards is an excellent reminder to all concerned that audio quality is just as important as video clarity.
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Audio Video News
TiVo Inks Deal with Netflix
Barry Willis  |  Oct 04, 2004

The rumors were true. TiVo, Inc. and Netflix, Inc. are teaming up to deliver movies on demand over the Internet beginning next year, according to announcements made September 30.

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Audio Video News
DTS in Blu-ray, HD-DVD Specs
Ultimate AV Staff  |  Oct 04, 2004

Digital Theater Systems Inc. (DTS) is in with <A HREF="http://www.blu-raydisc.com">Blu-ray</A> and <A HREF="http://www.dvdforum.org">HD-DVD</A>.

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Audio Video News
Mark Hamill Interview
Chris Chiarella  |  Oct 01, 2004
Those who know me are aware that a chat with Mark Hamill, the star of The Best Damned Movie Ever Made, was the fulfillment of a boyhood dream. I even chose "Mark" as my Confirmation name years ago, my parents thinking it was in honor of one of the four Disciples. ("Luke" is in there too, come to think.) After countless fanboy discussions, I suddenly found myself shifting pronouns, from "When he made Empire. . ." to "When you made Empire. . ." and it felt good. The experience was all the more fun for the fact that Hamill himself is a hardcore fan, passionate about his work—including directing his first feature film, Comic Book: The Movie—and remarkably candid and generous.
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Audio Video News
Added to the Archives This Week
Ultimate AV Staff  |  Sep 27, 2004

Robert Deutsch sets up the <A HREF="/videoprojectors/704marantz">Marantz VP-12S3 DLP projector</A> and asks, "Does the new projector represent a significant improvement over the excellent VP-12S2? If so, what is the nature of the improvement?"

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Audio Video News
Senators Cave to NAB
Barry Willis  |  Sep 27, 2004

The long-discussed and often-postponed changeover from analog television broadcasting to a purely digital format is still somewhere over the rainbow, thanks to a September 23 vote by the Senate Commerce Committee (SCC).

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Audio Video News
Sony Opens NYC "Qualia" Store
Ultimate AV Staff  |  Sep 27, 2004

Sony Electronics has launched its <A HREF="http://www.sony.com/QUALIA ">first US store</A> dedicated to its new Qualia line of upscale electronics.

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Audio Video News
Component Video Through Thin Air
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Sep 27, 2004
Wireless audio/video senders are nothing new, but until now such accessory devices were limited to the composite video outputs of your DVD player, cable box, VCR, or discretely positioned X10 camera. Belkin Corporation's new PureAV RemoteTV not only lets you send analog audio and video from composite or S-video sources wirelessly, Belkin claims it's the first to incorporate component-video connectivity.
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Audio Video News
Hollywood Quality Video for Home Theaters
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Sep 27, 2004
It used to be that truly high-quality video, the pristine jaw-dropping images previously available only to the "Golden Eyes" of Hollywood post production and broadcast facilities (and anyone else with a spare $60,000 to spend), was simply beyond the bounds of the typical home theater. But Silicon Optix intends on changing all that with the introduction of their new Realta with HQV single-chip video processor.
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Audio Video News
Dolby Gets Double HD Nod
Ultimate AV Staff  |  Sep 27, 2004

<A HREF="http://www.dolby.com">Dolby Laboratories</A>'s audio technologies have been selected as mandatory formats for both High-Definition Digital Versatile Disc (HD DVD) and Blu-ray Disc, according to a recent announcement. The DVD Forum chose Dolby Digital Plus and MLP Lossless as mandatory audio formats for HD DVD; while the Blu-ray Disc Association announced that Dolby Digital would be a mandatory technology on its new format, the Blu-ray Disc. Both formats are designed to deliver high-definition picture quality.

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Audio Video News
Easy Video Sharing, The Hard Way
Chris Chiarella  |  Sep 23, 2004
The size of a deck of cards, Verbatim's new 2.1-gigabyte Store 'n' Go HD Drive offers the blazing speed of a USB 2.0 connection (which also powers the little guy), meaning that even enormous MPEG video files can be transferred fast. The vast capacity of the one-inch, 4,200RPM hard disk puts it in a class above the popular flash memory drives, to hold almost half a DVD's worth of video... or music or photos or any other files you care to drag and drop. The Store 'n' Go is plug-and-play for Windows ME or better--Win98SE users, keep that driver CD handy--and is also Mac- and Linux-ready. The built-in USB cable means you never need to search for it, although an extension cable is also included, and at under two ounces this drive is light enough to carry around your neck, with a lanyard and protective carrying pouch supplied for that very purpose.
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