Audio Video News

Big, bright, and beautiful: that's Panasonic's new PT-52DL10. The rear projector set is a 52"-diagonal HDTV with a 16:9 aspect ratio, with images provided by the latest Digital Light Projection (DLP) technology from Texas Instruments. The combination is "the highest picture quality available in rear projection televisions," according to a recent Panasonic announcement. With properly decoded signals---as from the optional set-top decoder box, the TU-HDS20---the PT-52DL10 will display both 1280I and 720P images.

While computer makers are still struggling to find consensus for the recordable DVD format, with the front-running rivals DVD-RW and DVD-RAM duking it out, a few consumer electronics products incorporating DVD-R are beginning to appear. Last week, <A HREF="http://www.toshiba.com/">Toshiba</A> announced its introduction of the RD-2000, which it describes as "the world's first combination of hard disk drive and DVD-RAM video recorder" for recording TV programs. The new recorder is planned for sale in the Japanese market only, starting December 22.

The wearisome chicken-or-egg debate over the rollout of digital television went another round last week, as television manufacturers appealed to the <A HREF="http://www.fcc.gov/">Federal Communications Commission</A> to require more digital programming from broadcasters.

Last week, <A HREF="http://www.yamaha.com/yec/index1.htm">Yamaha</A>, traditionally known to American consumers as a specialist in audio equipment, announced that it will enter the home entertainment projector market. The first offering in Yamaha's new product line is a high-resolution projector, based on <A HREF="http://www.dlp.com">Digital Light Processing</A> (DLP) technology and intended for home theater use. Yamaha says that the projector is due to be released next spring.

D<I>enis Leary, Billy Crudup, Ian Hart, Jason Barry, Famke Janssen, Colm Meaney, Martin Sheen, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Noah Emmerich, John Diehl. Directed by Ted Demme. Aspect ratio: 1.85:1 (widescreen). Dolby Digital 5.1. 94 minutes. 1998. Miramax 17093. R. $24.98.</I>

Convergence is more than a buzzword in the minds of the engineers at <A HREF="http://www.hauppauge.com/"> Hauppauge Digital, Inc</A>. The New York electronics manufacturer has announced what it is calling "the first personal video recorder for PCs." In development for eighteen months, the WinTV-PVR is built to occupy a single PCI slot, and allows the recording and playback of television programs via computer. The device is compatible with Microsoft Windows 98 and Windows ME, and comes bundled with a remote control and an FM receiver for the PC.