Want to build a <I>real</I> home theater? With a film projector and a really huge screen? You may get your chance to buy some excellent theater equipment at bargain prices in the coming months. Hundreds of theaters nationwide will be closed to cope with the current oversupply, according to January announcements from some of the biggest theater operators in the US.
Don't leave home without it---home theater, that is. You can now take your movies on the road, thanks to <A HREF=http://www.panasonic.com/>Panasonic</A>'s mobile DVD theater. The complete package---in-dash DVD player, surround processor, video monitor, and 5.1-channel audio system---was unveiled at a <A HREF=http://www.cartoys.com/>Car Toys</A> store in Seattle on Friday, April 9. Car Toys specializes in aftermarket automotive sound.
Trekkers, rejoice! <A HREF="http://www.paramount.com">Paramount Home Video</A>, owner of the Star Trek franchise and Indiana Jones movies, will release open-format DVDs this year, the company announced Monday, April 27. The decision comes two weeks after <A HREF="http://www.blockbuster.com/">Blockbuster Music & Video</A> announced that it would begin a big push with DVD rentals. The growing popularity of DVD was a major factor in both decisions: Consumer-electronics industry analysts predict that there will be as many as one million DVD players in American homes by the end of 1998.
In my student days, I coped with perpetual financial shortfalls in part by moving furniture. After a weekend of toting hide-a-beds and refrigerators to fifth-floor walkups, I would imagine a perfect world in which everything was designed to work with everything else. Not a world of bureaucratic regimentation, but one in which, by common agreement, every sofa would fit into every elevator and every table would slip through every open door.
High-definition television will be synonymous with high-quality programming, if the nation's <A HREF="http://www.pbs.org/">Public Broadcasting Service</A> has anything to do with it. Last week, PBS launched its new age of HDTV with <I>Chihuly Over Venice</I>, a 90-minute documentary about Seattle glass artist Dale Chihuly. The beautifully filmed and expertly edited piece, assembled from 100 hours of raw footage, follows Chihuly and a crew of fellow artists through Italy, Ireland, Finland, and Mexico as they work with local glassblowers, creating sculptures and large-scale chandeliers for public places.
Philips Electronics has thrown its weight behind "SmartRight," a digital content copy-protection technology developed by Thomson Multimedia, according to mid-December reports from Paris and Geneva. Originally called XCA, SmartRight is a smart-card–based technique that could allay Hollywood's fears about offering hit movies over the Internet or via high-definition broadcasts.
The year 2001 wasn't a good one for <A HREF="http://www.philips.com">Philips Electronics NV</A>. On February 8, the Dutch electronics giant reported a massive $2.26 billion (2.6 billion euros) loss for the year, blaming slowing demand for both finished consumer goods and raw semiconductors. Philips is one of the few companies with an equal presence in both markets.
Plans by the entertainment industry to control the distribution of digital programming could have dire consequences for consumers, a <A HREF="http://www.philips.com">Philips Electronics</A> executive told US congressmen in late April.
<A HREF="http://www.philips.com">Philips Electronics</A> has often tested the market for new products by introducing them under its Magnavox brand. In late February, the Dutch industrial giant announced that it would follow that tradition with the release of a $499 DVD+RW recorder wearing the Magnavox badge.
Later this month, more than 500 of <A HREF="http://www.blockbuster.com/video">Blockbuster Video</A>'s approximately 6000 stores will install rental kiosks stocked with DVD players from <A HREF="http://www.philips.com/">Philips Consumer Electronics</A>. Participating stores will also expand their selection of DVDs to more than 350 titles for rent and 150 for sale.