Barry Willis

Light-emitting polymers (LEPs) in Cambridge? In Tokyo, Sharp Electronics has developed a wafer-thin liquid crystal display (LCD) with computer circuitry built in. Sharp and its research partner, Semiconductor Energy Laboratory, announced in mid-January that they have devised a technology called continuous-grain silicon (CGS) that will allow LCDs to contain their own driver chips. This will permit the integration of displays and computers into sheets of any size, from credit-card-sized personal digital assistants to large-format video screens.

<I><B>Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon</B> (68 minutes, 1942); <B>Sherlock Holmes Faces Death</B> (68 minutes, 1943); <B>Sherlock Holmes in Washington</B> (71 minutes, 1943). Directed by Roy William Neill. <B>Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror</B> (66 minutes, 1942). Directed by John Rawlings. Aspect ratio: 4:3. Monophonic. B&W MPI Home Video DVD7545, DVD7549, DVD7540, DVD7550. NR. $27.88 each.</I>

While the music industry reels from the explosion of freely traded music on the Internet, the looming possibility of a video equivalent has made Hollywood extremely interested in a small startup company in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. <A HREF="http://www.sightsound.com/">Sightsound.com</A>, as it was named by partners Authur Hair and Scott Sander, has what appears to be a secure patent on technology for digitally downloading movies over the Internet.

High-end audio is the primary emphasis here at HE 2001, but home theater is getting plenty of exposure at demos put on by <A HREF="http://www.polkaudio.com">Polk Audio</A>, <A HREF="http://www.martinlogan.com">MartinLogan</A>, and other audio manufacturers who are pushing their products for surround sound. Polk's large suite&mdash;immediately next door to the show's Press Room&mdash;has been packed for the first two days, with show attendees waiting in long lines to get in. The emphasis: a new multi-channel audio system known as the Digital Solution 7200, which includes five two-way speakers, a powered subwoofer with an integral multichannel amplifier, and a tuner/processor/preamp.