Scott Wilkinson

The model number may be a mouthful, but this mammoth LCD TV from Vizio is certainly an eyeful. Measuring 72 inches diagonally, it offers Sensio 3D with active shutter glasses, Vizio Internet Apps (which provide access to online content from a wide variety of sources), WirelessHD connectivity (the 60GHz variety of wireless HDMI), LED local dimming, and 480Hz refresh rate (actually 240Hz with backlight scanning). It should be available in the third quarter of this year at a cost of—wait for it—less than $4000! The XVTPRO will also be available with screen sizes of 55 and 47 inches for even less.

As Michael Fremer discussed in his <A href="http://ultimateavmag.com/michaelfremer/205mf/">February 2005 column</A>, Cablevision recently agreed to sell the primary assets of its Voom HD satellite service&mdash;including the satellite itself and FCC licenses to operate DBS services on 11 frequencies from the satellite's orbital location as well as ground facilities in South Dakota&mdash;to EchoStar, the company behind competitor Dish Network, for $200 million in cash. Apparently, Cablevision founder and chairman Charles Dolan opposed the sale, while his son James, CEO of the company, supported it. The elder Dolan and another son, Tom, then signed a letter of intent to purchase the remaining Voom assets from Cablevision.

A couple of weeks ago, I got an e-mail from Bogeun Chung, general manager of the LCD TV product-planning team at LG's headquarters in Seoul, Korea. He wrote that he would be passing through L.A. with one of his engineers on Monday, June 9, and asked if we could meet at Grayscale Studio, the video-testing facility for <I>UAV</I> and <I>Home Theater</I>. I value any personal contact with manufacturer representatives, so I quickly agreed. Little did I know how interesting that meeting would turn out to be...

If you're like most early adopters, you have a stack of HD DVDs in your collection. You might still have an HD DVD player as well, but you probably also have a Blu-ray player by now, and the HD DVD spinner is likely gathering dust awaiting disposal on eBay. But what to do with those HD DVDs?