Jon Iverson

Surround formats are coming on the market fast and furious, which means yet more buttons on equipment. Last week, <A HREF="http://www.del.denon.com">Denon Electronics</A> announced the introduction of its new $3,800 flagship AVR-5800 A/V Surround Receiver, which the company claims is the world's first audio component to offer DTS-ES Discrete 6.1, DTS-ES Matrix 6.1 and DTS Neo:6 surround sound decoding. The receiver also boasts THX Surround EX decoding, 24-bit/192kHz D/A conversion, FireWire capability and seven channels, each capable of 170 watts output power.

Last week, <A HREF="http://www.semiconductors.com">Philips Semiconductors</A> (a division of Philips Electronics) announced the first in a new family of silicon chips that they claim "will revolutionize the way we use television." The company says its pnx8500 Nexperia Home Entertainment Engine will enable the combination of digital video, audio, graphics, and Internet content into "highly interactive" program material and will allow cable and satellite service providers to add new digital subscriber services to their existing TV program offerings. At the same time, Philips also announced Samsung's support for the new chip in its next-generation consumer set-top box.

Last week, <A HREF="http://www.technicolor.com/">Technicolor</A> announced that it has acquired a significant interest in Real Image Digital, a developer of digital-cinema technology. As part of the transaction, Technicolor is acquiring 49% of Real Image, with the option of picking up another 11.5% in the future on pre-negotiated terms. Real Image is partnered with the Sarnoff Corporation, which is currently developing technology to compress and encrypt film-quality images for theaters&mdash;a process that Sarnoff claims is many times more complex than video compression for the home-entertainment market.

Last week, before its appeal had been denied by the FCC (see <A HREF="http://www.guidetohometheater.com/shownews.cgi?641">related story</A>), the <A HREF="http://www.sbgi.com">Sinclair Broadcast Group</A> announced that it had demonstrated live, over-the-air digital television (DTV) reception last week in Washington, DC, "in response to numerous Congressional inquiries." These demonstrations were "intended to demonstrate to members of Congress the flaw in the DTV standard."