Jon Iverson

Last week, <A HREF="http://www.westaim.com">Westaim Advanced Display Technologies Inc.</A> announced that it has unveiled a flat-panel display with 2 million colors using Solid State Display (SSD) technology. The company says the 5" high-contrast, full-color prototype display has a TV-like viewing angle and full motion video that is 20 times faster than the liquid-crystal display technology.

HDTV is finally getting another push from the cable industry, according to the announcement from <A HREF="http://www.comcast.com">Comcast Cable Communications</A> last week that it will soon launch HDTV services. Comcast estimates that the HDTV service will reach more than 1.3 million customers in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware, providing access to high definition broadcasts of ABC, NBC, CBS, HBO, and Showtime in November.

Last week, <A HREF="http://global.hitachi.com">Hitachi</A> announced that, on April 10, it will release what it describes as the world's first 32-inch HDTV plasma TV, the W32-PD2100. The company says that this will be followed by the release of a second version of the set with a built-in BS (Broadcast Satellite) digital receiver on June 11. Both TVs will intitally be released in Japan. Hitachi says it is also planning to introduce a 37-inch HDTV plasma TV at a later date. Pricing for all models is to be announced.

According to the numbers revealed by the <A HREF="http://vsda.org/">Video Software Dealers Association</A> (VSDA) last week, American consumers spent more than ever on home video in 2000, with rentals and sales of VHS and DVD hitting the $20 billion mark for the first time in home video's twenty-plus&ndash;year history. On the rental side of the video business, the VSDA reports that the total combined revenues of both DVD and VHS video formats rose 2.2% in 2000 over 1999. The "remarkably popular" new DVD video format made a major impact on this mark, says the not-for-profit trade group.