L<A HREF="http://www.guidetohometheater.com/shownews.cgi?42">ast week</A> we predicted the skid of Divx, the plod of HDTV, and the advance of the home-theater computer. This week we add three more prognostications to the list:

Television viewers who can't be at home during their favorite shows need fret no longer. <A HREF="http://www.panasonic.com/">Panasonic Consumer Electronics Company</A> has come to their rescue with the introduction of the PV-SS2710, the world's first combination television and hard disk recorder. In combining a 27"-diagonal PanaBlack television with a "ShowStopper" 30-hour hard disk recorder, Panasonic has created an entirely new category of video product. The choice of a 27" set as the first TV/HDR is a wise one, as 27" sets are the most popular sets with consumers.

An agreement signed October 17 by <A HREF="http://www.panasonic.com">Panasonic</A> and <A HREF="http://www.cablelabs.com">CableLabs</A> will make Panasonic the first manufacturer to build digital television receivers capable of directly accepting high-definition signals from cable providers.

According to the results of the "PVR and Enhanced TV Potential" study, released last week by <A HREF="http://eBrain.org">eBrain Market Research</A> in cooperation with the <A HREF="http://www.ce.org">Consumer Electronics Association</A>, despite the continuing popularity of videocassette recorders in the US, the number of Americans who own hard-disk&ndash;based personal video recording devices (PVRs) is likely to increase significantly in the next 12 months.