Mark Fleischmann

Panasonic has released six new combo DVRs and Blu-ray disc recorders, with the latter offering 100 gigabytes per disc, way in excess of conventional Blu-ray's 25GB per layer or 50GB per side. Before you get too excited, note that like BD component recorders in general, these products are for the Japanese market only and are unlikely to come to the U.S. anytime soon.

Price: $5,385 At A Glance: Ultra-thin bar for skinny flat panel display • Passive sub can fire forward or down • Sub amp offers lots of adjustability

Looking for Mr. Goodbar

There’s one basic truth about home theater that I can never repeat often enough: It is the union of big-screen television and surround sound. They do not operate in isolation from each other. Instead, successive waves of video technology have affected the way people think about audio for video.

A weekend of 3D demo events will entertain a grateful nation next month. The 3D demo days will be sponsored by the Consumer Electronics Association and ESPN with the additional participation of AT&T, Comcast, and DirecTV.

Samsung has signed a deal with DreamWorks to include the 3D Blu-ray disc of How to Train Your Dragon in the starter kit included with the company's 3DTVs.