<I>Voices of Joseph-Gordon Levitt, Brian Murray, David Hyde Pierce, Martin Short, Emma Thompson. Directed by John Musker and Ron Clements. Aspect ratio: 1.66:1 (anamorphic). Dolby Digital 5.1, THX. 95 minutes. 2002. Walt Disney Home Video 00348. PG. $29.99.</I>
Founded just a few years ago, Revel has rapidly developed a reputation as a speaker company to reckon with. Its designs have been consistently praised by reviewers and sought by audiophiles. Revel's speakers aren't cheap, but, as they say in the movie business, the budget is all up there on the screen—or, in this case, in the sound.
<I>Tom Hanks, Paul Newman, Tyler Hoechlin, Jude Law, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Stanley Tucci, Daniel Gray. Directed by Sam Mendes. Aspect ratio: 2.35:1 (anamorphic). Dolby Digital 5.1(English), French, Spanish. 107 minutes. 2002. DreamWorks Home Entertainment 90147. R. $26.99.</I>
The CRT is a relatively stable, mature technology, but the new digital projection systems, particularly Texas Instruments' Digital Light Processing (DLP), are moving targets. Last year, DLP really came into its own for home theater with the introduction of TI's HD1 Digital Micromirror Device (DMD). Not only did the HD1 have a true 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio with 1280x720 resolution, but DLP projectors based upon it were significantly better than earlier designs, particularly in the depth of their blacks.
Founded in 1986, NHT established its reputation by building small, relatively inexpensive but high-value bookshelf speakers. After 16 years and several changes of ownership and design teams, they still do. However, their product range is now far broader, and their top-of-the-line, floorstanding systems have long been respected as among the best available.
The Sony VPL-VW12HT is the latest version of Sony's flagship consumer LCD projector. In appearance it's a twin of its pre-decessor, the VPL-VW11HT (reviewed in the July/August 2002 <I>Guide</I>). Its 16:9 LCD panels have the same specifications. It will accept all of the most common source resolutions—480i, 480p, 720p, and 1080i component or RGB—and scale them to the panels' 1366x768 native resolution. The user can select any of the most common aspect ratios: widescreen (anamorphic or letterbox), 4:3, and several others, including two that pass the source through without scaling. There are six programmable video memories to store different setups, including picture adjustments, color temperature, and aspect ratio.
<I>Directed by Phil Alden Robinson, Richard Loncraine, Mikael Salomen, David Nutter, Tom Hanks, David Leland, David Frankel, Tony To. Aspect ratio: 1.85:1 (letterbox). Dolby Digital 5.1 (English), Dolby Surround (English, French, Spanish). Five discs. 700 minutes. 2000. HBO Video 99205. NR. $119.98.</I>
<B>Independence Day</B> <BR> Aspect ratio: 2.35:1. Dolby Digital 5.1. 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment 2005772. PG-13. $34.95. <BR> Picture *** (3) <BR> Sound **** (4) <BR> Film **