Thomas J. Norton

Viewing a good movie in a darkened room is an immersive experience. The image and sound command your full attention. Nevertheless, large numbers of potential buyers avoid projectors because they don't want to watch television and video in a completely darkened room. Many are infrequent moviegoers whose reference viewing environment is a domestic space, not a darkened theater. (There's an audio equivalent to this. I know audiophiles&mdash;<I>audiophiles</I>&mdash;who prefer watching movies with mono sound because they've been watching movies on their television so long that they consider surround&mdash;or even 2-channel stereo&mdash;to be a distraction!)

Pioneer is not a huge company by Japanese mega-corp standards, so when they hold a line show, we don't expect dozens of new products. But they're big in the areas of importance to home theater enthusiasts, namely plasma displays, DVD players and recorders, and AV receivers. So when they invited me to attend their 2005 west coast line show, there was no question about my response. I were there.

Genesis Microchip, the parent company of Faroudja, has completed a licensing agreement with UK-based Meridian Audio Limited, giving Meridian the right to promote Genesis' Faroudja technologies, products, and brands worldwide. The agreement authorizes Meridian to incorporate, manufacture, and distribute Faroudja's video technologies and home theater solutions as part of its audio/video product line. Meridian will also work with Genesis to develop advanced video processing algorithms for use in future Meridian products.

At a recent press event held at Genesis Audio in Irvine, California, Linn launched two new lines of speakers&mdash;the Artikulat and the Komponent. The Artikulat is Linn's latest entry in the increasingly crowded, price-no-object category of audio and video kit, as they say in the UK, where Linn is based (Scotland, actually).