Scott Wilkinson

DVD recorders are quickly maturing into a product category that promises to topple the venerable VCR from its perch as the predominant video-recording format for consumers. Yes, videotape is still less expensive than most blank discs, especially rewritable discs, which are more directly equivalent to tape than write-once discs. And yes, analog VCRs are much less expensive than DVD recorders. But prices for blank discs and recorders are dropping fast, and the functionality and convenience of DVD recording are so far beyond videotape that the extra expense is well worth it.

I've always appreciated the quality of Yamaha receivers; in fact, my very first "serious" stereo receiver was a Yamaha. So it was with eager anticipation that I agreed to review the company's current flagship receiver, the Rx-Z1.

The successful transition to digital television depends on several factors. For one thing, broadcasters, satellite providers, and cable companies must upgrade their equipment to transmit DTV signals. In addition, consumers must upgrade their video screens to accept and display DTV images. Unfortunately, this is a chicken-and-egg problem: content providers are reluctant to invest in the upgrade until a significant number of homes have DTV reception, and consumers are unwilling to spend extra money on a digital television until there is a significant amount of programming to watch on it.

S<I>tar Wars&mdash;Episode 1: The Phantom Menace</I> might have grabbed all the attention as the first movie to be screened in the US from a digital source rather than a film print (see <A HREF="http://www.guidetohometheater.com/shownews.cgi?454">previous story</A>), but it's not the only one to use the new technology. With virtually no fanfare at all, <I>An Ideal Husband</I> is being shown from a digital source at Laemmle's Sunset 5 theater in Los Angeles through July 15, 1999.