Tom Norton

Sherwood Newcastle's new R-972 AV receiver looks hot. At $1799 it has HDMI 1.3a and on-board decoding for Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD Master Audio, Trinnov room equalization, 100Wpc x7, and Faroudja video processing. The smaller R-872 also has HDMI 1.3a, Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD Master Audio decoding, and something called SNAP room EQ. There was no one available to verify shipping dates, but I'll definitely be checking back-watch this space. $1700-$1800 seems to be the new sweet spot for high-end but pocketbook friendly AV receivers.

Lexicon showed a new AV receiver, the 7.1-channel RV-5 ($3999). It offers automatic system calibration and equalization, Faroudja video processing (though oddly the upconversion is limited to 1080i), and multichannel PCM audio via HDMI. But it does not directly decode Dolby TrueHD or DTS HD Master Audio.

As reported on below by Shane Buettner, JVC launched another new pair of video projectors, DLA-RS2 and the DLA-HD100. Both are essentially identical, apart from separate distribution channels: consumer for the RS2 and pro for the HD100. The RS1 and HD1 remain available.

Mel Gibson may or may not have terminally damaged his impressive film career with his well-publicized antics last summer, but no one can accuse him of being a hack filmmaker. His box office draw as an actor may not be what it once was, but he does know how to direct a movie.