Steven Stone

<I>UAV</I> Editor Tom Norton recently reviewed the DNP Supernova screen. At the same time as Tom was looking at the Supernova, I was evaluating the Screen Innovations Visage screen, which licenses the screen material technology from DNP.

When you own a component, discovering it has been replaced by a newer version is always distressing. Suddenly, overnight, you've been saddled with obsolete gear. I've owned a Lexicon RT-10 universal DVD player since fall of 2004 when I bought my review sample. When Lexicon announced the RT-20, a month before the 2005 CEDIA show, I was bummed. The RT-10 had been on the market for slightly over a year when, WHAMMO, it was history. This is not typical Lexicon behavior. Usually they keep a product in their line for several years before they give it the old heave-ho.

"Despair all yea that hope for a true high-def movie format before late 2006."I read that in the background of one of the opening scenes in HBO's <I>Rome</I>, which looks utterly fabulous in high-def, by the way. Many videophiles, even the well-heeled ones, find it difficult to justify spending high dollars for a DVD player whose useful lifespan can be measured in months rather than years. With the new HD formats on the horizon (yes, I realize it's a receding one) the appeal of an inexpensive DVD player that can tide them over until the next technological storm is undeniably seductive.

<B>Electronics</B>
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<I>by Steven Stone</I>