Home theater products continue to get better and cheaper. One example is <A HREF="http://www.panasonic.com">Panasonic</A>'s new PT-AE500, a high-definition widescreen LCD projector. The PT-AE500 incorporates several advances, including integrated cinema quality circuitry, full 10-bit digital processing and gamma correction, and new "smooth screen technology." Many of these advances derive from research and development and collaborative work done at the Panasonic Hollywood Laboratory in Hollywood, California, with top Hollywood studio colorists who helped ensure the projector's color fidelity.

<I>Anthony Edwards, George Clooney, Sherry Stringfield, Noah Wyle, Julianna Margulies, Eriq La Salle. Aspect ratio: 1.78:1 (anamorphic). Dolby Digital 2.0 (French subtitles). Four discs. 999 minutes. 1993. Warner Bros. Home Video 24629. NR. $59.98.</I>

Primedia has announced <I>The Connected Guide To The Digital Home</I>, the first consumer magazine dedicated entirely to adopting and integrating audio, video, information, telecommunications, security, and other personal and home technologies. Formerly known as <I>Audio Video Interiors</I> (<I>AVI</I>), the standard-bearer for the home theater revolution, <I>The Connected Guide To The Digital Home</I> is being introduced as the natural evolution of <I>AVI</I>.

Can you get high-definition images from low-definition sources? Cerritos, CA&ndash;based <A HREF="http://www.adstech.com/">ADS Technologies</A> claims it's possible using its new "HDTV Upconverter," a $599 outboard device.