Home Theater and Consumer Electronics News -July 2004
NOTE: This page is an archive for previously posted news stories from July 2004 - Since most of the links are now inactive, they have been removed. However, the headlines and summaries are still posted to historically document the news headlines from the dates listed.
07/31/04
Recall Of TV/VCR Combos Announced
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)has announced a major recall of 500,000 TV/VCR combos made by Matsushita that were sold between January 1st and December 30th 1995. The units are being recalled because of possible cabinet breakage that may occur when lifting the units, causing possible injuries to the person lifting the unit. The TV/VCR combos are 13 and 20-inch models with the Panasonic, Quasar, JC Penny, and Thomson (RCA) brand names. For more details, including photos of the units involved, specific model numbers affected, and what action you need to take as a consumer, check out the official notice from the CPSC.
07/30/04
Sony Keeps Top Spot In Plasma Display Market
Sony isn't the largest manufacturer of Plasma Screen Televisions, but it seems to have emerged with the top selling model, the 42-inch KE42TS2. In addition, Sony's KE32TS2 32-inch Plasma television is listed as the third most popular seller this past year.
07/29/04
Prosecutors: Call Of The DVD Caused Fatal Crash
It was bound to happen sooner or later. In Anchorage, Alaska, a driver has been charged with second degree murder for causing an automobile accident that killed two people. Prosecutors claim that the offending driver was pre-occupied watching a DVD on his dashboard mounted DVD player instead of paying attention to the road.
07/28/04
Music Pirate Sales Hit Record 1.1 Billion Discs
Despite increased enforcement efforts and awareness, one-in-three CDs sold in 2003 Worldwide were pirated copies. This amounts to a total of 1.1 billion discs sold with a value of 4.5 billion dollars. While buyers of such discs are enjoying their CD bargains, the money used to purchase these discs are going to criminal enterprises rather than the artists that really deserve the income for their artistic efforts.
07/27/04
Mexico Officially Adopts ATSC Standard For Digital Television
Although the U.S. has been at odds with Canada and Mexico over political issues of late, it seems that the North American continent is finally on the same page when it comes to digital and HDTV broadcasting.
07/26/04
Best Buy Adds Westinghouse LCD TV
The LCD television marketplace is experiencing phenomenal growth as new manufacturers enter the market, which increase competition, resulting in continuing price drops. Some LCD television models have experienced as much as a 30% price drop in less than a year. A prime example of this trend, that is making LCD televisions more affordable for the average consumer, Best Buy, the nations largest CE retailer, has inked a deal with Westinghouse Digital to sell their budget-priced 27 and 30-inch LCD televisions in its stores.
07/25/04
Humax, TIVO Team On 300-hour Recorder
Humax, maker of digital set-top boxes, jumps on the TIVO bandwagon with a new unit that can store up to 300 hours of television programming on its hard drive. Once the hard drive is full, the user can copy any of the programs onto a VCR or DVD recorder and then erase the hard drive and record more programming. TIVO units enjoy a very loyal customer base, and is growing in popularity as an alternative to both the VCR or DVD recorder for time-shifting television programming.
07/24/04
Samsung SDI Develops World's Slimmest CRT Digital TV Display
While Plasma and LCD flat panel televisions have the potential to spell the end for the traditional picture tube, don't count the CRT out just quite yet. In an effort to come up with a more affordable, but high performance alternative to flat panel televisions, Samsung has developed a "thin" picture tube technology that may just revive interest in the CRT.
07/23/04
Lite-On LVW-5020 Set Top DVD Recorder and PVR
Video recording fans and weekend video editors rejoice! Based on the success of its innovative LVW-5005 DVD recorder, which was the first DVD recorder to record in DVD-R/-RW/ R/ RW and also record CD-R/-RW, LiteOn has announced its new LVW-5020. This new DVD recorder not only features the same recording format flexibility as LVW-5005, but adds an 80GB hard drive to boot! For all the details, including pricing and availability, check out the report from Gizmodo.
07/22/04
Dolby Digital Beyond DVD
Dolby Digital 5.1 is commonly known as the audio standard for DVD soundtracks, however, more and more television, cable, and satellite channels offer Dolby Digital audio as a companion to more and more of their standard and high definition programming. The number of broadcast outlets ultilizing Dolby Digital audio is now numbers more than twenty, with the WB, TNT, and Encore HD among the newcomers. For more specifics on this check out the report from Stereophile Ultimate AV.
07/21/04
CES 2005 To Expand Technology Showcases
Even with political uncertainties in the World these days, consumers continue to spend more and more of their dollars on entertainment products. With that in mind, the forthcoming CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in January is going to have a major expansion of its already massive exhibit space. The annual CES is where new products, such as HDTVs, home theater systems, DVD recorders, and more, are introduced for the coming year. If you work in any branch of the consumer electronic industry, from floor sales to retail management, and have never attended a CES, you should definitely go. For more details, check out the report from TWICE.
07/20/04
HDTV Viewers Rank Movies As Most Important
Now that HDTV is becoming more common, programming providers are very interested on what types of HDTV presentations viewers are most interested in. A recent survey has revealed that consumers prefer to watch movies in definition, following by sports.
07/19/04
Tech, Studio Giants Team On New DVD Locks
As the coming era of true High Definition DVD gets closer, several movie studios (including Warner Bros and Disney) and technology companies (including IBM, Microsoft, Pansonic, and Sony) are trying to come to a consensus on a new copy-protection system for the next generation of DVDs. One proposal centers on a system that may allow DVDs to be copied for distribution on home computer networks. For more details and perspective on this, check out the report from CNET.
07/18/04
Music Gets Surrounded by Award
Surround sound music releases gain recognition from the Recording Academy as a new Grammy award for best Surround Sound Album is created. Any musical Album that features a mix of four channels or more in any genre can qualify for the award. This includes all album releases using DVD-Audio, SACD, DTS, Circle Surround, or Dolby Digital technology to create an original surround sound mix. For an interesting perspective on this, check out the report from Home Theater Magazine.
07/17/04
Cable Companies Push High-Definition Television
Although the cable TV industry was initially slow in providing HDTV services to its subscribers, they are now making up for it in spades as Cable TV HDTV promotions are sprouting up like mushrooms all over the country; after all, more services mean more profits.
07/16/04
Denon Intros 19 Products, Delays A/V Server
Denon pulls out all the stops with an aggressive new product introduction, including its new flagship AV receiver (with a $6,000 price tag), several new DVD players featuring DVI-HDCP and HDMI outputs, and a new DVD/SACD/DVD-Audio player with Firewire audio output. Price points for DVI-equipped DVD players will start at $269.
In other news, Denon announced that its new AV receiver line will start at a very affordable $299 and will feature Dolby Prologic IIx processors. In addition, AV receivers priced $399 and up will feature composite to S-video and component video upconversion, to make connections of VCRs, DVD players, and other video devices more compatible with each other.
07/15/04
Cheaper DVD recorders On The Way
If you are one of the many consumers lusting after a DVD recorder, but think the prices are still too high (despite the fact that prices for entry level units have dropped from over $1,000 2-years ago to prices below $300 today) take heart, as the sought after units will continue their downward price trend for the forseeable future, courtesy of Taiwan. For more details, check out the report from CNET.
07/14/04
MAXX Products Introduces High Performance TruVision Video Processor for Home Theater Market
Just connecting your DVD player or set-top box directly to your new HDTV or video projector is not always enough. Often times the internal video processor in your TV or video projector isn't quite up to the task of delivering the maximum quality that can be acheived. As a result, MAXX Products is tapping into this need with the introduction of its new TruVision video processor. The TruVision features HD upscaling, aspect ratio control, and a host of input/output options, including SDI and DVI.
Canton Releases CD 300 Series Flat Panel Loudspeakers for Plasma TVs
With more and more consumers purchasing flat panel Plasma and LCD televisions, the demand for complimentary designed flat panel style loudspeakers is on the rise. To keep up with this trend, Canton, well-known manufacturer of high-end loudspeakers, unveils it new CD300 series speakers specifically designed for the flat panel television owner. This new system consists of the CD300 main tower speakers, and the CD360F, which is smaller unit designed to used as a surround and front and rear center channel speaker. The CD360F can be vertically or horizontally mounted, and employs the same driver technology as the larger CD300. For additional information, including pricing and availability, check out the report from Audioholics.
07/12/04
Inventor Of The Remote Control Is "Confused"
If you are confused by all the remote control devices needed to operate modern home theater gear; take heart! Even Robert Adler, the Zenith engineer who the invented of the first wireless remote control for televisions about 50 years ago, seems to be confused by the complexity of today's remote controls. For further perspective on this, check out the report from EnGadget.
07/11/04
Refrigerator Television
You may have seen them at your local Best Buy or other appliance retailer, but as time goes on one may just end up in your kitchen. I am talking about refrigerators with built-in televisions. A little absurd you say?
07/10/04
FCC Wants Radio to Archive Broadcasts...
The controversy over radio "indecency" is heating up as the FCC squares off against the radio station owners by proposing new regulations that would require radio stations to keep audio archives of its programming for three months after they originally air. This, according to the FCC, would make it easier to investigate complaints against the stations. How far will the FCC push itself into being the "moral police"? To find out all the details on the FCC's proposals and other aspects of the broadcast "indecency" controversy, check out the report from Audio/Video Revolution.
07/09/04
Sony Unveils 3CCD Camcorder
If you own a big-screen television and you are finding that your home videos don't look as good as they did on your previous smaller-screen set, you might just consider Sony's newly announced budget-priced 3CCD miniDV camcorder, the DCR-HC1000. Featuring separate pickups for red, green, and blue, this unit provides better color saturation and consistency over that of standard single CCD camcorders. With its compact size and $1,700 price point, the consumer can not only take pro-quality video on a budget, but really see the difference when he/she plays the video back on that big screen TV.
07/08/04
Comcast Launches HDTV On Demand
HDTV takes the next step as Comcast becomes the first service to offer HDTV on demand to its cable subscribers. For additional details on what is actually being offered, check out the report from TV Predictions.
07/07/04
Samsung's Changing Image
While most consumers think that Japanese companies such as Sony, Panasonic, Pioneer, and Mitsubishi are the leading consumer electronics makers, it is Korean-based Samsung that actually leads the pack in Worldwide sales of televisions (both traditional and flat panel), VCRs, computer monitors, and several other product categories.
07/06/04
Durabrand Venturer Portable DVD Player
Durabrand has introduced a portable DVD player with a twist, it comes with two screens. What's the point? The dual screen feature allows two persons sitting a short distance away to watch the same video, or one person to watch a DVD while another person can watch a camcorder video. Check out all the interesting details in the report from Gadget Madness.
07/05/04
Studios Eye New Anti-Piracy Technology
Every year, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the organization that puts on the Academy Awards, allows hundreds of "screeners" on DVD to be distributed to its members to make it easier to vote for the winners of the coveted statuettes. However, the problem with this practice is that, invariably, that some of these screeners are used to make bootleg copies of the nominated films.
While the Academy has tried to implement several "security" measures to prevent the piracy of screener DVDs, they have all failed. As result, the Academy is looking at a new technology that entails giving each Academy member specifically coded DVDs that will play only on a special DVD player that is given the prospective voter. In other words, the DVD player will only play the specially coded DVDs and the DVDs will only play on the specially coded individual DVD player.
Although this new technology is targeted to aid in the fight against piracy within the film industry, thinking this devolpment through to its extreme conclusion, if adapted to the consumer market at some future time, could result in DVDs, that when purchased and scanned at point of purchase, may only play in the purchaser's DVD player and/or the DVD player's owner may only be able to play DVDs that were scanned for sale to that owner.
07/04/04
DIRECTV And KVH Enter Into Agreement To Bring DIRECTV Service To Passenger Vehicles
With mobile video systems becoming more commonplace in SUVs and recreational vehicles, DirecTV is joining with KVH, a leading supplier of satellite and other mobile communications hardware, to bring its programming to the average consumer while traveling; for passengers only, of course! Although DirecTV currently allows owners of recreational vehicles to subscribe to its services, the vehicle must be in a stationary position in order for its programming to be received. With this new arrangement with KVH, DirecTV will be able to beam its programming to subscribers, with the proper hardware, and allow the viewing of DirecTV programming while a vehicle is in motion.
07/03/04
CEA: One Million "Cable-ready" HDTVs
One of main sticking points holding up HDTV purchases for many consumers is compatibility of new HDTV sets with cable TV systems. In response to this, television makers are starting to make HDTVs that allow reception of HD cable programming without the need for an outboard cable box. It is projected that one million of these sets will in the hands of consumers by the end of 2004, however, this is still a drop in the bucket in relation to eventual consumer demand. For nore specifics on this issue, check out the report from Stereophile Ultimate AV.
07/02/04
CD Surround Sound
While SACD and DVD-Audio are vying to be the replacement for the traditional CD, the CD may be fighting back with a new twist: SRS Circle Surround Sound. Basically, while SACD and DVD-Audio have sonic advantages over traditional CDs and offer surround sound music playback, they require specifically equipped players and AV receivers. SRS Labs, however, has developed its Circle Surround to be encodable on standard CDs and still maintain complete compatibility standard CD players, whether connected to stereo or surround sound receiver. In essence, if you play a Circle Surround encoded CD through a standard stereo receiver, you will get the standard stereo playback. However, if you play the Circle Surround encoded CD through a basic surround sound receiver, you can get a full 5.1 channel surround musical experience, depending on the receiver's decoding capabilities. For additional details on how this may affect the music landscape, check out the report from Stereophile Magazine
07/01/04
Matsushita Unveils DVD Recorder Adopting Blu-ray Disc Format
High Definition DVD recording is getting little closer for the average consumer as Matsushita (Panasonic) joins Sony with the introduction of its own Blu-Ray format DVD recorder in the Japanese market. Although no firm dates are set for the appearance of these units on U.S. store shelves, the race is on. Expect both the Blu-Ray format and Toshiba's competing HD-DVD format DVD recorders to start making a bigger impact within the next year. For more details on Panasonic's Blu-ray DVD recorder, check out the report from Forbes.
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