Weekly Site Roundup (08/19/02)
ARTICLE SPOTLIGHT
Top Picks: CD Recorders
You don't have to have a computer to burn great CDs. Check out my favorite standalone audio CD recorders that make great additions to any audio or home theater system. Updated for Fall 2002.
HOME ELECTRONICS INDUSTRY NEWS HEADLINES
Report Says: Downloadable Music Not Responsible For 15% Slump In Music Sales (Audio Revolution)
Philips Wins Top TV And DVD Recording Honors (Philips)
DVD Tips The Scales On "Rings" Shipments (Video Business)
Satellite TV Claims 18.9M Subscribers (TVinsite)
Americans Should Not Be Forced to Buy DTV Over-the-Air Tuners, Says CEA (Widescreen Review)
Altec Lansing Debuts Model 5100 Six-Speaker System...(Altec Lansing)
DVD-Audio Redux? (Stereophile)
PRODUCT OF THE WEEK
Yamaha HTR-5560 AV Receiver
Upgrade your home theater system to the new 6.1 channel surround formats with this very modestly priced 6.1 channel AV receiver from Yamaha. This unit features an adequate 75 WPC amplifier section with Dolby Digital 6.1 and DTS-ES 6.1 decoding as well as including Dolby Pro-Logic II and DTS Neo:6 processors. This versatile receiver also includes a dedicated 6 channel analog input for DVD-Audio and SACD players.
FEATURED LINKS THIS WEEK
Philips Home Theater
Philips is a leader in Flat Screen TV and DVD Recording. In addition, they have some great home theater products, check out those products and get some great home theater advice.
Featured in the Home Theater Subject Page.
FROM THE HOME THEATER FORUM
DirecTV (PIP?)
From VAMED555:
I'm about to convert from Comcast cable to Directv (buying their NFL football package), but I'm wondering...is Directv picture-in-picture capable (my TV is)?..so I can watch two games at once. Thank you for your help!
Join in on the discussion.
ELSEWHERE ON ABOUT.COM
NextBase DVD Player
Take your DVD entertainment anywhere with this unique inexpensive portable DVD player from NextBase. Product Review by Ric Manning, About Guide To Portable Entertainment.
FROM THE MAILBOX
From Ernest:
Regarding progressive scan: Because of the multiple formats that movie studios use in displaying HDTV or even DVD discs, a progressive scan player can actually cause a degradation in the picture quality. In the high end video equipment magazines you can read all about it, then you will leave well enough alone. I have a 70 K set up and would never add a progressive scan player to it. Maybe cheaper sets wouldn't see the difference.
From Your Guide:
Just as with anything else -- a lot depends on the ability of the chips used in progressive scan circuity to render the 3:2 reverse pulldown accurately -- epsecially in scenes with lots of action. It also depends what you are used to -- if the source was originally shot on film or 24p High definition video -- progressive scan, if executed properly delivers the most film-like image -- however, HD video programming, if shot in 1080i -- looks best without progressive scan.
I have seen many demonstrations of progressive and non-progressive scan programming and the best I have seen was a demonstration by Faroudja of one their processors that upconverted a 1080i image to 1080p (progressive) -- it looked as close to film as I have seen -- of course, the processors used were several thousand dollars and out of most consumer's price range.
Also, many TVs also have the ability to upconvert standard TV signals to 480p (or higher) using progressive line doublers (which is not the same as true progressive scan) -- of course, this can add disctracting digital artifacts to the image.
Obviously, this is one of those topics that generate a lot of discussion and all sides have their propronents and opponents -- thank you very much for your comments -- I will include them in one of my Weekly Site Updates.
Also, feel free to post these comments on my Forum and see what others think.
FINAL WORDS
Although I update this site regularly, sometimes I miss broken links, this is especially a concern as old product listings expire and new ones have different link addresses. If you encounter any broken links in my articles or listings, just bring it to my attention so I can correct the address or delete it from the site if it has expired and can no longer be accessed.
Lastly, I would like your feedback on this Weekly Site Update Page. If you have any comments, either positve or negative, just let me know.
For a look at earlier Home Theater Nooz and Vewz Weekly Updates, CLICK HERE
Feel free to email me at hometheater.guide@about.com
with your questions and/or comments.
