Weekly Site Roundup (09/06/04)

ARTICLE SPOTLIGHT
DVD Recorder FAQs - Answers To Basic Questions
It is safe to say that the era of the VCR is slowly drawing to a close (although VCRs will be around for quite some time) and the era of the DVD is now solidly entrenched, especially now that recordable DVD is available.

As DVD recorders become more popular and affordable, my email box is filled with many questions on what they are, how they work, and what they can be used for. In order to address the most common questions regarding DVD recorders, here are some general FAQs that should make your DVD recorder buying decision easier.

HOME ELECTRONICS INDUSTRY NEWS HEADLINES
The Star Wars Trilogy DVDs (Home Theater Magazine)
Are we our DVD collections? Even if we don't watch? (USA Today)
Rotel Bows Flexible 2-Channel Receiver (Widescreen Review)
NEC Introduces Two New Widescreen Showcase Series Home Entertainment Projectors... (Widescreen Review)
Ed Wood Dressed And Ready (DVD Exclusive Online)
NBC Sets New Olympic Record...(Hollywood Reporter)
Sanyo To Jointly Develop HD-DVD With Toshiba, NEC (Forbes)

PRODUCT OF THE WEEK
Panasonic SC-HT720 Home Theater-In-A-Box
Panasonic offers an HTIB system which includes not only a fully equipped Dolby Digital/DTS AV receiver with powered subwoofer, but also includes a 5-Disc DVD/CD changer with DVD-Audio and MP3 CD-encoded playback capability. The DVD player also has a progressive scan video output. Overall, this is a great budget-priced home theater system for the novice.

FEATURED LINKS THIS WEEK
Legacy Audio
Makers of high end speaker systems and components for both the Home Theater Enthusiast and the Audiophile.
Featured in the Loudspeaker Manufacturers K - O Category Page.

Cambridge Sound Works
Often times, home theater-in-a-box systems lack in the loudspeaker quality department. If you are tire of "weak sounding" loudspeakers in the systems you have heard, then check out the offerings from Cambridge Sound Works.
Featured in the HTIB Manufacturers Category Page.

FROM THE HOME THEATER FORUM
SPEAKER HOOKUP
From HUMMELCRAIG:
I have a new home theater system with a DVD, Surround sound, Plasma TV. The surround sound goes through it’s own speakers but I want to eliminate the right and left front speakers from the amp and just use the speakers from to TV when using the DVD and the amp. This will give the speakers for the TV 2 inputs at the same time. 1 from the TV and 1 from the amp. When playing the TV and the amp at the same time the TV speakers will have 2 separate inputs running at the same time. (Unless I put the TV on mute. My teenage kids will remember that for about a microsecond) I am more concerned about the TV than the speakers. Will this hurt the TV or the speakers?
Join in on the discussion.

ELSEWHERE ON ABOUT.COM
About Home Video/DVD
Check out the latest DVD releases for this month as reported by Ivana Redwine, About Guide To Home Video/DVD.

FROM THE MAILBOX
From DK:
Is it possible, using a video scaler like the DVDO iScan Ultra, to "improve" the quality of video recordings while they are being transferred from a VCR (or other format) to a DVD? Is Phillips still the only manufacturer that makes a DVD recorder with component video inputs?

From Your Guide:
The max input resolution on a DVD recorder is 480i and the DVD can be recorded at that resolution, although on playback the DVD recorder can output the recorded DVD in 480p -- the component inputs on a DVD recorder (that has them) will not accept a 480p or higher resolution signal. If you use the scaler to upscale the VHS input and output the upscaled image in 480i and into the DVD recorder then it may work.

Typically, scaling is a playback function, not a recording function -- at least in consumer recording.

You can try it. If the DVD recorder can't recognize the signal it will tell you. If you get better results, let me know, this would be a great article topic.

FINAL WORDS

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User Submission Form.

If you need more great info on home theater and audio, with an emphasis on the higher end, be sure to check out About.com's related partner sites:

Audio Video Interiors (The Connected Guide To The Digital Home).
Home Theater Magazine.
Stereophile Ultimate AV.
Stereophile Magazine.

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.

A Special Reminder: 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.

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.