Weekly Site Roundup (11/01/04)
ARTICLE SPOTLIGHT
Holiday Shopping Survival Guide
Yes, it's that time of year to gear up for the coming Winter holiday shopping frenzy, but before you actually go out and buy that home theater or other gadget gift, you need to know how to buy. Here are some useful tips and helpful resources to guide you.
HOME ELECTRONICS INDUSTRY NEWS HEADLINES
New Scratch-Proof Coating for CDs and DVDs in the Works (The New Scientist)
Desperate Housewives Towers...in TiVo Weekly Season Pass Ratings (Yahoo News)
Intel Abandons LCoS(Stereophile: Ultimate AV)
RIAA Sales Numbers Up Over 10% in
The First Half of 2004 - SACD and DVD-Audio Flounder (Audio/Video Revolution)
3-D TV Without Glasses May Be Closer Than You Think (Yahoo News/AP)
Blockbuster's Brick-and-Mortar Netflix Defense (CNET)
TNT to Present the 2004-05 NBA Season in HD (Sports Features Communications)
PRODUCT OF THE WEEK
Panasonic PT-60LC14 LCD Projection Television - Product Of The Week
Panasonic has introduced an innovative line of large screen Projection televisions ultilizing LCD technology. The PT-60LC14 offers a large 60-inch 16x9 aspect ratio screen. Additional features include HDTV upgradability, progressive scan with 3:2 pulldown detection, analog, HDMI-HDCP, and PC monitor inputs, and SD/PC card slot for viewing of digital camera photos. With its large screen, shallow cabinet depth, wide viewing angle, and flexible setup options, this set is a good large screen choice.
FEATURED LINKS THIS WEEK
InFocus Corporation
Leading manufacturer and seller of video projectors.
Featured in the Television Manufacturers I - Q Category Page.
Dynaudio
Dynaudio Loudspeaker products. Excellent site from Denmark; includes complete product descriptions and specs.
Featured in the Louspeaker Manufacturer's A - E Category Page.
FROM THE HOME THEATER FORUM
Portable DVD Players
From NEW NAME:
I am considering buying my daughter a portable dvd player for Christmas. We have a regular 4:3 ratio tv in our home that has a dvd player hooked up to it. We have full screen DVDs that we have bought to watch on this. My question is: If I play these full screen DVDs on a 16:9 portable dvd player will it have the black bars? Also, some portable DVD players I've looked at says they are 16:9 or 4:3. If I get one of these can I set it on the 4:3 and watch the full screen dvd's without the bars? Which portable dvd players do you recommend?...
Join in on the discussion.
ELSEWHERE ON ABOUT.COM
Best Phono Preamps On A Budget
Do you have an old turntable that you are having trouble connecting to your new home theater system; perhaps you need a phono preamp. For all the details, check out the article from Anthony Armstrong, About Guide For Stereos.
FROM THE MAILBOX
From A:
If I purchase a widescreen projection TV (16.9) how will the images and/or shapes appear on the widescreen set for the standard vhs tapes? I have a fairly large collection of vhs tapes and I do not want to convert my entire collection to dvd's. And can you recommend a projection TV that has an excellent image quality. I have been reading reviews and that seems to be the main problem is picture distortion.
From Your Guide:
If the VHS tapes in question are standard 4x3 aspect ratio (full screen) they will displayed with black or gray bars on the left and right side of the image on a 16x9 Television. 16x9 televisions do offer an image expansion function that can enable a 4x3 image to fill a 16x9 screen, but the image may exhibit some shape distortion due the image expansion.
With regards to how VHS looks on an HDTV -- it really depends on how large the screen. You have to consider that VHS is about half the resolution of DVD and DVD is half the resolution of true-HDTV. Although DVD looks very good on an HDTV or large screen television, VHS, since it is a poor image source to begin with, will look fair-to-poor on a large screen HDTV. What I would do is actually take one of your VHS movies with your when you go shopping (make sure you declare it at the security check) and see if you can view it on various HDTVs at the dealer.
My recommendation is that if you are going to invest in an HDTV - then I would begin to replace your favorite movies that are on VHS with DVDs (if the films are now available on DVD) -- DVDs offer much better image and sound quality as well being a sturdier format for storage. In addition, DVDs are very inexpensive - especially if you pick them up on sale.
For more background material that may help you, check out my articles on these topics:
Video Resolution - An Overview.
Widescreen Television - The 16x9 Factor
Rear Projection Television - What You Need To Know
Also, for suggestions for Projection Televisions, check out my suggestions:
60-inch and Larger Projector Televisions
FINAL WORDS
Submit your own product review to home theater! Just use the new handy form and your review and name will be posted on my site!
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
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email me at hometheater.guide@about.com
with your questions and/or comments.
