How about a 200 disk DVD changer.....
HDTV, DVD Take Center Stage
(01/09/98; 4:19 p.m. EST)
By Andy Patrizio, TechWeb
It may have been a slow Christmas for retailers, but
that isn't stopping consumer electronics vendors from
showing off some of the highest-priced high-tech toys
ever at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
The stars of the show are high-definition television
(HDTV), which has been gestating since 1981, and
digital versatile disc (DVD), a video disc format the
size of a music CD that can hold an entire movie.
Hayward, Calif.-based
Runco International, maker
of high-end projection
television sets, introduced a
200-disc DVD changer
called the SAR-200 for
$14,995. The player, which
ships this month, comes with
a SCSI port that lets users
daisy-chain up to six players,
if they feel the need to watch
1,200 movies.
Faroudja Laboratories,
based in Sunnyvale, Calif.,
rolled out ultra high-end TVs
and DVD players at the
show -- including Faroudja's new RP4800 and
RP5800, a duo of 48-inch and 58-inch rear screen
projection wide-screen systems that sell for $18,900
and $35,000, respectively.
The televisions come with line-resolution doubling
technology and built-in support for all of the HDTV
signal specifications that are now under consideration.
They also have data ports and PC-grade resolution,
so PCs can be hooked up to the set.
Faroudja's DV1000 DVD player comes with a line
doubler, which doubles the resolution on the television.
It also has support for both Dolby Digital and Digital
Theater Sound -- two high-end audio formats for
home theater aficionados. The DV1000 sells for
$5,495, more than 10 times the price of most DVD
players.
The reality of digital video is said to be right around
the corner. The majority of U.S. broadcasters expect
to have a digital television signal on the air by the year
2002, according to a new study by Harris, a
manufacturer of digital television transmitters in
Melbourne, Fla.
Digital TV will allow broadcast television signals with
twice the visual detail of current systems, plus
CD-quality sound and services. The Federal
Communications Commission has mandated that DTV
signals replace analog signals for public TV by the
year 2003.
The study found 93 percent of the 481 broadcasters
surveyed said they were very likely or somewhat likely
to convert to DTV within five years, and 66 percent
said they could afford the conversion, compared with
42 percent in Harris's survey last year. Seventy-six
percent said keeping prices low would be the key to
success for these vendors.
That isn't stopping Hitachi Home Electronics from
moving quickly into the market. The company
announced one of the first HDTV sets, the 61-inch
UltraFocus set, which offers full support for the
HDTV specs. Pricing has not been set.
Hitachi also announced a smaller, 36-inch TV set that
is ready out-of-the-box to connect to DTV set-top
boxes, laptop or desktop computers, and PC or game
systems through VGA or SVGA inputs.
One company not jumping on the HDTV bandwagon
yet is JVC. "What's the rush to get a set out when
there's nothing to receive?" said Bill Mandalke,
regional manager for color television products at JVC,
based in Aurora, Ill.
At this point, no one is broadcasting an HDTV signal.
As an alternative to expensive HDTV sets, JVC plans
to sell a set-top converter that will convert all of its
existing sets to support HDTV. The converter should
sell for roughly $1,000, far less than the
$7,000-$8,000 price tag HDTV sets are expected to
command.
"When the market is here and there is demand, we will
have it out," said Mandalke, adding that JVC won't
release the set-top box for at least a year.
One new technology that will not be on the floor is the
Digital Video Express (DIVX) player, a pay-per-view
version of DVD designed by retailer Circuit City and a
Los Angeles law firm. DIVX has been the source of
incredible ire on the Internet since its announcement
last September, since DVD players would be made
obsolete by DIVX because DVD players are not
backwards compatible with DIVX machines.
Zenith Electronics is expected to announce a DIVX
player at the show with an estimated price of $499,
but none of the players will be on the floor. Instead,
DIVX players will be shown in a private suite nearby.
"HDTV is going to happen; it's only a matter of time,"
said Simon Bender, vice president of Diplomat
Merchandise, a consumer electronics distributor in
Brooklyn, N.Y. "When the price comes down, I think
people will step up and buy. There's so much
confusion in the market with DIVX, DVD, and
HDTV, there needs to be a shakeup. Too much is
being thrown at the consumer and they are being
confused." |
