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Technology Stocks : C-Cube -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: J Fieb who wrote (37991)	1/2/1999 10:24:00 PM
From: Don Dorsey	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 50808

Electronics Switching to Digital ASSOCIATED PRESS SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- The cool new high tech gadget everyone's talking about these days is something we've been watching in our living rooms for almost 60 years. But in 1999, say consumer electronics aficionados, television gets a whole new look. "This new digital television is not your grandfather's television," said Jeff Joseph, vice president of the Consumer Electronics Manufacturers Association in Arlington, Va. "It's amazing. It has an enormous 'Wow!' factor. Any time consumers see it, their eyes pop out." Television viewers may think that their football game, soap opera or science show looks fine as it is. But when a show is broadcast digitally onto a high definition television, the action appears disturbingly lifelike, nearly three-dimensional. Although the high definition digital television debuted Nov. 1, its introduction as a mainstream consumer item comes Jan. 7 to Jan. 10 at the 1999 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. There, among the 90,000 product developers, financiers, investors, venture capitalists, reporters, exhibitors and actual consumers, the crisp and clear digital televisions and their makers are expected to be the darlings of the world's largest annual trade event. "A lot of people may have heard of digital television, but at CES they're finally going to see it," said Kevin Hause, analyst with International Data Corp. of Framingham, Mass. "It's finally time for consumers to get a really good look at them." Television stations in more than 40 cities are now airing high-definition broadcasts, but most Americans are missing the show because they haven't been willing to shell out the $5,000 to $12,000 for a new set and tuner that show the brighter, crystal-clear images. Prices, though, are expected to drop 10 to 20 percent in 1999. While televisions are the biggest item making the high-tech shift, technology is also making a leap in other consumer goods such as telephones and VCRs. "It appears we're going to go through an evolution from analog to digital," said Tim Bajarin, president of Creative Strategies, Inc. in Campbell, Calif. "It's a fascinating change, and certainly the buzz of industry." Electricity travels through either analog or digital signals. Analog signals are generated directly, like a light hitting a camera picture tube. They can be converted into digital signals that are composed entirely of ones and zeros. A lot more can be done with digital information because it can be manipulated by computers and is more immune to noise. For example, digital VCRs can now record on a hard drive instead of cassettes, a function that allows television watchers to set up their own instant replays and pauses during broadcasts. Digital video discs play both music and movies on a five-inch disc with CD-quality sound. And digital telephones can package Caller ID and an answering machine. With the touch of a button, users of digital camcorders can create special effects including fade, dissolve and scroll up or down. And digital audio is bringing movie theater-like surround sound into the living room. The new technologies are expected to help the electronics industry continue its strong and steady growth. In 1998, consumer electronics companies sold $76 billion of products to retailers, up $4 billion from 1997, according to the consumer electronics association.