["ost ascii aer","Control! the Final Cut. As the leader in camcorders, Sony understands their vast creative potential \u2014 capability you can unlock with editing control. Editing enables you to establish the precise pacing, shape and flow of your video. And editing raises the level of your productions from the ordinary to the extraordinary. Now this creative control can be yours, with Sony's Rewritable Consumer (RC) Time Code editing system. = = = Shoot with Sony's CCD-TR700 Hi8\\\" Handycam\u00ae Camcorder. Edit onto the EV-S7000 Hi8 Editing VCR. And control them both with the RM-E1000T Editing Controller\/Titler. Together, they form an RC Time Code editing system that brings out the full measure of your video creativity. By letting you control the final cut. pessseeeeeeees RC Time Code (H:M:S: Frame) Date Code (Year:Month:Day:Time) eeeeeees PCM Area RC Time Code occupies its own, separate portion of the tape. It can be added or rewritten onto a tape without affecting existing audio or video signals. The CCD-TR700 Hi8 Handycam Camcordler...........eeeeseeeeceeeeees It's small, It's compact. But its features make a big impression. Presenting the Sony CCD-TR700, Of course, there's Hi8 video recording and RC Time Code. But there's also SteadyShot\u2122 picture stabilization to reduce the effect of camera shake. Unlike some other systems, SteadyShot stabilization holds the picture rock steady without degrad- ing the image. And it continues to work in low light and while zooming. The CCD-TR700 even improves your view of life. The Advanced Color Viewfinder isa high-resolution color LCD with an optical filter for lifelike monitoring. The RM-E1000T A\/B roll editing. Audio fe titles in 8 colors. 99 seg And RC Time Code sync three A\/V inputs. That's what the is all about, Total creative control. \u2014","The Precision of RC Time Code. Thanks to RC Time Code, the CCD-TR700 Handycam\u00ae Camcorder automatically identifies each individual video frame by hour, minute, second and frame number. As you shoot, RC Time Code is recorded in digital form, right on the tape. So when you edit, you won't be depending on a display that refers only to the elapsed time in seconds. With RC Time Code, you'll always be able to The EV-S7000 VCR can automatically return by frame number to the exact image you seek. m= m wm With the CCD-TR700 as Player assemble eight video clips in any and an EV-S7000 as Recorder, you'll hit your edit points within an accuracy of +5 frames. sequence you desire. With two EV-57000 VCRs \u2014 one as Player, one as Recorder \u2014 you'll come within +1 frame. That's accurate within 1\/30 second. And because RC Time Code is rewritable, you can lay time code onto tapes recorded by other 8mm camcorders or overwrite new code onto already edited tapes, without disturbing the video or losing a generation. = = = The Performance of HIS Video. Hi8 video is supremely well-suited to shooting and editing. Because they record at 3.6 times the density of VHS, Hi8 camcorders ++. The EV-S7000 Editing VCR.......... can be considerably more compact without sacrificing picture quality or recording time. After you shoot with the CCD-TR700, Horizontal resolution is 400 lines \u2014 better than even television broadcasting. Stereo sound edit with the EV-S7000. A leading video is spectacular, thanks to AFM hi-fi stereo when you shoot and PCM digital stereo when magazine called it, \\\"perhaps the most you dub audio. Finally, unlike the 30-minute limit of VHS-C, a Hi8 videocassette lets you versatile and capable editing VCR record up to 3 hours at standard speed. No wonder Sony Hi8 camcorders have become so successful with discriminating videophiles, corporate videographers, event videographers identify up to eight and TV news teams. = m= m Video can be an incredible creative tool. One that informs. ry RC Time Code. Then Persuades. Educates and entertains. That's why Sony brings you Hi8 video quality and 0 Auto Assemble them at RC Time Code editing precision. They help you turn your creative potential into creative results. tton! And the EV-S7000 he get the most out of rererreyrrree rrThe Visual Index system of the EV-S7000 VCR y With Digital Time Base provides an on-screen visual table of contents. Correction, Digital Noise Reduction Ina single glance, you see pictures from up to and a Dynamic Signal Filter for video 9 index-marked segments on the tape. pictures of astonishing clarity. Finally, two channels of PCM digital audio let you mix background music or narration with the camcorder's FM stereo tracks, for a total offour high fidelity tracks! + Monitor inset simulated.","Features: CCD-TR700 Optional EV-S7000 Hi8 Editing VCR Hi8 Handycam Camcorder Accessories: \u00a9 Video Hi8 system: over 400 lines of horizontal resolution \u00a9 Video Hi8 system: over 400 lines of horizontal resolution \u00a9 RC Time Code for accurate editing \u2122 SteadyShot picture stabilization system CVP-M3 Portable Color \u2122 AFM hi-fi stereo sound \u2122 RC Time Code \/ Data Code \/ Index System Video Printer \u2122 Digital PCM Stereo Sound with dubbing \u00a9 High-resolution advanced color viewfinder with optical filter \u00a9 Makes quick prints from any \u2122 8-segment Auto Assemble editing \u2122 AFM Hi-Fi stereo sound with stereo zoom microphone \u00a9 Digital Time Base Correction for a stable, clean video signal \u00a9 Manual focus ring, electronic manual exposure dial NTSC video source \u00a9 Jog\/Shuttle Control for convenient, precise tape control \u00a9 Auto Lock for fully automatic operation \u00a9 High resolution (708 H x 448 \u2122 Flying Erase\u201d head for clean picture transitions \u00a9 Optical 10:1 variable-speed power zoom lens (52 mm) \u00a9 Digital Noise Reduction for cleaner video pictures \u00a9 1\/3\\\" precision CCD with 410,000 pixels V pixels) using full-frame \u00a9 Advanced Dynamic Signal Filter for sharpness and clarity \u00a9 4-mode Program Auto Exposure (AE) digital memory \u2122 Advanced Drop-Out Compensation Circuitry \u00ae Flying Erase\u201d head for noise-free picture transitions \u00a9 Over 16.7 million colors, \u00a9 3-Line Digital Comb Filter for reduced Y\/C interference \u00a9 Zoom, Battery, Tape, Exposure Meter in viewfinder 24-bit color system yields 256 \u00a9 Narration microphone input \u00a9 Dimensions (WHD): 4-1\/4\\\" x 4-1\/4\\\" x 8-1\/2\\\" gradations each for yellow, \u00a9 18] channel tuner** with 1-month\/8-event timer magenta and cyan \u00a9 VCR Plus+\u201d timer programming with Cable Mouse\u201d unit: RM-E1000T Edit Controller \u00a9 RC Time Code for accurate editing SPK-TRA2 Sports Pack easy as dialing the phone \u00a9 A\/B roll for editing from up to 3 players \u00ae@ Splash and dust-resistant \u00a9 Up to 6-hour recording time (LP mode) on a single \u00a9 Floppy disk drive stores Edit Lists for future reference \u00a9 99-segment Auto Assemble editing with RC Time Code shell forCCD-TR700 Hi8 cassette \u00a9 On-screen menu for easy operation \u00ae Electronic control of cam- \u00a9 Video fade, monotone and cinema; audio mixing and fade \u00a9 10-page digital superimposer with scroll and reverse corder power on\/off, zoom Titling with two type fonts in 4 sizes, 8 colors tele\/wide, and record start\/stop \u00a9 VISCA\u2122 interface for XV-D1000 Digital Effects Generator and @ Water-resistant stereo microphone computer editing systems XV-D1000 Special \u00a9 S-Video inputs and outputs for editing with Hi8 decks Effects Generator \u00a9 Universal learning remote with 10 presets \u00a7 77 different wipe patterns for scene transitions \u00a9 Copyright 1994 Sony Electronics Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. \u00ae Digital effects: Zoom, Mosaic, Sony, Cable Mouse, Flying Erase, Handycam, Hi8, SteadyShot and VISCA are trademarks of Sony. VCR Plus+ is a trademark of Gemstar Development Corp.* Quoted from the July, 1994 issue of Video magazine, with permission from the publisher.** 181-channel tuning: Multi-Picture, Strobe Cable reception is only available to subscribers of the service. 181 channel models tune in most non-scrambled cable channels directly; scrambled cable TV channels may require an external converter. Check with your local cable company on channel compatibility and any PHV-A7 Film-to-Video additional requirements. For your complete personal guide to all Sony consumer electronics, we're introducing Sony Style magazine. Converter To receive your copy for $4.95, plus $1.50 shipping and handling, call 1- 800 - 848 - SONY. Visa and MasterCard. Offer expires April 1995. \u00a9 Up to 400 lines of resolution (Hi8 compatible) @ Fully-featured with 6x zoom lens, color corrector, S-Video output SONY C5407 Printed in USA 8\/94 Sony Electronics Inc. 1 Sony Drive Park Ridge, NJ 07656","Event, Desktop, High-En d Consumer & Small BusineAsusGuVsTide19o94 From the publisher of Video Magazine comes a new publication for the professional videographer, desktop video editor and small-business entrepreneur. KY-19 art hard-edged az and analysts ie yp VIDEO- @ e | ue f pr Ms \u00a7 odo aha campaign ye 3 | ||| CHNICAL SID non| cae: r techni|ques | <roarFsTTWWVAAiRdReEEo:ShRopEV=IEW DEOGR APHERS THE V s stories esucces POSCOSOESEHEHOHSOHEHOSSOEEEHEEEEEESES EEE SOHOHESOSEEEOHE OOOO OS OEESOEEEOEE EOS OEEEES VIDEO PRO is a major new publication covering the latest in pro equipment \u2014 from cameras to DTV software, from VTRs to computer storage systems, from video accessories to editina safiinare. What else? New and nateimorthiu nradiucts. Hands-on Pre Publication Savings Certificate ibtuhs.iness ublication 12 ISSUES OF VIDEO PRO ONLY $23.97 _! Yes! Send 1 year 1 I want to save even more, (12 issues) for $23.97. send 2 years for $45.00. Regular subscription rate $35.00 for one year. Newsstand Value $47.40. Name (PLEASE PRINT) Address City State Zip Offer valid in U.S. only until January 1, 1995. Please allow up to 60 days for delivery of first copy. Save 30%","Features: Video Hi8 system: over 400 lines of horizontal resolution Optional SteadyShot picture stabilization system Accessories: Video Hi8 system: over 400 lines of horizontal resolution RC Time Code\/Data Code\/Index System RC Time Code for accurate editing High-resolution advanced color viewfinder with optical filter Makes quick prints from any AFM hi-fi stereo sound AFM Hi-Fi stereo sound with stereo zoom microphone NTSC video source Digital PCM Stereo Sound with dubbing Manual focus ring, electronic manual exposure dial High resolution (708 H x 448 8-segment Auto Assemble editing Auto Lock for fully automatic operation V pixels) using full-frame Digital Time Base Correction for a stable, clean video signal Optical 10:1 variable-speed power zoom lens (52 mm) digital memory Jog \/ Shuttle Control for convenient, precise tape control 1\/3\\\" precision CCD with 410,000 pixels Over 16.7 million colors, Flying Erase\u201d head for clean picture transitions 4-mode Program Auto Exposure (AE) 24-bit color system yields 256 Digital Noise Reduction for cleaner video pictures Flying Erase\u201d head for noise-free picture transitions gradations each for yellow, Advanced Dynamic Signal Filter for sharpness and clarity Zoom, Battery, Tape, Exposure Meter in viewfinder magenta and cyan Advanced Drop-Out Compensation Circuitry Dimensions (WHD): 4-1\/4\\\" x 4-1\/4\\\" x 8-1\/2\\\" 3-Line Digital Comb Filter for reduced Y\/C interference Narration microphone input RC Time Code for accurate editing Splash and dust-resistant 181 channel tuner** with 1-month\/8-event timer A\/B roll for editing from up to 3 players shell for CCD-TR700 VCR Plus+\u2122 timer programming with Cable Mouse\u201d unit: Floppy disk drive stores Edit Lists for future reference Electronic control of cam- easy as dialing the phone 99-segment Auto Assemble editing with RC Time Code corder power on\/off, zoom Up to 6-hour recording time (LP mode) on a single On-screen menu for easy operation tele\/wide, and record start\/stop Hi8 cassette Video fade, monotone and cinema; audio mixing and fade Water-resistant stereo 10-page digital superimposer with scroll and reverse microphone Titling with two type fonts in 4 sizes, 8 colors VISCA\u201d interface for XV-D1000 Digital Effects Generator and 77 different wipe patterns computer editing systems for scene transitions \u00a9 Copyright 1994 Sony Elec! NO POSTAGE Sony, Cable Mouse, Flying Erd NECESSARY 1BY-NV\/-1(e)e)anl-10] aze)foan @ 00) 10] IF MAILED Cable reception is only availa IN THE scrambled cable TV channels additional requirements. For UNITED STATES To receive your copy for $4.94 BUSINESS REPLY MAIL FIRST CLASS MAIL PERMIT NO. 3494 NEW YORK, NY POSTAGE WILL BE PAID BY ADDRESSEE 1 Ol 4 VIDEO PRO P.O. Box 55941 SYola}val=1(-(e) (celal (ecmlaren Boulder, Colorado 80321-5941 1 Sony Drive Park Ridge, NJ 07656","iness Video Event, Desktop, High-End Co nsumer & Small Bus AUGUST 1994 From the publisher of Video Magazine comes a new publication for the professional videographer, desktop video editor and small-business entrepreneur. KY-19 ; aarsthard-edged test and analysts oming in DESKTO p VIDEO- THE PthCe PwoLrAkThoFrOsR\u00a2 February 1995 .has left the stable? THE BUSINESS ant 7 he 44 . : doieketing campaign <p bTeECCnHHeNNIItCCeAcAhLniqiu)eI,sDE oe g<ToeHFtETIWVViAIdRDeEEoSOhGRoF ERpAVePIeEHWERS e suc cess stories Pe Peecccccccesccsecsesccces VIDEO PRO is a major new publication covering the latest in pro equipment \u2014 from cameras to DTV software, from VTRs to computer storage systems, from video accessories to editing software. What else? New and noteworthy products. Hands-on hardware and software evaluations. Inspiring success stories. Practical business advice. Technical how-to. All this and more, month after month after month. Lock in your savings now. VIDEO PRO becomes a free-standing publication with the February 1995 issue. Sub-scribe at the special pre- publication price of only |ewy STIFYING $23.97 a year (less than $2 an DESKTOP VIDEO issue) \u2014 a savings of almost 50% off the newsstand price. But act The maze ofMacintosh offerings NOW. This special offer ends December 31, 1994. For faster service call toll free 1-800-365-1008.","@ PIONEER By Brent Butterworth most common type. Pioneer also added two features The Holy Grail of laser- disc players would be one you'll like if you\u2019re an audio nut: a CD that offers digital effects direct mode and a coaxial digital output. The CD direct mode engages a smaller, on CLV discs, automatic faster-moving, dedicated CD drawer, side-changing, an outstanding picture and shuts off all the video circuitry when and real high-end sound, all at a reason- you're playing CDs. This helps cut inter- able price. Pioneer's CLD-97 fits the de- ference, for a significant audible im- scription, except that it costs $2,500. proveme\u2014nytou get a little more detail, and a little more sense of space. ~ COMB. I tiPLAYER703 Multiburst pattern showing outstanding frequency Audiophiles consider a coaxial digi- response of the Pioneer CLD-D703 combi player. PRICE: $1,220 tal output sonically superior to the great one that comes with the CLD-97. V-RATING: Toslink optical outputs found on most It has a jog\/shuttle dial, which makes it laserdisc players, because the coaxial easy to scan backward or forward, and to BETTER \u2014~ output induces less jitter in the signal. step through a disc frame-by-frame. You can use the coaxial output to feed a There\u2019s also a button on the side that il- PICTURE high-quality, stand-alone digital-to-an- luminates the basic playback controls. alog convertor for better sound. There\u2019s SOUND \u00e9 still a Toslink output, though, which you Otherwise, it\u2019s pretty much like any FEATURES might need if you want to feed a digital other laserdisc player. You can program VALUE 12345 signal to pieces of equipment that only any order of CD tracks or laserdisc offer Toslink digital input, like Onkyo\u2019s RATINGS GIVEN ARE RELATIVE TO THOSE TX-SV9O9PRO receiver. continued on page 46 FOR OTHER LASERDISC PLAYERS The CLD-D703\u2019s remote is the same What the video world really needs is a SPECS AND Direct Search: 5 sec. Analog Audio: hi-fi AFM S\/N Ratios (dB): good $1,200 laserdisc player, but most of MEASUREMENTS max. on one side, 12 sec. stereo\/dual mono unweighted luminance the ones we\u2019ve tried suffer from a variety side change 52.2. weighted luminance Price: $1.220 Digital Audio: stereo\/dual 59.4. unweighted video of picture-quality woes, many of which Weight & Size (h\/w\/d); Cue & Review Scan mono, using 1-bit D\/A 52.1. weighted video 59.1, 19 Ibs.. 5-3\/8 x 16-5\/8 x Search: 2x. 5x. 10x, 20x converters with double- chroma AM 50.5. chroma are caused by the digital signal process- 17-1\/4 inches step noise shaping PM 44.2 ing needed to produce CLV effects. Remote Control: IR wire- Power Use: 41 watts less with some illuminated Key Features: automatic Audio Frequency Re- The CLD-D703 is Pioneer\u2019s latest controls side-changing, digital ef- sponse: digital 10 Hz-20 $1,200 laserdisc play\u2014$e1,r220, actually. Disc Formats: 12- and fects on CLV discs. digital kHz. -2.4 dB: analog 20 Is it the Holy Grail? Let\u2019s find out.... 8-inch LD. 5-inch CD- Jacks: 2 S-video\/video\/ timebase corrector, adjust- Hz-20 kHz, +3.2\/-2.2 dB Video. 5- and 3-inch CD stereo audio output. SR able luminance and The CLD-D703 has the two features remote input and output chrominance noise reduc- Dynamic Range: 98.6 dB most important to laserdisc aficionados: (relays IR remote com- tion, digital audio level automatic side-changing and digital mands to\/from other control, jog\/shuttle dial, Audio S\/N: digital 104 dB CLV effects. Automatic side-changing Pioneer equipment). film mode (shuts off front- (our measurement limit), switches sides on a laserdisc automat- Toslink optical digital out- panel and onscreen analog 67.1 dB ically, saving you a trip to the equipment put, coaxial digital output. displays rack. Digital CLV effects let you get still \\\\ 1\/4-inch headphone Audio Distortion: digital frames, slow motion, speed play and Program Start Locator\/ RESULTS 0.002%. analog 0.03% clear forward and reverse scanning from Index\/Cue: frame. time, CLV laserdiscs, which are by far the chapter\/track and points Horizontal Resolution: A-B 425 lines 36 VIDEO OCTOBER 1994 co J","JVC INVITES YOU TO A PREMIERE Introducing your ticket to dazzling home theater\u2014 the new JVC Premiere Series TVs. These TVs are truly the brightest stars in the industry offering super advanced picture and sound quality, cordless headphones and advanced PIP. Plus a cast of JVC custom features such as AV Compulink, Full Motion Split- Screen and Super Command Remote. Take home a JVC Premiere Home Theater Television and let the show begin. Call 800-252-5722 for your nearest dealer. INTRODUCING THE JVC PREMIERE HOME THEATER TELEVISIONS Circle 54 on Reader Service Card. JVC COMPANY OF AMERICA DIVISION OF US JVC CORP.","PROTON 31-INCH TV PRICE: $2,400 Like most other high-end direct- view sets, the NT-339 offers a plethora By Brent Ditierwotih | V-RATING: of inputs and outputs, including a front- panel input; dual-tuner picture-in-pic- There aren\u2019t any direct- PICTURE ture, so you don\u2019t have to hook up an view TV manufacturers external tuner or a VCR to watch two you could really call high- SOUND TV shows at once; a separately powered end companies, with one woofer to boost the bass; and surround exception: Proton. Proton enjoys one of FEATURES the strongest reputations in vide\u2014oits sound modes. TV sets have all been solid performers. VALUE Its front-panel headphone jack car- The last Proton set we tested, the 27- 234 5 ries the normal TV sound, but when PIP inch VT-295, had an excellent picture, marred only by a too-dark contrast uae IGe 3 GIVEN ARE RELATIVE TO. Vt is activated, it carries the sound from screen that made it tough to watch ex- FOR OTHER DIRECT-VIETWV SET! the picture in the PIP window. This way, cept in a very dim room. Newer Proton sets, like the 31-inch NT-339, solve the two people can watch and listen to two problem by usinga lighter tint on the screen. SPECS AND Broadcast Tuning $-video\/video\/stereo audio 54.3. chroma AM 63.1, \u2014 MEASUREMENTS Range; 2 to 13. 14 to 69 output. variable-level ster- chroma PM 62.8 A contrast screen is a separate, tint- eo audio output ed piece of glass that covers the face of Price: $2,400 Cable Tuning Range: Screen Brightness: 34.5 the picture tube of a direct-view TV. 125 channels\u2014A-8. 2 to External Speaker footlamberts The screen has three benefits: It in- Weight & Size (h\/w\/d): 13, A to W, AA to ZZ. Connectors: spring-load- creases contrast, improves color satura- 164 Ibs.. 26-3\/8 x 32-1\/2 x AAA. BBB. 65 to 94. A-5 ed connectors for left and Color Temperature: 5.600 tion and reduces the visibility of 22 inches to A-1. 100 to 125 fight Kelvin at factory preset horizontal scan lines, which grow more distracting as screen size increases. Most Power Consumption: Remote Control: IR wire- Internal Audio Amplifier Accuracy of Colors: very of today\u2019s direct-view TVs feature in- 200 watts less with an LED transmit Power: 5 watts per chan- good stead a dark-tinted picture tube, which indicator nel stereo into 8 ohms, 18 provides the first two benefits, but not Screen Size: 31 inches watts into 8 ohms for Audio Frequency Re- the latter. The NT-339\u2019s contrast screen diagonal Jacks: front\u2014S-video\/ woofer sponse: line 20 Hz-20 is removeable; it slides out vertically. video\/stereo audio input, kHz, +0\/-3.8 dB Aspect Ratio: 4:3 1\/8-inch headphones: RESULTS L tear\u20142 S-video\/video\/ster- Audio S\/N: line 70.7 dB, Speakers: two 2 x 5-inch eo audio inputs, video\/ Horizontal Resolution: speaker terminals 53.1 dB 38 VIDEO OCTOBER 1994 front-firing. single 4-inch stereo audio input (parallel 560 lines with bass boost off, 55.1 top-firing woofer in folded with front jacks), 2 RF dB with bass boost on enclosure (antenna\/cable) inputs, Picture S\/N Ratlos (dB): luminance 55.4. video Total Harmonic Distor- tlon: line 0.1%. speaker terminals 0.2%","Save $2.00 <a | ==) e Every dollar you spend on XLO\/VDO\u2122 cables for home entertainment\u2122 can actually make more of a performance difference than THREE dollars spent on other system components. That's like saving TWO dollars for every ONE dollar you spend. Top quality cables from XLO\/VDO (recognized as \\\"The Best in the World\\\") let you enjoy all of the performance your Home Theatre or A\/V surround-sound system can deliver. XLO\/VDO cables are the best, smartest, and most cost-effective way to make real improve- ments to your system's sound and picture, without major component changes. XLO\/VDO is the only brand of cables that lets you buy every cable you need (audio, video, digital, loudspeaker, and even true 75 ohm antenna cable) for a complete home entertain- ment system from a single, fully integrated product line\u2014all engineered to work perfectly with your system and with each other. ngRen py dct ae gs pa 4 |' Save Another $2.00 !| Visit your authorized | XLO\/VDO dealer today! !| !| Ask your authorized dealer about XLO\/VDO cables and give him this completed coupon. He'll give you TWO BUCKS OFF YOUR PURCHASE OF ANYTHING AT ALL FROM ANY MANUFACTURER. Name 9480 Utica Street, Suite 612 !Telephone ! Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91730 | |Mr. Dealer, XLO Electric Co., Inc. promises to pay you $2.00 plus 50 cents handling for each Phone (909) 466-0382 completed coupon that you send us. Only one coupon may be redeemed per customer. Offer is FAX (909) 466-3662 | not valid outside the continental United States, and expires December 31, 1994. XLO Electric | Company, Inc., 9480 Utica Street, Suite 612, Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91370. Tel (909) 466-0382, Circle 9 on Reader Service Card. Faix e(909)te46s6-a3662.eee ee SS as cs laa","shows independently. light. The NT-399 has one problem in Because I liked its picture and be- The remote is of the same snazzy, er- the areas of contrast and brightness\u2014 cause of the dual-tuner PIP (by far, the the black level falls off somewhat in the most important aspect of a TV), the gonomically sane design as past Proton corners. If you set the contrast and NT-339 would be a nice set to own, es- remotes, with a rubber \u201cgrip-strip\u201d run- brightness controls with a full-screen pecially if you use a separate surround- ning around most of its perimeter. The pluge pattern (see July\u2019s \u201cHome Thea- sound system. But it lacks two features I buttons are all the same size, but color- ter\u201d column ), the brightness (or black expect in a $2,400 31-inch TV: true sur- coding makes them easy to identify. Un- level) setting will be way off on the low- round sound and a universal remote. fortunately, it\u2019s not a universal remote \u2014 er-right-corner pluge found on SMPTE We've recently tried 31- and 32-inch it won\u2019t control a VCR or a TV. Proton color bars. I found a compromise setting models from Sony, Panasonic and also doesn\u2019t supply a second, simplified Toshiba that have these features and of- remo\u2014talmeost a standard feature of to be quite watchable, however. fer comparable performance for the Fed through the composite video in- same price or a couple hundred less. \u00bb high-end TVs. Properly adjusted, the NT-339\u2019s pic- puts, the NT-339 produces considerable AMAAMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA dot crawl. Engaging the set\u2019s 3.58-mega- ture is quite enjoyable, with very good hertz (the frequency of the color signal Once around detail and depth, and practically no no- carrier) trap got rid of most of the crawl. ticeable noise. Technical editor Lancelot However, many competing sets offer ad- When renting a video, fast forward and Braithwaite measured the color tem- vanced comb filters that do a better job. rewind a tape before viewing it. In play perature at factory preset at a sur- prisingly low 5,600 degrees Kelvin. The sound is okay,.but not as good as mode, a VCR warms up and so does the I expect from a $2,400 TV. The main tape; when it\u2019s rewound and returned in Compared to my color reference, a Pro- speakers sound like conventional TV Scan PS27152 calibrated to the NISC speakers, and the woofer doesn\u2019t offer as this condition, the tape has not been standard of 6,500 degrees Kelvin, the much bass extension as many other inte- spooled evenly. Audio and video quality NT-339 came fairly close \u2014it is consid- gral TV woofers I\u2019ve heard. The sur- are better when the tape has been re- erably more accurate than typical con- round settings offer modes for music, sumer TVs. Its only problem is a slight movies and mono. For Dolby Surround shedsscans Johnny L. Reese greenish tinge we couldn\u2019t dial out with movies, I found the music setting gave Boone, North Carolina the color and tint controls. the most pleasing effect. But these For me, Proton picked just the right modes are considerably simpler and shading for this contrast scre\u2014ednark much less dramatic than those on many enough to enhance contrast, but light competing TVs. enough to allow use in normal room PANASONIC PB50 Orig. PAN RAPID CHARGERS PANASONIC PB80\/88 Orig.PAN........39. CAMCORDER CHARGER\/DISCHARGER | SONY NP77H 2400 mah... SONY 8mm 1500 mah 6V, 7.2V, 9.6V runs from CANON 8mm 2000 mah house or auto. PALMCORDER 2000 mah. 1 hr. time for Sony, Canon, JVC GR-C9 Type C. Panasonic, RCA\/Hitachi SHARP BT 21\/22 & most other brands SHARP BT 70\/80 2400 mah. 39.00 f Charges 1 battery $44 RCA\/HITACHI 8 mm 2400 mah............ 39.7 Charges 2 batteries $69 NEW External Taurean 5 to 7 hours of recording time. Powerpac+ includes: =6volt @ 10 amps Super Sale sealed lead acid battery. Os Sima SPM-9 =Heavy duty pouch and belt. Rapid Charger\/Discharger =A charger for charging at home (optional charging cord for car). For All 6 Volt Sony, Canon, Sharp\/Panasonic\/JVC, RCA\/ \u00ab=1A2n vadoalptto@r7aomfpysou$r95choice. $85 Hitachi $1 9 (MasterCard) Circle 10 on Reader Service Card. 40 VIDEO OCTOBER 1994","Video Editing and Music\/MIDI Graphics Software Adobe- Premiere v1.1 for Windows.. Hijaak Pro 2.0 for Windows. Video Director for Windows iaGold Disk... NEW PhotoMorph 2........ VIDEO-IT! byATI Tec! ogi HSC - Kai\u2019s Power Tools 2.0............ HSC - Digital Morph 2.0 for Windows..... SuperJAM! for Windows by Blue Ribbon... Ulead Systems - Media Studio 1.0 for Windows.. CakeWalk Home Studio MIDI for WinchesJr ASbe Bey bh a Br 99:99 ImagePals 2.0 for Windows..... LEADVIEW 3.0 for Windows....... Pixar - Typestry 1.1 for Windows (Incredible!) . High Performance Video Cards\/Windows Accelerators Diamond - Stealth 32 2MB - VLB\/PC! ..$259.99\/$249,99 IOMEGA Bernoulli Removable Media HDs Diamond - Viper 2MB - VLB\/PCI... 319.99\/339.99 150MB SCSI (Ext) Transportable with Disk .........scssecsssssreees $575.00 Number Nine - #9GXE64 - VLB or PC! 1MB\/2MB 79.99\/249.99 150MB SCSI (Int) Insider with Disk........ 475,00 Matrox - MGA Ultima 2 w\/2MB VLB\/PC1.. NEW 150MB IDE (Int) Insider with Disk .465.00 The Digital Matrox - MGA Ultima 2+ w\/2MB VLB\/PCI Bernoulli Disk\/Cartridge 150M Single... 11.99.99 Video Studio STB Systems - LightSpeed 2M VLB................ 2 199,99 5-Pack Bernoulli Disk\/Cartridge 150M... ATI - Graphics Ultra Pro 2MB = VLB\/PCI .........cccsssssssseeeee 279,99\/269.99 MultiMedia 16-bit Sound Cards $CALL Workstation class special effects for the desktop! Used * WYSIWYG CineWorks is the exciting new software . 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Box 6512 * Champaign, IL.* 61826-6512 Monitors i only. Prices are subject to chi Call for current pricing. We Business Hours Customer Service UPS Air and Federal Express s ppin M-F 8am-7pm-CST available~Call for c 1 217 355-2785 Sat\u2019 9am-3pm CST M-F Yam-6pm CST \u201cRates apply to orders shi Circle 11 on Reader Service Card.","WIDESCREEN TV 2.35:1 ratio\u2014 may love this stuff, but I bars I find distracting. (It uses light gray | found no use for it. instead of black to minimize burning-in | continued from page 34 of the bar pattern on the picture tubes.) When you put a conventional 4:3 Toshiba also uses light gray bars, but side while maintaining a 4:3 picture. picture on a 16:9 set, the 16:9 set has to when the set is properly calibrated, they The full mode is intended for an- either crop off the top and bottom, add bars to the sides, or stretch it to fit. JVC turn dim brown, which doesn\u2019t bother amorphic material \u201416:9 pictures uses the stretching idea, which I find me as much. \u201csqueezed\u201d to fit in a 4:3 frame. The produces unacceptable distortion. Pan- only anamorphic material currently asonic frames the picture with light gray The TW56D90 is about as high as a available is footage shot with camcord- 50-inch rear-projection set, but a few ers having an anamorphic 16:9 mode Dual Remotes: inches wider. The front panel has con- (Hitachi, RCA and Panasonic offer sev- The TW56D90 comes vergence controls, an A\/V input for eral such models), and anamorphic la- with two remotes\u2014a serdiscs. For now, we know of only two small, simplified model, camcorders, and channel, volume and such discs \u2014 versions of Free Willy and and a larger model with menu controls. There are glass-doored Unforgiven specially created by Toshiba. a full set of controls cubbyholes for two source components You get both free when you buy a and backlighting. at the bottom. The rear jack panel has TW56D90. Strangely, both are 2.35:1 movies\u2014I can't imagine why Toshiba two A\/V inputs (one with S-video), an chose them as demo material, because A\/V output, a variable-level output (for they still have bars on top and bottom in use with external amplifiers) and a loop- full mode. through connection for a cable box. Within the theater mode, you can The remote control has a button on choose normal widescreen mode, or two the side that illuminates many of the more modes that contract and expand controls. Buttons for audio and video the picture vertically. You can also scroll adjustments hide under a sliding flap. the picture up and down. Aspect-ratio The remote can memorize control codes geeks \u2014the guys who drone on for hours for a cable box, a VCR and one more about safety zones and matting, and can rattle off a dozen different names for the component. Toshiba gave the TW56D90 lots of high-tech guts in pursuit of a good pic- ture, like negative radius picture tubes, a black level expander and a 3-D (hori- zontal, vertical and interframe) comb fil- \u00a9 1994 Mitsubishi Electronics America, Inc. My, how they\u2019ve grown. Our Diamond Vision Stadium Screen, seen exclusively at 26 of the nation\u2019s top stadiums, is among the largest television images ever created (over 50 million sports fans a year watch one, so it helps to be big). Like its big brother, our 40-inch Separated os MITSUBISHI tube TV is the only one of its kind, and the largest tube TV you can buy, Our 1452-sq. ft. Diamond Vision\u2019 Stadium Screen. made exclusively by MitsubishiWi.th ascreen size of 768 square inches\u2014a 42 VIDEO OCTOBER 1994 full 31% bigger than a 35-inch and an overwhelming 120% bigger than a 27-inch\u2014it brings the action from the stadium right into your living room. But size is just part of the story.","ter. By and large, its efforts paid off. though it\u2019s not the best I\u2019ve seen. I only Crusade, I was amazed to find the The most striking thing about the noticed a tiny amount of dot crawl when TW56D90's sound system didn't leave TW56D90\u2019s picture is that it\u2019s pretty using the set\u2019s composite video inputs. close to the NTSC 6,500-degree-Kelvin The video noise was very slight, never me pining for a component-based Pro- color temperature standard. The color distracting. rendition is the best I\u2019ve seen from a Logic system. Certainly, pans from rear-projection set\u2014next to the The problem with this set is a hori- zontal hot spot, a bright bar that moves speaker to speaker aren't as dramatic as TW56D90, most consumer TVs (in- when you move your head vertically. If cluding the PT-50WXF5) look like your head is even with the vertical cen- with separates, mainly because you can\u2019t ter of the screen, it\u2019s no problem. But if they're rendering various shades of blue, you move up or down, the picture looks spread the TV\u2019s internal speakers apart. rather than accurate co\u2014lproovirded, uneven. It\u2019s especially noticeable in the of course, that you calibrate the (I didn\u2019t spend much time using the Pro- TW56D90 with color bars and a blue fil- 4:3 mode, in the bars on the sides. ter, and turn the brightness and contrast The sound is hard to critici\u2014ziet\u2019s Logic normal more and external speak- way down from the factory settings. You amazingly good for a TV set. There are ers because I couldn\u2019t find any that bore can use the set\u2019s picture setting memory integral amps for rear speakers, and to get a \u2018\u201c\u2018by-the-book\u201d picture, and Toshiba even throws in the rear speakers sonic resemblance to the TW56D90's: switch to the very bright factory preset and some cable. You have several setup when there\u2019s lots of ambient light. choices. In Dolby Pro-Logic normal speakers.) But the internal speakers, mode, you hook up front and rear speak- I was also struck by the depth of the ers to the TW56D90\u2019s speaker connec- augmented by an internal subwoofer, picture \u2014it has more of a 3-D look than most rear-projection sets I\u2019ve seen. tors, and use the set\u2019s speakers as the sounded surprisingly detailed and However, the horizontal scan lines on a center channel. Dolby 3 mode is the smooth. I normally don\u2019t like music sur- set this big can be bothersome. Pan- same, but uses no rear speakers. In Dol- asonic gets around the problem with a by Pro-Logic phantom mode (which I round modes, but these were okay\u2014 line interpolater; Pioneer, Sony and preferred), the set\u2019s stereo speakers han- RCA use contrast screens to get rid of they added a degree of ambience unat- the lines. This set would look great with dle all the front-channel sound, and the a contrast screen; I hope Toshiba or a rear speakers are used. There are also tainable using only TV speakers. third-party manufacturer will offer one. several music surround modes. The TW56D90 is clearly the best The 3-D comb filter works well, al- Watching surround-sound extrava- ganzas like Indiana Jones and the Last 16:9 set I've encountered. Although the picture has its flaws, it\u2019s impressive for a rear-projection set. And the sound is good enough so that you don\u2019t abso- lutely need to buy a separate surround- sound system. For me, the deciding fac- tor is the horizontal hot spot. I think I could probably live with it, but check out the effect carefully before you buy, and make sure you'll be able to watch the set with your head within a foot of the vertical screen axis. a Our 40-inch television also has a brighter picture, higher contrast, anda longer life than just about anything else out there. Ss hg) == } ayAP 2 BaDR\u00a2sx ne3 geg@ ~g =o 2 aQ ae I BSCocSoFt N= a= FI 2eyo5yu aBb eae | w3y =g EQog& \u2018PS5ane) \u20188g Staosme fe) Ss %o ee i HYOS \u20186G, 2 re ee o7o0z b=*a)il<= <e8e &q 55 \u00bbx OO 5cea.Sm=3\u00a28 g2v> v39*y s7BeIeRee R ae2&\u00a9 fnMM\u2014woEB=oas| 3 S5ED \u00a7 %gia a3 &a 2BB2 43% 8@ BDh= =eeEw Beein ee 2 ..f& o2\u00ab >Si | e> e 9 o&e ostOO 20 fsra) |Bgg )a z= =on5 Y aS Pfse]) YRr D2) 5c o 53 3i w1eyo3,)moes&& S ic&fs YS2o6es8a O4w>oa S afoSeo)ede: \u00a9= Bgees 2 | Baoa\/ > o\u00a2O 6 &34 aeeued a:or SA s | \u00bb&%>F&5\u00a2O -o&%y vScuOComoOeRt 45ee aOoSSONsan 88faa4e =f oye | causg g.ojt s& ocw o2g2 TV \/ piv le a \u20ac |3) a za < O a = a eo a OCTOBER 1994 VIDEO 43","WIDESCREEN TV 2.35:1 ratio\u2014 may love this stuff, but I bars I find distracting. (It uses light gray found no use for it. instead of black to minimize burning-in continued from page 34 of the bar pattern on the picture tubes.) When you put a conventional 4:3 Toshiba also uses light gray bars, but side while maintaining a 4:3 picture. picture on a 16:9 set, the 16:9 set has to when the set is properly calibrated, they The full mode is intended for an- either crop off the top and bottom, add turn dim brown, which doesn\u2019t bother bars to the sides, or stretch it to fit. JVC me as much. amorphic material\u201416:9 pictures uses the stretching idea, which I find \u201csqueezed\u201d to fit in a 4:3 frame. The produces unacceptable distortion. Pan- The TW56D90 is about as high as a only anamorphic material currently asonic frames the picture with light gray 50-inch rear-projection set, but a few available is footage shot with camcord- inches wider. The front panel has con- ers having an anamorphic 16:9 mode Dual Remotes: vergence controls, an A\/V input for (Hitachi, RCA and Panasonic offer sev- The TW56D90 comes camcorders, and channel, volume and eral such models), and anamorphic la- with two remotes\u2014a menu controls. There are glass-doored serdiscs. For now, we know of only two small, simplified model, cubbyholes for two source components such dis\u2014vcerssions of Free Willy and and a larger model with Unforgiven specially created by Toshiba. a full set of controls at the bottom. The rear jack panel has You get both free when you buy a and backlighting. TW56D90. Strangely, both are 2.35:1 two A\/V inputs (one with S-video), an movies\u2014I can\u2019t imagine why Toshiba A\/V output, a variable-level output (for chose them as demo material, because use with external amplifiers) and a loop- they still have bars on top and bottom in through connection for a cable box. full mode. The remote control has a button on Within the theater mode, you can the side that illuminates many of the choose normal widescreen mode, or two controls. Buttons for audio and video more modes that contract and expand adjustments hide under a sliding flap. the picture vertically. You can also scroll The remote can memorize control codes the picture up and down. Aspect-ratio for a cable box, a VCR and one more geeks\u2014the guys who drone on for hours about safety zones and matting, and can component. rattle off a dozen different names for the Toshiba gave the TW56D90 lots of high-tech guts in pursuit of a good pic- ture, like negative radius picture tubes, a black level expander and a 3-D (hori- zontal, vertical and interframe) comb fil- \u00a9 1994 Mitsubishi Electronics America, Inc. My, how they\u2019ve grown. Our Diamond Vision Stadium Screen, seen exclusively at 26 of the nation\u2019s top stadiums, is among the NO POSTAGE NECESSARY IF MAILED IN THE UNITED STATES BUSINESS REPLY MAIL FIRST-CLASS MAIL PERMIT NO. 264 GARDENA, CA POSTAGE WILL BE PAID BY ADDRESSEE MITSUBISHI 14527 SSAN PEDRO ST GARDENA CA 90248-9761 C 42 VIDEO OCTOBER 1994","ter. By and large, its efforts paid off. though it\u2019s not the best I\u2019ve seen. I only Crusade, I was amazed to find the The most striking thing about the noticed a tiny amount of dot crawl when TW56D90's sound system didn't leave TW56D90's picture is that it\u2019s pretty using the set\u2019s composite video inputs. close to the NTSC 6,500-degree-Kelvin me pining for a component-based Pro- color temperature standard. The color The video noise was very slight, never rendition is the best I\u2019ve seen from a distracting. Logic system. Certainly, pans from rear-projection set\u2014next to the The problem with this set is a hori- speaker to speaker aren\u2019t as dramatic as TW56D90, most consumer TVs (in- zontal hot spot, a bright bar that moves when you move your head vertically. If with separates, mainly because you can\u2019t cluding the PT-5OWXF5) look like your head is even with the vertical cen- they're rendering various shades of blue, ter of the screen, it\u2019s no problem. But if spread the TV\u2019s internal speakers apart. rather than accurate co\u2014lproovirded, you move up or down, the picture looks of course, that you calibrate the uneven. It\u2019s especially noticeable in the (I didn\u2019t spend much time using the Pro- TW56D90 with color bars and a blue fil- 4:3 mode, in the bars on the sides. ter, and turn the brightness and contrast Logic normal more and external speak- way down from the factory settings. You The sound is hard to critici\u2014ziet\u2019s can use the set\u2019s picture setting memory amazingly good for a TV set. There are ers because I couldn\u2019t find any that bore to get a \u201cby-the-book\u201d picture, and integral amps for rear speakers, and switch to the very bright factory preset Toshiba even throws in the rear speakers sonic resemblance to the TW56D90\u2019s: when there\u2019s lots of ambient light. and some cable. You have several setup choices. In Dolby Pro-Logic normal speakers.) But the internal speakers, I was also struck by the depth of the mode, you hook up front and rear speak- picture \u2014 it has more of a 3-D look than ers to the TW56D90\u2019s speaker connec- augmented by an internal subwoofer, most rear-projection sets I\u2019ve seen. tors, and use the set\u2019s speakers as the sounded surprisingly detailed and However, the horizontal scan lines on a center channel. Dolby 3 mode is the set this big can be bothersome. Pan- same, but uses no rear speakers. In Dol- smooth. I normally don\u2019t like music sur- asonic gets around the problem with a by Pro-Logic phantom mode (which I line interpolater; Pioneer, Sony and preferred), the set\u2019s stereo speakers han- round modes, but these were okay\u2014 RCA use contrast screens to get rid of the lines. This set would look great with dle all the front-channel sound, and the they added a degree of ambience unat- a contrast screen; I hope Toshiba or a rear speakers are used. There are also third-party manufacturer will offer one. several music surround modes. tainable using only TV speakers. The 3-D comb filter works well, al- Watching surround-sound extrava- The TW56D90 is clearly the best ganzas like Indiana Jones and the Last 16:9 set I've encountered. Although the picture has its flaws, it\u2019s impressive for a rear-projection set. And the sound is good enough so that you don\u2019t abso- lutely need to buy a separate surround- sound system. For me, the deciding fac- tor is the horizontal hot spot. I think I could probably live with it, but check out the effect carefully before you buy, and make sure you'll be able to watch the set with your head within a foot of the vertical screen axis. . Our 40-inch television also has a brighter picture, higher contrast, and a longer life than just about anything else out there. To own a Diafnond Vision Screen, you'd have to buy your own stadium. ' But for considerably less, you can ex- perience Diamond Vision excitement at birth? on the world\u2019s only 40-inch tube TV. The only place you can buy our remarkable 40-inch TV is at an authorized Mitsubishi dealer. For the location of one in your area, call 1-800-937-0000, ext. 284. MITSUBISHI THE BIG SCREEN COMPANY\u201c Our home version, the world\u2019s only 40-inch tube TV. Circle 12 on Reader Service Card. OCTOBER 1994 VIDEO 43","CABLE TV SMA\/VHS By using the mix\/mic button on the re- mote control, you can either record over DESCRAMBLERS continued from page 33 existing audio or mix sounds from the mic input with it. Interestingly, there\u2019s Best Prices in the U.S.A.! Hi8 playback capability which works, no level control, which is puzzling, given CTTelUaicctv mcom ela I'm pleased to say, very nicely. While not the inclusion of mic mixing. Hi8 quality, the images play and dub to WE WILL BEAT ANY PRICE! VHS at standard 8mm resolution with The infrared remote that comes with no difficulty and with little generation the GVR-DD1 is, despite its unusually Ml-Vadello mmeoyorl-ValditaomVarelace) loss. Oddly, the VHS side doesn\u2019t come boxy shape, very easy to use. It offers a Pioneer, FTB-3, SA3 with quasi-S-VHS playback\u2014a minor but annoying limitation in a unit with so complete set of controls, the more ad- The Newest & the Latest much to recommend it. vanced of which are below a flip-up pan- el. Don\u2019t lose it, though\u2014as with most TVT-3K - Jerrold Impulse & The titler is your basic one-page, VCRs these days, a large number of the Starcom series white-only, block letter job with charac- functions don't have corresponding con- ters in four different sizes. It\u2019s a bit clum- trols on the deck itself. This could be a SA3-DFA - Scientific Atlantas sy to operate, as you\u2019re required to page problem, since few (if any) universal re- through the alphabet for each character, motes come with buttons for assemble incl. 8536, 8536+, 8580, as with the character generators on old- editing or A\/V dubbing. er camcorders. While nobody will ever DTge}or it-1(e| confuse the results with titles generated Probably the GVR-DDI\u2019s biggest PN-3A_ - Pioneer systems on a Videonics TitleMaker, it\u2019s nonethe- drawback is its lack of hi-fi or any form less extremely useful for quick-and-dirty Panasonic TZPC145G 99 Ch Converters efforts. With so many camcorder manu- of stereo audio. (Like all other 8mm\u2019 Zentek XL2100 99 Channel Converters facturers getting rid of even the most ba- equipment, the 8mm deck has hi-fi play- sic titler functions, GoldStar is to be back, but it\u2019s mono.) Its VHS linear 30 DAY MONEY BACK GUARANTEE commended for picking up the slack. monaural track is quite good for what it FAST SHIPMENTS & FREE CATALOG is. But it still isn\u2019t hi-fi or stereo, and Another feature this VCR offers you'll hear the difference on any stereo 1-800-772-6244 that too many camcorders don\u2019t any monitor. GoldStar should seriously con- sider adding stereo and hi-fi to future M-F: 9-6 EST more is an external microphone input. versions of this VCR. U.S. Cable TV, Inc. Dept.:KVM104 The deck falls a bit short in picture quality, though,ewith only average re- 4100 N. Powerline Rd, Bldg. F-4 Pompano Beach FL 33073 \\\"BE9JUP\/d}OaI91p1EAe1DNa9ayS NO FLORIDA SALES! CAV Reg. $74.98 Sale $56.25 1,000's of Cool Control: The GVR-DD1's remote controls the CLV Reg. $44.98 Sale $33.75 MIDE Senge on Disks deck\u2019s 8mm and VHS transport mechanisms. 20% Off after 9\/30\/94 * Due mid-October, 1994 Both Versions THX\u00ae Widescreen In our new Buyer's sults. In addition to the usual slight Guide you will see: amount of chrominance noise in the Just Announced! reds, there also appears to be a slight 5 MIDI Songs shift in the blacks toward green. This The Crow (THX\u00ae Widescreen) 15% Off $ Music Software for PC & Mac occasionally results in odd yellowish- $ Sound Cards green casts showing up in the shadows, Due in mid-September, 1994 $ MIDI Keyboards especially under people\u2019s mouths or eyes. $ Speakers But it\u2019s a subtle effect \u2014it\u2019s there, but The Paper (Widescreen) 15% Off $ Featuring: you have to be looking for it to notice. I Due in mid-October, 1994 15% Off found the effect consistent on two TVs, \u2018Roland Sound\u2019 and found it unnoticeable when a tape Bad Girls (Widescreen) recorded on the GVR-DD1 is played Use your computer back on another VCR. Clearly, there\u2019s a Due in late October, 1994 with music for: minor problem somewhere in the play- back electronics. * Free Gift of Cleaning Fluid (a $19.95 value) S Entertainment when you order 3 or more Titles \u2014 $ Education Despite these problems, GoldStar\u2019s 3 Business GVR-DDI1 is a truly remarkable VCR. Free Membership & Monthly Catalog! 3 Presentations Its easy-to-use interformat dubbing and Every Title Available, including Karaoke! For your Free Buyer's Guide, Call: editing capability, combined with its tit- Every title discounted up to 40%! ling, its mic mixing and its ability to play Free Shipping! Open 7 days a week! 1-800-380-2580 Hi8 tapes back in quasi format, far out- weigh its limitations. This is a very good Laserdisc Fan Club, Inc. = DIROE piece of video gear which, with a little Department V104 \\\"Desktop Music Presentation Products... Direct to you!\\\" work, could become a truly great one. = ;| (800) 801-DISC(3472) Edirol Corp, 3rd Floor 1201-4 Ave. S. Seattle, WA 98134 *2OUJpH1OP9}9pA]1PBA1eDI9dByS 7SC FAN CLUB Circle 15 on Reader Service Card. 44 VIDEO OCTOBER 1994","Rejecting the newer, memory-free lithium battery technology available on the continued from page 33 TR500, Sony has stuck with the nickel-cad- Bucking the Trend: mium battery on the TR400 to keep the pri- Unlike most other man- ufacturers, Sony ce down. However, Sony compensates by supplies relatively large remotes with its cam- the TRIOI, which offers a full set of its man- including a very practical feature\u2014an icon corders. This one operates the TR400. ual overrides and a titler, but it nevertheless (in both the viewfinder and on the side dis- works well on the whole. Certainly semi- play) that indicates battery life. camcorder in auto focus mode temporarily pros (for whom manual focus and iris con- (while you are in manual mode) when you The TR400 has a menu system for auxil- need a quick fix. trol are essential) should take note. iary features. I found it more straightforward Sony gives us four exposure presets, The TR400\u2019s black-and-white CRT than most, with graphic indicator arrows to much like those available on the TR700 and the Canon ES-1000: portrait, sports, high- viewfinder makes it an anomaly in its class, guide you. You can select an audible trigger speed shutter and twilight. The TR400 also includes a manual iris which is push-but- where color LCD viewfinders are the rule. warning, wind noise setting, date, clock and toned on and controlled by another small thumbwheel closet to the back of the cam- While a color LCD is arguably easier on the time zone functions, stereo\/left\/right and corder. I prefer iris control over manual shutter control\u2014I think it makes the cam- eyes, it doesn\u2019t offer the resolution of a edit on\/off (which minimizes picture deteri- corder ultimately more versatile in day-to- black-and-white viewfinder, making focus- oration when editing). ing more difficult. The TR400 doesn\u2019t have The TR400 has a two-speed zoom a manual white balance for achieving more mechanism; press it lightly and it moves accurate color rendition, but if you\u2019re a very slowly, harder and it moves quickly. I manual-focus fanatic, the CRT may make missed having the option of an intermediate this your camcorder of choice. speed. While the TR700 has moved forward | There is no umbrella full auto switch as with a faster, one-step tape-eject mecha- there is on the TR700 or TRIOI; if you want nism, Sony sticks with the slower mecha- to switch the TR400 back to full auto, you nism of the TRIO1. For me, waiting for the tape to ejct on the TRIO! got old quickly. have to reset each manual control you were using. On the TR400, the provision for However, the TR400 does have a quick- manual focus is a vertical thumbwheel lo- sliding lens cover that slides out when the cated at the bottom of the camcorder close camcorder is turned off or put into VIR to the lens, and a switch next to it. There is an auto setting, plus one for manual focus mode. This should have been included on the TR700. and a \u201cpush auto\u201d switch which puts the The Swiss Army anger 4-level LED battery capacity indicator \u201cRapid Charge Only\u201d feature for NoMEM\u00ae Batteries Direct power supply for most 8mm and VHS-C 6V camcorders 110V-AC power adaptor Reconditions and charges one or two batteries sequentially Introducing the OmniSource\u2122 Plus. We call it a charger. power is concerned, you never know what you'll need But that hardly does justice to the most versatile and convenient, do- until you need it. everything power manager for camcorder enthusiasts. Sure, there are chargers that'll do some of these The OmniSource Plus automatically reconditions and charges one or two nickel-cadmium batteries. It rapidly charges NOMEM\u00ae memory- things. But only the OmniSource Plus does all of free batteries. It tests the battery power level. It powers VHS-C and 8mm camcorders directly. It works from the home AC. It works from the car\u2019s these things. Ask your Lenmar dealer about the DC. It does practically everything but edit the footage. Because where OmniSource Plus. It\u2019s the ultimate power tool no camcorder bag should be without. CAMCORDER PERFORMANCE PRODUCTS For the name of your nearest Lenmar dealer, and a catalog ofour other Camcorder Performance Products call: 800\/424-2703 \u00a91994 Lenmar Enterprises, Inc. Circle 16 on Reader Service Card. OCTOBER 1994 VIDEO","JUST ASK FOUR MILLION SPECS AND Iris: auto\/manual with on- 1\/8-inch headphones, RESULTS SATISFIED MEASUREMENTS screen indicator. plus four LANC remote, DC out for SATELLITE TV RF convertor Horizontal Resolution: CUSTOMERS Price: $1,399 AE modes\u2014portrait, Tape Speeds: SP. LP 400 lines Hi8, 250 lines INCLUDING sports. high-speed shutter (play only) 8mm EVERY MAJOR Weight & Size (h\/wid): 2 and natural night NETWORK, EVERY Ibs. without battery (3.4 Video Heads; 4. S\/N Ratios (dB): un- CABLE SYSTEM IN ounces) and cassette. Shutter Speeds (sec.): weighted luminance 45.4 AMERICA, 4-3\/8 x 4-1\/2 x 8-1\/4 1\/60 (normal), portrait\u2014 Edit Search: bidirectional ME, 44.4 MP; weighted MAJOR LEAGUE inches 1\/60-1\/2,000. sports\u2014 1x Hi8 luminance 49.7 ME & BASEBALL, THE 1\/60-1\/500, high speed MP; unweighted video te Power Use: 6 volts DC. shutter\u20141\/4.000. twilight\u2014 Cue & Review Search: 43.2. weighted video 50.3: THE NHL AND 5.4 watts 1\/60 approx. 9x forward. 7x re- chroma AM 44.4, chroma PM 39.8 THE CIA. Image Sensor: 1\/3-inch Auto Fade: trigger oper- verse Minimum Illumination: CCD. 470.000 gross pix- ated to\/from black or 12.5 lux for 50 IRE (stabi- They've all got the FULL-VIEW SYSTEM els mosaic Fast Forward\/Rewind lizer off) installed - and there\u2019s no reason why you White Balance: auto only Time: approx. 6-1\/2 min. shouldn\u2019t too. The quality and reliability of the Lens: {\/1.8, 12x for 120-min. tape Approx. Battery Life FULL-VIEW SYSTEM has stood the test of time. (5.4-64.8mm) two-speed Viewfinder: black-and- (man.. focus\/no zoom): Over the years we\u2019ve installed over 4 million power zoom with focus Edit Protocol: LANC 55 min. systems. So we know what were doing. down to macro And we know what we\u2019re talking about when we Remote Control: IR wire- Audio Frequency Re- tell you that the FULL-VIEW SYSTEM is the best Filter Diameter: 37mm white CRT \u201c less with slide switch for sponse: 50 Hz-7.5 kHz, way to get the most in TV viewing. Over 350 hold. and camera and +0\/-3 dB: -9 dB at 20 Hz, channels can be beamed directly to your home tMainncie:mum{12-FioncchusiinngwidDei-s- || V\u201cijeieowww;ifnigndearngle,Codntle roopltse:r fo playback controls 6.5 0B at20 kHz _ each and every day. You can choose from Family angle. 36 inches in tele- Shows, Premier Sporting Events, Award Winning photo Microphone: stereo elec- Audio: hi-fi AFM stereo Hi-Fi Dynamic Range: CSR1Coaeei7nrradvcd.lieFecrielms, Classic Movies and much more. tret condenser 62.7 dB Focus: TTL inner auto- Key Features: electronic ASK ABOUT focus system with ring- Jacks: S-video\/video\/ster- image stabilizer. four auto y THE FULL-VIEW SYSTEM | \u20ac0 audio input\/output, exposure modes with Audio Distortion: 0.3% type powered manual fo- stereo 1\/8-inch mic input, manual iris, flying erase The one that cus head dishes up everything. day shooting situations. offered i date. Its few deficiencies are more than The stabilization system 800-318-DISH is offset by the consideration with which electronic with no noticeable image deg- Sony put this camcorder together and sc\u00bb NAME BRANDS ONLY radation when you switch it on. There is the number of manual features it offers. Satellite TU\/Home Theater some drift, however, at the end of pans It\u2019s very straightforward, it includes well- and tilts, which is more evident on slow chosen and well-placed controls (in- cluding the now-crucial image stabilizer) camera movements. Sony has included a fader (to black) and adds some nice touches, like the which operates at the beginning or end sliding lens cover. Here, Sony draws on of a shot. When you are in standby and the TR line's rich history and strengths, push the fade button, the picture fades and streamlines them into a sensible and up when you go into record mode; when very workable package. 2 COMBI PLAYERyou are recording and push it, it waits until you go to standby mode before fad- ing down. The TR400 has some basic but im- portant features that camcorder com- continued from page 36 panies have been neglecting as they chapters you wish, and you can also use pursue point-and-shoot friendliness. its CD deck synchro function for auto- Both external microphone and head- mated dubbing of CDs onto audio phone jacks have been included, in con- trast to their somewhat glaring omission cassettes, provided you have a compati- ble Pioneer cassette deck. on the much pricier ES-1000. As long as After technical editor Lancelot there\u2019s noise leakage on camcorders, we should have resort to these basics. Braithwaite finished his lab tests of the The sound quality is good, with very CLD-D703, he and I conducted double- blind picture and sound comparisons be- little transport noise audible, and none tween it and the CLD-97. We've used the CLD-97 as our reference for laser- to mention on the zoom mechanism. However, we're still happy that there\u2019s a disc picture and CD sound for the last | provision for improving the sound with year. We've found some players that an external mic. There is also an unusu- equal it in picture quality, and some ally clear stereo effect when using the mid-priced audiophile digital-to-analog convertors that equal it in sound, but onboard mic. we've yet to find a product we truly pre- The picture quality was average\u2014 ferred in either area (outside of very pricey D\/A convertors). That\u2019s why our there was a noticeable amount of lumi- comparisons of the CLD-D703 and the nance noise, more than I noticed on the CLD-97 were perhaps the most startling we've conducted in a \u201cVideotest.\u201d TR700 and the ES-1000, both of which I compared side-by-side with the TR400. The D703 actually produced a mar- I also noticed that in very low light, the ginally better picture than the 97. We color shifts toward green. However in had to look hard for the differences, but normal conditions, color rendition is they were there. The D703\u2019s picture .seemed to have slightly better detail and good. This is not a top-of-the-line pic- ture, but considering the price, it stands up pretty well. Overall, the TR400 makes a great 46 VIDEO OCTOBER 1994 \u2014 CO","ImagingScience performance of digital audio products.) SO UR SAME. DoreySor Light-Fingered: Braithwaite and I agree: The CLD- Joe Kane The remote that comes with Pioneer's CLD- D703 is the best we've ever tried, truly has trained the following D703 has a button on the side that lights up the Holy Grail of laserdisc players. And the main transport it\u2019s priced at the industry norm for play- controls. ers with its feature package. Both of us think that if we had to buy a laserdisc player today, it would be this one. We hope Pioneer keeps the quality control on these players nice and tight, so more videophiles can enjoy the terrific picture and sound we experienced. Pr] video professionals to use continued from page 24 test patterns and\/or instrumentation to calibrate slightly fewer digital artifacts. Also, the To use the Smart Video Recorder, YOUR television on delivery. 97 suffered from a small amount of chro- you'll need at least a 486SX-25 PC with WHAT DID YOUR minance-to-luminance delay \u2014the color four megabytes of RAM that runs Win- signal lags behind the black-and-white dows 3.1, a 256-color VGA display and signal, producing a tiny amount of color lots of hard disk space. While the system DEALER DO WHEN bleeding on the right side. requirements say you need 30 MB, for YOU GOT YOUR Both produce a virtually noise-free practical purposes you'll actually want picture that will please even the pickiest about five times that much. Video files videophile, but the D703 definitely are memory hogs\u2014a typical one-minute TELEVISION? looked a bit better\u2014at less than half the capture at 15 frames per second takes up eeoeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee price. A comparison with the $3,500 more than eight MB, even after re- Alta Buena Stereo Designs (800) 676-6684 LD-S2 produced similar results: advan- Ambrosia Audio & Video (310) 440-5522 tage D703. Braithwaite\u2019s measurements compression! Architectural Electronics\u2122 (713) 465-6333 back up our subjective impressions 100 Installing the Smart Video Recorder in your PC is fairly straightforward. The percent\u2014the numbers are the highest installation documentation is, by and Audio & Video Specialists, Inc. (205) 871-6328 he\u2019s seen from a laserdisc player. The large, clear and well-written, and the Better Sounds, Inc. (407) 338-8898 only complaint we have is that we really setup software is designed to detect pos- Bradford Wells & Associates (310) 575-4895 preferred the way digital effects were im- sible interrupt and address conflicts. If plemented on the late \u201980s Pioneer play- you follow the instructions precisely, you Busch Home Theater (707) 573-9170 ers\u2014the older models offered smoother shouldn\u2019t have any problems getting Dream Palaces (800) 786-6832 scanning (the CLD-D703\u2019s search is things up and running. Dream Systems, Inc. (317) 872-7307 pretty jerky) and better resolution on In addition to the board\u2019s setup soft- Electronic Home Consultants, Inc. (305) 229-5177 still frames and slow motion. ware, the Smart Video Recorder pack- Encore! Cinema & Sound, Inc. (800) 362-6730 age also comes bundled with Video for ETA (800) 382-1560 The D703 has separately adjustable Windows 1.1 (which is required to use the chroma and luminance noise reduction, which is a good idea, because noise re- card), along with Asymetrix\u2019s Compel Evolution Audio & Video (818) 879-1312 duction usually cuts down the detail. and MediaBlitz software for creating | First Impressions, Inc. (305) 891-6121 But we found adjusting the noise reduc- tion had very little effect \u2014a picture this business presentations and multimedia Future Home (310) 274-9393 clean doesn\u2019t really benefit from tweak- shows, and Firstlight\u2019s Gatekeeper pre- Hollywood North (707) 575-1225 ing. So we did all our testing at the sentation software. Except for Gate- HomeTech (707) 542-1510 keeper, which is bundled on CD-ROM standard halfway setting. only, all bundled software comes on both Mike Wood (510) 283-7251 The CLD-97 usually walks all over 3.5-inch disk and CD-ROM. Pat Bradley's Video Calibrations (612) 894-3161 other laserdisc players sonically, so we The quality of images captured using Perfect Vision Tuneup (301) 340-6120 Performance Imaging (914) 997-1831 expected it to kill the D703 in a double- the Smart Video Recorder is excellent blind A\/B test with a high-end stereo for digitized computer video, from either system and CDs. The first time Braith- S-VHS or VHS tapes, with accurate (al- Phoenix Systems (415) 367-7100 waite switched the players, I imme- though slightly muted) colors and sharp Precision Audio\/Video (805) 523-3005 diately assumed player number two was but non-jaggy images. The board has the CLD-97 \u2014it had a smoother, more composite and S-video inputs, but does Prestige Audio Video (305) 781-1557 9BUs\u201c1IOdPe9Ajp1eAe1DI9eAyS eeeeaTaenee analog-like sound, and created a deeper not come with its own sound capture ca- Projection Systems, Inc. (415) 461-3553 soundstage. Several more trials rein- pability, although it\u2019s easily able to cap- Russell McMurtray (213) 655-8860 forced this impression, and Braithwaite ture in-sync audio from your sound card. Savant Audio (800) 628-0627 concurred. Imagine our surprise to find Overall, Intel\u2019s Smart Video Re- Sound & Vision Home Entertainment (708) 403-2500 out that player number two was the corder is an excellent purchase for any- CLD-D703! The D703 also has some- one who wishes to create multimedia Sound By Singer Ltd. (212) 924-8600 what tighter bass than the 97. (Braith- presentations. The lack of onboard au- Sound Productions (317) 844-1103 waite\u2019s audio measurements indicate dio capture is a minor inconvenience, Total Media Systems (516) 424-5957 solid performance, but we haven\u2019t found given that this board does so much else Woodbridge Stereo\/Video (908) 636-7777 test results a reliable indicator of the so well. \u2014Tim Liebe For ISF training call (407) 997-9073 OCTOBER 1994 VIDEO 47","BY JONATHAN TAKIFF Being first in line to buy a red- the country. hot new product lets you relish A core DSS system by | the novelty longer than most, admits LeMoyne Martin, gen- RC\u2014Awhich consists of a eral sales manager of the Lexus small metal dish, a mount, a auto dealership in Jackson, receiver and a remote con- Mississippi. But the honor also trol\u2014sells for $699. But Mar- opens you to a measure of risk, he explains. \u2018\u201c\u2018Even with the tin, like two out of three early best new electronics, a little buyers, opted for RCA\u2019s primo something might go wrong in early production.\u201d Not that $899 system, which includes a Martin\u2019s complaining, but he should know. Martin, after all, is the first guy universal remote, a glass-rein- (or gal) in the land to step up and buy a Digital Satellite System, the first high- forced plastic dish and a dual- powered, digitally transmitted, direct- to-home satellite package to launch suc- output low-noise block con- cessfully in the U.S. This is the system you've probably been hearing about for a verter capable of serving two TVs simul- year or two, the one promising to beam laser-quality video to dishes no larger taneously with different programs. than a generous pizza pie. Martin would have opted for a second Long in the dreaming and scheming, receiver, for an extra $649, \u201cto complete it\u2019s finally here, the installation,\u201d except they weren\u2019t 13 years after available at the time. \u201cThat\u2019s just some- the Federal Communica- thing to accept when you're the guinea tions Commis- sion set the race pig,\u201d says Martin, an amused tone in his for direct broadcast satel- voice. lites (DBS) in Sales of the small-dish system began motion by dol- ing out seven li- in a small way in June in Jackson, and a censes. And nearly 50 years handful of other test cities. In August, after futurist the program- ArehwriCe Clarke envi- Cable Alternative: ming line-up sioned fixed-po- was fleshed out sition satel- RCA\u2019s Deluxe DSS with a second lites \u2014the kind system includes that hover over the equator \u2014 18-inch Dish with satellite\u2019s worth to harness pri- vate dishes to two outputs, a set-top of channels, fol- illuminate the world with programs. receiver and a univer- lowing a suc- Many pundits predict that DSS will sal remote. cessful Space revolutionize communications by creat- ing a new form of \u201cpersonalized TV,\u201d Shuttle launch with custom programs that are respon- at Cape Cana- sive to individual tastes and schedules. So it\u2019s no wonder LeMoyne Martin has veral. Now, the been inundated with calls from media types and techies, ever since he risked system is rolling his bucks to be the earliest adopter in out region by region across the country. DSS should be available in most areas by \u201c in late October and, by year\u2019s end, coast-to- coast. As it rolls Can 2 new digital out its menu of services, it will bring doz- satellite systems change America\u2019s ens of new and familiar channels, dis- viewing habits? tant sports events and movie programs within reach of virtually every citizen (enjoying southerly exposure) in the contiguous 48 states and a fair chunk of Canada. (Factions in Canada are poli- ticking to keep DSS out of the citizenry\u2019s reach, but DirecTv president Eddy Hartenstein believes a \u201csoon to be an- 48 VIDEO OCTOBER 1994 _\u2014","nounced\u201d partnership with a Canadian company will help ease in DSS; as will DirecTv\u2019s three channels of Canadian- originated news and cultural programs.) The DSS consortium consists of GM Hughes, which built the satellites; Di- recIv, an arm of GM Hughes that sup- plies the programs; Hubbard Broadcasting\u2019s United States Satellite Broadcasting, which also provides pro- grams using DSS; and Thomson Con- sumer Electronics\u2019 RCA manufacturing wing, which makes the DSS dish and re- ceiver. Together, these companies have invested more than $1 billion to launch the system and position themselves as the first mass video providers on the electronic information highway. They won\u2019t be the last. A consor- tium of cable companies called | Primestar is using. use both DSS programmers, DirecTv and USSB, he can surf almost 150 chan- Primestar Partners\u2019isracing to compete Is Martin satisfied? The earliest nels of cable\u2019s best basics, hyperactive with DSS by beefing up its existing larg- adopter raves about how his system was (\u201cmultiplexed\u201d) movie channels and pay-per-view options. With all the trim- er-dish system and launching an aggres- professionally installed \u201cin just an hour mings, programs cost Martin almost $80 a month, but subscribers can get away sive advertising campaign. And other and a half \u201c (for an additional $199) and with just $8 through USSB\u2019s Essentials package if all they want is MTV and companies are likely to emerge if the about how the 18-by-20-inch dish \u201cdis- VHI, Comedy Central, Lifetime and the All News Channel. services take off. appeared between the peaks in my roof,\u201d Recent hit flicks are on Direct Tick- DSS distributes programs digitally satisfying the esthetic concerns of his via two high-powered satellites hovering neighborhood association. (A sur- et, priced at $2.99 (\u201csame as at my video 22,300 miles above the equator. Each prisingly high 40 percent of early DSS store,\u201d says Martin), and restart every half hour. \u201cIf you get called away for a satellite has 16 120-watt Ku-band trans- buyers are choosing to install the system phone conversation, you can move to the next channel in sequence showing ponders. To maximize capacity, an ad- themselves.) the film and pick up where you left off,\u201d Martin notes. He also enjoys the \u2018very vanced digital compression system omits Martin is even happier about the friendly\u201d onscreen program guide \u201cthat lets you search through favorite chan- redundant information. This lets the program options. Since he decided to nels or program types, then get descrip- tions of programs if you want them.\u201d system beam up to eight films or four Land the cursor on the title, tap a but- live programs from a single transponder ton and you\u2019re watching. Equally hap- pening, says Martin, are the visual aids for decoding by a DSS receiver. for channel grazers. Onscreen station IDs \u201cimmediately tell you the channel, The DBS-1 satellite delivers upwards the name of the program and how much of 60 channels of DirecTv programs and time is left in the show, even if you\u2019ve tuned in during the com- 30 channels of USSB programs. The mercial.\u201d DBS-2 bird is used by DirecTv, as will be Adding to the deal for Di- recTv subscribers are a couple of a third satellite, DBS-3, scheduled for program sweeteners \u2014a no-charge bonus of 30 digital radio stations launch next year. DirecTv programs are that use the DSS system, plus a beamed to the satellites from a digital monthly \u201csocializing\u201d coupon that buys a film for just 50 cents. Negotiations are broadcast center in Castle Rock, Colo-. rado, while USSB programs emanate from a facility in Oakdale, Minnesota. LET\u2019S DISH PRIMES, ie LeMoyne Martin turned to DSS be- cause he recently moved beyond his lo- cal cable system\u2019s reach and he was dissatisfied with the wireless cable offered in his area. He had no space for a colossal C-band dish, or for the 36-by-39-inch dish Ready to Receive: Primestar's 36-inch dish and new digital receiver, for leasing not purchase. OCTOBER 1994 VIDEO 49","SMALL DISH under way to acquire out-of-town sports otrmape er epmang ing green ink. But the chiefs are confi- channels and packages like NFL Sunday \u2018hy ah ie ayed i dent. USSB President Stanley E. Ticket, an all-access pass to your favor- spertshard Hubbard II believes \u201cit\u2019s a slam dunk,\u201d ite teams. Martin says he\u2019s been told it\u2019s while DirecTv\u2019s Hartenstein argues that \u201cpremiering on C-Band this year and Seales olpop arey ilheh $1 billion \u201cis a bargain, next to the $100 neh eecag (ny tk gr billion-plus it will cost to wire the nation coming to DSS next.\u201d sev doceha met st hey with fiber-optic cable into the next cen- \u201cGenerally, the picture looks fantas- sab erg tury.\u201d tic on my 52-inch Mitsubishi rear-pro- wh am a onase The estimated 10 to 12 million jector and the sound through my stereo is as good as CD,\u201d enthuses the techno PRIMESAER\\\" homes beyond cable\u2019s reach are prime pioneer.\u201cI have noticed some picture targets for DSS, and it helps that the glitches\u2014an occasional freeze-frame on WE BRING SATELLITE TELEVISION DOWN TO EARTH. powerful National Rural Telecom- a USSB movie channel, and a jumpy picture when the cameras switch during Slugging it Out: Primestar\u2019s DSS attack ad. munications Cooperative has contrac- sports programs on a DirecTv channel. ted to find them. The NRTC, which was They've told me these things will be fund his money if he was dissatisfied. created to deliver phone services to cured soon.\u201d Soon, in this case, means \u201cAre you crazy?\u201d Martin said he replied. tural areas, has already ordered several \u201cT\u2019'm never giving this up.\u201d when the transmission system is up- hundred thousand DSS systems, with graded later this year from MPEG-1 to GOING FOR BROKE programming to be sold under its own Who's going to watch using DSS? name. NRTC reaches out to about 5 more robust MPEG-2 data compression, million potential subscribers, although says USSB executive vice president Rob Someone better, because the mind bog- most homes in NRTC areas already own Hubbard. DSS receivers are already set gles at the 2 million subscriber base DSS 7-to-10 foot C-Band dishes and sub- must reach before its investors start see- scribe to C-band program services. up for MPEG-2. They're enjoying the luxury of 300 Martin says his dealer offered to re- First Look At Small Dish TV BY BRENT BUTTERWORTH What\u2019s On? Flexible onscreen program guide for the DSS system. We've heard promises about small-dish satellite service line to it. It has two composite video\/stereo audio out- for years, only to see one after another melt into vapor- ware. That's a real drag in our office building, which has puts, an S-video output, an RF input and output (for been shunned by the cable company, and in which we can just barely receive broadcasts. So when an RCA TVs with no baseband video inputs) and two computer- DSS dish and receiver arrived in our freight elevator, we immediately ripped open the box so we could install the type data outputs that are not discussed in the manual. thing and start watching! (We'll be taking a look at Primestar's dish and receiver in next month's issuc.) The front has a slot for the Access Card (also called the RCA provides almost everything you need\u2014you sup- Smart Card), which comes with the receiver and must ply only the cable from the dish to the receiver, and bolts to secure the dish to an exterior wall, a roof, a pole be in for the receiver to work. There are also front-panel or anywhere with a clear shot at the southern sky. You'll also need a 1\/2-inch wrench, a Phillips screwdriver, a controls for power and the menu system. The $899 compass and a plumb bob. RCA put a lot of thought into the installation manual, as it spells out every step DOD2R30W receiver we tried is the deluxe model\u2014it clearly, and takes you through every installation option you can imagine. If you're the home improvement type, comes with a programmed universal remote that also you should have no trouble installing DSS. For most, the toughest part will be running the cable. controls a TV set, a cable box, a VCR and a laserdisc Pointing the dish took me about five minutes. When controls four other components: a TV set, a cable box, a you punch in your zip code (or latitude and longitude), the receiver's onscreen menu tells you the correct dish continued on page 88 elevation angle and azimuth (compass heading). Once the dish is roughly aimed, you use the receiver's onscreen signal meter to tweak it. You can gauge signal strength from a display and from a test tone, which is intermit- tent when the aim is off, steady when it\u2019s correct. The receiver plugs in like a laserdisc player, except that you have to connect the dish cable and a phone 50 VIDEO OCTOBER 1994 en","N55 And If you're considering the DSS or Primestar systems, here\u2019s Primestar a quick guide to what you'll be getting and how they're Buying And installed. The basic DSS system costs $699 and includes Installing the DSS receiver, a remote, the parabolic dish with Grounded: mounting foot, Smart Card authorization, audio\/video RCA recommends in- Stallation by a pro, and S-Video outputs, antenna\/cable input switching, a but also sells an in- channels spread among 30 satellites, and Stallation kit for do-it- wide band data port (for future HDTV reception), a mo- are unlikely DSS candidates. Yet for yourselfers. ease of use and other considerations, dem and a phone connector. The Deluxe System at $899 some C-Band homes may opt to down- size to a DSS dish, which requires no an- has an upgraded receiver with a low-speed data port, a tenna shifting to tune in its channels. second set of A\/V outputs, gold-plated jacks, and a uni- DSS backers also hope to lure many versal remote. The dish has a reinforced reflector and of the 20 million homes that can but choose not to buy cable services. \u201cFor twin low-noise block (LNB) convertors to feed signals to the first time, you'll be able to buy HBO without having to first pick up $21 to two TVs for independent operation. $23 worth of basic programming,\u201d notes Professional installation, which is recommended, Hartenstein. Better yet, the DSS edition eee about two hours and costs $150 to $200. The of HBO (which is actually sold by USSB and coveted by DirectTv) \u201cis a five- service includes grounding the dish and channel zoned version, carefully coun- ter-programmed for variety,\u201d according securing it to an exterior wall, chimney to Hartenstein. Yet it costs the same $10.95 it would normally take to buy just or roof, plus up to 100 feet of cable and one channel of HBO on cable. connections to an existing antenna or Viewers may also decide to subscribe to DSS services to complement existing cable, a TV and phone lines. Extras in- cable reception, which DSS services will encourage by providing channels not clude underground cable burial, fishing otherwise available, like CNN Interna- the wire through walls, and wall plates. tional, Canada\u2019s MuchMusic and the Self-installation is recommended only if (oft-banned) Playboy Channel. Con- ceivably, this bouncy new baby dish \u201cyou're very handy and feel comfortable service could also appeal to the masses of cable subscribers who declare them- Be ona ladder.\u201d For do-it yourselfers, selves ticked off and fed up. there's a $70 parts kit with a how-to There\u2019s one major shortcoming: DSS and all other satellite broadcast services video, an instruction manual, roof con- cannot legally deliver programs broad- cast over the off-air networ\u2014 kthast\u2019s nectors, 100 feet of cable with all- ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS and Fox\u2014to area codes where local network affiliates weather connectors, two 20-foot phone can be received through the air. The five lines, a grounding block, waterproof sea- net PrimeTime 24 package is only avail- lant, and a compass for pointing the dish able (at $3.95) in the so-called white ar- due south. The telephone outlet is needed since programmers briefly poll your receiver once a month (in the middle of the night) for pay-per-view billing informa- tion. If there\u2019s no phone jack near the receiver, RCA offers a two-module system ($99) that plugs into AC outlets, which then transmits phone calls through your home\u2019s power lines to a phone outlet. An off-air anten- na or cable wire can also be connected to the receiver. If you\u2019re installing two DSS receivers, you'll need to run separate lines from the dish to both TVs. A line splitter can be used to send signals from the local anten- na or cable TV. (All basic cable channels must now be sent in the clear, without scrambling.) If you\u2019re planning the DSS system for a whole house, you'll want to run two RG-6 cables between the dual output dish and a lo- cation that can serve as the head-end. Connect the First on the Block: LeMoyne Martin (right) in cables and off-air antenna line to a Channel Master Jackson, Mississipi buys the first DSS system. i MultiSwitch (model 62041FB or 63041FB), which can ca- ble feed up to four output signals to individual receivers. (Tap off unused switch ports with 75 ohm coaxial termi- nators.) Channel Master DiPlexers at each receiver will allow you to switch between off-air and DSS programs. The Primestar system is leased, not purchased out- tight, and comes with a package of programs starting at $30. It includes a General Instrument receiver, a dedi- cated remote, antenna\/cable input switching, composite and A\/V outputs, a phone modem and a jack connector. The receiver is upgradable to MPEG-2 digital compres- sion with a plug-in module that\u2019s due next year. Reception is via a pole-mounted, 36-by-39-inch parabolic dish. The installation takes about three hours and costs about $150. It includes connecting the dish to a pole and sinking it in concrete footing, underground cable burial, wire fishing through walls and finished wall plates. Self- installation is not recommended. \u2014JT OCTOBER 1994 VIDEO 51","OMALL DISH What's There are no program exclusives in space or on the OThneFirst- eas of rural America where network ground, thanks in part to the Cable Act of 1992 and a reception is nil. Exceptions are granted, Program consent decree signed by Primestar Partners to end an but require plenty of determination and story paperwork. antitrust investigation. Every cable channel is fair game Channeling: \u201cIf you live in an urban canyon with The Hughes satellites for grabbing and retransmitting by at least one direct | transmit programs by | zero reception, you can petition your lo- DirecTv and USSB. broadcast satellite service. While pals in public, DirecTv cal station to grant you an exception,\u201d | says DirecT v's Linda Brill. \u201cBut the vast and the National Rural Television Cooperative are both majority of American homes can receive local stations very well with a rooftop asking the Federal Communications Commission for the antenna, which can be wired into a DSS receiver for one-button switching.\u201d In right to \u201cecon-pack\u201d some of the same channels USSB urban areas where over-the-air recep- tion is ghost-ridden, DSS dealers are en- now offers exclusively. USSB argues that it has agree- couraging videophiles to supplement USSB or DirecTv program packages ments, which predate the Cable Act, to carry exclusively with basic \u201clifeline\u201d cable services that the channels in its orbital position, and that it\u2019s not in- bringin local channels for $6 to $13 a month (and that don\u2019t make cable com- terested for now in selling a joint package of programs. It panies much money.) prefers to bill customers separately for USSB services, DISH WARS thank you very much. Given these scenarios, it\u2019s no wonder the forward march of DSS has provoked Even on the DSS system, the \u201cpersonalized televi- fear and loathing among major cable op- erators like Tele-Communications Inc., sion\u201d concept has its limits. Most channels are offered as Time Warner Cable, Comcast Cable, Continental Cablevision, Cox Cable parts of larger packages\u2014 Communications and Newhouse Broad- casting. For perhaps the first time, their the a la carte choices are cash cows may feel the sting of true competition. In response, this cable primarily in pay-per-view combine (with GE American Communi- cations, which builds and launches sat- land. \u201cOur research says ellites) is also plunging into the direct- to-home video delivery business. Their people prefer it that way,\u201d calling card is Primestar Partners, which is just completing a $250 million up- explains DirecTv president grade of its 20-channel analog system. Primestar\u2019s signals are transmitted via a Eddy Hartenstein. \u201cJust as medium-powered satellite with 16 50- watt Ku-band transponders. The signals they don\u2019t want to read are receivable by parabolic dishes 36 by 39 inches in diameter, which aren\u2019t through a huge menu, nearly as suitable (or recommended) for window sills or roofs as the DSS dish. they'd prefer to just be giv- With General Instruments\u2019 DigiCi- en something good.\u201d pher digital compression technology (described by GI as better than Programmers, on the other MPEG-1), it\u2019s offered its subscribers a \u201cswap out\u201d or exchange of new digital hand, says USSB\u2019s Stanley receivers for their old analog ones. The moves are making Primestar a more for- Hubbard \u201cwant to be on midable competitor. It can now handle 70 video channels, six audio channels every dish they can.\u201d For parents who'd rather do with- and a PC-data service; and, like DSS, it out Beavis and Butthead or WWF Wrestling, the DSS boasts \u201claser quality picture and CD quality sound.\u201d parental control system lets them lock out specific chan- Primestar\u2019s program packages pale nels, and set rating limits and pay-per-view spending next to the DSS options, not to mention the nearly 200 channels DSS will offer limits. Video stores can breath a sigh of relief. They'll main- tain the same two-to six-month \u201cwindow\u201d of exclusivity over DBS\u2019 nearly-on-demand movies that they enjoy over the pay-per-view channels on cable. Primestar\u2019s pay- per-view package, in fact, is a combination of the Re- quest and Viewer's Choice cable packages. However, when widescreen HDTV broadcasts become available on DSS equipment, \u201cthere may be more incentive for stu- dios to offer simultaneous movie premieres at the \u2014JT theaters and on DBS,\u201d suggests Hartenstein. when it launches a third satellite. And it president John Cusick sees the \u201csize of has none of the Viacom offerings that are USSB plums\u2014 from MTV to Nickel- the lawn sculpture\u201d (dish to ordinary odeon, Nick At Nite and The All News folks) as a \u201cnon-issue.\u201d He also suggests Channel (which Hubbard partly owns). subscribers will be responsive to his company\u2019s way of doing business. Like On the other hand, Primestar goes 14 cable companies, Primestar leases the channels deep with regional sports sta- receiving equipment to subscribers as tions that are conspicuously absent from part of a monthly program package DirecTv\u2019s initial lineup. \u201crather than forcing people to buy some- thing which might be obsolete next While DirecTv is dedicating 40 year.\u201d The fees are $30 to $50 a month, channels to pay-per-view films, with re- with pay-per-view movies $4 or $5 each. cent hits restarting every half hour, A one-time installation fee of about Primestar has 11 pay-per-view channels. $150 is charged. But service calls and Primestar also plans another upgrade\u2014 upgrades are free, and the customer\u2019s only responsibility is to make sure no either to Tempo\u2019s high-powered bird or one walks off with the post-mounted, to new (as yet unlaunched) medium- cement-footed dish. power GE satellites, which will give it a Primestar needed all summer to up- maximum of 150 channels. But nothing\u2019s grade its 70,000 customers, which it has cooking until Primestar\u2019s current satel- been signing up in 40 test markets, in- lite burns out in late 1996. In suburbia and beyond, Primestar 52 VIDEO OCTOBER 1994","omputSince 1982 Ability VMG 10-94 800-554-9949 Consumer Electronics HR-S7100U HI-FI-Equipment & Laser Disc Players HIS MONTH\u2019S SPECIAL VHS\u2019 Cassette Decks A\/V Receivers CD Players TD-V661TN RX-515TN XL-MS509TN TD-W709TN RX-715TN XL-M415TN TD-R461TN RX-815TN XL-F211TN JVC\u2019s newest release! SPECIALS MINI SYSTEMS The Latest in Super VHS! 13\u201d-27\u201d CALL!! 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Stanley Hubbard. strategy as a \u201cdisinformation campaign\u201d At the same time, Primestar launched a glitzy TV commercial (with special ef- But the DSS camp is less apprecia- meant to discredit DSS by ignoring in- fects courtesy Industrial Light and Mag- tive of a bit of psychological warfare by novative aspects of the syst\u2014elmike it\u2019s ic) to sell the nation on its brand of DBS. It was the first salvo in what Primest\u2014airt\u2019s trashing of the competi- unique ability to receive signals from Primestar says will be a $55 million ad- tion in newspaper advertisements in several satellites without making viewers vertising campaign. Even the competi- tion likes the spot\u2019s glowing technologi- Jackson, site of the first DSS sales, and move their dishes, its user-friendly inter- cal vision and the satellite awareness it\u2019s building. \u201cThey should spend $150 mil- Indianapolis, RCA\u2019s home base; and in faces, and its applicatio\u2014na firs\u2014tof lion educating the public,\u201d enthuses the pages of USA Today, where MPEG-2 compression, which Clayton Primestar was touted as \u201cDBS without says guarantees \u201cinstant\u201d readiness for the BS.\u201d widescreen, HDTV and two-way RCA executive vice president Joe services. DirecTv\u2019s Linda Brill bristles Clayton characterizes the Primestar that Primestar \u201cis not by FCC definition a DBS service and should not be calling itself one.\u201d Counters Cusick, \u201cI\u2019m not going to play lexicon games.\u201d CABLE CONNECTION 8THE0w0-e3r23r-&2M3i2e5, USSB\u2019s Stanley Hubbard calls Primestar \u201ca distraction put forth by the cable industry to maintain its market Glen Cove, NY 11542 FAX 516-671-3092 position. If you want that service, you'll SUNPAK SUNPAK have to call the local cable company. And if you're within their area of service, they're going to try hard to MEMORY-FREE switch you to sign you up as a cable cus- NiCad Battery AP200W TRIPOD tomer, because that equipment is less with 3 stage LED os expensive to install and maintain.\u201d Unlike conventional Remote Control Auto Pan\/Tilt Head The new SLIK \u201cAt present, we have only one cus- rechargeable Mount your camcorder on Sunpak\u2019s NiCad batteries, pan head, place on tripod & get in the U8000 features a tomer who's passed by cable,\u201d acknowl- action with everyone else! Infra-red signal controls pan & tilt plus lens modern design, edges Stephanie Ouzts, operations zoom & record\/pause of Sony, JVC, the new Sunpak Hitachi & Canon camcorders. titanium finish manager for Time Warner Primestar of RB-80UL is Powered by 6v battery $4 49\\\" (not included). and ultra- RB-SOUL Memory-Free. This smooth fluid Jackson. \u201cBut if someone wants the dish, ultra-high capacity (2700 mAh) head. The U8000 that\u2019s what we\u2019ll give \u2018em. We\u2019re not sturdy 3 part battery provides up to 2.5 hours of here to argue.\u201d running time on today\u2019s most telescopic legs & gear drive, positive popular 8mm and VHS-C elevation center column extend to a Cornelius \u201cCon\u201d Maloney, senior camcorders. Plus, it\u2019s compatible maximum height of 59\u201d. The space partner of the Cowboy Maloney\u2019s Elec- with your camcorder's charger and age lightweight design yields a total will provide up to 5 times the weight of only 3.25 Ibs! Add to this tric City retail chain that sold Martin number or recharges of other so- the patented dual purpose quick the first DSS dish, thinks the Primestar called no memory batteries. release that works with both strategy of marketing through cable Comes with LIFETIME WARRANTY camcorders & 35mm 569\u00b0 cameras, & you have the s4g9\u00b0* companies \u201cis already backfiring.\u201d Why? Optional 20' remote sensor cord\u00aeL 9 best value ever for a tripod! Because people come into the store to $10 OFF RB-80UL w\/ purchase of AP-200W RB-80Uwithout LED *49\u00b0\u00b0 U8000 with SLIK custom tripod case see the new digital satellite system $ 95 they've seen advertised on TV and \u201cthe The Ultimate Editing System! Rated #1 By Our Techs! only one we have is DSS,\u201d explains Mal- oney. But Maloney\u2019s hardly complaining. \u201cDSS is the biggest development we've seen since the camcorder, except this product is taking off right away,\u201d Mal- oney adds. \u201cWe knew there was pent-up JXSV55 aS JXT88 aa) demand for an alternative to cable and Over the past ten years we have helped What makes this a great editing system? the C-Band systems. But the DSS sales thousands of people get started in video \u00a9 Color character generator-add titles and scroll credits we've seen have been double our wildest editing. One system that is easy to hook- in 8 different colors and 4 type sizes up, compatible with all formats, and dreams.\u201d \u00a2 Audio mixer- add music and\/or narration \u00a9 Special effects generator- fade and wipe to color With RCA\u2019s factory ratcheted up to praised time and time again is the JVC backgrounds between scenes churn out 5,000 DSS Systems a day, \u00a9 S-VHS\/ Hi8 Color processor- correct poor lighting ] JXSV55 & JXT88. Thomson hyper-salesman Joe Clayton situations or improper white balance JVC JXSV55 399.00 \u00a9 Video enhancement-make clearer copies says he expects to sell 400,000 to 249.00 JVC JXT88 29.95 Deluxe Cable Kit 600,000 dishes by Christmas. Sony, \u201chook-up guide & how-to manual\u201d 6.95 9.95 3M Black Watch 4410 Tape which is poised to jump into the market NC T-shirt after the first million are sold, is quietly BM BLACK WATCH picsuse eros worenento stFreer readying its own DSS components for a When 3M set out to design & manufacture 3M Black Watch Tape it created June, 1995 introduction. A third sup- more than just a tape-it created a time capsule worthy of storing your fondest memories. This video tape is so advanced that it is better than professional plier, thought to be either Toshiba or a broadcast quality. Why settle for anything less? Korean brand, is warming up in the bull- Available in all formats \u00a9 Call for info & pricing! 3M Black Watch is not the least expensive tape, ... it is the best!!! pen for an intro six months after Sony. Either way, the small dish is poised to leave a very big footprint. i 54 VIDEO OCTOBER 1994 Circle 20 on Reader Service Card.","How 10 Choose Your Channels and sporting events priced \u201ccompetitively\u201d with cable. What's playing? Plenty, and in plenty of combinations. Here\u2019s a rundown of how program packages for the three The Golf Channel direct-to-home satellite services compare: launches next year, and Newsworld International DIRECTV PROGRAMS FOR DSS (from the Canadian Broad- casting Corp.) is also The minimal Direct Ticket access service costs $5.98 per coming soon. What\u2019s missing month and maintains your pay-per-view account even if are Regional Sports Chan- you purchase no other program packages. A movie pre- nels, American Movie view channel and the Bloomberg Direct financial channel are left unlocked and, like the more lavish Di- Classics and Black Enter- recTv services, you\u2019re kicked back a $2.50 movie tainment Television. discount coupon each month. \\\" USSB PROGRAMS The Personal Choice package offers 30 channels for $21.95. All subscribers get ESPN, the Cartoon and USA FOR DSS Networks, CNN, Trio (a new family oriented drama, arts and journalism service from Canada), Headline News, Coneheads on DSS The Essentials package, for the Discovery Channel, C-Span, TNT, Superstation TBS, 7.95, includes Lifetime, the Nashville Network, Turner Classic Movies, Bloom- = berg Direct and MuchMusic (eight hours of daily Canadian pop service, repeated twice). Thrown in as a Comedy Central, Nickelodeon and Nick at Night, bonus are the Disney Channel and Music Choice (for- merly Digital Cable Radio), which consists of 30 high- MTV, VH-1 and the All-News Channel. HBO, costs quality, commercial-free, genre music stations. $10.95 and includes HBO East, HBO West, HBO 2 Personal Choice subscribers get to pick 10 more channels from a list that includes the Weather Channel, East and HBO 2 West. Multichannel Cinemax, which Newsworld International, E! Entertainment Television, is also $10.95, includes Cinemax East, Cinemax West the Sci-Fi Channel, Court TV, the Family and Travel Channels, C-Span2, CNN International, the Learning and Cinemax 2. Channel, AGE, CNBC and Country Music Television. Or subscribers can instead top off the lineup with the Showtime, priced at $10.95, includes Showtime East, Encore movie multiplex, which includes Encore, Encore Love Stories, Encore Westerns, Encore Mystery, Encore Showtime West and Showtime 2, the Movie Channel Tweens, Encore Action and Encore True Stories and Drama. East, the Movie Channel West and Flix (\u201cthe movies DirecTv Total Choice, more than 40 channels in all, delivers all the above for $29.95. Subscribers can also we grew up with,\u201d packaged by Showtime). USSB choose, a la carte, Playboy TV for $9.95 a month, PrimeTime 24 (where available) for $3.95, TV Asia for Showtime Plus, for $24.95, combines multiplexed Show- $5.95, the Physicians Television Network, and concerts time, the Movie Channel, Flix and the Essentials packages. USSB HBO Plus, for $24.95, has multichannel HBO and Cinemax channels, plus Essentials. Moving up the ladder, USSB Entertainment Plus, for $34.95, packages all the USSB programs, including Showtime Plus, HBO Plus and Essentials. Coming soon are free advertiser sup- ported channel(s) from Hubbard Broadcasting. What\u2019s missing? An \u201call-letterboxed\u201d movie channel. continued on page 88 25 YEARS EXPERIENCE! RReOceveTr CALL SONY & 920HF CALL Ci1n8o,ioHEI-ONA reteo -TTOHF IN STOCK SJVAGM69V0R0 S . CALL 529.99 BAAMMMoSse7:...... 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Please call(908)780-6600 for WosaGargened cansWeSipUST eteEdreskn MalAC leone popes errs.","OUT OF OOFBY BRENT BUTTERWORTH AND KENNETH KORMAN t was the end of an institution\u2014the ics and motion ever seen on a 16-bit tendo\u2019s forthcoming 64-bit system, pre- last Summer Consumer Electronics system. The company also unveiled Sup- viously known only under its code name, Show. But SCES ended with a bang, er Game Boy, an adapter that runs Project Reality. The high-powered, car- not a whimper, because it served as Game Boy cartridges on a Super NES tridge-based Ultra 64 system will arrive the coming-out party for the hottest here next fall. console and displays them in full color new category in consumer electronics: Philips showed the two low-priced, multimedia. ona TV screen. And finally announced top-loading CD-i players we previewed was Ultra 64, the official name for Nin- Of course, multimedia has been around for years, but it\u2019s only now aS F Riga) emerging as a mainstream consumer business. CD-based multimedia ma- chines like CD-i and 3DO, while they're not exactly leaping off store shelves, at least hint at what uses we might find for multimedia. And in the computer field, it\u2019s going gangbustermso\u2014re than six million CD-ROM players will be in- stalled in homes and offices by the end of the year. Next year's show will be called CES Interactive, and will take place in the spring in Philadelphia. But with few major video manufacturers present, multimedia and video games com- pletely stole the show this summer at Chicago\u2019s McCormick Place conven- tion center. That's not to say there was nothing for video and audio buffs\u2014the high-end exhibit in the Chicago Hilton continued to delight showgoers with the latest in music and movie sound systems, and a few impressive video demonstrations gave us a peek at the future. MULTIMEDIA The Last Round-Up: From one end of McCormick Place Although this CES was the last in Chicago, there was no short- to the other and all around the Windy City, flashing monitors and outrageous age of interesting hardware and sound effects heralded the start of a new era in multimedia entertainment. Sega software. Clockwise from upper left, the videogame\/multimedia erected a huge display at a local hotel intended to showcase its new $150 32X section, Meridian'\u2019s new home hardware upgrade for the Sega Genesis. A preview of the Virtua Racing Deluxe theater electronics, a Zenith TV 32X cartridge wowed crowds of industry showing the StarSight program insiders\u2014the graphics looked every bit guide, and screens from Crystal Dynamics\u2019 Gex and Nintendo's as good as those of the competing 3DO system. The complete Sega Saturn 32- bit system will debut next year. Nintendo devoted much of its floor- space to previewing this fall\u2019s Donkey Kong Country, a Super NES title made with the latest software-design technol- ogy. It delivers the most realistic graph- 56 VIDEO OCTOBER 1994 icy: (i","Multimedia and videogames dominate the floor as the Consumer Electronics Show departs Chicago\u2019s famous Loop. in last month\u2019s \u2018\u2018Multimedia Play- CD-i-compatible. A wide range of new PC and Macintosh CD-ROMs. CD-i software titles was previewed, in- The 3DO game system had a some- ground,\u201d and announced plans for CD-i cluding the arcade-style fighting game hardware to arrive in \u201995: a TV\/CD-i what diminished presence at CES, combination unit, a seven-disc CD-i Mutant Rampage and a children\u2019s disc, though working prototypes of 3DO play- changer, complete A\/V rack systems in- Flintstones\/Jetsons Time Warp. Philips also ers from GoldStar and Sanyo buoyed the corporating CD-i players, and computer confirmed that many ofits most popular fledgling format. Third-party software boards to make PCs and Macintoshes CD-i titles would soon be available as developers crowded the 3DO booth to OCTOBER 1994 VIDEO 57","show off their new titles. Among the oe | best were two discs from Crystal Dy- eee aloes \/ . namics: Gex, a role-playing adventure . one |. a game starring a rambunctious gecko, \u2018 : | and Off-World Interceptor, a 4x4 simula- tor that was highly addictive even in an | early, unfinished version. Universal In- teractive Studios previewed the un- | Hot Stuff From The Hilton: The high-end exhibit at the Chicago Hilton displayed Marantz\u2019s new VCR abashedly gory Way of the Warrior, and | (above) and a home theater system from Vidikron, Martin-Logan and EAD (below). IntelliPlay and ESPN showed new Let's ; Play Baseball and Let's Play Tennis in- structional discs, hosted by Ozzie Smith and Tracy Austin, respectively. Atari used CES as the official launch of its Jaguar cartridge-based videogame system, which has been marketed on a limited basis since Christmas. The sys- tem is the only one currently available with 64-bit graphics; Atari hopes to cap- italize on its head start by offering graph- ics superior to those on Sega and Super NES, but at a comparable (or lower) price. The company says 130 game de- velopers are working on Jaguar titles, and that between 30 and 50 games will be out by Christmas, including Doom, a popular PC game. A Jaguar-compatible CD drive will land on shelves in Octo- cbehri,ps atnod Sigma Designs will be adding Each year, just before or just after the Consumer Electron- some of its ReelMagic boards, so ics Show in Chicago, engineers exchange ideas at the that computers with CD-ROM drives International Conference on Consumer Electronics. Typ- ically, few products are shown in their finished form. This and ReelMagic boards can play Jaguar year there was one major except\u2014iPhoilnips demonstrated CD games. beeen The show was packed with CD- a ghost canceller soon to be marketed under the Magnavox brand. It uses the same Philips system recently endorsed by bRuOtMmosdteveslhoapreerds aonf ailnltesrheasptesinanbdridsgiizensg, Ghosts gPhroostto-tcyyap0eneceMllaegerndavox the Federal Communications Commission. Some TV sta- hieieneePag cece! So: re: ttihoenscaanlcreelaldi\u2019yngbrporaodccesass.t the pilot tone used as a reference in aaa a Ten ese a on CD- The system works by measuring the strength of pre- and aie te W de nt aSth rs alia post-echoes (ghosts) of the pilot tone, and adding reversed rfker heh ied ee et oe echoes of the whole signal at the right time and intensity to cancel the echoes. There are also stand-alone boxes in Pe al nd q ap mae ery a a f . the $4,000 range that are used by some cable companies to xe heth : ie sagTake 7 te oF clean up signals before they are put on the cable system. ab a frroe et d HWIl:Soho: EvBeunttuawlilntyah,in ghost cancellers will be built right into TV sets. pvatunenikdetPTiOLhnrgisOllReaSrb, DBewnrhneiiecshnH0obdoeaesktnnesr aaddiagaeieCtrieirazceteds a year the Magnavox set-top ghost can- JonesPistlsoad with theirpait n voices. ; Stev- ; |rand, ~will ebeaavnailableMetomehelepatZhepmoilr- Sipe bed 4 ponies ee. Sica lions of sets already in use. The box will yeren eee& Ri Bsoe festa 1 eer eas eieth oe ae FA ; use many integrated circuits, including a dina ee ra willTape ml es Mitsubishi ghost canceller IC and Zoran a eee:ee Pa eo eP ct 8 ghost canceller filter and controller ICs. The box will be available early next _ year and will probably cost about $200. Shelley's Frankenstein (directed by Ken- = ele serene 58 VIDEO OCTOBER 1994","neth Branagh) \u2014on the same day the graphic interfaces that mimic the look tweeter similar to that used in NHT\u2019s wonderful SuperZeros. Unfortunately, movie opens in November. and feel of the devices they replace. we couldn\u2019t hear them on the noisy show floor. Probably the most telling presence at Samsung, the only other major video CES was the Walt Disney Company. In VIDEO manufacturer at McCormick, showed its most distinctive camcorders to date. a series of elaborate press parties and Thomson Consumer Electronics The SCX854 is a slim 8mm point-and- shoot with four auto exposure modes conferences, the company announced | dominated the main floor of McCormick and an 8x zoom. The SCX904 is a shoe- style 8mm similar to Sony\u2019s FX-series | plans for games based on The Lion King, with a booth showing RCA, GE and camcorders, with auto exposure modes, a 12x zoom and a character titler. | The Jungle Book and Mickey Mouse. The ProScan products, and highlighting DSS In the Chicago Hilton, Marantz sur- beaming presence of Roy Disney himself | small-dish satellite hardware (see prised the industry with three new video products: the MV-610 VHS hi-fi VCR, on the show floor left little doubt: Holly- | \u201cDawn of the Small Dish,\u201d this issue). the LV-510 combi player (based on the Pioneer CLD-D503 chassis) and the wood has indeed gone interactive. Besides DSS, the company\u2019s most excit- LCD-410 pocket-size LCD TV. The VCR and combi player are intended for From a picture-quality standpoint, ing products were its first reduced-cur- those who own Marantz audio gear and want a complete Marantz A\/V system. Sigma Designs\u2019 ReelMagic PC video vature direct-view ITVs\u2014three 27-inch Proton was also in the Chicago boards kicked the butts of most of the ProScans. The tubes use: dark faceplates Hilton, showing the final version of its other multimedia devices. The boards for better contrast, and INVAR shadow long-awaited DT-3660, a 16:9, 34-inch direct-view set. The set crops images to let you play CD-ROMs that use MPEG masks to reduce discoloration at high both 16:9 and 17:9 (for wider aspect ra- video compression. Sigma Designs says brightness settings. There\u2019s also a new tios), and offers the usual stretch mode for anamorphic material. Both cropping 50 titles are available to play on Reel- | slim-profile ProScan rear-projection set, modes offer adjustable centering. The Magic, and many more are on the way. | the PS52650. continued on page 85 The basic ReelMagic Lite board lists for The Thomson booth also held two $349; a ReelMagic with an integral 16- surprises. First was an RCA clone of bit sound processor costs $449. JVC's SystemMax LCD monitor cam- Hewlett-Packard demoed a fascinat- corder (see last month\u2019s \u201cNew Prod- ing new multimedia computer that\u2019s an ucts\u201d). Second, RCA showed a stylish almost-all-in-one home electronics sys- new home entertainment system: an tem. In addition to running the usual equipment rack packed with RCA audio Windows applications, the computer in- and video electronics, an RCA TV, and corporates a fax\/modem, a digital tele- RCA speakers and subwoofer. RCA isn\u2019t phone answering machine, an FM radio, the first name we think of in speakers, a TV tuner\/NTSC input board and a but these hold promi\u2014stehey use high- CD-ROM drive. All are driven by || quality drivers, including a Tonegin Difelir-|M'Alel=fom \u2014telidiate ro)alm(ol0) at od Ounce) mel 4 ae IFFST MOVIE MACHINE PRO $5h24.\u00b00\u00b0 Editing with Movie Machine Pro on your 386 DX or better is easy and affordable. Choose your video sources, mix or cut, and add real-time digital effects such as fades, zooms, tumbles, color reversals, mosaic, stroboscope, luma & chroma keying, etc. Use your existing Windows applications to add graphics and titles. Mix in original stereo sound, Record live TV broadcasts with the TV tuner and framegrabber. Finally, output your high-quality video to tape and your movie or presentation is complete. INFRST M-JPEG OPTION Movie Machine Pro $380.\u00b0\u00b0 No generation losses! Edit nonlinear from your hard disk! Access any frame instantly! The M-JPEG option compresses live video to hard disk and plays it back. M-JPEG Board M-JPEG OPTION with Adobe Premiere Digital effects at your fingertips, ultrafast editing in a total digital environment. Adobe Premiere is the ultimate professional editing software. Movie Machine Pro & M-JPEG Option with Adobe Premiere 30 DAY MONEY BACK GUARANTEE \u00ab CALL NOW TO ORDER! SELECT, 1 800 322-1261 SAME DAY SHIPPING SS M-F before 6:00 CT P.O. Box 6512 * Champaign, IL * 61826-6512 See Select Solutions Full Page Ad This Issue for More Products and for Payment & Shipping Policies OCTOBER 1994 VIDEO 59 Circle 22 on Reader Service Card.","Pixel Perfect; The no-frills PXL-2000 shoots in black-and- white on audio tape., How an offbeat, are always in focus \u2014all for under $200. Fisher-Price manufactured the camcord- snapshot-simple Ridiculous? This camcorder not only ex- er and sold it through Toys \u2018R\u2019 Us outlets camcorder is ists, but has been embraced by a group starting in 1987. The bad news is Fisher- winning the hearts of low-budget videomakers who have re- Price discontinued the PXL-2000 in of video artists 1989. I got mine for $75 in 1992, when ceived international recognition. Fisher-Price was still selling leftover in- BY STEWART APPLEGATH There\u2019s even a video festival devoted to ventory, but even that trickle has their work, and this October, for the first \u201cFilm will only become art when the time, videos shot with this unusual cam- stopped. Most camcorders pass quickly into materials are as inexpensive as pencil and corder will be displayed as a part of an paper.\u201d \u2014Jean Cocteau annual video festival at New York\u2019s Lin- obscurity as new technology is intro- coln Center. However, the most as- duced. By contrast, the PXL-2000\u2019s rep- Imagine a camcorder that can shoot tounding thing about the camcorder utation has improved with the passage beautiful images, that has no compli- isn\u2019t the price or its unusual status, but of time. When audiences see the images cated controls, that produces shots that the way it records images. The camcord- created in what the camcorder's fans call er shoots black-and-white video on 90- \u201cpixelvision,\u201d they\u2019re both fascinated and dismayed to learn that the cam- minute audio cassettes. corder that makes it possible is no longer If you\u2019re wondering why you haven't available. heard of it before, it may be because you What\u2019s arresting about the don\u2019t visit toy stores regular\u2014ltyhe PXL-2000 was designed for children. PXL-2000 is the images it creates. The : ICG&NEOAVNLMEEECNMOTAORNRD 60 VIDEO OCTOBER 1994","black-and-white image is 2S Against The Grain: composed of a small fraction := Scenes from Sadie of the pixels seen on an av- Benning's It Wasn't erage Hi8 recording. The Cocteau\u2019s prophecy within reach. Love (top) and Jollies result is an image that\u2019s display the camcorder's \u201cpixelated\u201d \u2014 decidedly HOW IT WORKS grainier than usual \u2014and The PXL-2000 is an exercise in so- pixelated image and unlike any home video phisticated simplicity. Created with kids black border. you\u2019ve ever seen. Moreover, in mind, its technology the live image area is framed and performance are a simple playback mecha- by a dark gray mat. The quite advanced, al- , nism and can be hooked up unique qualities of this im- though offered in a toa VCR or a TV. age and the camcorder\u2019s low-tech, simple-to- simple setup demand a dif- use package. It fea- I find it makes sense to ferent approach to video- tures a fixed focus copy all or parts of audio making. Most people lens, automatic ex- tapes made with the cam- shooting with it accept posure adjustment corder to Hi8, and to reuse these qualities as jumping-off and a built-in micro- the audio cassettes. With a points rather than limita- phone with an minimum of bother, it\u2019s also auto-record level. possible to shoot directly tions. It records video onto VHS tapes in your While one might dismiss on chromium-di- VCR. Pixel artist Michael oxide audio tape, O'Reilly, who also teaches the PXL-2000\u2019s images as although a 90-min- at Temple University in crude, they can also be un- ute tape lasts only Philadelphia, told me how derstood as simple and di- 11 minutes when he attached the guts of a rect impressions, less recording video. It has PXL-2000 to his Hi8 cam- mediated by the imperatives corder and now records di- of technology. Having used rectly to Hi8, avoiding the PXL-2000 in my own generation loss and the digi- tal artifacts that sometimes video work, I\u2019ve found that appear on the video images recorded on audio tape. its images express a more Though such setups start to raw and personal voice, es- take the PXL-2000 out of pecially when compared Pure-and-Simple territory, with conventional 8mm or VHS footage. You almost i they are immediately sense the PXL-2000 can be among used more freely, allowing you to con- the centrate on what's going on in front of, rather than on, the camcorder. To some , extent, it lightens the burden of creating The Perfect Recording. As a result, it Mr. PXL: can lead one in unanticipated direc- tions, making the videomaking process PXL-2000 inventor | more engaging and challenging. James Wickstead with}}} As the big electronics companies move toward simpler point-and-shoot prototype for a new setups, it\u2019s easy to forget that the PXL-2000 was there some time ago. You model. could have purchased one from Fisher- Price for between $159 and $189, and it\u2019s as easy to use as a Close\u2019n Play phono- graph. When PXL-2000 owners encoun- tered problems, more often than not, Fisher-Price sent out replacement units rather than bother with repairs. There are no complicated controls, no menus to choose from and no shooting rules to worry about. If only for a brief while, this affordable \u201cpeople\u2019s camera\u201d brought","TOYSHART creative shooting options devised by ad- recording using a fixed head instead of matic exposure adjustment combined venturous pixellators. the rotating head found in regular cam- with a neutral-density filter, activated by corders. A fixed head is less complicated a simple manual twist, allows the A CCD technology modification al- and less expensive to make. The auto- PXL-2000 camcorder to shoot in almost lows low-cost picture processing and any circumstance, though it loses quality in low light. Pixel Although the PXL-2000 was aimed at young children, it Artists was an adolescent who brought the camcorder to a wider Aside from its beautiful pixelated Make images, the fixed-focus lens is the cam- Their public. When she was just 15, Sadie Benning\u2019s filmmaker corder\u2019s dominant feature. No zoom or Mark father gave her one for Christmas. She used it to earn a focus to worry about. Some might con- place, at 19, as the youngest artist ever included in the sider these shortcomings, but I see them Wired: prestigous Whitney Biennial exhibition at New York's Close-up from as strengths. However, the viewfinder is Michael O'Reilly's Whitney Museum of American Art, and to explore her award-winning emerging lesbian identity. In addition, her PXL-2000 tapes very basic. It doesn\u2019t display what the Glass Jaw. Jollies and A Place Called Lovely were part of a retrospec- lens sees and it distorts the area you're looking at. As a result, it wasn\u2019t long be- tive of her work at New York\u2019s Museum of Modern Art. fore I found myself using the lens as an Most of Benning\u2019s tapes are set in her suburban Mil- extension of my arm, and not looking through the viewfinder at all. In this waukee bedroom, where she engages the viewer with way, I can move in close and explore in ways I wouldn\u2019t consider with most tra- direct and confessional expressions of teen-aged angst. ditional camcorders, with their search- ing focus mechanisms. A quarter-inch Treating the camcorder as a captive audience, Benning away is not too near and the close-ups are spectacular. presents herself, according to film critic J. Hoberman in Premiere, \u201cas a fragmented being of eyes and lips, deve- RISE AND FALL I spoke with PXL-2000 inventor loping a persona at once tough and vulnerable, provoca- eesCeseeseseesecseeesseseseese James Wickstead, founder of Wickstead tive and mischie- Design Associates in Cedar Knolls, New Jersey, to find out why the camcorder vous.\u201d was discontinued and whether rumors concerning its resurrectio\u2014nin black- Michael O\u2019Re- and-white and color versio\u2014nasre true. illy, another PXL- I had half-believed its demise was part of a conspiracy to keep this great low-cost visionary, has re- competitor out of the picture. It turns out the decision to discontinue it was ceived recognition more about corporate judgments and the rising value of the yen. for Glass Jaw, a Back in the \u201980s, when Wickstead video in which he got together with Fisher-Price and ap- proached Sony with the idea for a pixel- recounts the histo- style camcorder, Sony, according to Wickstead, said it couldn\u2019t be done. But ty of a bike injury the PXL-2000 sold well once it was compounded by a priced and marketed properly. Fisher- Price, however, says it never sold well to mugging and brain the people it was designed to appeal to, and that the price had to be lowered to surgery. Glass Jaw $99 to move the camcorders off the shelves. Wickstead believes that Fisher- won the Grand Price\u2019s support of the PXL-2000 was Prize in Sony\u2019s alf-hearted, and that a promised na- tional marketing campaign failed to ma- 1993 Visions of the terialize. U.S. video compe- The PXL-2000 was manufactured by Sanyo in Japan at a time when the yen tition, as well as continued on page 90 several other festi- val awards. O'Reilly's densely layered images and disturbing, haunting narrative are unforgettable. O'Reilly says he is \u201ccontinually amazed by what this little camera can do.\u201d He recently premiered a new video, Orion Climbs, using computer-processed PXL footage. \u201cIt\u2019s an immense disappointment when my students find out the camera is no longer readily available.\u201d \u2014SA e Benning\u2019s and O\u2019Reilly\u2019s tapes are available from the Video Data Bank in Chicago; phone, 312-345-3550. The New York Video Festival runs from Sept. 30\u2014Oct. 8 at the Walter Reade Theater at Lincoln Center; 212-875-5600 for more info. For more about the PXL THIS festival, send an SASE to Gerry Fialka, 2427-1\/2 CHeeeseeCsseGelrysnedsoeneesAevsee.e,e Venice CA 90291; phone, 310-306-7330. 62 VIDEO OCTOBER 1994","PITH CONFIDENCE BECAUSE YOU HAVE A FRIEND IN THE FAMILY AT FAMILY PHOTO & VIDEO, 23befePHOTOG. y Photo & Vide P>SO\u2018QPSsYo?rSatys) \u00a9) OTL! 1-718-998-6650 1-800-309-7468CUSTOMER SERVICE LINE 1-800-405-7468 : . f ea ar.LOCAL NY LINE. BUSINESS HOURS: MON-TH9U:3R0ASM -8:30PM, FRI 9:30-7:00PM, SUN10AM-7PM, CLOSED SATURDAY 1-718-645-1298 iS\u201cDigi jalEffects Laser Disc Player ne Logic w\/DPS *Dolb ProLogicDs *18CD i! Dual Auto Reverse Two Sided Play #130 Watts Per Channel #125 Watts Per Channel Random Play #CD Deck Synchro CLD-D502 LASER DISC...439.99 VSX-402 RECEIVER. CLD-M401 LASER DISC ..429.99 CLD-V740 LASER KARAOKE...499.99 VSX-D602S RECEIVER......409.99 VSX-502 RECEIVER. PD-TM2 CD.. PD-M552 CD. CLD-M301 LASER DISC ...359.99 VSX-5125 RECEIVER ......314.99 VSX-452 RECEIVER PD-DM902 C PD-M502 CD. 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Merchandise Returntable within 7 days for reufnd orexchange. All retumes must bein original mint condition with factory box packaging {all paperwork Refunds given less 5% Restocking Fee and lss Shipping & Handling Charges. rics are good for phone and mailorder only. Products offered cary Intemational Warranty unless tated otherwise. USA Products vary incos. Cal tol ree. N ot Responsible for typographical errors, PRICES VALID UNTIL END OF MONTHLY ISSUE, DCA# 0898874","WIRE STRABY COREY GREENBERG Do quality video and audio cables really make a difference? e\u2019ve all heard the ol\u2019 chestnut, Braided Glory: Kimber Kable\u2019s braided speaker ca- these molded-plastic cables cost the \u201cA chain is only as strong as its bles are popular with audiophiles. Its braided manufacturer less than a quarter to add weakest link,\u201d but what\u2019s an ol\u2019 in. If you hook your home theater rig up interconnect cables are also popular, but they\u2019re im- with these throwaway cables, you will chestnut doing spouting off about chains practical in areas with heavy RF interference. hear sound and you will see a picture\u2014 but there\u2019s a big difference between and links? Plenty! Fact is, the ol\u2019 chest- video gear you buy, you need to chuck something that works and something nut knows a thing or two about home those cheap generic cables that came in that works well. A coat hanger works as theater, and he knows that you can rope the box and get your system some high- together the best audio\/video compo- quality wire. a car radio antenna, but you'll pull in nents on the market and still not get all more stations and get better sound qual- the performance they\u2019re capable of un- \u201cWhat's wrong with the cables that ity if you use a properly designed anten- less you link them with cables of compa- na. That\u2019s the difference between the table quality. You wouldn\u2019t put Wal- came with my receiver, smart boy?\u201d throwaway cables that came with your Mart tires on a Ferrari, would you? How Good question! There\u2019s nothing par- gear and high-quality audio\/video ca- \u2018bout generic mustard on a Nathan\u2019s hot dog? If you\u2019re serious about the audio\/ ticularly \u201cwrong\u201d with the 25-cent ca- bles. These things aren\u2019t an accessory\u2014 bles that are packed in with most VCRs, AN teceivers, laserdisc players and the like. And yes, you read that correctly\u2014 64 VIDEO OCTOBER 1994","Sure Thing: High-quality video cables like these from Monster Cable come with sturdy, dependable connectors. they\u2019re a neccessory. the Magic Position which temporarily quality cable comes with sturdy, long-life While I definitely advocate the use cured the video noise, at least until his connectors which are expertly hand-sol- butt touched back down on the La- dered to the cable itself, ensuring a posi- of high-quality video cables, it\u2019s been my Z-Boy again and Round 2 of \u201cMy Dad tive and long-lasting connection. These experience that audio cables show larger Vs. Cheap Video Cables: The Disturbia cables also feature thick protective jack- and more obvious differences. Cables do in Suburbia\u201d was underway. ets that resist the kinds of nicks and cuts sound different from one another. While that can sever the thin plastic sleeves of this may seem a radical notion, it really Why does cheap video cable do this? cheap throwaway cables. It\u2019s this level of isn\u2019t when you consider that all. cables Because the cable connectors are poorly reliability and durablity that makes measure differently in terms of their high-quality cable a necessary tool of au- electrical properties. manufactured and flimsy, so they don\u2019t dio and video professionals. make very clean or tight connections. And just as speakers and amplifiers Cheap video cables also have poor elec- Good cables employ better raw ma- that measure differently sound different terials, too\u2014instead of low-grade con- from one another, so do cables. But be- trical shielding, which lets in noise and ductors and cheap PVC insulation, you ware: Mediocre audio and video gear interference that cause the kinds of get high-conductivity copper and silver will not be turned into graceful hi-def problems that cause fathers to jump out conductors for better signal integrity, swans merely by throwing some good ca- of La-Z-Boys and curse like sailors. and high-tech plastic insulation mate- ble at it any more than a satin G-string rials like Teflon and polyethylene that and a splash of Hai Karate turns me into These kinds of problems affect cheap keep the cable\u2019s electrical integrity sta- one of them Chippendale\u2019s dancers. But throwaway audio cables too, the result ble while resisting damage from outside if you\u2019ve got good equipment and you being all kinds of buzzes and hums that abuse. make the switch from cheap cables, the persist no matter what you do. A lot of improvements can be shocking. my friends ask me to take a look at their REVENGE OF THE CABLE NERD faulty hi-fi syste\u2014m\u201csMy left channel\u2019s kay, here\u2019s the obligatory techno- In a good system, high-quality audio dead!\u201d \u201cAll\u2019s I\u2019m getting is a buzzing weenie section where I explain cable will give the sound more clarity sound out of the speakers!\u201d\u2014and nine some of the electrical properties times out of 10 the only thing wrong in and definition, with less of the gritty, the system is a cheap cable that finally of cables and why they\u2019re important. If muffled character common to cheap went belly-up from repeated plug-in\/ you get queasy at the thought of post- throwaway cables. Until you get a plug-out action or from being stepped on collegiate education and want to skip chance to hear a truly high-end audio once too often. (The 10th time is usually system, you might assume that all repro- this part of the article, | understand, but duced sound has a canned, metallic a displeased god, which calls for sacrific- don\u2019t blame me when some Nordic- character. High-quality audio cables can ing a goat and painting the rumpus room looking babe in a bar comes up to you walls with its blood.) and asks with a heavy accent how much virtually banish this coarseness, replac- ing it with a far more lifelike and natural The solution, of course, is to replace sound quality. Using high-quality speak- the poor stuff with the good stuff. High- er cables will result in cleaner highs, more lifelike voices and musical tex- Cable Code: Monster's THX cables are color-coded for all six channels of a home theater sound system. tures, and far more powerful and defined OCTOBER 1994 VIDEO 65 bass. High-quality video cables give a clearer and more detailed picture. Even aside from audible and visual improvements, high-quality cables also help prevent the kinds of intermittent problems that can drive a good man to drink. Ever see video noise on your TV that only goes away when you fiddle with the video cables? My dad\u2019s system acquired this problem and it drove him nuts when the picture would go south in the middle of a Cowboys game \u2014he\u2019d spring out of his La-Z-Boy like a crazed mongoose, cursing a blue streak and moving the nest 0\u2019 video cables behind the TV back and forth until he\u2019d find","WIRE STRAITS capacitance Kimber cable ha\u2014ysou're Quest For Perfection: Audioquest\u2019s Type 4 speaker mend them all for their performance on your own, flyboy. cable is ideal for budget-conscious audio\/videophiles. and value. All cables have three basic electrical inductance will sound noticeably duller e Video. By far the best standard in the highs, while a cable with high ca- video cable I\u2019ve tried is Canare\u2019s 75-ohm properties: resistance, capacitance and pacitance will present a tougher load video cable, available mail-order from inductance. It\u2019s the unique balance of than the audio outputs on most laserdisc HAVE Inc. (508-828-2000) or at your these three properties that largely deter- players, VCRs and surround processors local pro audio\/video dealer. The Ca- mines how a cable will perform in a giv- can drive without distortion. Rest assur- nare is a super-flexible, ultra-precision ed, Dear Reader, that all of the recom- video and digital data cable, made from en system. Other factors, like conductor mended cables in this article have low premium materials and terminated by material and purity, and the quality of capacitance, resistance and inductance HAVE with Canare\u2019s own gold-plated the wire\u2019s insulation (also known as the for the best possible audio and video per- 75-ohm RCA plugs for low reflected sig- formance in a home theater system. nal distortion, or VSWR. \u201cdielectric\u201d), can also contribute to a cable\u2019s performance to greater or lesser CURMUDGEON ALERT VSWR stands for Voltage Standing degrees. f you haven\u2019t been following the Wave Ratio, which refers to the effect Cable Wars in the mainstream hi-fi that occurs when impedance mis- Resistance is the tendency of wire to mags these past few years, I should lose a portion of the electrical signal, Hot Wires: turning it into heat \u2014if the wire has too tell you that there are some \u201cexperts,\u201d Monster's THX much resistance and the signal is large mainly of the old and crusty persuasion, speaker cables enough, the wire actually heats up, who rail against the notion of audible which is the principle behind the heat- and visual differences between cables. matches between video gear and the ca- ing elements in toasters and hair dryers. Basically, these people are anti-quality, ble that conects them cause a portion of This heat represents loss, however, and and frugal to the point of turning their the signal to reflect backwards against in an audio\/video cable, we don\u2019t want Jockeys inside out to get in another day\u2019s the direction of the signal flow, creating any of the signal to be converted to heat. use. They'll call you a money-wasting multiple reflections that can degrade the So very low resistance is a desirable fool for buying Cutty Sark instead of OI\u2019 transmission. thing when we\u2019re talking about audio\/ Rotgut, for buying a Mercedes instead of video cables, especially speaker cables, a Hyundai, or for buying Ben & Jerry\u2019s Best of all\u2019s the price: a one-meter which have to deal with much higher ice cream instead of the cheapest gener- cable is only $40, and longer cables are signal levels than line-level audio inter- ic in your grocer\u2019s freezer. only slightly more expensive. The same connects and video cables. High resis- cable and connectors are also available tance in a speaker cable equals less They don\u2019t want you to have any fun from Michael Percy, a mail-order audio\/ amplifier power delivered to the speak- because they don\u2019t have any fun. Follow video parts dealer (415-669-7181). He ers, so it\u2019s always a good idea to use the their lead, and you'll find yourself sitting charges 75 cents a foot for the cable, $12 thickest speaker cable with the lowest in a trailer park surrounded by your fel- each for installed connectors. resistance you can can get away with low \u201cI-know-better\u201d curmudgeons, without your spouse yawling about \u201call drunk on Ol\u2019 Rotgut with generic ice I have not seen better picture quality these @#&$% garden hoses running all cream running down the front of your over my living room!\u201d days-old undershirt, watching a cheap 13-inch TV with a coat-hanger antenna From the standpoint of cables, in- and wondering whatever happened to ductance can be defined as resistance to that fine woman who left you for your current flow, while capacitance is the best friend \u2014the one who installed high- ability to store energy. The best-sound- quality cables in his home theater. ing cables are designed to minimize these effects as much as possible. All RECOMMENDED CABLES things being equal, a cable with high s an ex-broadcast engineer, I\u2019ve Perfect For evaluated more cable than any sane man should. I've used all of Processors: the cables listed below, and recom- Monster\u2019s THX interconnects 66 VIDEO OCTOBER 1994","Plugs A\u2019Plenty: A selection of Audioquest interconnects, including Turquoise at far left. THE CABLE CONTROV-EARSESCOYND OPINION BY BRENT BUTTERWORTH Because high-quality video cables are a fairly new type of product, the Video Magazine staff had never really experimented with cables. To settle the cable issue once and for all in our minds, technical editor Lancelot Braithwaite and when using S-video cables than when I compared several video and audio cables, from the generic types that come with VCRs to exotic high-end designs. using good quality 75-ohm cable like the Canare. Video Magazine senior editor We connected the video cables between a Pioneer LD-S2 laserdisc player Brent Butterworth sez that\u2019s because the Y\/C separator in my Pioneer Pro-76 TV and a Toshiba 32-inch TV. Instead of using multiple inputs on the TV, we is good enough that using an S-video ca- ble won\u2019t offer improvement over 75- swapped the cables, using the same input. (Experimentation showed us that ohm cable. You have to try both types in the difference between two inputs on a TV can be greater than the difference your own system to see which works bet- ter. To test for this, scrounge up a tape between cables.) Both of us were aware of the cables\u2019 identities. ot laserdisc with color bars, and see which cable produces the least dot In S-video, we compared Audioquest\u2019s Video SZ ($130 for two meters), crawl\u2014it appears most noticeably be- XLO\u2019s $70 ER-IS and a generic cable. The differences were subt\u2014lbareely tween the green and purple bars. noticeable changes in color intensity, brightness, noise and detail. Our prefer- If you do want to go with S-video ca- ences varied from disc to disc but, overall, we slightly preferred the Audioquest cable. It also has the sturdiest S-video connectors we've seen bles, I suggest you get something that\u2019s built to last \u2014Straightwire\u2019s Video-S (we\u2019ve been using the cable extensively for a year without problems). ($19, $25 and $39 for lengths of 6, 10 and 25 feet) is a solid recommendation If you\u2019re an editing enthusiast who disconnects and reconnects often, if and light-years ahead of what came with your laserdisc player. you need a long run of S-video cable (usually a bad idea, anyway) or if you\u2019re a truly hard-core videophile, the Audioquest makes sense. Otherwise, we'll e Audio Interconnect. My picks for stick with the generic stuff. high-quality home theater cables in- clude Straightwire\u2019s Harmony and Musi- For composite cables, we tried XLO\u2019s $42 ER-2, Canare\u2019s LV-61S (about cable interconnects at $19.95\/meter\/pair 75 cents a foot, which I terminated with generic, $2\/pair all-metal RCA and $29\/meter\/pair, respectively, and plugs) and two generic cables. Again, the differences were slight, and varied Audioquest\u2019s Turquoise interconnect at with the program material. There was no clear winner; perhaps we very $30\/meter\/pair and $60\/six-meter\/pair. slightly preferred the Canare. However, we measured a big difference. The All of these interconnects are high-end, needle on Lance\u2019s Shiba-Soku noise meter was unstable with the generic ca- audiophile-grade cables, and any one of bles, indicating poor shielding, which admits radio-frequency interference them will be a huge step up from cheap throwaway wire. (RFI). We think it makes sense to spend $30 or $40 on a good composite ca- ble\u2014you get better RFI rejection, and sturdier plugs and cable to boot. Monster Cable has recently intro- duced the first high-grade cables to be To evaluate audio cables, we used a high-end system with B&W\u2019s $3,300 certified for Home THX systems. The 803 speakers and $13,000 worth of Cello electronics, and a real-world system THX approval has little to do with with affordable Rotel and AMC electronics and $600 Mirage M290 speakers. sound quality \u2014it mostly concerns the use of sturdy connectors and color-cod- i cater system, differences were clear- ing, which makes it easier to keep track XLO\u2019s Type 1 interconnect ly audible, but the personalities of the of where each cable\u2019s supposed to go. = cables varied with the systems we tried. The Monster THX series has two inter- :7 Some insist that double-blind A\/B\/X connect models, both of which come with six individual signal cables joined | tests prove all cables sound the same, but side-by-side that can either be used as-is or separated into two runs of three ca- | such tests also \u201cprove\u201d all amps sound the bles each for left\/center\/right on one bundle and left surround\/right surround\/ | same, when anyone with an open mind subwoofer on the other. Monster offers | and listening experience knows better. We continued on page 100 | use instead what I call \u201crelaxed A\/B test- | ing\u201d \u2014we use the program material of the | testing subject\u2019s choice, and switch the de- | vice under test at the end of a musical | selection, instead of rapidly switching back and forth. This helps eliminate the stress of typical A\/B and A\/B\/X tests. All de- | vices under test see the same signal path you'd use at home \u2014there\u2019s no complex switching box that can degrade perfor- continued on page 100 OCTOBER 1994 VIDEO 67","TAPES &:DISCa ES IT) | pny oe\u201d) cl ee Losing Your Sanity Clause: Things go a little crazy when Jack Skellington and Oogie\u2019s Boys kidnap Kris Kringle in The Nightmare Before Christmas. FEATURE FILMS lage\u2019s annual pumpkin festivities. Dis- Farewell My Concubine covering Christmas, he resolves to as- The Nightmare sume Santa\u2019s duties, and hires a trio of 1993. Gong Li, Leslie Cheung, Zhang Fen- Munchkin-sized thugs called Oogie\u2019s gyi; dir. Chen Kaige. Surround, subtitled. Before Christmas Boys to kidnap the old man and im- (R) 157 min. priced for rental. Miramax. prison him during Christmas eve. For 1993. Anim. Dir. Henry Selick. Surround, all his enthusiasm, however, Jack fails Foreign films with great pedigrees\u2014 cc. (PG) 76 min. $19.99. LD $29.99. Col- to grasp the essence of Yuletime, and best film at Cannes, in this case \u2014 can be lector\u2019s LD $99.98. Touchstone. his attempt to deliver toys nearly ends intimidating. Recommend a two-and- in disaster. Only the intervention of his a-half-hour Chinese film with subtitles, Dazzling and dense, Tim Burton\u2019s secret admirer Sally, a Frankenstein that follows the lives of two male opera The Nightmare Before Christmas is both a monster-like creation of an evil scien- stars against the sweep of China\u2019s turbu- rich reworking of tradition and a brand- tist, restores the holidays to their natu- lent political past, and watch reluctant new trip. Devised (though not directed) eyeballs roll. So let's put it this way: by Tim Burton, this haunting tale of in- ral order. Farewell My Concubine is a great flick, at trigue in the land where holidays dwell Younger children may find the story once a large-scale historical epic, a back- employs sophisticated stop-motion ani- stage soap opera and an \u201cart film.\u201d Its mation to create a fascinating world\u2014 confusing, or be frightened by the dark beau\u2014 bteyyond striking cinematogra- the ghoulish figures that inhabit the im- imagery, but everyone else is in for a phy that makes many frames seem like pressionistic landscapes suggest chem- treat. Danny Elfman\u2019s typically exotic painterly tableau\u2014xis that these ele- ically induced hallucinations. Though score enhances the funhouse mood; he ments balance so skillfully you never no- echoes of everything from The Cabinet of also supplies Jack\u2019s singing voice, adding tice the gears shift. Dr. Caligari to Charles Addams and the a note of high drama. Above all, Night- Muppets add a tantalizing resonance, mare offers a sumptuous visual feast. On the theatrical screen, it was easy the story has an eerily sweet quality all While the story doesn\u2019t achieve the to be swept away by the film\u2019s visual mythic eloquence Burton and crew in- scale. On video, the personal moments its own. tended, the hijinks of these strangely shine, thanks to a superb ensemble. Les- The Toast of Halloween Town, Jack animated characters provide a thrill lie Cheung as Dieyi, forced into female that lasts through repeated viewings. roles at the sacrifice of his sexual identi- Skellington has tired of leading the vil- ty, and Gong Li as Juxian, the prostitute \u2014Jon Young 68 VIDEO OCTOBER 1994","~ \u2018Enron's LHOILE | kenneth korman Sharon drinking heavily just weeks be- | Nothing enhances a legend like an fore the baby arrives. untimely death. The fact of a terrible The accents are so thick that The accident can loom as large as the substance of an entire life and ca- Snapper would benefit from subtitles. You may need to replay scenes where reer\u2014look at James Dean or Jim the dialog flies fast and furious. \u2014JY Morrison \u2014 and gradually transform a beloved public figure into a true cul- Threesome tural icon. The great tragedy of actor 1991. Stephen Baldwin, Lara Flynn Boyle; Brandon Lee, who was accidentally shot and killed while delivering his dir. Andrew Fleming. Surround, cc. (R) 93 breakthrough performance in The min. priced for rental. Columbia TriStar. The Long Goodbye: Farewell My Concubine. One college dorm suite hosts three Crow (Miramax; VHS priced for rental, laserdisc $39.99), is that he who marries the manly but spineless wildly disparate students: party animal barely had Xiaolou, stand out. Juxian is a beautiful Stuart (Baldin), withdrawn writer Eddy | enough time (Josh Charles) and the aspiring actress to Hint at cipher, walking the edge between drag- Alex (Boyle), assigned to the wrong side what might of the dorm because of her male-sound- have been. on lady and sharp, pragmatic woman. In ing name. Sexual tension is inevitable Lee's charis- sFSl aade his whiteface makeup, enormously tal- and immediate: Stuart lusts after Alex, matic pres- ented yet tragic, obsessed by art and who has a crush on Eddy, who describes ence is such a himself as a \u201csexual ambivalen\u2014tb\u201dut L conflicted love, Dieyi is the Michael only because he\u2019s afraid to admit the one Stunner, it he\u2019s really interested in is Stuart. The surely would 'f! Jackson of the opera world. This Western viewer, admittedly ig- situation may be contrived, but the have made him a huge .. norant of Chinese history, can only Brandon Lee imagine the deeper layers of meaning\u2014 . involving art and politics, romance and revoluti\u2014othnat exist beneath Concu- characterizations ring true in this Gen X star \u2014even if he'd lived. Make no mistake: The Crow is bine\u2019s thoroughly absorbing surface. Jules and Jim. Not only is Threesome surprisingly not a great film. Based on the suc- FE \u2014Marianne Meyer | sexy, it\u2019s sexy in surprising ways (you cessful underground comic book of the same name, it emphasizes style The Snapper won't forget the scene in which Boyle over content almost to the point of neglecting plot altogether. Lee stars 1993. Colm Meany, Tina Kellegher; dir. tries to seduce Charles on top of a li- as Eric Draven, a working-class rock musician who is brutally mudered Stephen Frears. Stereo, cc. (R) 95 min. brary desk). Writer\/director Andrew along with his fiance on the eve of priced for rental. Miramax. their wedding. The crow, which leg- Fleming's independant film explores all end describes as a spirit guide be- After the clumsy, unrealistic treat- ment of single motherhood in Angie, the the possibilities offered by this trio with frank, down-to-earth wit of The Snapper comes as a refreshing change. Revisiting honesty and humor\u2014 Baldwin\u2019s motor- the raucous Irish Catholic world of The Commitments, screenwriter Roddy Doy- mouth obscenities are particularly hi- le paints a vivid portrait of Sharon Curl- larious. \u2014M. Faust ey (Kellegher), the oldest of six kids, who becomes pregnant after a late- tween the realms of the living and night encounter on the hood of a car. the dead, brings Draven back to ex- Refusing to tell her startled parents that _act his revenge on the band of thugs the father is a boring, middle-aged neighbor, she continues to hang out that destroyed his life. That\u2019s it\u2014 the with her girlfriends at the pub while the rest of the family comes to grips with =<@ _ story holds very few surprises. her condition. _ Lee\u2019s performance, as well as the With an offhand tone that suggests a overall look and feel of the movie, cinema verite documentary, this easygo- fills the spaces left by the script and ing comedy draws humor not from jokes, makes for a haunting, even memora- but from ordinary people muddling ble experience. Director Alex Proyas through. Kellegher displays restraint and has won many awards for his music videos and commercials, and he lets sensitivity as Sharon, a decent, none- too-sharp woman who confronts her fate \u00a5 4 the soundtrack\u2014which features the without much reflrection. Doyle and di- latest gothic\/industrial rock and has rector Stephen Frears don\u2019t romanticize deservedly topped the charts \u2014 pro- the Curleys, showing the important of alcohol in their lives. It\u2019s shocking to see pel the movie. Proyas has obviously seen Blade Runner a few times, right down to The Crow\u2019s bleak yet pan- Missing oramic cityscapes and rain-soaked Link: Looking to rooftop finale. But that will only make the letterboxed and THX-ap- make a proved laserdisc edition of The Crow Threesome. even more of a treat. a OCTOBER 1994 VIDEO 69","es _\u2014 rr cv Ye \u2014\u2014 Like Water for Chocolate tricky dish, but director Arau makes the From The Director of HARD TARGET Hard Boiled most of the opportunity, unafraid to try 1993. Lumi Cavazos, Marco Leonardi, Re- the literal \u2014 flames of desire, fireworks at f was obviously in- gina Torne; dir. Alfonso Arau. Digital hi-fi consummation \u2014and generally main- stereo, subtitled. (NR) 115 min. VHS priced taining a delicate balance. Following the 4 tended as a calling for rental. LD $39.99. Touchstone. sprawl of the plot over many years re- card to Holly- How did this highest grossing foreign quires much voice-over narration; many film in 30 years get to the top? Being scenes are loaded with exposition that wood. While all based upon a best-selling book doesn't theaten to overwhelm the characters. hurt, especially if that book is based Yet the talented cast refuses to succumb. the Woo trade- upon an intriguing \u201chigh concept\u201d (how marks are here\u2014 Hollywood!) that nonetheless leaves The film is a hearty, satisfying meal, but the book is the true feast. acrobatic vio- room for plot twists, warmth, humor, ro- mance, sex (full frontal nudity, too!) and \u2014Marianne Meyer lence, melodrama- lots of food. Hard Boiled tic male bonding, Born in a kitchen, on a farm in Mex- ico, young Tita is a cook of extraordinary 1992. Chow Yun-Fat, Tony Leung; dir. people who bleed charms. But when her mother refuses to John Woo. Mono, dubbed. (NR) 127 min. let her marry the boy she loves (as youn- priced for rental. Fox Lorber. like waterhoses gest daughter, she is obligated to care for her widowed parent), she really puts Aside from his masterpiece The run over by a lawn herself into her meals. The story of a Killer, the Hong Kong films of action man who would marry his beloved\u2019s sis- specialist John Woo have been slow to mower \u2014they take a back seat to osten- arrive in U.S. video stores. If you\u2019ve only ter just to be near her, as Tita\u2019s lover seen his American debut, the lackluster tatious pyrotechnics. The extended fina- does, is intriguing in itself. But Tita has Hard Target, you may feel Woo has been | the ability to communicate her emotions overhyped. Not to worry: After viewing le, set in a hospital where the mob has Hard Boiled, you'll never be able to look through her food and those who eat at a Lethal Weapon sequel again without stored its arsenal, resembles nothing so what she prepares are subject to incredi- sneering, \u201cWimps.\u201d much as a sketch for Die Hard III. Not ble longing, lusts, regrets or release that echo her roiling spirit. In a family rife Chow Yun-Fat, Woo\u2019s regular star that it\u2019s bad\u2014in fact, much of it is as- with such romantic intrigues, that and one of Hong Kong's top box-office | makes for some rather heady meals. draws, returns as a cop on the trail of tounding. But Woo (who appears in the The original novel was as much gun-runners. He steps up his investiga- film as Chow\u2019s retired mentor) was cookbook as plot, lingering on Tita\u2019s tion after his partner is killed, even clearly trying to show that he could rein food preparation with mouth-watering though the trail leads to the Triads, detail. Translating such a book, with its gangsters who have infiltrated every as- himself in for Hollywood. poetic moments of magic surrealism, is a pect of Hong Kong society. It doesn\u2019t help that, unlike The Killer, Fox-Lorber is only releasing Hard Boiled in a video edition that has been panned-and-scanned and dubbed. A Better Tomorrow, the film that made Woo's reputation, has also just been re- leased on cassette by Republic Home Video. Unavailable for review at press- time, it is also in dubbed format. \u2014MF Peo At i4 yes put Waa. ae sere < She\u2019s Gotta Have It The Big Schlepp: Fetching young maid gets the like water in Like Water for Chocolate, like. 1986. B&W \/color. Tracy Camilla Johns, Tommy Redmond Hicks, John Canada Ter- rell, Spike Lee; dir. Lee. Digital mono. (NR) 88 min. plus supplement. LD letter- boxed $49.95. Criterion. Nola Darling, the beautiful, strong and independent central character re- ferred to in the title, is first introduced to us in her natural habita\u2014hter bed. She wakes and sits up \u2014that\u2019s all you need to get an immediate sense of her physicality and sensuousness. This laser- disc will let you in on how this opening mood was achieve\u2014dby stealing a trick from Raging Bull\u2014and plenty more. Criterion\u2019s edition of Shes Gotta Have It features a beautiful and uncen- sored print of Spike Lee\u2019s extraordinary first feature, which deals honestly and humorously with female sexuality and the assorted attitudes males take toward 70 VIDEO OCTOBER 1994","ey SEOe Driving Ms, Crazy: FIRST TIME ON VIDEO THIS SEPTEMBER! L.A. clowns learn F CARY GRANT AT there are no Short Cuts in life. HISHILARIOUS BEST INTWO CLASSIC it. The disc has analog-track commen- the picture's flaws can be forgiven in the face of Altman's energy and vision. COMEDIES tary by Lee, sound designer Barry Brown The CAV portion of the supplement and production supervisor Monty Ross, includes the Raymond Carver stories that inspired the film, as well as theatri- who tell you everything you need to cal reviews (including mine). The extra know about making the film. But best of CLV disc is devoted mostly to the same making-of documentary you can borrow all are the comments of cinematogra- for free from most stores that carry the pher Ernest Dickerson, who happily movie, but you also get some interesting out-takes, and one analog track has an shares the techniques and language of interview with critic Pauline Kael about Altman's career. Short Cuts, a landmark his art. Bonuses include previously de- film, gets full justice here. leted scenes, outtakes, a still photo gal- \u2014Sol Louis Siegel lery with commentary by photographer The Who: Thirty Years of David Lee, a rare music video and two Maximum R&B Live of Lee\u2019s Air Jordan Nike ads. 1954. Color\/B&W. Stereo. 155 min. $19.95. LD 3 sides CLV $34.95. MCA This $22,000, shoot-without-permits Music Video. film uses economy in everything but ide- This is the third video documentary on the Who to show up in the last four as and inventiveness. It opened the years and, overall, the best of the lot, de- floodgates for black filmmakers and is spite one glaring omission. Coming a year after the success of Tommy on the easiest Spike Lee film to take to Broadway, and with the CD boxed set heart with pure unqualified pleasure. Thirty Years of Maximum R&B, it in- cludes most of the songs that have loom- Please baby, please baby, baby, baby ed large in the band\u2019s stage shows. The performances are bridged by interview please. \u2014dJosef Krebs segments with Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey and John Entwistle. Short Cuts To enter the U.S, with his With its sparkling dialogue, As a portrait of the Who, Maximum new wife (ANN SHERIDAN), Joseph Mankiewicz\u2019s hilarious 1993. Andie MacDowell, Tim Robbins, RGB Live is less successful than the Jeff French officer CARY GRANT sophisticated comedy iscustom Madeleine Stowe, Fred Ward, Lily Tomlin; Stein documentary The Kids Are Alright, made for CARY GRANT as the dir. Robert Altman. Digital surround. (R) but it devotes far more of its time to per- disquises himself as her radical doctor who practices 188 min. plus supplement. 5 sides CLV\/ formance footage, much of which (nota- sister in this \u201cconvulsingly 1 side CAV $124.95. Criterion\/Voyager. bly at Tanglewood and the Isle of Wight any\u201d (New York Times) what he preaches with Festival in 1970) has not been seen be- JEANNE CRAIN. Catalog #1513 When I reviewed the unsatisfactory fore. The post-Keith Moon renditions of comedy. Catalog #1511 tape version of Short Cuts (\u201cTapes & \u201cI Can See For Miles\u201d still sound like STUDI a US$ Discs,\u201d July), | hoped the letterboxed the work of a Who cover band, but this i STUUIH Ze. CIASSLE disc would restore the thrilling experi- makes up less than a third of the mate- ence I remembered from the theater. In rial, and is balanced by extraordinary Get a free membershi Criterion's superset, it does. The 2.35:1 early footage of.the band doing \u201cSo Sad to the FoxVideo Movie Club transfer lets the air and life back into About Us\u201d from the Marquee Club in Robert Altman's interlocking tales of life 1967, and similar gems. Producer Nick when purchase any and death in the L.A. \u2018burbs, and the Ryle and company have done their Studio Classic. soundtrack, with its jazz score so critical homework, even retrieving footage of to the film, is brilliantly reproduced. the band from a TV documentary on LOOK FOR ONE OR MORE NEW STUDIO CLASSICS composer Constant Lambert, father of ON THE FIRST WEDNESDAY OF EACH MONTH. (The analog tracks carry the music the band\u2019s then-manager Kit Lambert. alone.) Now that the interplay of char- acters and story lines can be seen clearly, The quality ranges from good to ex- cellent, and for once the producers have done the sound justice, with a loud, live- ly mix that captures the energy behind the group\u2019s sound. The omission is the absence of a live \u201cWon't Get Fooled OCTOBER 1994 VIDEO 71","Again,\u201d but it seems only one perfor- mance of that signature tune was ever filmed, and it\u2019s been used on video twice before. The laserdisc version is mastered on three CLV sides that break down pretty well along historical lines. \u2014Bruce Eder INTERACTIVE Myst 1993. CD-ROM for Macintosh or Win- Voyage Voyage: Titanic: The Interactive Exploration guarantees an experience more fun than the real thing. dows, $59.95. Broderbund. quality somewhere between Michael This disc can even lay claim to a sig- Picture yourself alone on a lush, Powell and David Lynch. Call this game mysterious island. You have no idea why Tetris for the right-brain crowd. nificant technical innovation: When you're there or how to get out. There are no hints as to where you are or what's \u2014Ron Goldberg used on CD-i players with the add-on going on, only a scratchy video message, recorded who knows when, which im- Titantic: An Interactive Digital Video cartridge, it delivers full- plores you for help. Your sense of disori- entation is overwhelming. What can Exploration screen video segments; on players with- you do, besides hope you wake up soon? 1994. CD-i disc, $49.98. Total Vision\/Phi- out the cartridge, it automatically dis- You set off to explore your strange lips Interactive Media. new world, which is exactly what this in- plays the same material in small video triguing disc wants you to do. Not so Anyone who thinks the CD-i format much a game as an \u201cexperience,\u201d the has been eclipsed by other, \u201cmore pow- windows, like those common to CD- object of Myst isn't to win, but to lose\u2014 erful\u201d set-top interactive systems should your sense of self. As you \u2018\u2018walk\u201d\u2019 run to their nearest Philips dealer and ROM. There's nothing quite like com- through the various tableaux, which check out this extraordinary disc. Ti- might best be described as prehistoric tanic, along with several other hot new patibility. \u2014Ken Korman science fiction, you find your conscious- titles produced exclusively for CD-i, proves that it\u2019s not what you've got un- Quantum Gate Weird Scenes: Playing makes it all clear as Myst. der the hood that counts, but what you do with it. What Philips and Total Vision 1994. CD-ROM for MPC or Macintosh, ness operating at a dreamlike pace. Oh have done here is create a multimedia $79.95. Mediavision. sure, there's an actual mystery to be disc that just about everyone finds cap- solved here \u2014 something about stolen Now that \u201cdigital\u201d and \u201cinteractive\u201d manuscripts holding deep, dark secrets. tivating, no matter what their previous are so....three weeks ago, enter \u201cvirtual\u201d But completing the puzzle isn\u2019t the level of interest in things interactive. as the frontrunner for buzzword of the point; the object is immersion. When we moment. Here's one of the latest spins\u2014 say immersion, we mean it: A full Titanic uses vintage video clips, this disc bills itself as virtual cinema, not \u201cgame\u201d of Myst might take days, weeks thousands of photographs and paintings, or even months to complete. survivor interviews, memoirs and more so much a game as an interactive story, to paint a moving portrait of the ship, its Despite the lack of immediate grati- era and its fateful maiden voyage. Users told from the player's subjective point of fication (or maybe because of it), playing can explore the ship room by room, fol- view. Like a movie, Quantum Gate has a Myst is strangely addictive. The beauti- low individual passengers through the plot, and it progresses from beginning to ful graphics and sound have a primal ship's last day, even explore the middle to end. But because it's interac- wreckage finally discovered in 1985. tive, the story can only unfold at a pace Narrator Patrick Stewart keeps things determined by the user. You get to be lively with help from Walter Lord, au- audience, director and actor, all at the thor of the original Titanic study, A Night to Remember. same time. The story concerns an impending ecological disaster in the near future. The U.N. has been called in to save the world, and you're part of the mission. But things aren\u2019t all they seem. As you \u201ctalk\u201d to the other characters, you begin to have suspicions. Clue by clue, you piece together a scenario that builds toa 72 VIDEO OCTOBER 1994","shocking conclusion. between action and narrative detail. path of the hostilities. If the film lacks Technically, the disc is outstanding, Carradine and Martinez stand out the power of The Searchers, it is not the among the young actors. although you'll need some potent hard- fault of the players, but of the story\u2019s Chisum is a wistful film about a cat- narrow scope. ware to get the most out of it. Sight and sound aside, what counts is the content, tleman caught up in a range war. Some At presstime, the sound for this and this disc has the goods with a story elements, especially Ben Johnson as video edition of Hondo was still being that's nicely written, designed and act- Wayne's sidekick, recall Red River or mastered. But based on the quality of | ed. Maybe it isn\u2019t really \u201cvirtual cine- McLintock! (also directed by McLaglen). the sample reel provided by MPI, we can ma,\u201d but it is an interesting new form of Although Wayne is the star, his John say that the reissue\u2019s color is bright, and Chisum is not quite the center of the ac- the sharpness and detail acceptable. But entertainment. \u2014RG tion, and there is plenty of story and ac- we would like to see a good 3-D version PLAS SEs tion, all briskly handled, even the scene of Hondo on video\u2014the technology has where Pat Garrett meets Billy the Kid. - improved since the last 3-D telecast of It\u2019s all fun and exciting, if not profound. the film four years ago. \u2014BE The Cowboys \u2014BE 1972. John Wayne, Roscoe Lee Browne, Hondo Bruce Dern, Robert Carradine, A. Mar- tinez; dir. Mark Rydell. Surround, letter- 1953. John Wayne, Geraldine Page, Ward High Lonesome: The boxed. (PG) 135 min. Side 3 CAV. $39.95. Bond; dir. John Farrow. Mono. (NR) 84 Warner. min. $13.98. MPI. Story of Bluegrass Music Chisum Hondo, the second of four films 1994. Bill Monroe; dir. Rachel Liebling. owned by the John Wayne estate to be Mono. (NR) 95 min. VHS only, $19.95. 1970. John Wayne, Forrest Tucker, Ben released on home video is long overdue, Tara Releasing (415-454-5838). Johnson, Lynda Day; dir. Andrew V. even if it\u2019s not out in its original 3-D. McLaglen. Mono, letterboxed. (G) 112 . (The first film, issued a year ago, was Bluegrass music seems so timeless min. 2 sides CLV. $34.95. Warner. McLintock!) For the last few years, view- that it comes as a shock to learn some- ers have had to content themselves with one actually invented this enduring \u201cTt\u2019s not how you're buried \u2014 it\u2019s how reruns of the mid-60s TV series, which style. According to writer-director they remember you,\u201d says Wil Ander- was adapted from the film. John Wayne's Rachel Liebling\u2019s High Lonesome: The son, John Wayne's character in The performance is one of the most confi- Story of Bluegrass Music, the credit goes Cowboys. It looks like Wayne himself dent of his career. As Hondo Lane, a to mandolin whiz Bill Monroe, who took has proved the script right. When The half-Indian cavalry scout caught in the the traditional Scotch-Irish music of Cowboys opened, it was denounced by middle of an oncoming war between Appalachia, added a shot of blues, and liberal pundits for glorifying violence both of his peoples, he tries to balance jacked up the tempo to create a sort of and doing so with teenage boys. Today, his responsibilities and his interest in a \u201cfolkemusic with overdrive\u201d that enjoyed the violence seems tame and the movie, pretty homesteader (Page) living in the widespared popularity in the \u201840s and although a little sluggish, has aged well. \\\"50s. Part history lesson, part celebra- Chisum, a much less controversial pic- Wayne\u2019s World: tion, this easygoing documentary will ture, seems less important, although it is John Wayne delight longtime fans, although casual viewers may find the pace too slow. more exciting. is Hondo, Warner Bros. has done a beautiful Chisum, While focusing on Monroe, who can still play up a storm, the film also fea- job transferring both films, and The a Cowboy. tures performances and recollections of Cowboys has had its original Overture, other notables, including Ralph Stanley, Entr\u2019acte and Exit Music sequences re- Jim and Jesse, Mac Wiseman, Jimmy stored as well. Both movies have been Martin, and Sonny and Bobby Osborne. letterboxed in their full 2.35:1 Panavi- With its emphasis on acoustic string in- sion aspect ratios and are especially im- struments, bluegrass seemed obsolete af- pressive on large screens. ter the rise of rock \u2019n\u2019 roll and the electrification of mainstream country The Cowboys casts Wayne as an music in the latter half of the \u201850s; how- aging rancher, forced to hire 11 boys to ever, the subsequent folk boom and an bring his herd to market when his hands ongoing infusion of new blood has en- take off for a gold rush. Along the way sured its survival. If High Lonesome skims we get a richly textured tale of growing up and learning to finish a job, high- over some intriguing aspects of the story, lighted by fine performances and vivid such as the relationship with black mu- characterizations. The movie resembles The Reivers (also by Rydell), but with sic, it\u2019s a lovely tribute nonetheless.\u2014JY more grit, and strikes a carful balance OCTOBER 1994 VIDEO 73","ae J U yO tasteless, but Rappaport\u2019s sympathy is with gays obliged to play-act their way through life. His examination of movie morality is as incisive as it is mischie- vous, and the film has a strong measure of bitter irony to leaven the humor. \u2014M. Faust Agatha Christie's Miss Marple 1987\/89\/91\/92. 4 vols. Joan Hickson, Claire Bloom, Donald Pleasence; various dirs. Mono. (NR) 100 min. each. VHS $79.95 each. AGE. Call it a reverse James Bond effect: Just as Pierce Brosnan has brought 007 to rock-bottom, the line of Jane Mar- ples\u2014played variously by Margaret Rutherford, Helen Hayes and Angela Lansbu\u2014rhyas peaked, with the BBC's excellent Joan Hickson. Agatha Christie described her spin- Early illusions: Mermaids, by magician turned movie-maker George Melies, part of The Movies Begin. sterish supersleuth as \u201ca cheerful per- son,\u201d but \u201cshe always expected the worst crammed onto the sleeves and a booklet of everyone and everything, and was, The Movies Begin: worthy of a CD for each volume, all ex- (A Treasury of Early pertly annotated by historian Charles with almost frightening accuracy, usually Cinema 1894\u20141914) Musser. proved right.\u201d In A&E\u2019s latest Marple 1894 \u20141914. Tinted\/B@W. The Great The Melies volume is by far the most whodunits\u201c\u2014A Caribbean Mystery,\u201d Train Robbery & Other Primary Works, fascinating and entertaining, establish- \u201cThe Mirror Crack\u2019d from Side to Side,\u201d The European Pioneers, Experimentation ing his artistic superiority over other \u201cSleeping Murder\u201d and \u201c4:50 from Pad- & Discovery, The Magic of Melies, Come- producers of the period. After experi- dingto\u2014no\u201dur fluffy heroine indeed dy, Spectacle & New Horizons. George cing Melies\u2019 enchanting world, you'll finds the worst. But neither the bloody Melies, Max Linder and others. Various wish an entire set had been devoted just corpse of an overcurious maid nor a dirs. Mono. (NR) 414 min. 5 cassettes. to his work. How 'bout it, Kino? \u2014BL bride\u2019s bewildering memory of a stranger $199.95, or $49.95 each. Kino. throttling a blonde can faze the shrewd Rock Hudson\u2019s Miss Marple, and it\u2019s giddy fun to see the This collection has been a long time sweet old lady from St. Mary Mead rake coming. It was just a matter of who put Home Movies in clues by pretending to want a recipe it out first. However, it seems as if the \u201cbest man\u201d won. Kino\u2019s collaboration 1992. Rock Hudson, Doris Day, John for gingerbread. with Film Preservation Associates and Wayne; dir. Mark Rappaport. Stereo. (NR) the British Film Institute has produced a 63 min. VHS only, $39.95. Bear. Alas, some may find the stories slow- mesmerizing assemblage of important \u201cfirst\u2019\u201d\u2019 films. Except for the Muybridge It's a good thing Rock Hudson's Home moving (I prefer the term leisurely) and studies, which survive beautifully on Movies is only an hour long\u2014 you'll have Voyager's laserdisc, great care has been time to watch it twice to get all the stuff the star wattage a trifle dim, but Miss taken to procure the best materials on you missed the first time because you Marple\u2019s low-key approach only height- each subject, and to present each at an were laughing so hard. Filmmaker Mark ens the emphasis on character. And appropriate frame rate. An array of mu- Rappaport makes the tongue-in-cheek when the object is a motive for murder, sical accompaniments, from period argument that Hudson's homosexuality recordings to newly performed arrange- what else do you need? ments, add variety and interest. was obvious to attentive viewers. His ev- \u2014April P. Bernard idence is this collection of clips from the However, the collection is not as star\u2019s films, introduced by Hudson him- Joan Hickson as 4) well organized as it might be, as several filmmakers are covered on different vol- self (played by actor Eric Farr). Miss Marple r% umes. While this may matter little to ca- Although Rappaport puts the clips sual buffs, it will confuse the university students for whom this set will become in context, the unaltered dialog is so hi- the curriculum. The colorful packaging larious that it\u2019s hard to believe Hudson is exquisite, with detailed notes and his co-stars weren't aware of the fla- grant double entendres. (Check out Rock putting the make on John Wayne in 1969's The Undefeated.) It may sound 74 VIDEO OCTOBER 1994","are you tired ofbeing baited and switched?.... are you fed up with being told, that price doesn\u2019t include a usa warranty? do you want to know why they advertise products they don\u2019t have? stop being misled and start buying authorized electronics! At Authorized Electronics we stock Now a days, more and more people want to bring movies and entertain- and are ready to ship thousands of ment back to the privcacy of thier own home, and now you can do just that without having to sacrifice any sound or picture aver what so ever with all at the guaranteed lowest prices. \u2019 wih ei All of The first our essential for your home products theater system come with USA Warranty is of cource and all of the a screen Manufacturers Accessories! we carry all To finish the system offa great pair of Here are a your favorate and don\u2019t forget brands! few samples! 35\u201d to 55\u201d Cinima Wide TVs . JVC GR-SZ1 Pro S-VHS-C Color VF.... 50\u201d Dolby Pro Logic Rear Projection . . Canon UCS5 Hi8 Color VF Stabilizer .... 35\u201d Tube MTS Stereo & Surround ..... Hitachi VMH71a Hi 8 20\u2019 Underwater .. 31\u201d Stereo with Picture in Picture...... Canon 8mm Stabilizer 12x1 Zm Hard Case. . Call For All The Latest Models. . Authorized Electronics also carries The next step is sound, a We carry all at the guaranteed lowest prices. preferably with Dolby Pro Logic, hifi center channel and lots of power. brands like With brands like Nacamichi, Denon Bose, & Onkyo Pinnacle at prices | Advent 7 Hi Band 8MM RC Time Code, Editor... . you'll | & more! Panasonic S-VHS Jog & Shuttle ........ love! Two Rear & One Center Channel Pkg.... Front Channel Bookshelf Speakers JVC S-VHS Hi Fi Editing Deck .......... Dolby Pro Logic 80 watts per channel .. Dual Sattlelite & Subwoofer System. ... Dolby Pro Logic 100 watts per channel . 6 Pc. Full Suround System w\/subwoofer. Toshiba Flying Pre-amp 6 Hr recording ... Dolby Pro Logic 125 wpc, multi room-multi GO VIDEO Dual Dubbing Deck......... source programming, 5 Spkr outputs ... And don\u2019t forget big sound for those Now that you have your camcorder tight places with one of our and VCR, complete the system with But now you need a great source to give your recording that profes- 425 lines of resolution & CD audio Dual Cassette,\\\"10 CD Changer30 watts. sional look and sound. Literally at Dual Cassette, Equalizer 200 watts..... your fingertips you can have all features like wrapped Technics, Sony, digital effects, , Aiwa, & JVC picture fades, into one! : wipes, blends. and time base 24 Disc CD Changer. nes i. . correction. adds broadcast quality type to your 100 Disc CD Changer .....++ssseeenees system for that professional accent. CD & Laser Video with auto reverse. Panasonic WJAVE-A7\/V Mixer......+ Videonics TM-2000 Hi Resolution Titler. Pioneer Laser Karaoke Players....... Videonics MX-1 Special Effects Generator Sony RME-700 Video Editor & Titler.... AUTHORIL. ELEC PROMEEC Ss 1-80030-7105 Circle 23 on Reader Service Card. SAMMAN\u2019S ELECTRONICS 1166 HAMBURG TPKE. WAYNE, NEW JERSEY All prices quoted include Manufacturer\u2019s standard accessories & U.S. Warranty. All units are factory sealed. We ship within 24 hours. Customer Service 201-696-6531","HIGHLIGHTS Backbeat 1994. Sheryl Lee, Stephen Dorff, lan Hart; dir. Ian Softly. Early Hamburg days of The Fab Five\u2014John, Paul, George, Stu and Pete. Soundtrack by the alternative super- group culled from today\u2019s top bands. Stereo. (R) 100 min. VHS priced for rental. LD $34.95. Polygram. Bad Girls >ee>> 1994. Madeleine Stowe, Mary Stuart Mas- terson, Drew Barrymore, Andy MacDowell; dir. Johnathan Kaplan. Guns, poses \u2019n\u2019 roses. Stereo. (R) 110 min. LD letterboxed $39.98. FoxVideo. Bitter Moon Oe 1992. Peter Coyote, Hugh Grant, Em- manuelle Seigner; dir. Roman Polanski. Fascinated young passenger listens as wheelchair-bound novelist on luxury liner The Bells! The Bells!: Leslie Nielsen pulls some strings in Naked Gun 33 1\/3: The Final Insult | recounts intimate details concerning his beautiful young wife. Stereo. (R) 139 min. of Capra's highly enjoyable daydreams. | manhunts during the Spanish Civil War\u2014 LD letterboxed $49.99. New Line. Mono. (NR) 104 min. VHS $19.95. LD | established Saura\u2019s and Spain\u2019s reputation $34.95. Paramount. Breakfast At Tiffany\u2019s internationally, while traditional Franco Collector\u2019s Edition Camera Buff flicks played at home. Mono, subtitled. 1979. Jerzy Stuhr, Maalgorzata Zabkowska, 1961. Audrey Hepburn, George Peppard, Krysztof Zanussi; dir. Krzysztof Kieslowski. (NR) 87 min. VHS only, $59.95. Mickey Rooney; dir. Blake Edwards. In- Camera crazy Pole begins filming all he cludes 8x10 glossies, collector's brochure, sees much to the consternation of commu- Connoisseur. CD of Henry Mancini\/Johnny Mercer dou- nist authorities. From the director of Blue, ble Oscar-winning soundtrack and Audrey's White and The Double Life of Veronique. Compton\u2019s Interactive script with her own handwritten notes on Mono, subtitled. (NR) 112 min. VHS only, Encyclopedia 3.0 Holly Golightly!!! Mono. (NR) 114 min. $79.95. New Yorker. 1994. New version includes over 50 videos, VHS letterboxed $59.95. Paramount 8 hours of sound, more than 7,000 pic- La Caza (The Hunt) tures, 3-D animations, maps, 53,000 Broadway Bill 1965. B&W. Ismael Merlo, Jose Maria articles, and the ability to copy all of the 1934. B&W. Warner Baxter, Myrna Loy, Prada; dir. Carlos Saura. This film\u2014a tale above. MPEG-1 and speech recognition ver- Clarence Muse; dir. Frank Capra, wr. Rob- of a hunting trip filled with memories of sions available late '94, Sega CD early \\\"95. ert Riskin. Man gives up demanding wife, PC CD-ROM $149.95. Upgrade $49.95. family and job to own a racehorse. Another | Compton's NewMedia. Fit for Sex Labels It\u2019s a month of muscles and monsters. First, the muscle 1994. Gil Kaan; dir. Kevin M. Glover. for pics: Last Action Hero and Cliffhanger ($19.95 each) from | Workout with three nude couples to Columbia TriStar; Patriot Games and The Hunt For Red Less | strengthen all muscles you use in love mak- October ($19.95 each) from Paramount; Total Recall, Red ing. \u201cThe perfect prelude to foreplay\u2019. Heat and The Running Man ($9.98 each) from Live; The (Foreforeplay? Eightplay?) Mono. VHS Fighting Kentuckian ($14.98) trom Republic; Demolition Man ($19.98) from Warner; Midnight Cowboy and The Adven- | only, $29.95. Bennet Video Group. tures Of Robin Hood, ($19.98 each) from MGM\/UA. Fort Saganne | Now for the monsters: Candyman and Bram Stoker's | 1984. Gerard Depardieu, Catherine De- | | Dracula ($19.95 each) from Columbia Tristar; Innocent neuve, Phillippe Noiret; dir. Alain Blood, Dracula AD 1972, Taste The Blood:Of Dracula, Drac- Corneau. Corneau\u2019s (All the Mornings in the World) earlier saga is a romantic epic about ula Has Risen From The Grave, Trog, Dream Demon, | heroic French legionaire Charles Saganne. Tales From The Crypt, Stephen King\u2019s It, Frankenstein Mono, subtitled. (NR) 184 min. VHS only, Must Be Destroyed ($19.98 each), The Lost Boys, Creepshow, The Curse Of Frankenstein, Horror Of $89.95. Connoisseur. Dracula, The Bat People, The Mummy (1955), Wolfen, It\u2019s Alive!, Salem's Lot and The Awakening ($14.95 Naked Gun 33 1\/3: | The Final Insult | 1994. Leslie Nielsen, Priscilla Presley, each) all from Warner\/HBO\/Cannon; The Fearless | George Kennedy, O.J. Simpson; dir. Peter | Segal. The Final Insult: For lovers of sperm, Vampire Killers ($19.98), The Hunger, Child's Play and hurl, breasts and body-cavity jokes every- | It! Terror from Beyond Space ($14.95 each) all from where. Stereo. (PG-13) 83 min. VHS priced | A MGM\/UA. Last but perhaps tapping into your deep- for rental. Paramount. est subconscious fear, How The Grinch Stole continued on page 84 | Christmas ($12.95), also from MGM\/UA. \u2014JK ck JOSEF KREBS 76 VIDEO OCTOBER 1994"]
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