video-magazine-1994-12

VIDEOGreat Holiday Presents: Gadgets, Gear, Tapes; DISCS $2.95 * DECEMBER 1994 MAgAZ me Battle Of The Big screens We Pick The Best | 31 &32-Inch TVs | HOME THEATER GIFT IDEAS 6 MOVIES ON 1 CD Inside IBM’s Multilayered Disc 3 VIDEOTESTS 53 and 27-Inch TVs, S-VHS Camcorder, Top Combi Piayer, HI-FI VCR

— 4 :e ians Weeek

We've all heard a lot of talk about the DigitaAlge.But what have we seen? Here ends the hype, the hyperbole and all those other “b” words. Introducing the RCA Digital Satellite System. That's not another announcement. That's a fact. Twenty-two thousand miles above the equator are twin satellites using advanced digital technology to give you : : and sound that wil2 l completely rewrit: e the televiBseion history books. HThoeme60T\"heRatCrAe and DSS the kind of picture System. Digital Home Theatre is here. You see, your TV is only as good as the broadcast signal it receives. And the current signal hasn't changed since the NTSC first set the standard way back in 1940. In other words, it’s well over 50 years behind the times. Announcing the end of announcements announcing the coming digital revolution. Enter the DSS system. An entirely new kind of broadcast that can deliver up to 35% more lines of resolution and CD-quality sound’ Combine that with an RCA Home Theatre” and you get Digital Home Theatre. Television will never be the same again. The DSS system will be on the cutting edge well into the next century. It incorporates MPEG-2, the new standard for digital television. It gives you a laser-disc quality® picture and eliminates many of the problems with today’s TV and cable systems. Like interference and video noise. You won't Antoentlireelyanerw eway get caught with your technological pants down either. The DSS system has a wide-band data of watching television, port. So when HDTV comes along, you'll be ready! In fact, we're playing a major role in the development of HDTV. This 1s not fiction. It’s reality. The DSS system could be in your living room tomorrow. So, what are you waiting for? Changing Entertainment. Again: RGA *Picture and sound quality depend on yourTV and audio systems. tAdditional components required for HDTV. Simulated picture. Screen size measured diagonally.

VIDEO... FEATURES BIG SCREEN BROUHAHA 50 We test nine 31- and 32-inch TVs for picture, features, value. By Brent Butterworth GIFT GUIDE 794 54 PART 1: NATURAL BORN PRESENTS 56 Top choices for choosey videophiles, from teleports to TVs. By Johnathan Takiff % PART 2: THEATER IN THE ROUND 58 No-nonsense home theater gear for rooms with a view. By Brent Butterworth PART 3: FORMAT FEVER Stocking stuffers on tape, laserdisc and interactive CDs. By Christopher Cornell GLEAMING THE DISC 60 Six movies on one CD? IBM’s quest for a multilayered disc. By Tom Heald STRAIGHT TO TAPE 64 So who needs theaters? Studios try their hand at making movies designed for video stores. By M. Faust TAPES ffpists REVIEWS / The Flintstones and Breakfast at Tiffany's on tape; Schindler's List, Silence of the 68 Lambs, The Outer Limits on laserdisc; Leonardo and Sharks on CD-ROM; more 69 EDITOR’S CHOICE / Jurassic Park—panned, scanned & letterboxed. By Ken Korman 76 DIRECTORY / The latest releases on tape and disc VIDEOTESTS HITACHI VT-F382A VHS VCR, 32 Panasonic PV-S770A S-VHS Camcorder, Cover: Sony KP-53XBR35 53-Inch Rear-Projection TV, Mitsubishi’s ProScan PS27153 27-Inch TV, Denon LA-3500 Combi Player CS-31303, one DEPARTMENTS CHANNEL ONE / Readings from watchers 6 of nine 31- and FEEDBACK/ Letters from readers 10 32-inch TVs FAST FORWARD/ Schindler's List, Ou’s hits, Pro-Logic with tubes, more 12 NEW PRODUCTS / Home theater speakers, VHS-C and 8mm camcorders, desktop editor, more 18 compared for HANDS-ON TESTS / Six-channel Parasound and Rotel amps, plus Premiere 4.0 for the Mac 22 Ee HOME THEATER/ Fight the bright—why your system’s treble may be set too high 24 Photograph by Dan Wagner CAMCORNER / Triple your camcorder's life expectancy 26 Q & A/ Technical queries answered 28 Video Magazine Volume XVIII COLLECTOR’S CLEARINGHOUSE/ Reader requests for hard-to-find tapes 30 Number 9 OFF THE AIR / Are CD-ROMs really ready for prime time? 114 tee VIDEO Magazine (ISSN 1044-7288) is published monthly by Reese Communications, Inc., 460 W. 34 St., New York, NY 10001. Second-class postage paid at New York, NY and additional mailing office. $lc 1994 Reese Neite Communications, Inc. All rights reserved. $lc under Universal, International, and Pan American Copyright Conventions. Reproduction of editorial or pictorial content in any manner is prohibited. Single copy price $2.95; $3.50 in Canada; .50 in U.K. One-year subscription (12 issues) $15.; Canada, $22.47 (includes GST #2125938423) U.S.; foreign, air mail, $40 U.S. Canadian international publication permit #546488. Address sub- scription orders, change of address, correspondence and inquiries to: VIDEO, Box 56293, Boulder, CO 80322-6293, or call toll-free 800-365-1008. Change of address takes 60 days to process: send old address label, new address, and zip code. All material listed in this magazine is subject to manufacturer's change without notice, and publisher assumes no responsibility for such change. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to VIDEO, Box 56293, Boulder, CO 80322-6293. For microform copies of issues or articles, write to: Serials Acquisition Dept., University Microfilms, Inc., 300 North Zeeb Rd., Ann Arbor, MI 48106. 4 VIDEO DECEMBER 1994

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Box 1112, Director's Cut * 4097906} Undiscovered Country * 1001007 The Holy Grail avnanats Terre Haute, Indiana 47811-1112 Rakes #9172304 In The Line Of Fire *1190107 | Midnight Express _—_—* 0150003 Yes, please enroll me under the terms outlined in this advertisement. As a member, |need buy only ian Gargen is 1188004 Watership Down *0615005 4 more selections, at regular Club prices, in the next 2 years. DieHard 2: Die Harder *0041806 jion 0000208 io ot ee a Send me these 3 laserdiscs for $1.00 each-plus $1.50 each shipping and handling (total $7.50). Eeetnelie “0367607 Aliens 0360909 |Grumpy Old Men * 1251503 Robotech Vol. 1 1146604 Alien 3 * 1042506 | Major League2 » 1269406 Beverly Hills Cop!l__* 1289607 Backdraft * 0559005 | The Naked Gun 33 1/3 Beverly Hills Cop ———* 1239003 pointOfNo Return _—* 1127109 The Final Insult 1286707 Cat People (1982) \"0211003 The WizardOfOz 0001404 On Deadly Ground +1251909 BUY YOUR FIRST SELECTION NOW— AND HAVE LESS TO BUY LATER! 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Reading the VIDEO watchers In catching up on my reading, three recent books have caught my President, Jay Rosenfield attention for what they have to say about life in the video lane. The first is about watching television, lots of it, all the hours of one cable Editor, Stan Pinkwas system’s entire daily output. By the end of the day, author Bill McKibben starts showing signs of video overload, but The Age of Senior Editor, Brent Butterworth, Peter Barry Missing Information (Plume), his chronicle of 1,700 hours before the Technical Editor, Lancelot Braithwaite tube, is filled with valuable insights about the psychological effect of Assistant Editors, Josef Krebs, the things we watch. In Who Owns Information (Basic Books), attorney Stewart Applegath Anne Wells Branscomb takes a more pragmatic stance, exploring Contributing Editors: Bob Angus, Bob Barlow, tricky questions about the control of video entertainment, cablecasts, Frank Beacham, Bruce Eder, M. Faust, Corey satellite programs, your own image once it’s captured electronically, Greenberg, Ty Harrington, Tom Heald, Ken and much else. It’s a sharp portrait of an info-laden culture in which Korman, David Lachenbruch, Timothy Liebe, the lines between private and public are increasingly blurred. George Mannes, Marianne Meyer, Cliff Roth, Sol Louis Siegel, Jon Silberg, Tom Soter, Where are we headed? Bodies Electric (Avon Books) by Colin Jonathan Takiff, John Walker, Rich Warren, Harrison suggests a direction. This thoughtful thriller about a cable Stewart Wolpin, Roderick Woodcock exec, whose impulsive good deed does him in, depicts the inner work- ings of a fictional (yet familiar) media empire infatuated with the con- Art Director, Marshall Moseley verging technologies of home video, cable, and satellites. Read it for its Assistant Art Director, Nadira Abdul-Kadir vision of entertainment without boundaries. It feels like science fic- Art Assistant, Gary French tion, except it’s all very plausible. Production Manager, Gary M. Krystofiak Production Assistant, Kim Lau Speaking of reading, our thanks to the many readers who responded Typesetting, Janet M. Holland to October’s comments (“TV Power Play”) about the misplaced zeal of Washington bureaucrats who are trying to save energy by compelling Publisher, Jay Rosenfield TV makers to lower the power consumption of their sets. The issue inspired an unusual number of letters (see “Feedback” for a sample). Associate Publisher, Linda DeRogatis Remarkably, not a single one took issue with our position. As Vice President, Business Development, promised, your comments are being forwarded to the committee in Alan Deitch question. Perhaps they’ll listen. National Advertising Director, Video Pro, Annette Schnur This issue leads with “Big-Screen Brouhaha,” a revealing shootout of Circulation Director, Rodney Bell 31- and 32-inch TV sets, a popular size for home theaters. With so Circulation Assistant, Lydia Ferrante many models out there, we think you'll find it helpful in making a Newsstand Sales Director, Gerald Levine decision. We also have one of our best gift guides ever and a com- Marketing Director, Luanne Rao pelling report, “Gleaming the Disc,” about research that could lead to Financial Officer, Mark C. Spector, C.RA. a CD that will be able to hold half a dozen movies. As usual, we invite Business Manager, Janette Evans your comments—by mail, fax, CompuServe (75147,1255) or the Assistant Business Manager, Internet (75147.1255@compuserve. com). Lily Schwartzberg Advertising Coordinator, Karen Pellino Za )a. Assistant to the President, So Hee Kim Stan Pinkwas Corporate Offices, Editorial & Sales: Linda Futterman, Christine Barbieri, Editor 460 West 34 St., New York, NY 10001; 212- 947-6500, 212-947-6727 (fax) West Coast Sales Office: Linda DeRogatis, Susan Kay Moses, 1453 Third Street, Suite 490, Santa Monica, CA 90401; 310-393-5057, 310-393-5538 (fax) Chicago Sales Office: Milton Gerber, Kristene Richardson, Media Plus, 135 N. Arlington Heights Road, Suite 106, Buffalo Grove, IL 60089; 708-913-5400, 708- 913-5403 (fax) Editor-in-Chief, Art Levis (1936-1991) re CREOEMSMEUNICATIONS @ INCORPORATED PRINTED IN THE U.S.A. 6 VIDEO DECEMBER 1994

ue to technical difficulties, we’re unable to show you sree renee ai dato TOSHIBA CINEMA SERIES, el(eqdela-mela sulileseeniniasiebnulsnhm aiessiinibtdains 39 the world’s flattest 35\" picture tube. eetarnainemnnaiet ny / Please stand by. The limitations of this page make it impossible for us to show you the most distortion-free, reflection-free . picture on television today: the picture on the new Toshiba FST Perfect’mM ) We apologize for the fact that you will not be able to see the most significant step forward in television viewing since + 94 Toshiba engineers took the curved screen from the early days of TV (1947) and flattened it (1983) to create the original FST® picture tube. 4 (983 Regrettably, you will also not be able to experience first hand the way the Toshiba dark-tinted picture tube delivers deeper blacks, more vivid colors, and higher overall picture contrast. Nor will you be able to see how the Invar Shadow Mask ensures optimum color purity with the greatest possible picture brightness. ) | 199 What you won't hear in this ad is equally impressive. The FST Perfect with Dolby® Surround Sound has five speakers and a total 43-watt audio system with 4-channel DSP and Cyclone 'M ABX sound. The printed page does have its limitations. But, fortunately for you, the new Toshiba FST Perfect picture tube doesn't. TOSHIBAIn Touch with Tomorrow A 32-inch FST Perfect is also available, FST is a registered trademark re coe SM Toshiba America Consumer Products, Inc,, 82 Totowa Road, Wayne, NJ 07470 of Toshiba Corp. FST Perfect and Cyclone are trademarks of Toshiba FS [24 As good chy television gets. Corp. Dolby is a trademark of Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corp. Circle 2 on Reader Service Card.

AITACHI BRYATAEDLE#A1DING CONSVUMMER-EMA5GA5ZINE JUST GOT EVEN BETTER... ND HERE’S WHY “closer to the action.” This year 270,000 PIXEL CCD cp A To achieve true engineering they have extended the lens to a This extremely dense AMSoPyH,EMIC 12X optical system. Digital zoom CCD enabled the engineers excellence, a camcorder must further extends the range of the to employ an E.I.S. system combine the most important and optical zoom system to an that does not degrade popular features with a sleek, incredible 24X, while the instant picture quality when in use. attractive, ergonomic design at an zoom button magnifies any scene Unlike other E.I.S. systems affordable price. The engineers at instantly an additional 1.5 times. the engineers at Hitachi Hitachi faced up to this challenge And even with the more powerful developed their CCD so that and were determined to deliver a optical lens system Hitachi whether E.I.S. is engaged or not definitive package at a price of engineers have been able to keep the image remains sharp. under $1,000. The result is a true the minimum illumination breakthrough — the VM-E58A. requirements at 1 lux. So even in ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE low light situations the VM-E58A The VM-E58A’s autofocus Here’s the inside story on how will perform flawlessly. system uses a foolproof the engineers at Hitachi created through-the-lens approach and its this extraordinary camcorder. DIGITAL ELECTRONIC IMAGE white balance and auto iris are STABILIZATION both controlled by a highly- COLOR LCD VIEWFINDER Last year Hitachi introduced sophisticated artificial The engineers at Hitachi intelligence circuit. Its digitally determined through their research the first Electronic Image Stabilizer that camcorder users desire the with “angular motion sensors” in programmed autoexposure system accuracy of a color viewfinder. They the number 1 rated VM-E55A provides perfect pictures with increased the number of pixels to camcorder. This year, Hitachi pinpoint accuracy. create a sharp vivid picture that engineers have improved the allows you to see what you are system by applying new engineering The VM-E58A’s superlative shooting exactly as it is. This advancements to make our digital performance is built into its chips, eliminates the need to keep looking EIS even better. Hitachi’s digital transport, electronic circuitry and over the viewfinder to check what EIS can improve picture quality optical system. This is Hitachi — you are recording. whenever you are walking, riding Excellence in Engineering. in an automobile, using high 24X Z00M powered zoom or any other activity For more information Hitachi’s engineers have been that causes your camcorder to pioneers in developing longer zoom be unstable. on the Hitachi VM-E58A, ranges in order to allow you to get please call 1-800-HITACHI

TORU CHG) |tier“The chips, the VMEESSA ram excellence in engineering.” Circle 3 on Reader Service Card.

EDITED BY STEWART APPLEGATH Letters from our readers Watts on trial users through the 30-second process. chasing the set already adjusted to the There need be no fear of over-cleaning proper color temperature at the normal I heartily agree with Stan Pinkwas’ as audible tones and messages tell you price. After all, why would anyone when the cleaning is complete. spend thousands for a TV that doesn’t “Channel One” (“TV Power Play,” provide the best, most accurate picture? Oct.). What will our meddling govern- John Nowicki ment and “greenies” screw up next? Accessory Products Market Manager Michael Sock Providence, Rhode Island TVs have become more sophisticated, 3M Scotch smaller, more efficient and cheaper over Minneapolis, Minnesota Somewhere in Akihabara the years. If the auto industry had had a Pixelated The Akihabara store referred to in similar evolution, a Rolls Royce would “The Coolest Place in the World” cost $1 and fit on the head of a pin. “Toys ‘R’ Art” in the October issue was (Oct.) is raduo sentaa, or Radio Center. Government mandated energy reduc- GREAT! I have been a fan of the PXL- The sign is in katakana script, which is tions would lead to increased energy 2000 camcorder since it was intro- used for loan words, advertising, and consumption and consumer costs from duced. I was surprised you didn’t note other situations that call for emphasis. the add-ons needed to replicate today’s that a PXL-2000 was used to shoot high-level picture and sound quality. Harold Ancell Art Helper: The PXL-2000, point-and-shoot simplicity. [email protected] Douglas J. Mandel Gurnell, Illinois some of the video Biscuits for Smut by Standard setter the band Helmet. Smut is lead singer Power failure Page Hamilton’s dog. I purchased Panasonic’s CT31XF40 TV set based on the positive review of the 1 couldn’t agree more with October’s Patrick Kellum CT31XF50 in the June issue. What “Channel One.” Setting standards for Beatty, Nevada kind of adjustments were made during the amount of power used by a TV is an your evaluation of this model? Were example of how our government wor- The color of money functions such as the AIC, color con- ries about insignificant problems while trol and noise reduction off? What lev- overlooking really important issues. We In October’s “Home Theater,” Brent els were set for brightness, picture and should be more concerned about Butterworth writes that the $200 need- tint, settings? By the way, I do have Joe crime in the streets and jobs ed to have a technician make TV Kane’s A Video Standard laserdisc. than about whether a TV uses adjustments is a bargain. For a new set, 100 or 90 watts. this is unreasonable. If the set is a lower David Tay to mid-level unit, most people wouldn't CompuServe: 74213,2471 Bob Karolak be interested in such a service, much Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania less willing to spend 20 to 50 percent of Editor’s Reply: Set the TV according to the purchase price for it. For a high-end the instructions on A Video Standard The reusable one set, it is completely unacceptable. The and turn the other controls off. buyer should have the option of pur- “Health Care for Your To Have and Have not VCR” (“Off the Air,” Sept.) recommends using a head cleaner I called the number in “Wire Straights” “that is never rewound and reused,” a (Oct.) for HAVE Inc. and got an statement to which I take exception. answering service that never heard of While it’s true some media should not the company. If it was a misprint, you're be reused, we have tested the Scotch going to owe the nice ladies at the Head Cleaner Plus and are confident answering service some flowers. consumers will receive 30 head clean- ings and six tape-path cleanings, as Dick Dienna stated on the package. Good and pre- CompuServe: 72223,3606 mium recording tape from 3M Scotch and most other manufacturers already Editor’s Reply: The correct phone num- contains trace amounts of headclearing agents. The agents help keep video ber is 518-828-2000. ry heads free of debris during normal oper- ations. Without them, the extremely Send letters to Feedback, Video Magazine, small head gaps of typical VCRs would frequently clog. Scotch Head Cleaner 460 West 34 Street, New York, NY Plus uses a special videotape that’s 10001; or fax to 212-947-6500 after 5 coated on both sides to clean all heads p.m., EST, weekdays, or all day on week- as well as the tape path. Onscreen dis- ends; or send via CompuServe to plays and audible instructions guide 75147,1255, or via the Internet to 75147,[email protected]. Letters may be edited for clarity and space. 10 VIDEO DECEMBER 1994

No matter what you spent on your from than ever before, with digital quality in your living room that never runs out of home entertainment system, you picture and CD sound. (1 You get stock. For just $2.99 each, you get the could get more out of it with tons of hit movies to choose from, Hollywood hits you want, starting as often DIRECT V.™ Because DIRECTV before they're on the premium as every 30 minutes. You also get classics, gives you more entertainment to choose cable movie channels. It's like a video store independent films and more. LJ You can DOESN'T YOUR GREAT HOME ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM DESERVE GREAT ENTERTAINMENT! choose from hundreds of pro and college than you pay now. [1] See the tiny 18-inch for the authorized DIRECTV dealer nearest sports events, and the newest and most RCA-brand DSS™ dish and DIRECTV at you. L] DIRECTY. It's Personalized TV.™ popular cable networks. CNN, ESPN, your Consumer Electronics or Satellite TV USA, Sci-Fi Channel, The Disney Channel, dealer. Equipment availability is limited Court TV, and a lot more. Probably for less until late fall, 1994. Call |-800-345-4388 DIRECTY. ITs PERSONALIZED TV © 1994 DIRECTV Inc, a unit of GM Hughes Electronics. DIRECTV™and DSS™are trademarks of DIRECTY, Inc. Circle 4 on Reader Service Card.

Fast >> FORWARD | a Making a List Pro-Logic | dream machine Hindsight changes everything. After almost a year’s worth of adulation Electronics enthusi- and success—from a shelf full of Oscars to a $100 million box-office take— asts fantasize about prod- director Steven Speilberg and Schind- ler’s List (just released on tape and ucts they know will proba- laserdisc by MCA/Universal) seem a natural match. But many Schindler bly never be made—a cast- and crew-members now admit to early doubts about pairing the master of palm-size camcorder that fantasy and spectacle with the true comes with interchange- Acclaimed: Neeson’s Oscar-winning Oskar. able lenses, an S-VHS story of Oskar Schindler, a self-interest- ed Austrian industrialist who wound up VCR with digital audio saving the lives of 1,300 Jews in Poland during World War II. overdubbing. But one of The film’s gritty realism can be my dream products has traced to Spielberg shooting the film entirely on location in Poland, where just become reality—a Tubes To Spare: Ada’s Pro-Logic processor. the events of the story occured some 50 years ago. Most of the film was shot surround-sound processor in Krakow with the blessings of the Polish government. The production with tubes. I’ve been wishing for a product like ADA’s new Pro-Logic proces- also got permission to shoot a key scene inside the Auschwitz-Birkenau sor ever since I became fascinated with tube audio gear. Little did I know it camp, where so many lost their lives. Suddenly those plans had to be could end up being so cool. changed. The processor has been a labor of love for ADA executive VP Al Langella, “We were ready to shoot, and no one had the right to stop us,” recalls and it shows. Every inch reveals stunning attention to detail and a willingness Schindler producer Branko Lustig, himself a Holocaust survivor. “Then to pursue sheer quality no matter the cost. The input and output stages of the the Jewish Congress came to Steven and asked him not to shoot there processor are all-tube, while the surround decoding is done with an Analog Devices/PMI Pro-Logic chip. To make the signal path fully tubed, Langella is experimenting with a design that would allow the Pro-Logic chip to control tubed voltage-controlled amplifiers (VCAs). Each channel has its own level control on the front panel—a real variable resistor (remember those?) instead of a digital control, VCA or resistor ladder. The main level control is a four-pound chunk of brass that feels oh-so-gratify- ing to spin. The chassis is solid brass, with hand-polished gold plating. My favorite part, though, is the level meters, which are the old phosphorescent tube kind, with glowing toothpaste-colored indicators that move closer togeth- er as the level increases. The processor’s still a work in progress: According to ADA, it was just awarded Pro-Logic certification, and is awaiting Lucasfilm THX approval. ADA will probably also incorporate Dolby Surround Digital. The price is pro- jected at $29,000. So should you indulge yourself with a new Lexus or a new Pro-Logic processor? I know which way I’d go! —Brent Butterworth because they thought the spirits of the a mirror image on the outside of the dead should not be disturbed. Steven camp.” understood, and he respected their Liam Neeson, who stars as Oskar wishes. Overnight we rebuilt the set as Schindler, found something special about the experience of making | Schindler’s List. “On this film, more | than any other—and I’ve done 25—there was a great bonding | among cast and crew. There were | | dark moments, but we’d always | hang out together at night in the | coffee bar of the hotel—just to be | there when people came back after a | tremendously emotional day, to give | them a hug and buy them a drink. There was a special sense of family on Schindler, a feeling of being responsi- ble for other people.” —Ken Korman 12 VIDEO DECEMBER 1994

TIMESHIFT © TEN YEARS AGO IN VIDEO MAGAZINE “Matsushita will market a new-style VHS camcorder in Japan this spring. Ituses a “The video isthe trophy.” 1983; The Cas- full-size VHS cassette and weighs only 4.4 pounds without battery. GE and RCA OJ’s sandra Crossing spokesmen strongly hinted they would greatest with Sophia Lo- hits announce similar full-size cassette VHS ren, Burt Lancas- ter and Richard camcorders before the year’s end...Hey, Harris, 1976; Fire- wanna buy an emasculated VCR? It’s — PP What's your power with So- called a VCP for videocassette player, and favorite OJ. video? phia Loren, 1979; all it does is play back, not record...No There’s something and, of course, more Mister Nice Cable. HBO has ‘The Myth of Cable Stereo ; Ge for almost every- the three Na- been threatening to one. Simpson’s ked Gun farces scramble its satellite troubles have raised his fame quotient, with Leslie Nielsen. —Josef Krebs spawned new video entries, and feeds for quite inspired a fresh look at his earlier opus. eeeeseesceseceseeeeseeeeeeeeses awhile, but this time Turner Home Entertainment leads the it really means busi- pack with a disc and a tape. Turner says Written in stone ness. The channel its first “instant” CD-ROM, The People will ship descram- |g v. O.J. Simpson: An Interactive Compan- BP It’s at the beginning of every film. ion to the O.J. Simpson Trial, includes an bling gear to its “exhaustive account” of currently The credits roll, and the all-important known facts. If your computer’s not as “Screenplay by. . .” appears. When affiliates by year fast as the ones in the Simpson court- there’s a long list of names, it’s a sure bet the film was fraught with turmoil. In end, and begin its room, you can opt for O.J. Simpson, a the unusual case of The Flintstones (MCA/Universal Home Video), direc- scrambling by 1985 | Turner videotape covering the chase, wToshiba will soon DECEMBER 1984 a tor Brian Levant (Beethoven) and pro- introduce the first digital TV in the U.S., ducer Bruce Cohen (Alive) planned due to arrive before January...Cutthroat from the start to use a battery of writers. cassette-price slashing means a merry They felt that since the movie would be Christmas for all. Paramount has based on a beloved TV show, it made announced a lowest-ever $24.98 tag on sense to try the “comedy roundtable.” Raiders of the Lost Ark, Flashdance and So they put together a sort of Dream 23 other videocassette titles; Warner has Team of TV comedy. countered with $29.95 for the hi-fi version “We gathered a large group of writ- of Purple Rain...RCA’s Dimensia has a new ers with someone holding the pencil, “ rival in Japan. JVC has announced an Levant explains. “We went through the audio/video system controllable by a sin- script together and tried to improve it gle remote...CED is dead in England— as much as we could. We brought in even deader than in the U.S. When RCA the arrest and the hearings. You can people from Married With Children, and Hitachi recently announced an end to Family Ties, The Simpsons, Night Court, also see him in O.J. Simpson: Minimum Happy Days, Mork and Mindy and production of CED players in the UK., Maintenance for Men, a Playboy exercise Frasier. Everyone had feature film expe- video shot before and released after his rience, and everyone loved the original they said they would stop disc production arrest. Flintstones .” too, effectively pulling all the life-support If you're a real O.J. fan, you might The Flintstones can also claim want to see the movies (there are at another unique element: Elizabeth plugs on the format. U.S. player owners least 18) in which he stars with some of are more fortunate, since RCA is still pressing discs here, at least for the time Hollywood’s biggest names. These days being. a his would run higher on the credits, but that’s just the nature of the beast. Taylor in her first American film in 17 O,].’s films include A Killing Affair, years. As Fred Flintstone, son-in-law to 1985; Cocaine and Blue Eyes; Hambone Taylor’s wicked Pearl Slaghoople, John and Hillie with Lillian Gish, 1984; Goodman actually had to gag and bind Towering Inferno with Paul Newman, the cinema legend in one scene. How Steve McQueen, Fred Astaire and did Taylor deal with the indignity? “She William Holden, 1974; Klansman with was a real good sport about it,” Rich-ard Burton and Lee Marvin, also Goodman laughs. “She said a lot of peo- 1974; Roots, Vol.1, 1977; Capricorn One ple in Hollywood have been wanting to with Elliot Gould,1978; Killer Force Scrambled: How many writers to cook an egg. do this for years.” —Ken Korman VIDEO DECEMBER 1994 13

Music-loving consumers with a disposi- THE MOVIE whether a show is violent, or verbally tion for quality can find the world of studios have or sexually explicit. Programmers, of high-performance audio intimidating. formed a digi- course, would have to include the Unfamiliar brands, the perception of req- tal video disc codes in their broadcasts. uisite mega-bucks, and a lack of confi- (DVD) adviso- dence in one’s ability to make a good ry group to e audio investment combine to dissuade wrestle with all even the strong-of-heart. the issues WHAT’S WAYNE’S WORLD If you share any of the above senti- involved in without Wayne? Wayne Huizenga, the ments, please read on. With the home entrepreneur who built Blockbuster entertainment explosion upon us, it squeezing a would be a calamity if high-performance feature film Entertainment, into one of the coun- audio were not a part of your plans. But onto a single CD. Equipment manufac- try’s biggest chains of video stores, is what of the above-mentioned barriers? turers—including JVC,’ Sony, Philips, turning in his tapes and leaving the Finding a qualified specialist retailer company. The move — followed can be the most important decision you Matsushita and Toshiba—are closing in Blockbuster’s merger with Viacom make. A good dealer can guide you on competitive systems, while IBM is toward high-performance products in a working on a longer-range project to THOMSON CONSUMER ELEC- wide variety of price ranges that will jam half a dozen films onto a multilay- tronics has come up with a promotion yield an audio experience you never ered CD (see this issue’s “Gleaming the that should make any videophile take dreamed possible. It is good to know Disc”). The studios would like to see notice: Buy one of RCA’s 34-inch that quality audio gear has staying one format instead of many, and so widescreen TVs, priced at $4,499, and power, making it a great investment. avoid a fractious format war. A wish list And be of good faith! Everyone is capa- of features the group feels are important ble of enjoying the differences in audio includes picture quality “ideally superi- reproduction as quality improves. It is a or” to laserdisc, surround-sound audio nasty myth that subtle differences can compatibility, multiple aspect ratios, the only be detected by self-anointed golden- capacity for several languages, copy ear types or those who have spent a lot protection and a parental lockout of time educating their ears. Remember that your ear-brain mechanism has been option. in the R&D department of human evolu- tion for over 100 million years. All you STARSIGHT, THE INTERACTIVE RCA’s DSS need to have is the interest! onscreen program guide designed to be built into TVs and VCRs, has licensing system Kathy Gornik, President, THIEL Audio, agreements with at least seven TV AAHEA Executive Committee manufacturers. The system's available Hin now in some Zenith sets and should THE ACADEMY appear in Mitsubishi TVs before the you'll get a Digital Satellite System, FOR THE year’s out. In the future, look for it as priced at $699, tossed in free. DSS is well in gear by Philips, Thomson, Sony, the 18-inch dish and receiver combo, ADVANCEMENT Samsung, Goldstar and Uniden, which RCA’s been rolling out and successfully OF makes satellite tuners. (We'll also be pitching. (The company reports more looking at the system shortly.) than 200,000 sold in the first few This column is presented by The Academy for the Ad- vancement of High End Audio (AAHEA), an organiza- WHAT’S NEW ON THE VIDEO months.) Of course, once you have the tion dedicated to the recognition of excellence and the superhighway? On the plus. side, dish; you'll still need to subscribe to the promotion of greater awareness of high end audio. Microsoft will be helping Southwest- ern Bell bring video and interactive TV programming. services to 47,000 homes in Richardson Texas, outside Dallas, in a test of the e new technology. On the minus side, Bell Atlantic and US West are falling CHECK OUT RADIO SHACK’S behind schedule on major trials of interactive cable technology. “Our new catalog. Redesigned to look and technical people tell us how long it will read better, it makes an excellent take to develop a particular project and accessories reference, particularly for then double that,” explained Larry hard-to-find jacks, switches, relays Levine, US West vice president for mul- timedia services. “Pieces of hardware and the like. and software are difficult to intercon- © THE ELECTRONICS INDUSTRY IT’S OFFICIAL—THE VOLUN- Association is looking at a proposed tary videogame rating system described technical standard would would let in last month’s “Fast Forward.” Gamers, engineers design TV sets that could like movie producers, will submit their recognize content codes indicating work to an industry ratings board, which will apply one of five age-based ratings. Look for the labels to appear on most major games before Christmas. s eGEG (¢ 14 VIDEO DECEMBER 1994

r | | Home theater showcase | The Custom Electronics Design | and Installation Association (CEDIA) | is becoming the midyear showcase for home theater gear. This year’s conven- tion in Dallas saw several new high-end A/V products, but the big news was Lucasfilm’s launch of a THX certifica- || tion program for laserdisc players. | Lucasfilm will test several performance characteristics, including signal levels, color level, noise, differential gain and phase. Runco is the first with a THX- certified player, but others should fol- Power Play: Sound- stream’s monoblock amp. low. Will Lucasfilm also certify video From Ambico®, the leader in camcorder and editing technology, comes the V 6325 monitors? “I wouldn’t want to give you Audio/Video Editing Effects Processor .This top-of-the-line Ambico innovation | the impression we’re not considering brings professional editing features to your home or office. It's easy to use, very that,” said THX licensing director Tony versatile and very, very affordable. Grimani in fluent corporate-speak. e Edit multiple sources into one spectacular final production without changing tapes. Soundstream introduced the M-1, a e Automatically fades audio and video for smooth transitions. Fade speed can be set for $400, 120-watt monoblock amp. Two or three M-Is can fit together behind a automatic or manual. standard-sized faceplate. Each amp has balanced and unbalanced (RCA) ¢ Cross Fades smoothly between sources. The adjustable stabilizer minimizes glitches! inputs, and costs $400. ¢ Creates all types of wipe patterns for professional style transitions between scenes! I love the sound of Rotel CD play- ers, so I’ve been bugging company VP ¢ Audio Mixer creates a full stereo soundtrack complete with narration and background Mike Bartlett to make a laserdisc play- er. Rotel finally showed one at CEDIA. music! (Microphone included) It's a handsome karaoke model made ¢ Video Enhancer and Automatic Video Noise Redution adjust sharpness and detail for | for the Asian market. If there’s interest, Bartlett may introduce it here. improved image quality! Pulsar, a familiar name in video pro- ¢ Color processing corrects and intensifies base video coloration and saturation! jection, has joined with California Audio Labs and Hales Design Group ¢ Generates all types of video effects including “Inverse Video”. under the Pulsar Entertainment banner. Its new video-grade front projectors, ¢ Two outputs for multiple copy dubbing! models 6000 and 8000, are apparently named for their list prices. They start ¢ Includes all cables. on 249 99 with the same tubes, but the 8000 adds magnetic focus, improved lenses, a | Call for our free accessories catalog stereo TV tuner, picture-in-picture, an | audio amp and speakers. FREE! 800-231-0031 Jamo showed a new THX-approved With every Ambico == HAVEN speaker with a three-way design—a V6300 Editer/Mixer get INDUSTRIES tweeter surrounded by two midranges this V0651 All-In-One and two woofers. Will it be the first Video Transfer System. 46-23 Crane Street, LIC,NY 11101 THX speaker to sound great with mu- Transfer film, slides and Satisfaction guaranteed or your money back sic (to us, at least)? We'll see... —BB photographs to video. A $99.99 MSRP value! Circle 5 on Reader Service Card. DECEMBER 1994 VIDEO 15

@riovwer The drama ofsunrise over the lunar surface. The mayesty ofan interstellar probe sailing through the cosmos. Or the stunning offect ofrubber antennae sprouting from the scalp ofa middle-aged man. On a Pioneer” Projection TV, everything you watch seems larger than ife. With screens up to fifty-five inches and our exclusive Call 1-800-Pioneer, ext. 515, for a dealer. ©1904 Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc., Long Beach, CA. 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY. ©1968 Turner Entertainment Co. All Rights Reserved. MY FAVORITE MARTIAN, ©1904 Jack Chertok Televis

QPOnceR Oe elle acdps The Art of Entertainment

EDITED BY STEWART APPLEGATH | EASY EDITING TV CREDIT | CARD Gold Disk's VideoDirector for Windows, Version 2.0 ($199) is a complete video editing system. If you have a PC, a play Synaptic Design's deck, a recording VCR and a TV, you're ready to work. Gold Time Slot ($149) Disk supplies cables, infrared controllers and software you can use to turn your components into a non-linear-type edit- promises to help ing system. You create edit decision lists, and can choose video stills from clips, and drag and drop them on a story- parents keep board setup. VideoDirector finds the clips and records them young spuds from in the order you've chosen. (For more info, circle 104 on the turning into full- Reader Service Card) fledged couch EDIT YOUR VIDEOTAPES } potatoes. The Time Slot box uses QUICKLY & EASILY it’s own credit card USING YOUR COMPUTER, JUST LIKE THE PROS DO. and simple pro- SHIELDED gramming controls SPEAKERS to let parents moni- Boston Acoustics’ Lynnfield VR Series is a line of speakers for tor the viewing all levels of home entertainment. habits of up to eight children. It can be programmed with daily, weekly and monthly set- The shielded VRs consist of (clockwise from left) the VR40 tings, and used to specify the number of hours available to each child, or block out unde- for $1,400/pair, the VR30 for sired times. An Audit feature lets parents check each child's remaining time. (For more $800/pair, the center-channel info, circle 101 on the Reader Service Card) VR12 for $400, and the VR20 for $550/pair. The speakers feature | anodized aluminum dome tweeters, neodymium magnets SWITCH HITTER | | and an amplitude modification | device placed in front of the STD Entertainment's Arcade Pro | tweeters. Boston Acoustics says ($50) gamepad has the | they track signal input accurately advantage of being com- and produce smooth, peak-free patible with both Super | response beyond 25 kiloHertz. Nintendo and Sega | (For more info, circle 106 on the Genesis game systems. Reader Service Card) It comes with separate cables for each system and includes independent auto-fire, a slow- motion feature to help players size up their opponents, and a metal base that can with- stand punishing levels of play. (For more info, circle 109 on the Reader Service Card) E-Z SHOOTING | JVC’s GR-EZ1 ($699) promises simplicity, functionality and affordability. Looking much like a point-and-shoot 35 mm camera. The GR-EZ1 offers a number of fea- tures designed to simplify the shooting process. Its reshoot and seek functions help map out your tape while a QwikPix function limits takes to five seconds. An LCD panel on top dis- plays the camcorder's operational status and other relevant information. (For more info, circle 111 on the Reader Service Card) 18 VIDEO DECEMBER 1994

Sharp has created a line of cam- magic of those moments—with connects easily to your TV for replay corders so innovative they replace the tiny black and white viewfinder with all the color, all the sound, all at home.) The Sharp Viewcam’” big color view screens. the wonder. <S ‘Its the new movement in Imagine a camcorder that you hold comfortably away from your With the Sharp Viewcam's ‘ camcorders. Call now, for face, so you can easily capture, from any angle, all of life's big view screen and built-in speaker, a . brochure and the name of your most memorable moments. everyone can relive the excitement nearest Sharp dealer. Then imagine a cam- corder that lets you instantly and fun of the moment. Right then 1-800-BE-SHARP play back and share the| and there. No matter where you are, (Of course, the Viewcam also Only Sharp offers a choice of camcorders with big 3\" and 4\" view screens, Hi8 and HiFi stereo models IMAGINE A CAMCORDER THAT INSTANTLY PLAYS BACK LIFES SIGHTS AND SOUNDS ON A BiG COLOR SCREEN. FROM SHA COME SHARP P bee © 1994 Sharp Electronics Corporation. Simulated Screen Image. Model Shown: VL-H400' Circle 6 on Reader Service Card.

CANON’S NEW 8 > Canon’s 8mm ES800 cam- corder offers practical, high-end features for fans of 8mm shooting. With optical image stabilization, a 12x zoom lens, five auto-exposure modes, a built-in light and a color viewfinder. The lightweight ES-800 is designed to make the shooting of family events an easy proposition. (For more info, circle 108 on the Reader Service M&K DIRECTIONAL4 <TINY TUNER M&K Sound has introduced a 20th anniversary edition of the S-1C Satellite speaker ($1,495/pair). Its idiosyn- Sharp’s Viewcam TV Tuner cratic foam baffle treatment makes it M&K’s first speak- Packs pick up TV broadcasts for er with an adjustable high-frequency radiation pattern. Viewcam LCD screens. There This feature allows a listener to optimize the speaker's are three tuner models ($249- imaging. It’s also M&K’s first speaker with inputs for bi- $329), with each suitable for wiring. (For more info, circle 107 on the Reader Service one or more Viewcams. The VR- Card) HT16N (pictured) is designed for the VL-H400U. It features TV recording capability, a VHF/UHF tuner, 69-channel capability and memorized channel settings. (For more info, circle 112 on the Reader Service Card) <MAX-IMUM INTERACTIVE GUIDE 4 PROTECTION Zelos says Shoot Video Like a Pro ($50) is the first CD-ROM guide for camcorder enthusi- The MAX DBS from asts. The Mac/MPC-format disc combines a graphic interface with Quicktime videos. You can Panamax ($189) is manipulate the video and receive advice and tips from professional videographers. By em- designed to protect direct ploying virtual cameras, composition, lighting, sound, and CD-ROM feedback, you can learn broadcast satellite sys- tems, like RCA’s 18-inch to compose your own videos. (For more info, circle 103 on the Reader Service Card) DSS dish, from power surges and spikes. One module connects to your dish’s coaxial line and includes jacks for a pay- per-view phone line. The unit can be expanded, and includes coaxial cable connections. (For more info, circle 102 on the Reader Service Card) VIDEO DECEMBER 1994

— find a parking spot Tet then stand [in line, while they attempt to clean the eles. of yOu ... with big hair sit right in front ...all of this just to see a movie. The HR-VP612 allows you to enjoy your favorite movies in one of the world’s most comfortable theaters, your living room. The HR-VP612 - Let it entertain you. * Hi-Fi VHS Stereo with MTS B * Digital AV tracking *Oval-cut DA-4 head system ¢ Multi-Brand Remote Control * VCR Plus programming * Multi-Speed Search AV Compulink* 09 ¢omm, 9® YS HR-VP612 With JVC’s exclusive AV Compulink, simply place a pre-recorded tape into the VCR. Automatically, your =\\ G@avViews _,, A TVand Receiver will turn on and their volume levels Instant ReView offers the ultimate in user convenience. After a Will be set for you. All of this by just inserting atape. ne fetttet'«4 The Inventor of VHS TV recording has been made, simply press the Instant ReView button ... The VCR will turn on and rewind to the beginning of ereassovtvnniareantce: Circle 7 on Reader Service Card. the last recording, and then start to play - automatically! , Technically Perfect. PerfectlySimple.

HANDS-ON Home theater amps and a desktop editor Parasound HCA-1206 & theater. It’s affordable, it’s got enough No one would call the RB-956AX a Rotel RB-956AX juice for practically any home theater, powerhouse. In fact, I can’t conceive of Six-channel Amps any practical use for six 30-watt chan- and it sounds like areal high-end nels of power. But the RB-956AX Multichannel amps are the best thing amp—smooth on top and in the mids, to hit home theater since the couch. becomes tremendously useful when They give you the sound quality of and solid and punchy in the bass. It’s a bridged to three 90-watt channels. It’s a high-end separates with the conve- definite step up from most inexpensive perfect complement to a modestly nience of an A/V receiver. Just run one priced high-end stereo amp, like Rotel’s of Monster’s six-channel interconnect amps—I prefer its sound to that of all cables between the amp and your sur- the $600-and-under stereo amps I’ve $600 RBX-980X. Use the stereo amp round-sound processor, and you're for the left and right speakers, the RB- ready to tried. I wish it were a five-channel 956AX for center and surrounds. design, though—most people who can The RB-956AX has three level con- spend $1,800 on an amp will have a trols, one for each pair of amps. powered subwoofer, so the sixth chan- nel will often lay idle. Unfortunately, its speak- er-cable binding posts have a collar around the base that prevents the use of spade lugs. These type of connectors limit you to using bare wire Amp Options: Rotel’s RB-956AX (left) and Parasound’s HCA-1206 home theater amplifiers. shake the walls. Parasound packed the amp with connections or banana plugs. nice touches—sturdy RCA _ jacks, The Rotel amps sound a bit soft Recently, I’ve been using two six- mondo speaker-cable binding posts that channel amps: Parasound’s $1,800, accommodate spade lugs (my speaker compared to some competitors, but 120-watt-per-channel HCA-1206 and connector of choice), a level control for that’s usually for the best in modestly Rotel’s $600, 30-watt-per-channel RB- each channel (not essential, but conve- 956AX. They’re so dissimilar that you'd nient) and bridging switches. All in all, priced electronics—most of the RBX- never buy one or the other. But in the the HCA-1206 is a perfect powerhouse 980X’s competitors sound too bright and edgy to me. I’ve lived happily with right situations, both shine. amp for demanding home theater an RBX-980X for a year, and I think the The HCA-1206 is the amp I’ve enthusiasts. RB-956AX will be an ideal addition. been looking for since I got into home —Brent Butterworth Premiere 4.0 for the Mac pression (as well as very flexible Construction Window input/output options) for full- we eecccscccscccoccs frame, full-motion video with ran- Import Folder. Fé Movie Capture Fo Several years ago, Adobe Systems intro- dom-access editing capability. The FIO duced Premiere, a program that promised to make video post-produc- third system was a spanking new Batoh Capture Fil tion on the Macintosh as simple as word processing. Adobe kept _ its PowerMac 8100, which features Export PICT Fi promise. Now up to version 4.0, the new PowerPC chip. Premiere Export Backd... tF2 Premiere is the unrivalled leader in can run “native” on these new Export Filmst,.. FS desktop video on the Mac. But soft- ware isn’t the whole story in non-linear machines, which means speed post production. To get the most out of this program, you'll have to have some increases of pretty serious hardware, too. up to 2,000 I checked out Premiere on several Mac systems. The first was a Quadra percent, 660AYV, one of the first computers to be de-pending audio/video friendly right out of the box. The second was a full-blown pro- on the work being done. fessional rig, a Quadra 840AV fitted with Radius’ VideoVision Pro hardware. Premiere does its job very well. In This add-on gives you JPEG-type com- fact, there’s little in the new version that you can’t do. You can capture Features to Spare: Premiere’s Project Viewer. moving video, store it on your (fast) hard drive and apply a mind-boggling for your various clips, apply the effects array of special effects and transitions. and assemble the finished work into a Editing is handled by placing audio and QuickTime movie. Premiere 4.0 comes video clips in the familiar “time-line” bundled with Apple’s new QuickTime layout. You pick start and stop points continued on page 46 22 VIDEO DECEMBER 1994

SAMSUNG Look Ma, A Marriage of Convenience. No Wires. A TV and VCR need each other. So Samsung united them. As a result, Hang-ups about you live happily ever after. hookups? No i[e he Perfect Babysitster. problem. Just The Combo rewinds and replays plug in the tapes automatically. And it won't Combo and it’s eat all your snacks or call ready to go. boyfriends named Ridge. A Great Game Plan. The Combo is kid-friendly. Video input jacks are up front, not way in the back. So Plraeyyingene 6games is all fun, : no work. SAMBUNG ‘THE SAMSUNG. ‘T'V/VCR COMBO. How CONVENIENT. If we made theSamsung TV/VCR Combo any more convenient, we'd have to watch it for you. The Combo is more than just a TV. It’s a TV with a built-in VCR. And it has the features that every couch potato loves. On-screen programming. Video input jacks. Auto repeat. Auto tracking. TECHNOLOGY And full-function remote. THAT WORKS Hate wiring? We do too. That’s why the Combo sets up anywhere with a single plug. eae And whether you Patigdse the 13\" or 19\" screen, it'll look great wherever you put it. ELECTRONICS For more information, please call one of our zone offices: East (201) ‘229-4000, West (310) 537-6791, Midwest (708) 916-2230, South (404) 956-0800. Ug2Ja“aOdPe1s1p9eA1eD1Ia9ayS

THEATER BY BRENT BUTTERWORTH Fight the bright: Why your system's treble is probably too high The goal of home theater is to recreate bright on most systems. And the THX high-frequency roll-off built in. In the the theatrical experience. But elements re-equalization circuit makes some case of the 253C speaker, it’s even of the theater experience often need to non-IHTX discs sound too dull. You can adjustable. This cuts the brightness where you'll notice it most—in the dia- be altered for home environments. Case switch the circuit off, but on all except log, which comes from the center in point: Movie soundtracks are played the fanciest THX gear, like Lexicon’s speaker. But it also causes a timbral mis- on speakers that sit behind a screen. CP-3 Plus, you'll lose the other features match between the center speaker and the left and right main speakers, which And no matter how acoustically trans- of THX processing—timbre-matching can make pans across the front three parent the screen is, it will reduce the and surround-channel decorrelation— speakers sound unnatural. amount of high-frequency sound that that you paid for. My non-THX home system has no reaches the listener. To compensate, The best bet is to compensate for tone controls, but I’ve found an effec- sound engineers apply a treble boost the X-curve during the film-to-video tive solution to the brightness problem. called “X-curve.” If X-curve is properly transfer, thus providing the best sound I simply put the grilles back on my applied, the sound in the theater will be for the most people. But that’s fre- speakers (they’re usually off), then perfect. quently not happening. So unless you drape dishrags over them. At my lis- But play a sound track with X-curve have a THX processor or an acoustical- tening position, this cuts the highs by five decibels at 12.5 kilohertz. It’s in a home theater, and you'll proba- a simple, effective, inexpensive fix that looks tacky as hell. For live- bly get very harsh, fatiguing sound. alones with three weeks of debris on the floor, it’s okay. Others will need You may not like it. Other family | a better solution. members will probably like it even As a last resort, those using separ- less, particularly women and chil- ate processors and amplifiers can insert an equalizer on any channel dren who, on average, have better | they want to roll off. But this can get high-frequency hearing than older _| expensive, and most equalizers have | deleterious sonic effects. A less- men. This shrillness is one reason expensive, better-sounding method why home theater demos have such would be to make your own, which a bad reputation—most combine anyone who can wield a soldering high volume with a treble boost iron can do. All it takes to make a (and the questionable esthetic mer- simple, single-channel equalizer is a small project box, a couple of RCA its of most home theater demo material). jacks, a switch and a small capacitor. This is called a first-order, low-pass Many laserdiscs are mastered filter. Because it’s a first-order filter, with the X-curve intact. Others are it rolls off the highs at six decibels per octave. With every doubling of re-equalized during the film-to- frequency, the sound will be 6 dB lower. video transfer. Complicating the sit- A 20 kHz tone will be 6 dB quieter than uation, some movies are mixed to a 10 kHz tone, other factors being sound bright, some aren’t, a matter equal. of the sound engineer’s or director’s Filters like this are rated by the fre- taste. I’ve been paying careful at- quency at which they lower the signal level by 3 dB. This frequency varies tention to the high-frequency con- with the input impedance of the ampli- tent of movies on tape and disc, and The Equalizer: First-order low-pass filter for single-channel EQ. fier and the output impedance of the surround processor. Using a Rotel have found the brightness com- ly absorptive home theater, like one of RBX-980 amp (33,000 ohms input pletely unpredictable. Some movies impedance) and an AMC AV81HT scream out at you with fatiguing shrill- those ‘70s dope-den/harem _ living surround processor (75 ohms output ness, others sound just right. rooms with Persian fabric tacked to the impedance) as an example, I calculated walls and ceiling, the sound you're get- that a 470 picofarad capacitor would The only sure way you have of ting from laserdiscs will often be too give me a-3 dB frequency of about 10 knowing you're getting perfect EQ is to bright. And you need a way to counter kHz, a good starting point. buy THX-approved laserdiscs, which continued on page 46 preserve the X-curve, and play them that. (VHS tapes are far more frequent- through a THX processor, which has a ly re-equalized during the transfer.) re-equalization circuit that precisely counteracts the X-curve, so you get a If you have a receiver or a processor with tone controls, just turn down the flat response from ther processor. treble a bit. The response won’t perfect- Preserving the X-curve as THX ly counter X-curve, but it’ll make bright soundtracks more listenable. Just bring laserdiscs do is effective, but hardly the treble down until the voices sound egalitarian, because the vast majority of smooth and natural, and you've got it. Dolby Pro-Logic processors and receivers don’t have the THX re- Atlantic Technology has another equalization circuit. As a result, THX- approved discs will probably sound too solution, this one implemented in the speakers. Its center speakers have a 24 VIDEO DECEMBER 1994

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Call 24 hours a day. (For New Video Club . LLC Fela Talal ede larla ll dele eon lalaeld Members Only.) Then do your holi- ically. If you’d prefer an alternate 1 Columbia House Video Club Dept. LLC Advance Selections day shopping with the Columbia selection, or none at all, just mail the 1 PO. Box 1112, Terre Haute, IN 47811-1112 House Video Club. You can choose any six movies for 29¢ each (plus response card always provided by I Yes, please enroll me under the terms outlined in this shipping and handling), when you the date specified. And you'll always I advertisement. As a member, I need buy just six more join the Club. In exchange, you have 14 days to decide; if not, you movies at regular Club prices within the next three years. You may order one or two more movies now for $6.95 each—and have less to buy later! And agree to buy just six more movies may return the selection at our each discount purchase reduces your membership in the next three years, at our reg- expense. plus $1.60 each shipping and handling (a total of $11.34). ular Club prices (which currently obligation by one! . If you ## start as low as $19.95, plus ship- continue your membership os Si Fai spade bie ssAan a fulfilling your obligation, you'll be 1|# # 811.34 payment (total$2004).then needbuy only 5 ping/handling)—and you may can- ies lnetead of 6) in 8 years : Mw cel membership at any time after eligible for our generous bonus »K———— # Ht plan. It enables you to enjoy great 4|# tOwto more movies efor thee low price fsoarviansgslonong atsheyomuovdieecsideyouto wreamnati—n Please check how paying: 1 My check is enclosed. BLH/BLL/BLP Also send still one more selection for an additional $6.95 plus $1.75 shipping/handling (total obfuy$6.l9at5ereac(sheeancdomhpalveetemucdehtaillTeesss to a member! We'll Charge my inOtroDdiu“ncetrosryClmuobvies and future Club purchases to: in MasterCard AMEX VISA Discover p$28i.7e4), —Iothen onfee6d) ibnuypeonnlye 4 # coupon). * send details of the Club's operation 1 Account # BLJ/BLM/BLQ e sent every with your introductory package. If |p, Date Gionatire four weeks (up to 13 times a year), not satisfied, return everything P . phe our ee tor’s Selection — within 10 days for a full refund and :Name plus scores of alternate movies, no further obligation. a including many lower-priced cas- 4 1Address Apt. City Phone ( settes, down to $14.95. And youmay [7 Entertaining 4 State Zip ) receive Special Selection mailings America... 1 Do any of the following apply to you? (41) up to four times a year (a total of up e OnePenon I own a Personal Computer (1) I own a PC with a CD-ROM (2) I plan to buy a PC with a CD-ROM (3) to 17 buying opportunities). 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i, CAMCORNER BY GORDON MCCOMB How to triple your camcorder’s life expectancy. Ever since grade school we’ve been told available at photo stores, is a coated cause some damage if you use the cas- to eat right, exercise regularly and piece of glass that absorbs most ultravi- sette incorrectly. If you’re using a clean- olet light. It screws onto the front of ing cassette that requires a fluid, wait at refrain from bad habits, like watching the lens, and also protects it. It’s far least five minutes after cleaning before reruns of Gilligan’s Island. A healthy cheaper and simpler to replace a inserting a fresh tape. This lets the fluid body helps us live longer and avoid ill- scratched filter than the entire lens. evaporate fully. ness. It’s the same with camcorders. A camcorder’s best insurance policy is its e If the lens needs cleaning, take off How often should you clean the owner’s concern. Treat your camcorder the UV filter and clean the lens with a heads? If you use your camcorder regu- right from the day you buy it, and odds lens brush, available at any photo store. larly, clean the heads every three to six are it will last longer and run better. The kind with the built-in blower is months. If you use the camcorder only Treat it wrong and a shooting machine okay. Never use the lens-cleaning tis- that should deliver many productive sues designed for eyeglasses. Most have occasionally, clean the heads every six years may turn into a broken-down chemicals that can erode the coating to 12 months. You should also clean derelict after only one or two. Even on your camcorder lens. them after using the camcorder out- doors in the presence of dust, water Camcorder FMet at iMtaavne Bo e If you're Care Kit: Vio bdod d going inside from spray, sand and the like. VHS and 8mm rainy or cold head cleaners VCR weather, wait BATTERY BASICS by Scotch and Haan CLEANER long enough for One of the most common causes of Maxell, a pro- your camcorder tective UV fil- to warm up before an ailing camcorder is a bad battery. ter, a pencil Most camcorder batteries use recharge- eraser for using it again. cleaning bat- Going from cold able nickel-cadmium cells, which are tery terminals, to warm weather durable and trustworthy. But they’re and a lens can cause con- not infallible. Even the best camcorder brush by densation inside battery can die and, sometimes, take PhotoCo. the camcorder with it. So be wary. the camcorder, Here’s how to handle batteries with unintentional abuse can slowly erode a which can cause problems. Test appropriate care: camcorder’s immune system, requiring the camcorder by feeling the body. If it’s e Camcorder batteries like to be you to replace key parts or foot the bill at room temperature, it’s ready. for costly repairs. stored in cool, dry places. Avoid SENSITIVE HEADS putting them in a hot car, even for an There are a number of steps you can hour. Not only does this rob some of the Camcorders, like VCRs, use mag- take that, together, can double or triple netic heads that can become contami- battery’s charge, it can lessen its life. the life of your camcorder, while keep- nated by dirt and grime over time. e Modern nickel-cadmiums don't ing it off the repair tech’s bench. Some Once dirty, they’ll prevent your cam- corder from adequately recording or exhibit as much of the “memory effect” involve accessories, such as batteries, playing pictures and sound. Keeping as earlier versions. Still, you should get but let’s start with the machine itself. the heads clean helps ensure that your into the habit of using a battery until it’s Here are five simple ways to keep it fit camcorder will always be ready when mostly discharged. Letting the battery as a fiddle: you are. discharge before recharging will help it last longer between charges. Look for e When not using your camcorder, The best, easiest way to clean cam- the “low-batt” light inside the viewfind- stash it away so it won't get dusty. If you corder heads is to use a head-cleaning er before recharging. If you don’t plan don’t have a special storage place for it, cassette. They’re available in full-size on using your camcorder for a while, try a corner of your sock drawer. Wrap VHS, VHS-C and 8mm formats. Beta discharge the battery by turning on the the camcorder in a towel to keep it from camcorder and keeping it on (you may being knocked around in the drawer. head cleaners are also still made, but need to play a tape to keep the cam- are much harder to find. Read and obey corder from automatically shutting off). e Always keep your camcorder the instructions that come with the clean. If you spot dust or dirt, wipe it off cleaning cassette. Some cleaners are e If you’re using a lead acid battery, using a clean hankie or cloth. Don’t self-contained: Just drop the cassette on the other hand, store it in a charged wait until the camcorder becomes so into the camcorder and play the clean- state and don’t worry about the memo- dirty you need liquid cleaner. If you ing tape for 20 or 30 seconds. Others ry effect. It’s not a factor. require you to apply a drop or two of must use a liquid cleaner, like Fantastik cleaning fluid in a small hole before e When not using your camcorder, or 409, apply a small amount to a clean- using the cassette. remove the battery and store it sepa- ing cloth. Never spray the juice directly rately. Although few do, all batteries are on the camcorder. Either way, follow the instructions capable of leaking. The chief sign of to the letter. You could conceivably leakage is a caustic white powder that e Invest $10 in a UV filter for your oozes from the seams of the pack. If you camcorder’s lens. The filter, widely encounter it, throw the battery away, continued on page 46 26 VIDEO DECEMBER 1994

IN CASE YOU LOSE THE INSTRUCTION MANUAL HERE’S ANOTHER COPY. With the y p button, you cpauntoseyat videos. uepe world’s first Point and Shoot camc The JVC EZ1 It’s so easy you'll fall in love. eader Service Card

VIDEO BY RODERICK WOODCOCK UP TLE Ti Letters from our readers Bud Myers of Casio’s ] I’m taking up skydiving and look- it was the invention of the camcorder PANVonCoyAYAte(-om DYAst} (oyeme-V Iie that led JVC to design a smaller cylin- ing for a very small or light cam- der, one that’s two-thirds the diameter about video printers of the standard 62mm cylinder. corder to record my jumps. Light weight Why would a videographer By combining a larger tape wrap, need a video printer? and small size are important because with a faster rotational speed and twice as many video heads, JVC was able to Video photography captures the I’m going to have to bolt the camcorder maintain full compatibility with tapes exact instant that a still photogra- made on other VCRs or camcorders. pher almost never achieves. By to my helmet. Do you have any sugges- This ingenious design, which allowed advancing video frame by frame and JVC to build a smaller camcorder, has then printing the exact frame, a video- tions? D. Logan been used on full-size VHS and VHS- grapher can display the moment exact- C models for the past 10 years. The ly how he wants it. Also, printing a Fresno, California same concept has been applied to many frame on an adhesive-backed print 8mm camcorders, also as a means of after it has been digitally cropped and []:: maximum picture quality and sized is a great way to identify each compact size, try one of the small- saving space. videocassette in the library. But many newer models have er Hi8 camcorders, like Sony’s TR200, Has there been an increase in TR300 or TR500 models, or Canon’s reverted to the larger, standard-diame- interest in video printers recently? UC-S3. S-VHS-C models would pro- ter video drums. One reason has been vide excellent video quality as well, but to eliminate some of the problems asso- Video printers have been used are somewhat larger and heavier than ciated with jitter, a slight instability in professionally, but the cost has their Hi8 counterparts. the picture caused by the smaller mech- limited consumer use. Now, Casio One exception was JVC’s FC007 mod- anism. This is especially evident when has brought new technology that not ular system from a few years ago, which videotapes from camcorders with small only performs great, but also dramat- combined a compact S-VHS-C VCR video cylinders are played on other ically lowers the price. with a very small, fixed focus camera machines. The bigger drums also have that could be easily mounted on a hel- more space to mount conventional What are some of the features met. The camera cable was connected video head designs, without compro- of Casio’s new video printer? to the VCR module, which could be carried in a padded bag around the mising other features, such as video The VG-100 Personal Video waist. The 007 is no longer being made, head width and the quality of special Printer incorporates Casio’s new but you might still find some advertised effects. color printing technology called Point in the used video sections of the news- Diffusion Transfer Printing, which paper. For these reasons, Panasonic has controls the size of each dot making decided to return to its 62mm head- up the image to produce color prints Another stand-alone VCR, the wheel. But JVC has elected to stay with of outstanding resolution. There’s an Sony EVP-220, probably qualifies as the the smaller mechanism, arguing that enlargement function that can blow world’s smallest. It measures only 5 by 6 there are other ways to cure the jitter up an image to 36 cards (poster size) by 2 inches and weighs about 2 pounds problem, and pointing out that the or reduce down to eight images on with a battery pack. But it’s an 8mm one print card. Any video source can model, not Hi8, and you would still smaller, lighter drum has less inertia, so be printed by attaching it to the VG- have to add a color camera to the sys- it consumes less power. 100’s RCA video inputs and just tem. Several so-called lipstick cameras touching a button on the remote when In the 8mm arena, both designs you want to memorize the image. are also available, mostly from industri- continue to be used. But a few manu- al video dealers, but they cost more facturers, most notably Sony and By manufacturing an affordable than a first-rate camcorder. printer, do you expect interest Canon, are also returning to the stan- and sales to increase? [I]: in the market for a VHS-C dard size video cylinder, which has a camcorder and I’ve noticed that Video specialists and superstores diameter of 40mm, for many of the have been truly impressed with the Panasonic models use a bigger video the performance and the price. You'll head, while JVC models use a smaller same reasons. continued on page 48 see the VG-100 demonstrated in the head. Why the difference, and is there VCR/camcorder departments of the an advantage to one design? Address questions to Q&A, Video Mag- major retailers this fall. azine, 460 West 34 Street, New York, P Shuster NY 10001; fax questions to 212-947- Toronto, Ontario 6500 after 5 p.m., EST, weekdays, or all day on weekends; or send questions It’s not the video heads, but rather the video cylinder (also called the via CompuServe to 75147,1255 or via video drum, head wheel or scanner) on the Internet to 75147.1255@com- which the heads are mounted. The puserve.com. Please include your name video cylinder is at the heart of any and postal or e-mail address; questions helical scan VCR or camcorder. In fact, may be edited for clarity and space. 28 VIDEO DECEMBER 1994

STOP SHOOTING ORDINARY VIDEOS. AND START CREATING EXTRAORDINARY ONES! Now, create your most dazzling videos ever! e Easy-to-master methods for achieving time-lapse All you need is a copy of Camcorder Magic, the video effects, colorization, and other special effects. guide that shows you step-by-step how to transform * Lighting tricks the pros use to set the right mood. Dyeouvrelvoipdeedos biynttoopP pvriodfeeossipornaold-uqcu|ealristy aYnIdprVodIuDcEtiOons. Magazine contributors James e How to use minPeieatures to add real- ism to your videos. Caruso and Mavis Arthur, ¢ Imaginative effects you can Camcorder Magic will change the achieve with filters, lenses, way you shoot videos. Over 190 and homemade masks. ¢ How to master professional fact-packed pages and hundreds skills — from handheld of color photos show you: ¢ How to choose the perfect moves and tripod shooting camera point-of-view. to camera angles, perspec- ¢ Professional techniques for tive and depth of field. capturing fast action. ¢ E: diting ideas that turn raw © How to create smooth transi-4 ET RATES, WS mae \\ footage into masterpieces. tions between shots. © How to record youryour p photos , ¢ Simple methods for adding slides and home movies titles and graphics to your pro- onto video tape. , ducti.ons — no matter what i ee equipment you own! © SeFcrketsiose agdrtLLywAiodeod s ¢ How to get great results in make-cupe artists. low-light situations. en Pbleues -- icgtoas msscs orddeerr cacraree, choOs:- ¢ Tahe secrets of sheoeotiTOGng fSaasacgi- samme\\ =ing the best tape, preserving nating candid interviews. WaAaY tiTO MVAIKDEOS W\\a tapes properly, and much ¢ How to create animation — more. It’s the ultimate guide to with any camcorder. Sf SSO getting the most out of your JAMES R. CARUSO MAVIS\\E. ARTHUR camcorder. Send for yours today! eee os bah aitial indolodlios «cnc 1 toca RE aR ESET oe ee | YES, send me CAMCORDER MAGIC! Name I I My payment of $12 plus $3 shipping and (please print clearly) | I I handling ($15 total per copy) is enclosed. Address State Zip ! I (Make check or money order payable to City . Reese Communications.) 1 1 , NY State residents, please add appropriate i I sales tax. Outside U.S., $16 total. Allow up to No. Copies Payment Total $ | I 1 4 weeks for delivery. 8 j Clip & Mail with payment to: CAMCORDER MAGIC, VM 12/94 | VIDEO Magazine, 460 West 34th Street, New York, NY 10001 Rack ya sent sa sh i ep cs Sorns‘a se vee omsa go cn)

whisper COLLECTOR'S F whisper CLEARINGHOUSE Searching for Tom and Cleopatra Jones whisper The DeKalb Fire Department is looking ute parody of Apocalypse Now. The whisper for two of the Three Stooges movies spoof aired directly after a showing of made by Columbia Pictures that deal Apocalypse. Does anyone know about it, Now with with firemen. The first, False Alarm, fea- and how much a copy would cost? Enhanced Sound Circuitry tures the Stooges as Los Angeles firemen who sleep through a fire alarm and steal Mark D. Julian Introducing the the shift captain’s car. In the second, the 815 West River Boulevard #2 Stooges burn down the fire station while VOLUME STABILIZER™ trying to light the steam pumper. I will Wichita, KS 67203 pay for copies of both and any additional that lets you hear the whispers expenses. I am looking for old “B” movies like and stops you from Cleopatra Jones and the Lost City of Gold, Nick D. Samardzija, Firefighter Slaughter, Slaughter’s Big Ripoff, and the cringing at the bangs. martial arts movie Deep Thrust. I will It's an innovative, low cost solution Station #1, 700 Pine Street supply videotapes, or reimburse for their to home video volume control prob- cost along with copying fees and post- lems because it automatically DeKalb, IL 60115 age. Please help me locate these. I can’t increases the volume of the audio find them in video stores at all. source during soft passages and I am trying to find someone who has a reduces volume during loud pas- collection of Tom Jones’ TV shows. In R.A. Baker | sages. You'll hear every word of particular, I would love to have a copy of dialogue and every bar of music 39 Von Steuben Street while the VOLUME STABILIZER the program that aired October 23, 1970 Goose Creek, SC 29445 softens the sounds that are on ABC. The beautiful, dramatic read- normally too loud. ing of “I will not go back” by Edward G. Whether you use a satellite dish, a Robinson is a memory from the show home theater system, or just a which has haunted me all these years. I VCR, you can put the remote con- trol aside. Now with four models to will, of course, reimburse the party who choose from. sends it to me. If no one has a copy, per- haps someone can tell me how to obtain Call or write for our one. I would be most grateful. FREE Mary Ganci Box 4163 paper on “Dynamic Range; When less is more.” Carlsbad, CA 92018 For more information ask your dealer or Desperately seeking a copy of a failed Bad: Tamara Dobson as Cleopatra Jones. call or write: ABC pilot that aired on May 27, 1993 called Partners starring Jack Warden, I am a collector of items related to the Brookline | Carol Huston and Jeff Yagh—ehorpe- film career of Nastassja Kinski. ] have Technologies fully in SP, but I'll take what I can get. most of her films on tape, but several Please help! Maybe you taped Matlock are missing from my collection. Assis- 2035 Carriage Hill Road that night and let the tape run...I’ll send tance in locating these in any format Allison Park, PA 15101-3350 tape and reimburse expenses. Plus you'll would be appreciated, and expenses will have my unyielding gratitude. What be gratefully reimbursed. All are Italian 1-800-366-9290 more could you want? productions: Night Sun, directed by Fabio and Vittorio Taviani, ca. 1990; Circle 12 on Reader Service Card. Mark Denton Crystal or Ash, Fire or Wind, as Long as 1320 Parkwood It’s Love, directed by Lina Wertmuller, Ypsilanti, MI 48198 ca. 1989; and II Segreto, directed by Cary Grant made a black-and-white movie in the late 1940s or early 1950s in which he impersonates a mentally re- tarded man whose family attempts to get its hands on the money his dead father left him. I will happily reimburse all ex- penses for a VHS copy. Douglas Smith Rt.4 Box 70A San Benito, TX 78586 Sometime between late 1980 and early 1981 I saw a short film on Showtime called Pork Lips Now—a 20- to 30-min- 30 VIDEO DECEMBER 1994

Francisco Maselli, ca. 1989. Iam looking for VHS tapes of Luther the Stephen L. Robinson Geek (1980), The Specialist (1976) and | E New ES RE PSR Ics’ E S Box 174 1974’s Act of Vengeance (a.k.a. Rape New Movies Riverdale, MD 20738-0174 | Squad). I'd be most grateful and will re- Old Movies imburse any reasonable amount for | Made in 1960, The Bridge is a dramatic | them. and all the account of a group of German teenagers | Alan Gonska 107 Broadway Classics conscripted in a hopeless, last-ditch at- | We Have Pompton Lakes, NJ 07442-1241 tempt to hold off the U.S. Army in | Them All! 1945. I'll pay all expenses for the uncut I am looking for good quality copies of |LASERDIScs| version on VHS. (There’s one butch- the British soap The East Enders, espe- ered version that omits the sergeant’s cially episodes from 1988 to 1983. Also, a filendly 5°!mM attempt to get the boys sent out of the does anyone have a copy of the 1991 = Free Snip . | front line: He gets shot by the German HBO show Mr. Bean, or MTV’s 1984 = samed | military police for his pains). Live Aid Concert? I will reimburse all <i nay559SeprevricDet Maurice Chazottes | VHS costs and postage. Joanne Carignan 2516 Cobb Parkway Smyrna, GA 30080 110-208 Russell Street 7 A Justin Drive Jacksonville, ILL 62650 Ph 1-404-955-8909 Victoria, B.C. Fx 1-404-984-2173 V9A 3X2 Canada 24 HOUR FAX Several years ago, I saw a movie on TV | Send those requests for hard-to-find tapes to about an old lady who travelled by air- | Collector's Clearinghouse, 460 West 34 10:00- 7:00 EST MON - FRI plane from New York to California, and Street, New York, NY 10001. Video Maga- accidently left her little dog behind in zine DOES NOT locate tapes; this is a VISA - MASTERCARD - DISCOVER JFK airpor)t. The dog then travelled bDY y | reader-to-reader service only, so please do AMERICAN EXPRESS land, on its own, back to his master in | not send a self-addressed envelope. Requests C.0.D. - CHECKS | California. Can anyone help find this | for copyrighted material must be for person- movie on videocassette? I cannot re- al use only. You may offer to reimburse ex- * CONTINENTAL U.S. ONLY - UPS GROUND member the title, but J will gladly reim- burse all expenses. penses, but the Clearinghouse is not open to Circle 14 on Reader Service Card. requests for the purchase or sale of tapes. Ronald Van Campen Ibisweg No.2 CAPTIVE AUDIENCE?? Box 3562 | Willemstad, Curacao X eCone Netherlands Antilles Ready for a challenge? I am searching | se for the following videos: Rumble On the Docks and Operation Mad Ball, with ASK ABOUT OUR FREE James Darren; Let No Man Write My Ep- * BLUE BEOCKER. a. itaph, with Shelly Winters; Diamond S10 NC] ANS SS) Sto @)ad dl=i | Head, with Charlton Heston; and Wild Seed, with Michael Parks. I would also WE CARRY ALL MAJOR BRAND like a copy of the Lost in Space episode in NAME CABLE TV CONVERTERS which Billy Mumy sings “Sloop John B.” * YOUR SATISFACTION IS OUR #1 PRIORITY ! Jane Gordon * 30 DAY MONEY BACK GUARANTEE ! 98 Stanley Avenue * 1 YEAR WARRANTY! WE SHIP C.O.D. ! * OUR UNITS ARE GUARANTEED TO WORK !! Nutley, NJ 07110 PLEASE HAVE THE BRAND NAME & MODEL I’m desperately trying to locate a copy of NUMBER OF YOUR CABLE COMPANIES Bette Midler’s first television special. CONVERTER, BEFORE CALLING. One of her guests was Dustin Hoffman. I WE WILL MEET OR BEAT ANY VALID PRICE QUOTE. will reimburse expenses including post- UNLIKE SOME OF OUR COMPETITORS, WE ARE HAPPY TO age. Thank You. Thank You. Thank SPEND THE TIME TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS You. Roy Herberger CONCERNING THE PURCHASING OF OUR EQUIPMENT. 10675 Alleghany Road VISUAL COMMUNICATIONS INC. Darien Center, NY 14040 FOR CATALOG OR INFORMATION I am looking for good quality videos of CALL 1-718-229-2358 the rock group KISS.” Performances from the 1970's, when the group wore wer SORRY NO NEW YORK SALES ***** make-up, are particularly desireable. I | will gladly reimburse expenses. Also, be- ** FOR ORDERS ONLY **FRIENDLY - PROFESSIONAL - SERVICE- SINCE 1975 ing a video store manager, I could help 1-800-GO-CABLE others find films they may be searching for. 20-04 UTOPIA PARKWAY SUITE 236 WHITESTONE, NY 11357 BY PURCHASING CABLE EQUIPMENT FROM VISUAL COMM. THE CUSTOMER Dan Iannetta AGREES TO COMPLY WITH THE FEDERAL LAWS REGARDING PRIVATE 401 Copper Landing, #216 OWNERSHIP OF CABLE TV EQUIPMENT, IF YOU ARE UNSURE OF THESE LAWS CHECK WITH YOUR LOCAL OFFICIALS. ANYONE IMPLYING THEFT OF SERVICE Cherry Hill, NJ 08002 | WILL BE DENIED SALE OF EQUIPMENT. Circle 13 on Reader Service Card.

HITACHI ILLUMINATED SHUTTLE REMOTE EDIT IN/OUT) VIDEO IN. L-AUDIO IN-R O Sry~ i* Hi-Fi VCR Ky \\Y STEREO w/Cable|/Channel’ Changer F382 By Timothy Liebe HITACHI VT-F382A VCR. Most of the higher functions— Like a number of similar VHS VCR “high-middle” VCRs, | Hitachi’s new VI-F382A possesses a certain re- such as VCR setup, programming and semblance to its top-of-the-line VHS even tape speed—are controlled by two editing model, the $449 VT-F482A. A casual glance at the panel of front A/V onscreen menus accessed via switches input jacks (including one for synchro edit) and the shuttle wheel on the PRICE: $399 marked “guide” and “display.” Hitachi Multiburst pattern for the VT-F328A VCR shows a V-RATING: VV VW” probably did this to make the remote very good video frequency response for VHS. less intimidating, but it means that peo- PICTURE BETTER —P ple who use universal remotes won't be remote control might lead you to SOUND believe, mistakenly, that this unit also FEATURES able to do much more than play or possesses flying erase heads and record tapes in actual time, at the speed audio/video dub. As it turns out, how- ever, it’s just a standard four-head, hi-fi VALUE originally set. VHS deck for home use. The onscreen menus can be set up The F382A has, with the exception of the front jacks mentioned above, a to work in either English, French or fairly simplified design. Only the most basic functions can be controlled from Spanish. The manual also comes in the VCR itself—accessing advanced functions requires using the unit’s infrared remote. While a forest of but- these three languages; or rather, it 32 VIDEO DECEMBER 1994 tons on the body of the VCR might be comes in English and French, with an considered daunting by the average eight-page Spanish “Quick Use Guide” consumer, this trend towards video in the middle. Although this is common equipment downsizing can be inconve- with Hitachi video manuals, I find it nient to anyone who loses or breaks his rather strange, since Spanish speakers or her remote. are far more likely to use NTSC than Interestingly, the remote itself is French speakers. nearly as sparse as the front of the When you first set up the F382A, SPECS AND shuttle ring & FF/rewind add/erase unweighted video 44.8 MEASUREMENTS (locking)-5x SP; 15x EP; SP, 42.5 EP; weighted (non-locking)-10x SP, Cable Tuning Range: video 52.7 SP, 51.5 EP; Brand & Model: Hitachi 20x EP 125 channels—2 to 13, A- chroma AM 45.3 SP, 39.9 VT-F382A 8 to A-1, Ato W, W+1 to EP; chroma PM 40.9 SP, Fast Forward/Rewind W+84 36.7 EP Weight & Size (h/w/d): Time: 2.5 min. for T-120 9.9 Ibs.: 3-3/4 x 15 x 12- Timer: 8-event/1-month Audio Frequency 5/8 inches Edit Protocol: Hitachi Response: hi-fi—20 Hz- synchro edit Clock Battery Backup: 1 20 kHz, +0.04/-3.4 dB SP Power Use: 22 watts hour & EP; linear (-3 dB)—75 Remote Control: IR Hz-10 kHz SP, 75 Hz-2 Jacks: front—edit in/out, wireless with illuminated Key Features: VCR Plus kHz EP video/stereo audio input; transport buttons with cable box control, rear— video/stereo audio illuminated remote, shut- Hi-Fi Dynamic Range: input and output, RF Program Start tle dial, frame advance 74.4 dB input and output Locator/Index/Cue: index with auto marking RESULTS Linear Audio S/N: 40.1 Tape Speeds: SP, LP, EP dB Audio: linear mono, hi-fi Horizontal Resolution: Video Heads: 4 AFM stereo 230-240 lines Total Harmonic Distortion: hi-fi 0.3 dB, Cue & Review Search: Preset Method: auto pro- ' Picture S/N Ratios (dB): linear 1.1 dB | gram plus manual VLPMEHIOSODRTESO

_ TESTSBY BERGER-BRAITHWAITE LABS one thing you PANASONIC S-VHS CAMCORDER should note is By Stewart Applegath ° that it comes Panasonic’s new up automatical- ly in EP speed $770-A may be one of the instead of SP last surviving full-sized S- But since most people only VHS camcorders for con- record pro- grams they’re sumers. But if the format is soon going to watch once and then to fade, this is a fitting swansong. In record over, this is probably a addition to a great, sharp picture, it has logical default lots of features, including digital effects, setting. Howev- er, it can be an- most of which are usable in combina- noying if you prefer ‘higher-quality recordings, especially tion. The full complement of features Waveform pattern shows much more detail in the since you can only change the tape S-VHS signal (left) than in the VHS signal (right). speed via the display menu. stands in direct contrast to most other One popular new feature this VCR of the S770’s high-quality image, but comes with is VCR Plus with cable box full-sized VHS camcorders, which rely because of its shoulder-mount configu- control, which makes timeshifting easi- on menu systems for many controls. ration. The S770 is comfortable to hold er. Using this feature can be confusing and, while it is not overly heavy, it feels at first, especially if you live in an area Here, Panasonic dispenses with menus solid and was easy to steady on my where you need to use your addressable cable box to receive most channels. altogether. Not only do most of the fea- continued on page 40 Also, like most of the F382A’s higher tures have dedicated switches, but | functions, you access VCR Plus Panasonic throws in a generous array of eeeecoes through an onscreen menu. Once you function or indicator lights for both PRICE: $1,599 get it working, however, it is much sim- camera and recorder functions. pler to punch in one number from your V-RATING: VVVV TV listings than it is to set start time, The S770 camcorder seems ideal end time, channel and date. for someone who wants to shoot events BETTER —P The F382A also possesses visual with a degree of profes- PICTURE sionalism without hav- SOUND continued on page 40 ing to put out big FEATURES bucks for a profes- VALUE sional unit. I say this oO 1 2 3 4 5 not only because RAUNGS ARE RELATIVE TO THOSE FOR OTHER S-VHS/Hi8 CAMCORDERS

ANEIOLDDELEY By Cliff Roth SPECS AND grammable scan on set, output (of selected chroma AM 64.6, chro- Sony rear-projection TVs MEASUREMENTS scan plus direct access source), video/stereo ma PM 63.5 have been a Video Mag- on remote audio output (loop- azine favorite for years. A Brand & Model: Sony through of input 3), Screen Brightness: 66 46-inch model tied for KP-53XBR35 Broadcast Tuning Control S input and out- footlamberts at standard first in our last rear-projection shootout, Weight & Size (h/w/d): Range: 2 to 13, 14 to 69 putRF input, variable- setting and we’ve received reports from many 221.6 Ibs., 52-3/4 x 48- level stereo audio output readers who have bought Sony rear-pro- 3/4 x 25-1/8 inches Cable Tuning Range: Color Temperature: jection sets only to be amazed at the Power Consumption: 125 channels—A-8, A-7, External Speaker Trinitone high 6,600 picture quality. Yet the new KV- 350 watts max., 7 watts A-6, 2 to 13, A to W, Connectors: external kelvin, Trinitone low 53XBR35 is actually better than any standby W+1 to W+58, A-5 to A- main left and right, sur- 8,500 kelvin Screen Size: 53 inches 1, W+59 to W+84 round left and right Sony rear projector we’ve tried. diagonally Accuracy of Colors: This top-notch TV looks great, Speaker Size: two 1- Remote Control: uni- Internal Audio excellent inch tweeters, two 4-3/4- versal with prepro- Amplifier Power: 20 sounds great, and has just about every inch woofers grammed and learning watts per channel stereo Audio Frequency bell and whistle you could want. A Type of Tuning: fre- multibrand control of a front, 10 watts per chan- Response: electronics glossy acrylic contrast screen—a feature quency synthesis cable box, threeVCRs nel rear 20 Hz-20 kHz, +0.3/-0.7 rapidly spreading throughout Sony’s Method of Tuning: pro- and a laser dB; speakers 60 Hz-16 line and the industry—gives the set a disc player RESULTS kHz, -3 dB surface texture that makes it look like a Horizontal Resolution: Jacks: front video/ over 700 lines Audio S/N: at line out- direct-view stereo audio input; Picture S/N (dB): lumi- puts 76.1 dB, at speaker rear—3 S-video/video/ nance 56.7, video 54.3, outputs 72.1 dB stereo audio inputs, S- video/video/stereo audio Total Harmonic Distortion: electronics 0.2%, speakers 0.5% set. The non-removable screen also picture-in-picture system. The PIP box helps minimize the appearance of hori- can appear in any corner, and offers two zontal scan lines. Digital video features sizes—troughly 1/6- and 1/4-screen. A channel index feature offers a choice of include a dual-tuner a 16-way split-screen, or an eight-way split featuring one big main screen sur- rounded by seven smaller boxes along the left side and bottom. Separate buttons make it easy to pick the eight-way channel index, which is a convenient way to surf other channels while continuing to watch something. There’s a delay of a few sec- onds when you press either channel index button, because the multi-image display doesn’t appear until all the pan- els are ready. Most other PIP TVs fill in the small boxes one at a time. One minor complaint is that you can't activate the PIP or channel index feature when the auxiliary antenna has been selected. PIP picture detail is not very impressive, either. Horizontal reso- lution appeared to be around 200 lines, even at the large box size. A digital freeze field feature, called memo on the remote, lets you store a continued on page 42 | PRICE: $3,500 V-RATING: VVVVV ae BETTER > PICTURE SOUND FEATURES VALUE Oe ‘8 RATINGS ARE RELATIVE TO THOSE FOR OTHER REAR-PROJECTION TV SETS 34 VIDEO DECEMBER 1994

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NOILDEEEEY SONY REAR-PROJECTION TY SPECS AND grammable scan on set, output (of selected chroma AM 64.6, chro- MEASUREMENTS scan plus direct access source), video/stereo ma PM 63.5 By Cliff Roth on remote audio output (loop- Sony rear-projection TVs Brand & Model: Sony through of input 3), Screen Brightness: 66 have been a Video Mag- KP-53XBR35 Broadcast Tuning Control S input and out- footlamberts at standard azine favorite for years. A Weight & Size (h/w/d): Range: 2 to 13, 14 to 69 setting 46-inch model tied for 221.6 Ibs., 52-3/4 x 48- ut, RF input, variable- first in our last rear-projection shootout, 3/4 x 25-1/8 inches Cable Tuning Range: level stereo audio output Color Temperature: and we’ve received reports from many Power Consumption: 125 channels—A-8, A-7, Trinitone high 6,600 readers who have bought Sony rear-pro- 350 watts max., 7 watts A-6, 2 to 13, Ato W, External Speaker kelvin, Trinitone low jection sets only to be amazed at the standby W+1 to W+58, A-5 to A- Connectors: external 8,500 kelvin picture quality. Yet the new KV- Screen Size: 53 inches 1, W+59 to W+84 main left and right, sur- 53XBR35 is actually better than any diagonally round left and right Accuracy of Colors: Speaker Size: two 1- Remote Control: uni- excellent Sony rear projector we’ve tried. inch tweeters, two 4-3/4- versal with prepro- Internal Audio This top-notch TV looks great, inch woofers grammed and learning Amplifier Power: 20 Audio Frequency Type of Tuning: fre- multibrand control of a watts per channel stereo Response: electronics sounds great, and has just about every quency synthesis cable box, threeVCRs front, 10 watts per chan- 20 Hz-20 kHz, +0.3/-0.7 bell and whistle you could want. A Method of Tuning: pro- and a laser nel rear dB; speakers 60 Hz-16 glossy acrylic contrast screen—a feature disc player kHz, -3 dB rapidly spreading throughout Sony’s RESULTS line and the industry—gives the set a Jacks: front video/ Audio S/N: at line out- surface texture that makes it look like a stereo audio input; Horizontal Resolution: puts 76.1 dB, at speaker rear—3 S-video/video/ over 700 lines outputs 72.1 dB direct-view stereo audio inputs, S- Picture S/N (dB): lumi- video/video/stereo audio nance 56,7, video 54.3, Total Harmonic Distortion: electronics 0.2%, speakers 0.5% set. The non-removable screen also picture-in-picture system. The PIP box helps minimize the appearance of hori- can appear in any corner, and offers two zontal scan lines. Digital video features include a dual-tuner sizes—troughly 1/6- and 1/4-screen. A channel index feature offers a choice of a 16-way split-screen, or an eight-way split featuring one big main screen sur- rounded by seven smaller boxes along the left side and bottom. Separate buttons make it easy to pick the eight-way channel index, which is a convenient way to surf other channels while continuing to watch something. There’s a delay of a few sec- onds when you press either channel index button, because the multi-image display doesn’t appear until all the pan- els are ready. Most other PIP TVs fill in the small boxes one at a time. Lo. ~ ASAE SsSesNeer NO POSTAGE NECESSARY IF MAILED IN THE UNITED STATES BUSINESS REPLY MAIL FIRST CLASS MAIL PERMIT NO. 3494 NEW YORK, NY POSTAGE WILL BE PAID BY ADDRESSEE VIDEO PRO P.O. Box 55941 Boulder, Colorado 80321-5941

Event, Desktop: Hi gh-End Consumer & Sm ali BusinesasuguVstIae19®94 VpirodfeneoeFswdsrMieoosapmnkugatbatllozhipeicvanipvtdeuiiebdoolengciorosfamhoepeedrhrisettroho,raef and small-business BaonedcKeanYna-arl1dy9-seisdged test . , | ; w |3 : i/ | | 2 he wstoarbklheo?rse | | : |} nN he a |i i p, Rs ysp ToHdEoHi iBeUtiSnIrgsNecEaSmSpa3g9: 9n) - | eame eeCHHNNItICecAhLniq)ueIsDE er |i a WviAdReEoShRopEVIPAY TeHsuEcceVssIDsEtoOriGeRs APHERS VIDEO PRO is a major new publication covering the latest in pro equipment — 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- ACER publication price of only SK, $23.97 a year (less than $2 an EMYSTIFYING issue) — a savings of almost 50% DESKTOP VIDEO off the newsstand price. But act Thesada Neneh lets [. NOW. This special offer ends ) ee OLE LAE Stray; December 31, 1994. : re For faster service call toll free 1-800-365-1008.

Easy Does It: The PS2715S comes with a simple remote and a full-featured one that can also run DSS receivers. PROSCAN 27-INCH TV.esssssse you zoom in on any part of the picture, (you need a VCR to watch two pro- with enough magnification so that at grams at once), and offers five picture By Cliff Roth sizes and adjustable location in any cor- Sporting a flatter, darker extreme zoom-in, the picture becomes ner. A freeze-field feature can be picture tube, ProScan’s an abstract digital mosaic. You can also applied to the full or the inset picture. new PS27153 27-inch zoom more subtly, such as by (heaven A channel guide button brings up a 12- monitor/receiver is an forbid) bringing letterboxed films out to way split screen that shows stills from a update of the PS2715S, our ‘93 pick for fill the full screen. Best Direct-View TV of the Year. It continued on page 44 offers both solid performance and fancy The PIP system uses a single-tuner features. Though it has a few minor operating quirks I found unfriendly, it’s SPECS AND | on full remote through for cable conver- | 500 lines tor), 1/8-inch headphones Picture S/N (dB): video a top contender in this screen size. | Broadcast Tuning Digital video features include a Range: 2 to 13, 14 to 69 External Speaker 51.5, chroma AM 62.6, Brand & Model: Proscan chroma PM 61.8 camcorder-style zoom control that lets PS27153 | Cable Tuning Range: Connectors: external |125 channels—2 to 13, A CKeollvoirn Balance: 6,650 Weig; ht & Si:ze (h/wid): | main left and rirgihgth,t¥ sur- || Wtol4,57,J tAo-W5,toW+A1-1,toW+58 round left and 102 Ibs., 23-1/2 x 25-1/2 27-INCH TV SET x 18-5/8 inches to W+84 Internal Audio Amplifier Screen Brightness: 99 Power: 10 watts per footlamberts ___ PRICE: $1,099 Power Consumption: Remote Control: small channel _V-RATING: VVVV\\ 195 watts simplified remote plus Accuracy of Colors: |large remote with prepro- Key Features: Invar very good/excellent PICTURE BETTER —> ize: 27 i grammed multibrand con- SOUND Saou 21 MRE shadow mask, anti- Audio Frequency FEATURES | ld we VCRs oF Response: at line out- VALUE Speaker Size: two 2-1/4 glare/anti-static faceplate, puts 20 Hz-20 kHz, +0.7/- x 5-inch mid/high drivers, laserdisc players, cable 2.2 dB, at speaker termi- two 5-1/8-inch woofers box or DSS receiver, and PIP, digital zoom and nals 20 Hz-12.5 kHz, RCA audio device +2.3/-3 dB, -6 dB at 20 Type of Tuning: quartz- freeze, 12-channel guide, kHz controlled frequency syn- | Jacks: S- channel labeling, graphic thesis video/video/stereo audio equalizer, Dolby input, video/stereo audio Surround with rear- Method of Tuning: pro- input, video/stereo audio speaker amps grammable up/down scan output (of selected on set and both remotes, source), variable-level RESULTS Audio S/N: 68.2 dB scan and direct access stereo audio output, 2 RF inputs, RF output (loop- Horizontal Resolution: Total Harmonic Distortion: 0.7% S-video input 560 lines, video input more than 36 VIDEO DECEMBER 1994

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VIDEOUETE By Brent Butterworth COMBI PLAYER mode that solarizes the picture. There are only a few man- The LA-3500 is the first combi play- ufacturers of laserdisc PRICE: $2,000 transport mechanisms, er I’ve seen that plays CD+Graphics most notably Sony, V-RATING: VVVV\\ discs. CD+Gs carry normal CD audio, Philips, Pioneer and Matsushita (parent plus simple graphics. There’s no motion company of Panasonic). But there are BETTER —P video. Although a few rock CD+G about 20 brands of laserdisc players. titles have been released, the format is Many smaller manufacturers, particu- PICTURE mainly used for karaoke, with song larly audio companies, buy laserdisc SOUND lyrics appearing onscreen. To do transports from a company like Pioneer, FEATURES karaoke with the LA-3500, though, then add their own front panels and VALUE you'll need an add-on microphone audio circuitry. Some even have the mixer like Pioneer’s $99 MA-3. entire player built by another company side-changing, so you don’t have to get to their specs. up in the middle of a disc to flip it over. The rear panel has two sets of stereo Until recently, most smaller compa- audio outputs, a composite (RCA jack) nies have based their players on Pioneer It also has digital effects, so you can get transports, resulting in a market filled still frames, slow motion, speed play and Multiburst for the LA-3500 shows a typically with lookalike players. But several have clean search from CLV laserdiscs, good high-frequency response for an LV player. switched to Matsushita transports. which are by far the most common type. Denon’s LA-3500 is a perfect example. video output and an S-video output. It’s basically a Panasonic LX-900 chassis In the bells and whistles category, There’s also a Toslink optical digital and electronics with Denon’s own 20- the LA-3500 offers very useful features audio output for driving an external bit audio digital-to-analog convertor like adjustable digital noise reduction D/A convertor or a receiver that has a and a different front panel. and a jog/shuttle dial (for easy frame- Toslink input. The Toslink output is As you would expect from a $2,000 by-frame viewing), plus somewhat use- something of a disappointment, espe- ful features like a front-panel display cially since this combi player comes machine, the LA-3500 offers automatic dimmer and still-image with sound: the from an audio company. The sonic advantages of a coaxial digital output, picture freezes, the sound keeps playing. which produces less signal jitter than It also carries one useless feature, an art Toslink, are widely accepted in audio- phile circles, and Pioneer includes a SPECS AND CD-Video, 5- and 3-inch Digital Audio: digital unweighted video 47.3, coaxial output on several players in its MEASUREMENTS CD+G and CD stereo/dual mono with weighted video 52.2, line. dual 20-bit D/A conver- unweighted luminance Brand & Model: Denon Rapid Search: by tors 48.3, weighted luminance From a lab test standpoint, the pic- LA-3500 time/frame, chapter/track, 51.7, chroma AM 53.1, point A-B Key Features: auto side- chroma PM 47.8 bit & Dimensions changing, digital effects (h/w/d): 17.1 Ibs., 5-5/8 x Cue & Review Search: for CLVs, programmed Audio Frequency 17-1/8 x 17-3/8 inches 8x, 10x, 30x play of up to 20 Response: digital 10 Hz- chapter/tracks, auto pro- 20 kHz, +0.29/-0.02 dB; Power Consumption: 44 Program Start gram edit chapter/tracks analog 20 Hz-20 kHz, watts Locator/Index/Cue: CAV to fit specified time, +2.3/-2.1 dB frame or chapter; strobe and art effects Jacks: S-video/video CLV/CDVICD time or Digital Dynamic Range: output, 2 stereo audio chapter/track; all—point RESULTS 100.1 dB output, Toslink optical A, programmed digital audio output, 1/4- chapter/track and or ran- Horizontal Resolution: ae Audio S/N: 78.6 inch headphones dom chapter track 410 lines Audio Distortion: digital Disc Formats: 12- and Analog Audio: hi-fi AFM Picture S/N (dB): less than 0.002%, analog 8-inch laserdisc, 5-inch stereo/dual mono 0.02% 38 VIDEO DECEMBER 1994

ture quality of the LA-3500 is excellent. than an S-video cable. particularly attracted to the LA-3500’s Most numbers place it within the ranks All these pros and cons are impor- detail, and it produced excellent sound- of the best players. But a comparison staging on all the recordings I tried. I with the outstanding Pioneer CLD- tant. But for me, what really matters in liked its slightly laid-back character. D703 we tested last month wasn’t as a laserdisc picture is the quality of basic The extreme treble was slightly, but flattering. pleasingly soft, not as fatiguing as most playback, and here the LA-3500 is laserdisc players. The only fault I The LA-3500’s picture differs in good, but not great, earning a rating of noticed was a hint of thinness in the four ways from the CLD-D703’s. First, four out of five. lower midrange and upper bass, and I it’s noisier. It’s not what I’d call objec- noticed that only on a recording of solo tionably noisy, but it doesn’t look as Denon’s D/A convertor looks clean as the CLD-D703’s picture. To be impressive on paper—it’s what the acoustic guitar. fair, neither does any other consumer company calls a dual 20-bit advanced A blind comparison with the laserdisc player I’ve tried, but the CLD- super linear design. Fortunately, it also D703 is almost $800 less than the LA- 3500. The three-level noise reduction sounds impressive in actual use. I was on the LA-3500 helps, but even at its maximum level, it doesn’t produce as THE VIDEO EDITING & PRODUCTION EXPERTS clean a picture as the CLD-D703 does 800-323-2325 at its standard noise reduction level. Now Toll Free in Canada Denon LA-3500 410-12 Charles Street, Glen Cove, NY 11542 FAX 516-671-3092 Remote Control SUNPAK SUNPAK MEMORY-FREE NiCad Battery o®AP200W VIDEO TRIPOD with 3 stage LED Remote Control Auto Pan/Tilt Head Mount your camcorder on Sunpak’s Unlike pan head, place on tripod & get in the action with everyone else! Infra-red conventional signal controls pan & tilt plus lens The new SLIK zoom & record/pause of Sony, JVC, rechargeable Hitachi & Canon camcorders. U8000 features a Powered by 6v battery $149 modern design, NiCad batteries, (not included). Optional 20’ remote sensor cord®L 9° the new Sunpak $10 OFF RB-8OUL w/ purchase of AP-200W titanium finish RB-80UL is and ultra- RB-SOUL Memory-Free. This smooth fluid ultra-high capacity (2700 mAh) head. The U8000 sturdy 3 part battery provides up to 2.5 hours of running time on today’s most telescopic legs & gear drive, positive elevation center column extend to a popular 8mm and VHS-C. maximum height of 59”, The space age lightweight design yields a total camcorders. Plus, it's compatible weight of only 3.25 Ibs! Add to this with your camcorder’s charger and will provide up to 5 times the number or recharges of other so- the patented dual purpose quick called no memory batteries. release that works with both Comes with LIFETIME WARRANTY camcorders & 35mm cameras, & you have the s49°° $6995 best value ever for a tripod! U8000 with SLIK custom tripod case S59\" Noise reduction levels two and three The Ultima Editing System! Rated #1 By Our Techs! | sacrifice picture detail. JXSV55 JXT88 Second, the LA-3500’s video out- put level is lower, resulting in a dimmer Over the past ten years we have helped What makes this a great editing system? picture. But Technical Editor Lance Braithwaite found that the LA-3500 is thousands of people get started in video © Color character generator-add titles and scroll credits exactly calibrated to RS-170A specifi- in 8 different colors and 4 type sizes editing. One system that is easy to hook- cations, while the CLD-D703, and © Audio mixer- add music and/or narration most other laserdisc players, have their up, compatible with all formats, and © Special effects generator- fade and wipe to color praised time and time again is the JVC output levels set too high. Third, the backgrounds between scenes LA-3500 offers cleaner, more attractive JXSV55 & JXT88. ¢ S-VHS/ Hi8 Color processor- correct poor lighting visual forward and reverse scanning than the CLD-D703 and other Pioneer JVC JXSV55 £399.00 situations or improper white balance players, on which scanning tends to e¢ Video enhancement-make clearer copies look a bit jerky. JVC JXT88 249.00 Finally, the Y/C (luminance/ Deluxe Cable Kit 29.95 chrominance) separator on the LA- 3500 is just okay. It produces a signifi- “hook-up guide & how-to manual” 6.95 cant dot crawl on many solidly colored edges and on text. It’s better than the 3M Black Watch 4410 Tape 9.95 Y/C separators in inexpensive TVs, but NC T-shirt most new high-end TVs have better Y/C separators, so if you have an excel- 3M B LAC K WATC H ig Because Memories Were Meant to Last Forever! lent TV, you're better off using a com- posite video cable with the LA-3500 When 3M set out to design & manufacture 3M Black Watch Tape it created 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 broadcast quality. Why settle for anything less? Available in all formats * Call for info & pricing! 3M Black Watch is not the least expensive tape, .. . it is the best!!! Circle 15 on Reader Service Card. DECEMBER 1994 VIDEO 39

Pioneer CLD-D703 showed the two VCRs possess this feature, which is a players sound surprisingly similar. I had strong selling point for me—one I'd like a tough time choosing a favorite. The to see Hitachi and other VCR manu- CLD-D703 was definitely best on the facturers start including. acoustic guitar track, while the LA- Picture quality is good for this level of VCR. There’s a bit of chrominance 3500 won my favor on rock tunes. The noise and a very slight tendency tow- ards luminance blooming (where bright differences between the two are proba- whites start to spread outside their boundaries), indicating that the video bly not worth fretting about. Changing output level might be slightly hot. Hi-fi and linear audio are both good—the speaker cables will probably make a big- linear audio is, in fact, a hair better Mention this Ad and get at least a 20% discount ger difference in the sound than switch- than usual for this level VCR. off the Suggested Retail Price on: ing between these players. Hitachi’s VT-F382A from Hitachi is a conventional but capable VHS VCR. S.R.P. SALE The LA-3500 is a very good It does a good job picture- and sound- wise, offers a few nice features like VCR Jurassic Park (THX®, WS CAV) $74-98 $57.98 machine overall, with great sound and a Plus and, once you get the hang of a few 34.98 oddities, is easy to operate. Just be sure Jurassic Park (THX®, WS CLV) 4498 good picture. It’s roughly on a par with, you don’t lose the remote, or you oe be able to do much! Schindler's List (THX®, WS) ; or slightly better than, several players S-VHS CAMCORDER The Flintstones (THX®, WS) with comparable features, like Pana- continued from page 33 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit '94 sonic’s $1,100 LX-900. Unfortunately, shoulder. The viewfinder can be (Uncensored) the LA-3500 lists for about $900 more brought around 180 degrees for lefties who use the other shoulder. A nice Maverick (WS) than the LX-900. And the $1,220 addition here would be an audio moni- The Client (WS) Pioneer CLD-D703 outperforms the tor speaker, like that on the discontin- ued Sony CCD-V5000. The Pelican Brief (WS) LA-3500 in picture quality. For an extra Panasonic has included external The Three Tenors $800, you really should be able to get a microphone and headphone jacks (rare (Dodger Stadium) features in a point-and-shoot era), a Pioneer LaserKaraoke significant improvement in_perfor- clip-on light and provision for a manu- al focus, white balance and shutter. Christmas Songs (Vol.1or 2) 29:95 mance, or at least a really snazzy face What's missing, however, is an Blown Away (WS or Regular) 44.98 plate. a adjustable iris, which would be more useful than a backlight function. The Dirty Harry Collection (WS) +99-98 The S770 has a two-mode electron- Getting Even With Dad (WS) ; Vito/VGR ic image stabilizer. At the first setting, the image is cropped and the shutter | With Honors (WS) moves to 1/125th of a second. The sec- ond setting crops a bit more and pro- Wyatt Earp (WS) vides greater stabilization. There is some drift at the end of pans and tilts, Speed (THX®, WS) but the stabilizer does a decent job overall. I was surprised to find that the continued from page 33 EIS is unavailable in full-auto mode, Starring index search system (VISS), and a light where someone is most likely to want it. Keanu Reeves button on the remote, which when You have to switch the camera to “nor- pressed temporarily illuminates the mal” mode to use this feature, as well as and remote’s tape control buttons (for those the manual focus, white balance and | , Dennis Hopper! shutter. It seems to me that someone who watch videos in the dark, one who wants a fully automated camcorder “The most FI is also going to want image stabilization. successful movie yet assumes). from a John Grisham Ohioxt One feature the F382A doesn’t In addition, senior editor Brent novel.” Butterworth felt the location of the have that I wish it did is S-VHS quasi- on/off switch for the S-VHS-mode - Richard Schickel, playback. Given that the front panel made it much too easy to trigger acci- TIME A/V and the synchro edit jacks let you to use this VCR as a player in your edit- dentally, leaving the shooter with a ing setup, the ability to play back S- lower-resolution VHS-version of what- VHS tapes at VHS resolution would be ever was being shot. The switch should extremely useful. Most Panasonic VHS actually be less accessible. Limit: 2 discs per title * Offer expires 1/31/94 Night Rider: The S770’s autofocus is full-range, The remote for which allows you to render extreme If none of these titles grab you ... Hitachi's VT-F382A Call for the most informative has backlit buttons monthly catalog in the for in-the-dark business! Free! control. Free membership & monthly catalog! Hundreds of new and recent releases on sale in each catalog! (No obligation! No hassles!) Every title available, including Pioneer LaserKaraoke! (Not a limited selection and you don't have to wait for the latest releases!) Every title discounted up to 40%! Free UPS ground shipping! Open 7 days a week! Weekdays 7 am -7 pm Weekends 8 am - 5 pm (PST) Laserdisc Fan Club, Inc. Department V124 (800) 801-DISC(3472) “75 FAN CLUB FAX (310) 952-3000 40 VIDEO DECEMBER 1994 Circle 16 on Reader Service Card.

close-ups. I found it sometimes had a SPEC | mosaic with hold-down | Cue & Review Search: RESULTS MEASUREMENTS t|etype activator 8x tendency to hunt a bit, but Panasonic Horizontal Resolution: included a well-placed manual-focus Shutter Speeds (sec.): Fast Forward/Rewind camera 450 lines, S-VHS thumbwheel on the top of the cam- 1/60 (normal), 1/125, Time: less than 6 min. for 400 lines; VHS 250 lines corder, making it easy to get a sharp 120 min. tape focus. The black-and-white viewfinder Brand & Model: 1/250, 1/500, 1/1 ,000, also enhances manual focusing, com- Panasonic PV-S770-A 1/2,000, 1/4,000, Edit Protocol: Panasonic Picture S/N Ratios (db): pared to the new color viewfinders. synchro edit unweighted luminance Weight & Size (h/w/d): eae The S770 has a two-speed zoom Program Start 48.2, weighted luminance | controlled by a toggle on the handgrip. Locator/Index/Cue: 53.8, unweighted video The record trigger button is on the tog- :phence ena White Balance: auto index mark butno read, | 46.2, weighted video switchable to indoor or bookmark (blank tape) 50.7, chroma AM 44, gle, which sometimes leads to acciden- Power Use: 12 volts DC, outdoor search. chroma PM 40.1 tal triggering. There are a number of 17 watts average digital camera effects that can be used | Viewfinder: 2/3-inch Audio: linear mono Minimum Illumination: individually or in combination. If you Image Sensor: 1/3-inch black-and-white CRT 3.3 lux for 50 IRE want extended range, the 12x optical CCD with 360,000 pixels Timer: self—10 sec. zoom can segue into a bodacious 32x delay/ 10 sec. record or Approx. Battery Life: digital zoom. This setting is pretty Lens: f1.6, 12x (5.4 - _ Viewfinder Controls: 10 sec. delay/ record to (man. focus/no zoom/no impractical due to its pronounced 64.8mm) two-speed zoom |} diopter focus, positioning | end of tape, time lapse-1 light: 75 min. graininess, but may provide some utility _ sec. record every minute. when you want binoculars as much as a Filter Diameter: 49mm Microphonmeon:o elec- tret condenser with wind Key Features: flying Audio Frequency camcorder. However, the stabilizer Minimum Focusing buffer switch ease head, frame Response: 100 HZ-9 made no real dent in camcorder shake Distance: 36 inches, tele, kHz, +0.25/-3 dB at the more extreme zoom settings 1/2-inch wide angle Jacks: mic, earphone, advance, slow motion, (where you would tend to really need remote, S-video input/out- speed play, audio dub, dLiBnear Audio S/N: 41.6 the steadiness). Autofocus: TTL contrast put, multi-pin power video dub insert edit, digi- type Audio Distortion: 0.8% The digital still, mirror and strobe ‘\"PUVoutput tal E.1.S., light, digital effects buttons are by the digital zoom Iris: auto with hold-down Tape Speeds: SP effects—zoom, mirror, still button on the side of the camcorder, type BLC and strobe. close to the handgrip. The mirror fea- ture divides the image so that the right Fader: to black, white or | Video Heads: 4 side of the image reflects whatever appears on the left, for a hallucino- to rewind, or from stop to play. frills, make this camcorder a great value genic, liquid effect. The strobe works as Brent Butterworth and I were both long as you hold the button, while the for both casual and more demanding still feature freezes an image until you impressed with the S770’s picture. In push the button again. You can mix our tests, there was virtually no lumi- videographers. = these effects to your taste—zoom with nance noise. Color rendition was good, strobe, frozen mirror and more. if slightly muted, and it was possible to AAMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA In addition to traditional fades to discern detail in the rendered blacks. It Disc protectors black and white, there is a digital mosa- was as good a picture as I have seen ic fade that grids small to large then from a consumer camcorder, including To keep laserdiscs fingerprint-free, visit holds as long as you depress the button. current Hi8 models (except for Sony’s a pharmacy to buy vinyl gloves, like | This makes for more shimmering, active VX-3). Audio performance was average. those used for ostomy patients. They’re | transitions. | Except for S-video and adaptor The S770 has no stereo or hi-fi sound. non-sterile, ambidextrous and come in | There was very little noise leakage from jacks, Panasonic dispenses with on- boxes of 50 or 100. Pharmacies also sell board jacks in favor of an AC unit that the camcorder’s controls, although a incorporates RCA audio/video jacks slight amount of camera noise mixed in nylon gloves for use with hand creams, and a battery charger. It also comes with the ambient room sound. with a snap-on light that is activated by while photography stores sell lint-free a side-mounted switch. Like other Perhaps the last of a breed, the PV- lights that come with camcorders, it cotton gloves for working with nega- does an adequate job in casual circum- S770-A is a very good camcorder, although it has a few quirks. An excel- tives. Dr. Joe Svirbely stances. lent picture and lots of manual control, The S770’s recording functions are combined with practical features, like a complemented by a number of playback stabilizer and a light, plus some digital and record indicator lights over individ- ual buttons. A record-review feature FREE BUYER'S GUIDE: shows you the previous four seconds of Interactive Music for your PC or Mac recorded tape, so you know where you are. A fast-forward and rewind scan lets Now you can enjoy premium quality music on your computer. Choose from you see what’s recorded as you rewind or thousands of beautiful MIDI music arrangements on disks, sound forward the tape (scan lines are visible modules, music & presentation software, MIDI Keyboards, mixers and in reverse but not forward-scan). The speakers. S770 has audio and video dub capabili- Give a popular family-oriented alternative to violent computer ty and can record from line sources. games. One minor irritation: the slow turn- The Edirol Buyer's Guide will show you how prosounding Roland sound around time when you change from play modules and innovative software can enhance creativity and musical “EDIROH experience in your home. Call Toll Free, to our 24 hour orderline at: 1-800-380-2580 \"Desktop Music Presentatio Products... Direct to you \" Circle 17 on Reader Service Card. NOVEMBER 1994 VIDEO 41

da-INGH TV makes it very clear how to add or erase specs as measured by technical editor channels. Lance Braithwaite are very good. continued from page 34 Not only is this remote multibrand, For a rear-projection TV, the KP- freeze-frame (technically a half-frame for control of a cable box and up to 53XBR35 is also very good in its lack of field) in memory while watching mov- three VCRs or lasercisc players, but it’s hot spots, a problem that plagues many ing images, and then recall the frozen also a learning remote that can be pro- otherwise excellent sets, which are grammed to mimic the infrared codes noticeably brighter in the center. The image later. Split, one of the weirder for any other device. To get around the range for acceptable horizontal viewing digital features, creates a two-way, button real estate dilemma, the remote angles is also very good, though as with uses a clever flip-open lid that essen- most rear-projection TVs, the accept- left/right split-screen. Horizontally tially shifts each button to provide a dif- able vertical range is much more limit- squished images appear in each half- ferent function, but without the confu- ed. The assumption is that viewers will screen panel. I question the usefulness sion of a shift key. Considering its com- be seated and that they will, therefore, of this feature. plexity and power, the remote control is surprisingly compact, comfortable and Menu Magic: Clearly, the most impressive digital uncluttered. The remote for video feature is the replay button. It Sony's XBR35 has stores about one second of moving The program palette menu offers an excellent channel video and replays it over and over in absurd number of customized video set- programming and the PIP box, without sound. tings for movies, sports, news, music, uses a mouse-like — videogames and regular TV (standard). meun control. On the remote control, a big rocker switch navigates up or down through There’s also a customizable setup, have their eyes at approximately the the menus. Pressing straight down on where you set contrast, brightness, same height. the center of this switch selects the color and tint yourself. But unfortu- highlighted item, much like the way a nately, after going to the trouble of cus- As on most of today’s R/P sets, computer mouse works. Menus stay tomizing the video, these settings get active until you cancel them—there are erased whenever you switch to one of remote-control convergence adjust- no timeouts. Creature comforts include the six predefined choices. ment is available; a crosshair test pat- a daylight savings time adjustment, a tern appears in the middle of the Perhaps the most complicated part of choice of English, French or Spanish the setup process is the favorite. channel screen. As usual, when we looked at a feature, which is totally unlabelled on full-screen crosshatch pattern (avail- menus, and an excellent automated the remote. Once you get it pro- able on the A Video Standard laserdisc), channel programming feature that grammed, pressing on the rocker switch we found it impossible to perfectly con- produces a quick menu of seven chan- verge the red, green and blue beams at Ba PUONSITTAELD SSETARTVEIS.CE w Statement of Ownership, Managemen(tP,eat dby C3i9rUc.uS.lCa.ti3o6n85,) nel numbers (plus your customized both the left and right edges of the AZINE channel labels) that you can scroll screen. But the adjustment provided through. acceptable results. REESE COMMUNICATIONS Tay Rot The complement of available con- Audio performance is also excel- lent, with ample volume that remains nections is excellent, the one minor undistorted even at the loudest set- omission being a headphone jack. Each tings. Though the speaker elements are of the three A/V inputs offers S-video, quite compact, the sound is deep and and there are two sets of A/V output rich—Sony rates the internal amplifier jacks, including a set of pass-through at a healthy (for a TV) 20 watts per jacks for the video 3 input. There are channel for the front speakers, and 10 also two additional sets of audio output watts per channel for the rear speaker jacks, offering fixed and variable output output terminals. Surround-sound out- levels. Sony also provides its Control S put is Dolby Surround (not the superior wired remote control terminal, which Pro-Logic), or a choice of several digital lets one unit receive remote control sig- sound processing effects—SRS Auto (a stereo expansion system), Jazz Club, nals for the other. The second device, Dance Club, Live Concert or Simulated such as a VCR, can thus be in a differ- ent room or tucked away in a cabinet, while still receiving remote control sig- nals. For use as the center channel in an external surround-sound system the integral speakers can be connected to an external amplifier. The picture itself is excellent, with superb detail and color rendition. Horizontal resolution measured over 700 lines. A choice of two color tem- perature (“Trinitone”) settings is avail- able. The low Trinitone setting is clos- est to the 6,500-degree Kelvin NTSC standard. The color temperature stays very consistent over differ.ebrnigtht- ness levels, which is unusual—most TV pictures turn warmer as brightness decreases. Visible picture noise is mini- mal, and the video electronics noise 42 VIDEO DECEMBER 1994

(stereo). The adjustment for rear- pared to $3 for a T-120. As a bonus I ject. Professionals carry a portable rheo- stat to dim lamps. I use a simple $10 speaker volume is buried in a hard-to- can watch the cartoons before I destroy method. Your local electrical store should have a quarter-sized control find sub-submenu, which is a minor them. John Luciano module that slips under a lamp bulb (Abco of Philadelphia is one company annoyance. Torrington, Connecticutt that makes this device). The module Overall, the KP-53XBR35 is one allows up to four brightness settings using a regular on-off switch. fantastic projection TV set. The only Alan Harwick feature it really lacks is a widescreen Going dotty Grand Rapids, Michigan aspect ratio. This model sticks to the Rear-projection TVs require occasional adjusting the color alignment (conver- 1.33:1 standard. In just about all other gence) to maintain a quality picture. For a quick check, I use my laserdisc respects, though, it’s top-shelf, and a player as a dot generator. To do so, put a disk in a player that has chapter stops, worthy home theater contender, : then push play, pause and program. Many laserdisc players show white oblong dots on the top or lower half of Calling all tipsters the screen. If you see color fringing around the edges of the dots on one Do you know something we don’t about side or the other, it corresponds to a misalignment of the red and blue tubes. VCRs, TVs, camcorders and other Ralph A. Brown home video equipment? We’ll share it Bountiful, Utah Bye-bye Bugs with our readers as a “Tech Tip,” and give you credit and a $25 bounty for When I want to send a video postcard to a friend, I don’t always have two each one we publish. Tips should be hours of videotape to spare, and it’s foolish to put 10 minutes on a 120- informative and to the point. Please minute tape. I go to a “dollar” store and buy a cheap cartoon tape, put tape over include your name, mailing address and the record tab hole and I’m all set. These tapes are eight minutes long in phone number (e-mailers too). Send SP mode, 15 in LP and 30 in ER And the tape only costs $1.70 to mail, com- Bright idea tips by mail to Tech Tips, Video When shooting an interior scene, Magazine, 460 West 34 Street, New bright interior lamps can trigger your camcorder’s automatic iris, causing it to York, NY 10001; by fax to 212-947- close down and darken the desired sub- 6500, after 5 p.m. EST weekdays, and all day on weekends; via CompuServe to 75147,1255; or via the Internet to [email protected]. 2 The Swiss Army Ch areer “Rapid Charge Only” feature 4-level LED battery capacity indicator Enea for NoMEM\" Batteries Direct power supply for most 8mm and VHS-C 6V camcorders 12V car ligh Reconditions and charges adaptor one or two batteries sequentially Introducing the OmniSource™ 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- everything power manager for camcorder enthusiasts. until you need it. The OmniSource Plus automatically reconditions and charges one Sure, there are chargers that'll do some of these or two nickel-cadmium batteries. It rapidly charges NoOMEM” memory- free batteries. It tests the battery power level. It powers VHS-C and 8mm things. But only the OmniSource Plus does all of camcorders directly. It works from the home AC. It works from the car’s DC. It does practically everything but edit the footage. Because where these things. Ask your Lenmar dealer about the OmniSource Plus. It’s the ultimate power tool no camcorder bag should be without. CAMCORDER PERFORMANCE PRODUCTS For the name of your nearest Lenmar dealer, and a catalog of our other Camcorder Performance Products call: 800/424-2703 ©1994 Lenmar Enterprises, Inc. Circle 19 on Reader Service Card.

| DESCRAMBLERS TT-INCHi|sp TV The color temperature is not adjustable. It’s on the blue side and, as Best Prices in the U.S.A.! | you might expect, higher than the (CTUE-Te-lalcci-rem com Ulfolae | continued from page 36 6,500-degree Kelvin NTSC standard. WE bit BEAT ANY PRICE! The picture has very square corners, and the screen has a dark tint that dozen channels. enhances contrast and color saturation. | The PS27153 comes with two Visible picture noise is acceptably low. Large areas of blue tended to be worse remote controls—a very simple, com- than corresponding areas of red, a sub- pact six-button wand and a uniquely Jerrold, Scientific Atlanta shaped 46-button main remote control, Pioneer, FTB-3, SA3 which vaguely resembles a telephone handset. Big feet on each end make it The Newest & the Latest easy to pick up. Though functional, some aspects of the remote/menu sys- Stealth - Jerrold Impulse & tem are frustrating. Activating the sleep Starcom series timer, for example, requires wading M80 (adv. ver. of TNT & TVT) through the setup menu each time you Super-Pio want to go to sleep—there’s no dedicat- Scientific Atlantas incl. ed button. As someone who has dozed off before the TV more times than I New Jack City: The rear panel arranges video 8536/+, 8580, Drop-field and audio jacks in separate clusters. should admit, I believe the sleep timer - Pioneer systems (adv. button should be the easiest one to find. ver. of Pioneer \"Green”\") Pressing the closed caption button takes you into the same setup menu Panasonic TZPC145G 99 Ch Converters where the sleep timer is found. jective impression confirmed by our Zentek XL2100 99 Channel Converters Ergonomically, there’s other minor weirdness: The volume control is 30 DAY MONEY BACK GUARANTEE measurements. Color and tint are accu- FAST SHIPMENTS & FREE CATALOG arranged left/right, rather than up/down, and the universal remote rate and quite pleasing. 1-800-772-6244 selector buttons can be confusing for ' M-F: 9-6 EST first-time users. The universal multi- Technical issues aside, the picture brand remote control can also operate looked great compared with two other | U.S. Cable TV, Inc. Dept.: KVM124 two VCRs or laserdisc players, an RCA DSS satellite receiver or a cable box, top 27-inchers, a Panasonic CT- CSR2oiae0enrracdvdl.iecre4100 N. Powerline Rd, Bldg, F-4 Pompano Beach FL 33073 27XF40 and a ProScan PS27152 cali- NO FLORIDA SALES! and an RCA audio device. There’s an excellent complement of brated to NTSC standards. Perhaps it A/V inputs and outputs, but the layout lacked just a tiny bit of depth compared of these jacks on the rear panel can be baffling to inexperienced consumers to the Panasonic. The noise was only because the video inputs are grouped FloB_AtCLAyTwAoLoD) together separately from their corre- slightly lower than that of the PS27152, sponding audio connections. Both ENTERTAINMEN T fixed-level and adjustable-volume which was almost flawless but for noise; audio output jacks are provided, but the COMING labeling is a bit confusing. Line-level we were hoping for a bigger improve- SOON... outputs from the integral surround decoder are also available. ment. The picture quality is generally Tuner sensitivity appeared to be excellent, but our test unit did suffer from one quality control problem—the good. The three video inputs (S-video | picture tube’s yoke was twisted (either in manufacturing or shipping), and the and two line video) are selected as image slanted slightly downward on one side. Compared with the previous gen- channels 90, 91 and 92. If there’s a con- eration’s picture tube, which was more curved, the new version also appears to flict with your cable system, the corre- have a bit more geometric picture dis- tortion, making the top and bottom sponding cable channels show up as edges of letterboxed films appear slight- ly curved. channels 126, 127 and 128. Custom Picture detail is quite good—tech- picture settings for each of these A/V nical editor Lance Braithwaite mea- sured a horizontal resolution of 560 inputs are maintained in memory. lines using the S-video input, and 500 lines with composite input signals. The The sound was the most disappoint- comb filter is very good. There’s virtu- ally no dot crawl from composite video ing aspect of this TV. Although certain- inputs and broadcasts. ly adequate, with separate woofers and mid/tweeters for the left and right channels, the sound was on the tinny side when compared with the PS27152. I found that boosting bass frequencies using the graphic equalizer feature MEL JODIE JAMES improved the audio slightly. The seven- GIBSON FOSTER GARNER band EQ has 13-step boost/cut adjust- MAVERICK ments for 60, 150, 400, 1,000, 2,000, 4,500 and 10,000 Hertz. But better woofers would have been preferable to all these adjustments. | The built-in surround sound system | Me 42/07/94 consists of a basic Dolby Surround | 17% off list decoder, as well as matrix, hall, and sta- until 11/15/94 dium settings. I hooked up a pair of rear | speakers, popped in the Apocalypse Now laserdisc, and found the surround DIGITAL HOLLYWOOD ENTERTAINMENT sound adequate for a starter setup. 6849 Via Sola Cr. RSC2oi1aenrracdvdl.iecre Buena Park, CA 90620 44 VIDEO DECEMBER 1994 (800) 994-DISC - Fax (714) 821-7458

HOME THEATER FOR THI: Hompays 4 advances in short focus lens design, Toshiba 48” rear-screen projection TVs have cabinets that are less than 20” deep. Toshiba is also leading the way in widescreen (16:9 aspect ratio) projection TV. The new TheaterWide Model TW56D90 boasts a 56-inch wide screen, 900 lines of resolution and a high-pow- ered Dolby Pro Logic sound system. Six Head Home Video mut Toshiba’s new state-of-the-art VCRs offer Toshiba’s TW56D90 projection TV. unsurpassed performance. The Hi-Fi model M-760, for example, with its revolutionary six- FST Picture Perfection home theater systems. The two new Cinema head design, offers a dazzling array of conve- Series FST Perfect sets (Models CN35D90 nience features, plus something that until now When large groups gather together to enjoy and CN32D90) feature a super-powerful 43- only professional VTRs could boast — a flying their favorite holiday program, someone watt audio system, Dolby Surround Sound pre-amp. This design amplifies the video sig- always ends up sitting just a little too far off to Processing and separate rear surround speak- nal while it’s still inside the VCR’s rotating one side — outside the viewing range of con- ers — a complete home theater audio system! head cylinder, which means virtually no video ventional TVs. Now, thanks to the develop- And there’s even a built-in Cyclone ABX noise enters the signal during playback. The ment of a “naturally flat” FST Perfect screen, sound system that creates dramatically result is a much clearer and more natural- Toshiba’s new 35” and 32” SuperTUBE TVs enhanced bass performance. looking picture, with a higher S/N ratio. offer a much wider viewing angle — up to Toshiba is the first company to bring this design to consumer VCRs. When combined 24% wider than conventional TVs. This guar- with Toshiba’s unique six-head design (addi- tional ultra-narrow heads for EP recording The Big Theater Pictureantees an incredibly crisp, clear image for vir- and playback), this flying pre-amp configura- tion results in crystal-clear EP recordings that tually everyone in the room. To further Toshiba’s TheaterView line of 48” and 55” are virtually identical to SP recordings, plus rock-solid, noise-free special effects in all enhance picture quality, Toshiba incorporates rear-projection televisions, as well as its top-of- modes. a state-of-the-art Invar Shadow Mask in all its the-line Cinema Series 48” projection set, are So this holiday season, give your family the gift that will make coming home for the 30”, 32” and 35” picture tubes. This feature designed for the ultimate in large screen, holidays a truly memorable experience Toshiba home theater. allows Toshiba to use higher voltages for the home theater excitement. Thanks to a com- brightest, sharpest pictures. pletely re-engineered optical system and Another high-performance feature — Color screen, these sets deliver sharper, clearer pic- Temperature Selection — lets you select the tures than ever before, while occupying a min- overall “warmth” of a movie’s image on your ~ imum of floor space. In fact, thanks to screen, matching itmore closely than ever before to the way the director originally intended! Finally, to help preserve holiday harmony among family members, Toshiba’s dual tuner picture-in-picture (PIP) feature lets you view two programs simultaneously, so everyone can watch what they want. Powerful Audio Impact Toshiba’s M-760 6-head, Hi-Fi VCR. Toshiba’s new Cinema Series direct-view and rear-projection color TVs are virtual one-piece ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT

However, Braithwaite measured con- HOME THEATER siderable leakage from the front chan- nels into the rear channels, as you'd continued from page 24 expect from Dolby Surround (as opposed to the vastly superior Dolby To figure out the proper value of the Pro-Logic). capacitor, decide on the -3 dB frequen- For those who wish to hook up a cy you want, multiply it by the input more elaborate component surround impedance of the amplifier and the out- system, the TV’s speakers can be con- put impedance of the surround proces- nected to a separate decoder and ampli- sor (both should be in the owners’ man- fier. An expanded stereo listening fea- uals). Divide the result by 159,000 to ture is also available, and there’s a front get the capacitance in microfarads. (To headphone jack. The manufacturer convert microfarads to picofarads, rates the audio amplifier power at 10 move the decimal point six places to watts per channel. At the highest vol- the right.) You can even make the cir- ume setting, the sound distorted con- cuit adjustable by substituting a 100- siderably. kilohm potentiometer (variable resis- Despite its flaws, the PS27153 is a tor) for the switch, virtually duplicating very impressive television set. Given the tone control circuit found in most the screen size, it’s about as much mon- electric guitars. All this stuff’s available itor/receiver as you could reasonably at Radio Shack, and the parts will cost expect, and it has a very pleasing pic- less than $5. ture. The only feature that’s really miss- No matter which (if any) solution ing is a second tuner—something I can readily live without. Because of the you choose, the only way to judge its 1“1G-T5OIE9ONLM6SS diagonal slant on our test sample, this efficacy is by listening. If the sound is uepBbo in TV is recommended with one condi- too dull, do something to boost the eLl7L9O°VLT088 tion: Keep a close eye on the quality highs. If it sounds shrill, do something oess control. 2 to kill the highs. Chances are you may W7Pssa1ISaua4EuYyvNpowdyouysupinsba find yourself altering the sound for every laserdisc you watch. Now, every time I fire up the laserdisc player, I’m always ready to make a quick dash to continued from page 22 the kitchen to get my dishrags! = ©qui 4 2.0, which offers better frame rates, continued from page 26 = support for drop-frame video and a 2“JaEU/Opzde9iIp1eAe1dJe9aySJSWWOOIdLy DECEMBER 1994 codec (compressor/decompressor) for wash your hands and clean anything x DJ Y MPEG, which will be useful once that might have come into contact with MPEG video cards start coming out in the powder. J|QOy full force. vodl e A teeny bit of corrosion on the The problem with using this solu- battery terminals of a camcorder bat- tion for serious video editing is that tery pack is normal, especially if you unless you have upper-strata hardware, neglect to remove the pack from the it takes an awfully long time to “render” camcorder for storage. You can remove the results of your work. The software is the corrosion by cleaning the electrical actually drawing your footage frame by contacts of the battery and the cam- corder with a pencil eraser. Be sure not frame, with all the transitions and to leave any eraser bits behind. effects. This process, depending on how much footage you're rendering and THE REST OF THE SYSTEM how many effects you’ve applied, can Your camcorder’s other accessories take anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours. I applied some cool delayed also need care. The camcorder itself negative/positive effects to a few scenes will run better when your tapes, micro- I had digitized. The render time for the phones, lights and the like are in good condition. segment, which was only a minute long, was 36 minutes on the 840AV. e Store videotapes in a cool, dry Naturally, this kind of work would be place. Keep them away from dust and unthinkably tedious on the smaller rig. grime, or else you'll bring the junk inside the camcorder whenever you On the PowerMac, the same effects insert a dirty tape. took less than two minutes. Now we’re talking. e If you have an external micro- phone, protect the sound element Premiere can be a wonderful tool, but it needs a lot of heavy metal to against water, dirt and shocks. When make it really useful. Until my budget not in use, store the mic in a case or moves past version 1.0, it’s back to ana- wrap it in a sock. If the mic has its own log A/B roll and an outboard effects generator. —Ron Goldberg

battery, check it every so often. Remove Pioneer scan - Low-voltage solution the battery ifyou won't be using the mic for a while. In the “Videotest” of the Pioneer CLD- Old tapes can sometimes snap at the $201 combi-player you claimed it can- end of a rewind cycle, and even my $50 e Most video lights use tungsten- not scan from the remote. It can if the rewinder doesn’t slow down enough to screen display doesn’t bother you while prevent this. To solve the problem, I halogen light bulbs, which are sensitive viewing a disc. Press the display button first, then the scan button on the bought a cheap A/C light dimmer and to shocks, especially when they’re remote. I believe this trick works on plugged the rewinder into it. Now I can most Pioneer players. manually slow the rewinder on special warm. Keep the lights in a case when tapes I don’t want damaged. Robert Burks not in use. If the bulb is exposed within Alexandria, Virginia Chris Cuneo Palos Verdes, California the light fixture—if there’s no glass cover to protect it-stuff a piece of cloth over the bulb. Of course, wait until the bulb cools down. Also wipe fingerprints from the bulb if you handle it, since oils from ie your skin can reduce bulb life. For a more serious look at cleaning, and repairing, your camcorder, check out ‘Troubleshooting and_ Repairing Camcorders by Homer Davidson (TAB/ McGraw-Hill). If your camcorder is THE VIDEO EDITING & PRODUCTION EXPERTS feeling sick, this is the book for techno- 800-323-2325 Now Toll Free in Canada zealots who know something about electronics. 10-12 Charles Street, Glen Cove, NY 11542 FAX 516-671-3092 Proper camcorder care doesn’t take long or cost much. But the payback can be enormous. Your camcorder won't be as prone to breakdowns, which means LCD Camcorder Color Monitor you can avoid the shock of a major Monitor Your Videos in Full Color as You Tape! repair bill. And, your camcorder will No more squinting into a tiny black and white viewfinder!!The NEW Casio 2.2” monitor features full color high quality matrix live longer, which means you can save (HQM) technology to produce the most vivid, clearest images possible. The only monitor that is truly “all-in-one,” the VM570 lots of money by not replacing it so features built-in sunsheild, built-in speaker with adjustable volume, built-in battery pack holder, and adjustable brightness soon. = control. Plus, the built-in monitor stand allows monitor to stand freely! The unique set-in Gordon McComb’s latest book is WCRs *199”housing offers a clearer, brighter picture in all shooting situations-including outdoors! and Camcorders for Dummies (IDG). Complete with camcorder mounting bracket, earphone jack, audio jack, and TECHSAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA connection cables. Color Video Printer print Images Right Off Your TV Screen! Now you can print beautiful, clear images from home movies, Unstuck video tapes, TV shows and computer games. You can even make stickers, cards and posters of the video Videotape labels can be difficult to images! The NEW Casio VG100 Video Printer lets you take a photograph of anything on screen, remove, and often come off in pieces. I easily. Make a photo of a favorite scene from find that by using a bit of WD-40, the your party or wedding, or of your favorite star label comes off much more easily, and from a TV show or VCR movie. You can even print leaves a residue-free surface ready for a an image of your favorite video game character, a new label. Bob Law recipe from a TV cooking show, or put together an Hamilton, Ontario album of prints from videos of the kids! The NEW VG100 opens up a whole new $599 world of creativity for the Pause that refreshes entire family. To get the best-looking pause on your Eire) Universal VCR, adjust the regular tracking in play :Video Editor mode, then go to slow play or search and adjust slow tracking for the best picture. David Stalte Edit Your Videos Easily & Economically! Roslyn, Pennsylvania Now you can edit from any two VCRs (or IR Button locator equipped camcorder) regardless of format or brand! Sima’s SED-IR gives you glitch free assemble edits If you’ve ever had a problem finding the fade, focus or title buttons when shoot- plus you can add fades to black between scenes. ing with your camcorder, try putting a Perform the entire editing sequence automatically piece of self-adhesive Velcro on the with the touch of a single button! troublesome buttons. Color code them to make them even easier to find. Dual IR control lets you control both the record and playback deck from the SED-IR, °149 00 so previewing scenes and checking your edits is a breeze. Built in audio mixer Gene Thomson Rockvill, Maryland (mic included) lets you add music or narration to create an exciting soundtrack. REG. *179 Also Available: Sima SFX-L Automatic Control L Editor and Special Effects Generator-Automatically edits your home videos with professional color fades and wipes plus audio mixing. $299 Features an on-screen Edit Decision List, and can store up to 23 scenes! Circle 24 on Reader Service Card. DECEMBER 1994 VIDEO 47

HITACHI uA VM-H39A continued from page 28 Berger Bros. Camera and Video Exchange Specializes in both Photographic and Video ] During our wedding reception, one Equipment. We carry the Largest Selection of of our relatives was using a new Camcorders and Accessories in stock and at the lowest prices. We'll help you make the right VHS camcorder to record the event. choice over the phone, that’s why we can offera Unfortunately, he wasn’t familiar with full money back guarantee. We could list all of how they work, so when we walked our Equipment in our ads like everyone else...but through the door, he turned it on its we Call that our 192-page Catalog. side, like a 35mm camera, figuring that he could get a better shot vertically 1-800-262-4160 than horizontally. You can guess the rest. Now when the tape is played, the We Compete With Any Legitimate Price & We Ship Anywhere picture on the TV is lying on its side, and everyone has to turn their heads 90 When Tomorrow Won’t Do. Call Us Today. degrees to see it. But it’s a pretty good shot and the only one we have of this part of our reception. Is there any way we can fix this tape so it will match the rest of our video footage? Sabrina Gray San Francisco, California (516)-264-4160 °¢ FAX (516)-264-1007 ‘Ae are three ways you can fix 209 BROADWAY (ROUTE 110) AMITYVILLE, N.Y. 11701 the tape. Unfortunately, the best Is your Cable Company solutions are the most expensive. This would require taking the tape to a well- Alienating You? equipped video post production house (many are advertised in the yellow Say NO to unearthly pages) and have it run the footage through a special effects generator. The rental fees! technician will be able to rotate it 90 degrees, then re-record the result onto Owning your cable a new tape. equipment saves you The quality of the final tape will depend on what format the tape was the high cost of recorded on. Hi8 or S-VHS will help the lab maintain more of the original monthly equipment quality when it’s copied, compared to rental charges, and VHS or 8mm. Another solution, also costly, is to have the skewed footage pyERROLD gives you control of digitized into a computer, then rotated your TV. and corrected before outputing it again to tape. : ‘ We have the Best in The last solution is the least expen- CONVERTERS and DESCRAMBLERS! sive, and may also be the easiest if the footage is relatively short. Simply set up Everquest ¢ Panasonic ¢ Jerrold ¢ Zenith ¢ Pioneer another camcorder (again, preferably an S-VHS or Hi8 model) on a tripod 1 800 624-11 00Scientific Atlanta ¢ Oak ¢ Eagle ¢ Hamlin ¢ Tocom and aim it horizontally, to match the iS op direction of the distorted image) at a “oem sharp TV screen. MDa diodeBe ‘Gp? Member of National Consumer Instead of relying on the tiny elec- SCR2oaei5enracdvdl.iecre tronic viewfinder, plug another monitor Cable Association into the camcorder’s video output so 875 S. 72 Street ¢ Omaha, NE 68114 that you can adjust focus and framing more accurately. Try to arrange the room lighting so that there are no unwanted reflections from the screen. You can now just copy the scene over again onto a new tape and insert the corrected footage into your finished production. 48 VIDEO DECEMBER 1994