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Evaluates Sonic Solutions Inc.'s DVDit! version 5 DVD authoring program. Enhancements; Redesign of user interface; Features and functions.

Evaluates Visionary Solutions Inc.'s AVN200 video network appliance designed for encoding video into MPEG-2. Capability to turn video into packetized Internet Protocol data; Features; Specifications; Dimensions.

Features high-resolution video projectors which debuted at the 2004 InfoComm show. JVC DLA-HD2K; Samsung's prototype plasma and liquid crystal display panel; Barco's smart projectors; NEC Visual Systems' plasma displays.

Presents information on the projectors showcased at the 2004 InfoComm exhibition. MT1075 installation projector from NEC; Value Series PowerLite 61 and 81 product lines from Epson; ASK/Proxima C170 meeting-room projector from InFocus.

Focuses on the development of high definition (HD) technology for producing DVD. Efforts to create a standard deliverable HD media format; Potentials for putting HD on disc; Problems facing a future HD DVD standard; Technical solutions for HD-DVD.

Features the ColorFacts CF6500 calibration tool from Milori. Information on the color and brightness calibration software of ColorFacts from Windows; Discussion on its hardware; Function of the Trichromat-1 tristimulus colorimeter in the system.

Focuses on the wireless interfaces for projectors and computers. Information on InFocus's LiteShow interface; Features of the LongView Wireless Extender of Avocent Technology; Discussion on motion video quality of wireless projectors and computers.

Features Canopus ProCoder 2 encoding software from Canopus. Key features; Codec support; Price.

Focuses on the importance of led emitting diodes to LCD computer monitors. Capacity to achieve a specific and adjustable color temperature; Accuracy in color; Capability to last longer than fluorescent lamps.

Evaluates the L640 liquid crystal display projector from InFocus. Key features; Advantages and disadvantages; Price.

Discusses the features of plasma monitors. Similarity between plasma monitors and cathode ray tube projectors; Failure of manufacturers to create quality plasma monitors; Use of the American National Standards Institute checkerboard in testing video screens.

When it comes to next-generation monitors, digital content professionals know that thin monitors are popular. But as they explore which technology is right for their specific applications, they find that the two flat-panel technologies — LCD and plasma — display highly contrasting strengths and weaknesses. The distinctions stem from the fundamentally different methods the technologies use to produce images. LCD monitors operate by shining light through a thin-film transistor layer and using filters to produce specific colors. Plasma screens zap neon gases trapped inside a pixel matrix to create ultraviolet light, which, in turn, excites red, green, and blue phosphors. As a result, despite the enormous popularity of LCD monitors for the desktop, LCD panels still can't match the physical size of the larger plasma displays. In fact, any LCD panel that measures 24 inches or more diagonally is classified as large, and the largest thus far measures just over 40 inches. However, plasma display manufacturers face different obstacles. For example, it's been difficult for them to squeeze the gas mixtures into ever smaller pixel grids.

Evaluates Epson America Inc.'s PowerLite Home 10 video projector. Features; Resolution; Dimensions; Performance.

Evaluates the SE1U projector from Mitsubishi. Specifications; Advantages and disadvantages; Price; Lack of zoom lens in the projector.

Presents information on the products featured at a video-processing equipment exhibit hosted by the National Systems Contractors Association in the U.S. in 2004. HT1100 home theater projector from NEC Visual Systems; LC-M37700P liquid crystal display monitor from Sharp; AVN-200 appliance for encoding and distributing video and audio as Internet protocol data from Visionary Solutions.

Evaluates the digital versatile disc (DVD) authoring software DVD Workshop 2 developed by Ulead. Support for eight audio and thirty two subtitle tracks with the inclusion of a subtitle editor; Regional coding, parental control, encryption and copy protection; Absence of a timeline for linking video and audio clips and the failure of the interface to follow standard Windows-based application.

Examines the brightness uniformity feature of modern projector systems. Development of a standard testing and reporting procedure for front projectors developed by the American National Standards Institute; Brightness effect of liquid crystal displays and DLP projectors; Industrial trend towards the reporting of peak brightness.

Focuses on rear-projection systems. Comparison between rear-projection systems and flat-panel monitors and televisions; Benefits of rear-projection systems; Price.

It's not an apples-to-apples comparison, of course, considering one is hardware and one is software. But, imagine, in a two-year span from 1999 to 2001, DVD authoring software went from a high of $10,000 to free with the purchase of a new Apple Mac OS computer. A general move toward the "abstraction layer" was the trigger for, and major outgrowth from, dramatic changes in the DVD industry. Job One for any DVD authoring software is simply building and organizing a set of files that a very simple consumer DVD player can read. The most affordable DVD authoring software available today including InterVideo's WinDVD Creator, MedioStream's neoDVD, Pinnacle's DVD Express, Roxio's DVD Builder Sonic's MyDVD, Ulead's DVD Movie Factory, and Apple's iDVD4, is designed to offer users a very straightforward working environment for creating simple titles, essentially just a couple of video clips with a menu in front, in a very accessible way.

Delves into high definition (HD) television in the U.S. Views of people regarding the technology; Advantages seen by the author of using the HD technology; Question posed on whether or not HD is here to stay.

Reviews the TLP-T70MU projector from Toshiba Corp. Features of the projector; Measurement of the projector's brightness uniformity; Price of the product.

Evaluates PB7220, a projector from BenQ. Features; Specifications; Performance; Cost.

Evaluates WT600, a front projector from NEC. Key features; Size and dimension; Cost.

Evaluates the TLP-S41 document camera/projector from Toshiba Corp. Dimensions of TLP-S41; Significance of the projector to travelling lecturers; Features of the product as a document camera; Specifications; Disadvantage.

Features VBrick Systems' VBCXCast series of video streaming appliances which includes the VBrick 4200 hardware and a partnership with streaming service provider PowerStream. Support for real-time MPEG-4 encoding; Assets; Weak points; Price.

Evaluates the PowerLite 8300i projector from Epson. Specifications; Pros and cons; Price.

Focuses on Microsoft Corp.'s submission of the code for Windows Media 9 series video compression to Society of Motion Pictures and Television Engineers for standards consideration. Plans of the company to license the technology to consumer device makers; Difference of H.264 from other existing MPEG-4 coding methods.

Evaluates the VT 46 multimedia projector from NEC Solutions America Inc. Physical features of the product; Advantages to users; Target customers for the projector; Price; Contact information.

Evaluates the PRV LX1 DVD recorder from Pioneer. Features and capabilities; Overview of how it works; Quality of encoding from the recorder.

Features the LV-5200 Multimedia projector from Canon Inc. Key features; Product price; Product description.

The article reports on the benefits of attending the annual Consumer Electronics Show for videographers. The show is a good crystal ball in terms of revealing what to expect for the coming year. The logical reason is that stores start making decisions about what they will be introducing over the next calendar year. For example, VideoCD authoring was a hot topic back in early 1995 with the companies predicting that the MPEG-l-based technology was going to replace living room VHS decks.

The article introduces the Final Cut Studio software from Apple Computer Inc. The multicam editing feature and Soundtrack Pro audio editor feature of Final Cut Studio is ideal for event editing.

The article presents information on editing video recordings in real time. Editing on the same day as the shots were taken presents a challenge to all videographers. The correct equipment and right techniques are needed to be able to create an edited video, hours, maybe even minutes after taking them.

This article provides information on OpenHD Certification, a joint effort of several open-system partners led by Adobe Systems Inc. to offer pretested configurations of high-definition capable editing workstations. Adobe has been the primary proponent of open-system editing for almost 15 years. Premiere has been bundled with dozens of hardware cards, from multimedia to professional quality. However, as Premiere Pro has matured, its competition has become more focused.

Presents information on the introduction by Adobe computer software of the concept of bundling post-production software. Move made by Adobe developers to redesign application interfaces; Disadvantages of the early versions of Adobe Premiere; Information on DVD authoring application.

Focuses on Avid Technology Inc., the leader in digital video editing. Information on Avid's announced acquisition of Pinnacle Systems; Description of the product called Avid Cinema launched by Avid in the mid-1990s; Observation on Pinnacle's Liquid line.

Discusses the difference between professional and prosumer video production that have emerged along with the digital video industry. Companies that envisioned a better way for professional video producers and editors to work; Building block for professional digital video; Significance of high definition video to event videographers.

Focuses on the rating of various motion pictures in DVD format released in the U.S. for the 2004 DVD Awards. Criteria for judging; Features of "Alien Quadrilogy," in DVD format; Awards given to "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Extended Edition"; Significance of DVD menus.

Presents information on several video production tools available in the video industry. Performance of the Apple Power Macintosh G5 computer in running various graphics software; Capabilities of the Final Cut Pro high-definition software; Features of the Final Cut as an editing interface.

Comments on the resolution of screen displays in motion pictures. Aspect ratio of a video content; Information on the Pan & Scan technique used for cropping widescreen content; Introduction of an HDV format product used for solving resolution problems.

This article highlights the Pioneer Project 2880 contest hosted by Pioneer Electronics at the Consumer Electronics Show in January 2004. This year, the University of Washington's Casual Delivery won the top prize as the best of an imaginative group of short DVD videos from 13 different universities and film schools. Pioneer calls the contest Extreme DVD Making. 2880 refers to the total minutes in 48 hours and the amount of time in each competing team had to turn a single sentence or phrase synopsis into an up-to-five minute short film. For the University of Washington, that synopsis was simply a blind date. The resulting film offers an intimate vignette about the anxiety and innocent joy of anotherwise simple first date and is the deserving short film winner. One of the biggest challenges of the 2880 project came in realizing that with such a short production schedule once you make a decision, you have to stick with it. Several teams took advantage of some of the more sophisticated capabilities of the DVD medium. Ball State, for example, tried the DVD multi-angle feature during waiting room scenes. Northwestern University included a director's commentary audio track, as well as a version of the film with storyboards interjected.

With Media Composer Adrenaline, Avid Technology Inc., for the first time, exploits today's multi-gigahertz CPUs rather than relying on dedicated hardware cards. At the same time, Avid has dropped prices considerably. Its Media Composer Adrenaline replaces the full line of on-line and off-line Media Composers priced two to three times higher. Because the Meridien hardware enabled Media Composer to edit two streams of fullframe-uncompressed video in real time, losing it may seem frightening. Leveraging the work Intel Corp. has been doing to increase processor speeds, Avid's release amazingly plays five simultaneous streams of uncompressed video in the timeline on a 2.8GHZ workstation using only the CPU and Adrenaline. The FireWire ports hold a lot of Adrenaline's power. The 6-pin connector is the link to the Media Composer workstation, carrying digitized video and audio back and forth from Adrenaline to the CPU.

Discusses the basic concept of Color Mapping in DVD authoring. Selection of color to map; Design of the changeable areas in Color Mapping; Assignment of new colors.

This article reports that computer hardware producer Apple Computer Inc. has released computer-based, non-linear video editor Final Cut Pro 4 (FCP4). With the release of Final Cut Pro 4, Apple has added features that address professional work flow shortcomings and make Final Cut Pro an extremely compelling tool regardless of the price. Final Cut Pro is based on QuickTime and has been well received by professional editors, but because it can be installed so affordably on nearly any creative desktop, it also has become an assembling area for integrating motion graphics, animation, audio and video, a dramatic shift from the days of prohibitive non-linear editor pricing and an exclusive discipline. Version 4 has the same overall look and feel that have become industry standards. A two-window interface matches video industry conventions and Apple's very clever semi-transparent, context-sensitive drop palette helps new users make sense of those editing conventions Improving audio performance for video editing pros and novices, FCP4's new software mixer supports up to 99 tracks each with its own gain, fader, level, pan and mute controls. Toggle buttons help organize tracks into groups, whereas a new built-in application, Soundtrack, builds custom background audio tracks from a vast library of some 4000 royalty-free tracks of instrument riffs and sound effects.

Reports on DVD technologies showcased at the Digital Video Expo in New York City in July 2003. Premiere Pro from Adobe; Xtreme card from Matrox; Video Toaster from Pinnacle Systems.

Focuses on Premiere Pro, a video editing tool from Adobe designed to run on Windows XP operating system. Features and capabilities; Relationship of Adobe with Apple Computer; Reasons for the decision of Adobe to run the tool in Windows XP.

Focuses on the use of various software tools in digital video production. Tools used in editing commercial videos; Capabilities of the Scenarist Studio software from Sonic; Applications of the CD & DVD Creator 6.0 recording software from Roxio.

Describes Encore, the DVD authoring technology from Adobe. Features; Main creation tools of Encore; Benefits to users.

The article presents the choices of several editors and columnists for the Best of 2006 video products. Editor Stephen F. Nathans pick the Intel core duo and core 2 duo chips from Apple. Columnist Anthony Burokas chose the Sony HVR-A1U HDV camcorder as the best product of 2006. Columnist Kris Malandrucollo chose the new ProHD camcorder from JVC Professional as the best product of 2006.

The article provides information about technology expected to be displayed at the 2006 National Association of Broadcasters (NAB 2006). Expected highlights include the first complete generation of HDV and HD camcorders from the major vendors, all-in-one production suites from Adobe, Apple and Avid, Internet Protocol-based storage solutions, production and operations management software for studios, and Quantum's SDLT 600A data tape system.