The Burlington Free Press from Burlington, Vermont • Page 40

THE BURLINGTON FREE PRESS 6 'MARCH 12, 2002 Fun Tech Home entertainment Reviews Columnist takes on readers' questions ik J. 1 Lawrence Johnson GANNETT NEWSSERVICE MM. a 7l1ii r.77 L. 1 -J. "Serious Sam: The Second arsenal of weapons.

Young an evil "State of Emergency" Is a riot simulator where players can take out their frustrations virtually. 3 titles take your mind off winter and focus it on fun Readers have a way of putting this columnist's feet to the fire. The first two questions below remind me of dreaded hours, albeit long past, when I sweated through essay exams. Next time, I'm hoping for multiple choice. Q.

You wrote that a DVD-Audio player uses a process that can't be read by conventional DVD players. But it seems different versions of DVD-Audio can be read by normal DVD players. I have bought two DVD-Audio albums, and on my regular DVD player they far exceed CDs in the quality of surround sound. A. You make an excellent and intriguing point.

But what you're listening to is not the sound of DVD-Audio. It is and I'm really sorry about this the audio sound of DVD. Here's the deal: Most DVD-Audio (DVD-A) discs will have a second track recorded in Dolby Digital 5.0 surround, an encoding scheme similar to the Dolby 5.1 used for surround sound with movies on DVD. The designation 5.0 indicates there is no independent bass channel, which is not needed for music. And of course, any DVD player can read a Dolby Digital track.

So, yes, you can bring home a DVD-A disc, pop it in your player and enjoy impressive surround sound. But it isn't the actual DVD-A encoding. That's a different track, one capable of delivering even more brilliant and nuanced music than Dolby Digital. Q. In your discussions of HDTV reception, you have talked about satellite and cable but haven't said much about off-the-air reception with an antenna.

Isn't that a ready-to-go method? All you need is a digital tuner and any antenna. A. You are absolutely correct. I have generally ignored antennas because, to judge by reports from television manufacturers, consumers are overwhelmingly put off by the idea of going back to those intrusive contraptions whether on the roof or BY MARC SALTZMAN GANNETT NEWS SERVICE on't succumb to those ni March blahs. Ill Instead, boot up one of II I today's action-packed com- puter games to frolic in a virtual getaway.

While they probably can't replace a real vacation on a sizzling beach, these fantasy diversions may be just what the doctor ordered to shake off old man winter. 'Serious Sam: The Second Encounter' Take-Two Interactive (www. serioussam.com), for PC; $19.99, rated for mature, OOOOout of five If it's heart-pounding action you crave, this anything-but-serious sequel should slap a smile on your face. In "Serious Sam: The Second Encounter," our muscle-bound hero has an all-new arsenal of weapons including a flamethrower, a chain-saw and a sniper rifle with an 8X zoom to annihilate the evil alien bad guys. You can leave your strat Serious Sam returns in Encounter" with a new egy and tactics at home this game is all about blasting anything that moves with enough firepower to stifle an army.

As a follow-up to last year's surprise hit, players will find a dozen new single-player levels and more than 15 multiplayer maps for competing against other gamers over the Net. And for $20, it's a steal for fans of over-the-top 3-D shooters such as "Doom" and "Duke Nukem 3-D." 'Maximo: Ghosts to Glory' Capcom (www.capcom.com), for PlayStation 2, $49.99, rated for teen, OOOO Capcom 's first American-made game is a 3-D actionadventure starring young Maximo, a knight who returns home to find his kingdom in ruins. His once-trusted adviser, Achille, has unleashed his malevolence on the land and has forced his girlfriend Princess Sophia into marriage. So much for bad days. Maximo and his trusty sword set out on a daring quest to fight Achille's forces with the help of more than 40 special abilities and Panasonic's SV-AV10 doesn't need videotapes to record movies.

Instead, the camcorder and still camera uses memory chips. shiny digital discs. The Philips DVDR985 (www. philips.com) can record on either DVDRW or DVDR discs. DVDRW discs are like videotape: You can add segments or re-record new content over old material.

The cheaper DVDR discs can be recorded only once. The Philips player can capture home movies from tape players or camcorders or programs from broadcast or cable sources. It can enhance and improve picture quality, do some limited editing and add titles. The unit is slated to arrive this spring, priced at about 1 ,000. Portable DVD Once you've built up a nice collection of DVDs, you'll want to take them with you on vacations or business trips.

Samsung's new DVD-L100 portable DVD player (www. samsung.com) has a 10-inch diagonal screen, the largest display of any would anyone wish for that again when we have the virtually invisible option of cable or satellite? But if you're near a digital broadcast tower, and you don't mind that wiry decoration, an antenna will bring in a perfectly good signal. Q. I am considering buying a new plasma television, but I'm curious as to whether they are all HDTV. And are prices likely to plummet any time soon? A.

Plasma is a wide-screen, high-definition format. But, as with conventional direct-view and rear-projection tube televisions, not all plasma sets come with the digital tunerdecoder required for receiving high-definition broadcasts. A compatible decoder can be purchased separately. Prices have fallen steadily, even as plasma performance has improved, but the sets are still quite expensive, typically $8,000 for a 42-inch model and $15,000 for a 50-inch set. Some industry observers say that while prices probably will continue to slide, they are not likely to "plummet" because of the sheer cost of labor and components in making these very high-tech toys.

0. 1 would like to purchase a 13- to 15-inch LCD television for my kitchen. But I am concerned about this television becoming obsolete in 2006 when all broadcasting becomes digital. A salesperson told me that when the switch to digital broadcasting happens, my TV screen will show permanent black bars causing the picture to become smaller. If I buy this television now, am I wasting my money? A.

First, it's open to question whether the much-bruited termination of analog broadcasting will happen in 2006.. If Americans have not bought into digital television in huge numbers, which isn't likely unless the broadcast industry shows a lot more interest than it has so far, the Federal Communications Commission will be obliged to rethink its deadline. Besides, you'll be able to buy a digital adaptor for your analog set. A wide-screen picture (which indeed creates black bars top and bottom when displayed on a conventional screen) is the standard for high-definition broadcasting. But perhaps not, in the end, for lower-resolution digital transmissions.

If the public clings to its preference for a squarish picture, then I suspect "Wheel of Fortune" will continue to have that look well past 2006. The advice from here: Buy and enjoy. E-mail Johnson at lawrencebjaol.com. iiC? dJ- power-ups. Players can customize and upgrade Maximo 's abilities, skills and weapons over time and as he earns experience a twist plucked from the genre of role-playing games.

Seasoned gamers undoubtedly will find "Maximo" to be heavily inspired by Capcom's classic "Ghosts 'N Goblins," so this next-generation PlayStation 2 game maintains a retro feel with plenty of humorous touches as well. 'State of Emergency' Rockstar Games (www. stateofemergency.com), for PlayStation 2, $49.99, rated for mature, OOOO Rockstar's "State of Emergency" is easily the most controversial game of 2002 so far, which isn't surprising because it comes from the same folks who produced last year's infamous and also controversial "Grand Theft Auto III." Basically, "State of Emergency" is a riot simulator, where the goal is to partake in a citywide riot in order to destabilize the American Trade Organization (ATO), an oppressive The Philips DVDR985 is a standalone unit that can burn 0V0 discs without help from a computer. portable DVD on the market. The unit is also one of the lightest and thinnest portable players.

Other features include dual headphone jacks, a credit-card-sized remote control and a battery that Samsung says will last up to three hours. A six-hour battery is optional. The unit also has a slot for reading the Memory Stick storage cards found on many Sony digital cameras and other portable devices. The card reader gives the L100 the ability to display digital still or play MP3 music files. The player will be available in April at a list price of $1,300.

Digital camcorders Even the smallest 8mm or VHS camcorders look big and bulky compared with Panasonic's e-wear video recorder. Instead of videotape, Panasonic's camera (www.panasonic.com) records video on tiny Secure Digital memory cards, which are about the size of a postage stanip. E9 Latest video gadgets dazzle with sophisticated features Maximo must save a beautiful princess from madman in "Maximo: Ghosts to Glory." organization bent on global economic domination. The resemblance to the 1999 WTO Seattle riots is purely coincidental says the company, which claims the concept for this title was authored two years earlier. Along with the point-based "Chaos" mode where you rack up points for excessive damage, the "Revolution" mode is story-based, and players receive various objectives, such as escorting important people to safety, blowing up buildings or chasing down and attacking "bad" guys.

Much of this activity, of course, includes blowing up cars, kicking through windows and shooting those who stand in your way. As well as being controversial, this title also happens to be a technical marvel. The graphics engine can render more than 200 characters on screen at the same time, which Capcom says is an industry first. This new "bad boy" of the video game industry is extremely fun to play for those old enough and mature enough to purchase it as a campy stress releaser at the end of a bad day. Samsung 's upcoming DVD-L100 DVD player boasts the largest screen on a portable player at 10 inches.

The gadget can capture up to 30 minutes of MPEG-4 video on the 64MB SD card that comes with the unit. A 5 1 2MB card, scheduled to be available later this year, can hold up to four hours of video. The V-AV 1 0 can also be used to capture digital still images, make voice recordings or play MP3 music files. Your Only Stop to Buying Selling Real Estate! Serious Buyers Serious Sellers Guaranteed Communication 1-800-828-6978 802-846-1295 www.eRealty-vt.com Same Day Twice Daily MLS Updates BUYER'S email: SELLER'S email: carpets. We customers loan in and Northern Vermont tew Jm BY RIC MANNING THE (LOUISVILLE, KY.) COURIER-JOURNAL Most American households already have a couple of televisions, at least one VCR and perhaps a camcorder as well.

But we always seem to make room for another new video gadget. We're buying DVD players at a furious rate: 13 million were sold last year, and another 1 6 million will be this year, according to estimates by the Consumer Electronics Association. The players are now in one of four homes after only five years, an adoption rate faster than that for any other consumer electronics product. What's next? Here is a look at four new video gadgets scheduled to arrive later this year. DVD recorders Now that we're buying DVD players and discs, what are we to do with all those VHS tapes we collected over the years? Philips and other companies plan to sell us machines that will convert them all into START THE SPRING SEASON WITH CLEAN CARPETS SJT is looking forward to another year of Believe it or not, it's possible to tune in a digital TV signal with a traditional TV antenna.

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