The Orlando Sentinel from Orlando, Florida • Page 124

G-36 The Orlando Sentinel, Saturday, January 17, 1987 Audio and video How to watch 2 TV programs at once This new digital video accessory can be connected to any type of television set Metal tapes play okay, but watch recording By Jonathan Takiff KNT NEWS SERVICE By George Gascon mWm SPECIAL TO THE SENTINEL Contrary to popular opinion, you can be two places at once or at least you can watch two television programs simultaneously on one screen. The trick is to wire up the new MultiVi-sion 3.1 digital video accessory to your TV set any set from bedside portable to wall-sized projection TV will do. A sleek, slope-sided, black plastic box, MultiVision 3.1 resembles an Atari 5200 video game system, and plops petitely atop a TV set. At the heart of this $499 system is a pair of "cable ready" TV tuners that are used for producing picture-in-picture (PIP) effects two channels showing on one screen. MultiVision 3.1 also packs in another very attractive feature: decoding of TV stereo sound broadcasts and comes complete with a built-in stereo amplifier.

Just add speakers and you've created an audio-video system. Moreover, Multivision 3.1 provides wireless remote control of all operations from volume to color adjustment, channel and video source selection. There are inputs on the back of the device for cable TV, a pay TV decoder and-or a rooftop antenna, plus inputs for two VCRs or videodisc players. Touch a button on the remote control and the second channel shows up in a corner of the TV screen. Press another button and the PIP grows larger or shrinks smaller from get-laden digital model.

Generally, the MultiVision's TV tuners offer sharp, naturally colored images. But to clean up herringbone patterns visible on some weaker cable channels, I had to boost the incoming signal with a 10 decibel video amplifier ($20) as recommended by the manufacturer. In the sound department, MultiVision 3.1 delivers good stereo separation and creates great fake stereo from mono sources. The 2Vfc-watt per channel amplifier powers very efficent speakers to reasonable loudness and clarity. It tends to accent the noise on some channels.

The pleasure of using this black box is so stimulating that I was willing to forgive the system its flaws including quality control problems encountered in two demo units: erratic PIP digital chip on one sample and a dead audio channel on another unit. (There's a 90-day parts and labor warranty and as production gears up, more experienced hands should do a better job of parts checking and assembly.) The device is ideal for a projection TV. Used with a Kloss Novabeam that has a 6V4 foot screen, the picture-in-picture image was as large as a 25-inch conventional TV picture. Awesome! Even when tethered to a 20-inch screen, the PIP was watchable across the room. I could read teletext on the small picture, and loved being able to flip the main and PIP images to enjoy the more interesting material.

The most practical application of MultiVision's PIP is for monitoring a video tape recording. While basically watching something else, the little picture clues you when to stop and restart the VCR to cut out commercials and thus make a per: fecttape. one-third to one-eighth the height of the full picture. Hit another switch and the full screen image is instantly swapped with the insert picture. The sound always follows the action of the main picture channel.

However, the insert picture'offers a feature that its big brother doesn't have: the smaller screen can be frozen on a single video image. That's useful for studying a critical game play, or for copying an address that's briefly flashed on the screen. Each of the two tuners is controlled by individual up-down channel selector switches, while a 10-digit direct access keypad also serves the main picture. Setting up the MultiVision 3.1 is straightforward as long as you're willing to go along with the manufacturer's wiring scheme. They'd like you simply to leave your TV set's internal tuner on channel 3 or 4, and always use the MultiVision for tuning and source switching, even when playing back a video tape.

To solidify the marriage of components, the TV set's power cord can be plugged into MultiVision's accessory AC outlet. The television will then automatically turn on and off as the MultiVision is powered. To go around the MultiVision 3.1 say to accomplish tape-to-tape dubbing through a switching box, or to cut down on power consumption you'll have to add some external signal splitters and cables, but that's no big deal. Built in San Jose, the MultiVision 3.1 certainly offers a lot of features for the money, aims to give Japanese TV manufacturers a run in the high-tech arena. It's a good argument for not trading in that old, reliable TV for this year's gad QUESTION: A friend recently sent me some metal-type cassette tapes.

My cassette deck does not have a position for metal tapes. Can I play them without any damage to the tapes or to my machine? ANSWER: You will not do any harm to either the tapes or your machine by playing metal tapes on it. You might find the sound a bit on the bright side; however, turning down the treble control will compensate for this. What your machine will not do is record properly on these tapes. Metal tapes require high bias for both erasing and recording new material on them.

Can you please tell me how compact discs are recorded and played? Are they so different from conventional records? Compact discs are different from standard long-playing records in several ways. The music on a CD is encoded in binary bits via a computer rather than magnetic impulses. Compact discs are recorded on the bottom side of the disc and from the inside out. The signal on a CD is picked up by a laser beam, as opposed to a needle in a groove. Compact discs rotate at about 500 rpm at the beginning of the disc, then slow to a speed of 200 rpm near the end, which is quite different from the consistent 33' rpm speed of records.

Can you explain what the symbols AAD or DDD mean on a compact disc? These symbols indicate how the original was made, how it was mixed down for the final product, and what format you are purchasing it in. For example, a compact disc with AAD means: The first A means the original recording was made in analog, the traditional way of reproducing sound from magnetic impulses either on record or tape; the second A means the recording is mixed. "Mixed" refers to the combining of all channels to two channel stereo using the analog system; means the final recording was transferred to the digital format. Digital refers to the recording of sound and transferring the information via a computer to a series of binary numbers. Then the process is reversed in the playback mode.

DDD This would indicate digital master, digital mix and digital recording. George Gascon is the recording archivist for the Florida Symphony Orchestra. He will answer questions of general interest to the audio or video hobbyist. Write to him in care of The Orlando Sentinel, P.O. Box 1100, Orlando, Fla.

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