According to a report issued last week by Allied Business Intelligence, a worldwide conversion from traditional analog broadcasts to digital images is creating a windfall for those producing consumer set-top boxes. Findings in the report, "Digital Set-Top Boxes: World Markets, Architectures, and Vendors," also indicate that the global installed base of digital set-top boxes will reach 252 million units by the end of 2004. The report states that two key factors driving the demand will be the use of digital set-top boxes by both DBS and cable subscribers. Growth in terrestrial digital TV decoder boxes is likely to be significantly slower, according to the research.

Hayward, California-based Runco, one of the premier manufacturers of video projectors, has announced the VX1, a high-brightness, high-resolution projector that the company claims is about the same size and weight as much-lower-resolution LCD projectors. The VX1 is based on Texas Instruments' one-chip Digital Light Processor (DLP) technology.

Because they missed their opportunity to distribute the original film the first time around, CinemaNow and Trimark Pictures announced last week that they have acquired all rights to several spoofs of The Blair Witch Project, with negotiations already underway to acquire several more. The original Blair Witch film has been put on a fast-track schedule for release on DVD in time for Halloween, including the requisite "Newly Discovered" footage, Internet links, and other special features.

When we reviewed Pioneer's flagship Elite DV-09 DVD player in our September 1998 issue, it blew us away so much that it garnered an Editors' Choice award (see the February 1999 issue) as the best DVD player we had reviewed up to that time. This opinion has not changed in the intervening months, but at $2000, the DV-09 is more than many home-theater fans can afford (or justify) for a DVD player. The Elite DV-05, introduced earlier this year, provides many of the features and most of performance capabilities of the DV-09 at a more affordable price.