While 1080p was already dominant in 40-inch-plus models, it is now dominant in all models, as of the fourth quarter of 2010. The market share of 1080p was 51 percent in 2010 overall and rose to 54 percent in the fourth quarter of that year.

Last week, Faroudja announced that it will introduce its new flagship DVP5000 Digital Video Processor/Scaler at the Consumer Electronics Show this week in Las Vegas, Nevada. The company claims that the DVP5000 is the first processor to automatically upconvert 1080i (interlaced) high-definition signals to 1080p (progressive) resolution, "improving on the best that HDTV currently offers by removing the interlace stairstepping and motion artifacts found in the 1080i signal." The company also adds that standard 480i sources can be upconverted to 1080p.

Imagine a dozen alley cats, who would normally claw at each other incessantly, purring happily together in a box. This gives you an idea of what's so remarkable about the 1394 Trade Association (TA) Theater Demo this week at Comdex in Las Vegas. Several consumer-electronics giants, such as Sony, Mitsubishi, Samsung, NEC, and Yamaha, as well as computer titans Intel, Compaq, and Microsoft, are pulling together to support the 1394 (FireWire) standard. It is hoped that FireWire will unite the consumer-electronics and computer worlds with a common digital interface. A recent agreement between the consumer-electronics and cable industries has established 1394 as the standard link between digital television sets and DTV set-top boxes.

New music revitalizes old movie: the Kronos Quartet has just completed an intense eight-day recording session at Lucasfilm's Skywalker Ranch studio in Marin County, north of San Francisco. The Quartet laid down a Philip Glass score for a reissue of Dracula, the 1931 horror flick starring Béla Lugosi. The effort is part of a Universal Home Video project that will bring classic early horror films to a new audience.