LAS VEGAS -- The DVD format got another boost last month at the National Association of Recording Merchandisers Show here with the announcement that DVD audio players and software would be available by the end of the year.
s. For example, while CDs have a frequency range of 0 to 20,000 hertz, DVD's range is 0 to 100,000 hertz, with a dynamic range of 140 decibels, compared with CD's 96 decibels.
"DVD audio promises to sound better than anything you or your customers have heard on a CD. It's going to extend to your most fervent music customers the excitement that many of your stores are already experiencing with DVD video," Rosen said. However, she cautioned that two manufacturers' groups with incompatible standards have yet to resolve their differences. "The Recording Industry Association of America has urged the hardware manufacturers to agree on a single standard for the next-generation music carrier," she said.
Divx, the limited-play variant of DVD technology, is also making inroads, according to SN's eighth annual State of the Industry Report on Supermarket Video. Divx, short for Digital Video Express, Richmond, Va., which is owned by electronics retailer Circuit City, also of Richmond, and a Los Angeles entertainment law firm, offers discs that retail for less than $5, but they can only be played for 48 hours after consumers start watching them. The hardware sells for about $100 more than regular DVD players.
In SN's video survey, the percentage of retailers who think Divx has the potential to become a viable supermarket product went up to 10% from 6.5% last year. However, 55% of respondents said they didn't think Divx has that potential -- an increase from 31% last year. Only 28% were undecided, compared with 40% last year, while the number who said they were unfamiliar with the new technology dropped to 7% from 22% last year.
