ESSENTIAL OPTIMIZER
“Get off your butt and fix the
sound and picture, you lazy bum!” I’d like to say that’s how Digital Video
Essentials (DVE) starts, but alas, Joe Kane, writer, director and producer of
this program, is a tad more civilized than I am. DVE is Joe Kane Productions’
(JKP) latest and most refined effort at helping you optimize the quality of your
audio and video systems, even if you didn’t know that you needed the help.
Originally produced in 1080p high definition (HD), DVE is widely available
on both DVD and Digital-VHS videotape. The D-VHS version comes in either 1080i
or 720p high-definition versions, but includes “D-Theater” copy protection,
which means that it can only be played on D-Theater VCRs (like the JVC
HM-DH40000U reviewed on page 107). At $90 a pop, it’s an expensive tape for
such a doomed format (though the tape and VCR cost less than most HD signal
generators). JKP has suggested that the program will likely be available on
whatever HD formats become available in the future, including Blu-ray Disc,
HD-DVD and possibly even in a Windows Media 9 version on DVD-ROM.
After
a brief introduction with some excellent footage of a space-shuttle launch set
to 5.1 channels of classical music, the program makes a noble attempt to explain
the importance of room acoustics, a complex subject that could easily span a
12-volume DVD box set. For most people, though, the real payoff comes from the
discussion and tests of basic speaker polarity and output levels in the user’s
system. Subwoofer polarity test signals and sweep tones for finding room rattles
help to tweak things further. There’s enough here to make big improvements to
your system’s audio performance.
