▪ Zune Means Zilch For Artists

How much can artists expect to benefit from Microsoft's Zune MP3 player?

Microsoft recently agreed to pay a royalty to Universal Music, which with acts like U2 and Jay-Z is the world's most successful label, of more than $1 for each sale of each Zune sold.

Universal promised it would "pay half of what it receives on the devices to its artists." But is that really going to happen? Given my experience, I'm skeptical.

Record companies pay royalties on record sales, and licensing. Generally the royalty for sales of records is 10 to 15 per cent of the retail price, but it can be higher for established stars. Traditionally, the split on licensing is 50-50. Licensing applies to transactions for the use of musical recordings that do not involve sales, such as the use of masters in television and movies.

For digital music distribution, iTunes pays the labels approximately 70 cents.

Although you might think iTunes is a licensing-type deal - because unlike sales to traditional retailers such as Wal-Mart, the labels do not sell individual units to iTunes - they license the catalog. Yet the labels treat income from iTunes as sales. The significance of this is that instead of a fifty per cent spilt, they only pay artists the 10 to 15 per cent royalty. Plus they take standard deductions from this amount including packaging deductions of up to 35 per cent, even though iTunes does not sell packaging with downloads.

(This is actually the basis for a lawsuit against Sony BMG at the moment)

Moreover, most artists don't even receive this amount because most Artists never "recoup" their recording costs. So for the same reason that most artists never receive royalties from CD sales, they don't generally receive digital royalties either.

Although this pattern of not paying artists for digital music sales is dreadful, the chances of artists seeing anything from the royalty placed on Zune is even worse. There is nothing in the standard recording agreement that says the labels must share income derived from licensing digital devices. Labels are only responsible for paying for exploitation of music, not licensing electronic devices. So why would the labels share anything with the artists when they already disregard clauses in the recording agreements that would benefit the artists?

As a matter of fact, in the United States there is a federal law, the home recording act, which imposes a royalty on "digital audio recording devices" and "digital audio recording media to be paid to copyright owners - including the record labels and artists.

In exchange for the royalty, consumers are exempt from copyright liability for personal recording. But the law only applies to a limited range of digital tape recorders and blank digital media - the recording industry never tried to extend the Act to personal computers, CD burners or MP3 players because they were afraid that people would copy so much music that CD sales would be dramatically reduced.

Under the AHRA, royalties collected by the Copyright Office on devices and media are divided into two separate funds: the Musical Works Fund and the Sound Recordings Fund. One third of the royalties goes to the Musical Works Fund, which splits its cut 50:50 between writers and music publishers. These parties receive royalties according to the extent to which their recordings were distributed or broadcast.

The remaining two thirds of the royalties are placed in the Sound Recordings Fund. Four percent of these funds are taken off the top for non-featured musicians and vocalists. What remains is split 60:40 between featured record companies and artists, respectively.

These parties receive royalties through the Alliance of Artists and Recording Companies according to the extent to which their recordings were distributed, as calculated by SoundScan. (Canada, German, Finland and Australia also have similar levies on digital tape recorders). Under the AHRA, both the songwriter and the Artists are assured of a payment instead of paying the record companies on the artists behalf.

However, AHRA won't see any royalties from Zune because MP3 players aren't covered (and for good measure, the agreement was privately negotiated).

I'm personally in favor of making MP3 players subject to the AHRA so that both the artists and the songwriters are assured of sharing in these revenues.

I think that if Universal is serious about crediting the artists' accounts with half of the Zune royalty, that would be terrific. And it would be even better if they actually paid the artists whether or not they are recouped. But based on how the label are treating artists already, I doubt that this will happen.®

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▪ ZoneAlarm Suite Integrates Kaspersky Antivirus

Zone Labs, a division of Check Point Software Technologies, is planning to release tomorrow a public beta for ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite 7.0. This is the upgrade to the 6.0 product, which ranked sixth in our All-in-One Security suite round-up earlier this year.

While we haven’t looked at it yet, version 7.0 looks promising since Zone Labs is integrating the top-performing Kaspersky antivirus engine. (To get an idea of how it performs, read our review of Kaspersky Internet Security 6.0.) The Kasperksy engine replaces a lackluster version of the CA antivirus engine that was integrated into ZoneAlarm 6.0.

Two antispyware companies are also working in antivirus protection. PC Tools plans to offer antivirus protection as an option for the upcoming 5.0 version of Spyware Doctor. Webroot is partnering with Sophos, a well-known enterprise-level security company, to provide antivirus protection with Spy Sweeper. Depending on how nicely they play together, this coupling of targeted antivirus and antispyware components might be a better solution for people who find the large security suites too boated.

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▪ Citibank Debuts Biometric Pay System

Citibank Singapore is offering a new way for credit-card holders to make payments -- using their fingerprints instead of credit cards.

Citibank this month began rolling out biometric payment systems in Singapore that allow Citibank Clear Platinum credit card holders to pay using their fingerprints. "It's an investment for our future," said Anand Cavale, vice president and business director of credit payment products at Citibank Singapore, noting this is the first time the bank has used a biometric payment system anywhere in the world.

Before putting the biometric system into operation, Citibank officials took a long hard look at whether the system was secure -- and came away satisfied that it was, Cavale said. "We see this as the next step, which will enhance our already good fraud prevention systems," he said.

With an affluent, tech-savvy population of 4.5 million, Singapore is among the most competitive for credit-card issuers, with many Singaporeans carrying three or four cards in their wallets. To encourage card holders to spend, banks regularly team up with partners to offer special discounts -- say, 10 percent off dinner at a trendy restaurant -- if customers use a certain credit card.

So much competition leaves banks looking for any edge they can find.

For its part, Citibank hopes the biometric technology makes payment more convenient for its card holders, eliminating the need for them to always carry credit cards while still allowing them to buy things. But don't expect to see biometrics replace Citibank cards any time soon. "The technology will be used in conjunction with a credit card," Cavale said.

Cavale believes biometric payments systems will shine in applications where a quick payment method is needed. "If you're running to catch a train, and buying a cup of coffee and a newspaper, your time has more value," he said.

So far, Citibank's biometric payment systems are only in place at a handful of outlets in Singapore, including local coffee shops and the popular Zouk night club. But the bank has plans to quickly expand the number of such systems and the number of Citibank card holders able to use them.

"Our intention is to roll it out very quickly to other cards," Cavale said.

Citibank chose to start the rollout of the biometric payment system with the Clear Platinum card because it is targeted at younger Singaporeans, ranging in age from 25 to 34. "We launched with this segment because the uptake is going to be very strong," he said.

Getting signed up to use the biometric payment system, provided by Pay By Touch, of San Francisco, is relatively easy. Citibank has installed kiosks at several Singapore branches where card holders can register their fingerprints. To sign up, Citibank customers need to provide valid photo identification and a seven-digit numeric passcode used with the fingerprint to authenticate payment.

This is the first time that Citibank has tested a biometric payment system, and the bank's operations in other countries, especially in Asia, are watching what happens in Singapore with interest, Cavale said. "Our plans include taking this technology around the region," he said.

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▪ Toshiba Readies 8GB SD Card

Toshiba plans to release in January an 8GB high-speed Secure Digital (SD) memory card, according to Martyn Williams, IDG News Service colleague reporting from Tokyo.

The card will support the "class 4" high-speed data writing specification of the SD Card Association and be able to record data at 6 megabits per second, say Toshiba representatives. That kind of speed plus the high capacity of the card makes it well suited to applications such as video recording using devices such as Panasonic's recently announced HDC-SD1 camcorder.

That camera records high-definition video to an SD card at 6Mbps. Toshiba's new card should be able to hold about three hours worth of such video.

The card will cost about $340 in Japan. Toshiba plans to begin selling it in early January there, in North America, and in Europe.

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▪ AMD Layoffs Announced

Four weeks after beating Wall Street estimates for financial earnings, chip maker Advanced Micro Devices will lay off 375 workers, according to published reports.

The move will weed out redundant positions caused by AMD's acquisition of graphics chip maker ATI Technologies on October 25, analysts said. It could also give AMD extra resources in its competition with rival Intel. The layoffs were reported in various newspapers with information attributed to an AMD spokesman. AMD did not return calls seeking confirmation.

AMD has been winning spots for its chips on computers from vendors such as Dell and IBM in recent months, despite a raft of new processors launched by Intel. To keep that momentum rolling, AMD must increase its production capacity, said Martin Kariithi, an analyst with Technology Business Research.

The company can gain the flexibility to do that by cutting redundant jobs in the sales and marketing and general and administrative departments (SG&A), he said.

AMD has announced plans to combine its processors with ATI's graphics and chip set technologies to create a family of more integrated chips for PCs and other consumer electronics devices. Once it has launched those new chips, AMD might replace some of the lost positions.

"From a manufacturing standpoint, AMD will keep driving to increase production capacity to keep gunning for Intel," Kariithi said. "To facilitate this I expect AMD to continue increasing its manufacturing, tech support, and engineering workforce. Toward mid-2007 AMD will once again seek to boost SG&A staff in order support the new ATI/AMD products coming to market at that time."

The number of layoffs is small, both in comparison to AMD's total roster of nearly 15,000 employees and to Intel's plan to cut 10,500 jobs by the middle of 2007, amounting to about 10 percent of its workforce.

Still, AMD has been so successful lately that the cuts came as a surprise. AMD reported third-quarter profits of $134 million in October, more than three times its number for that period last year.

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▪ Free AOL Stuff, Courtesy Of Bubble 2.0

Yes, it's 1999 all over again. Web start-ups are cropping up with names like Bebo, Squidoo and Moblabber. Start-ups like YouTube, less than a year old and unprofitable, are being sold for $1.65 billion. And the business plan known as Free has returned. You know, "We lose money on every transaction, but we'll make it up in volume."

One of the most surprising participants in Web Bubble 2.0 is AOL, the company formerly known as America Online. On August 2, it announced what might seem to be the craziest business plan yet: a 100 percent price reduction. The monthly membership fee dropped from $26 a month to...nothing.

Was AOL nuts? Should its executives be dragged away by the nice men in white coats?

It turns out that only AOL's features, sites and services are free, not the Internet connections that were once its bread and butter. AOL had been losing members at a staggering rate, with 300,000 people a month canceling their AOL accounts as they switched to high-speed Internet from their cable and phone companies. AOL now has fewer than 18 million members, down from 35 million in 2002.

So AOL decided to get out of the Internet service-provider game, a dead-end business for a company that doesn't actually own the wires running to your home.

How, then, does AOL expect to make money--especially considering its promise not to increase the already copious number of ads on its pages?

First, abandoning its efforts to sign up subscribers will save hundreds of millions of dollars a year right off the bat. You read that right: AOL has stopped carpet-bombing the nation's mailboxes with AOL starter discs. No more "Sign up now!" TV ads, either.

And then there are those ads on AOL itself. Since it went free, AOL has lost 2.5 million paying subscribers--but gained 3 million free members. That's more people looking at the ads, which AOL figures will attract even more advertisers.

All right, so much for AOL's interests. What's in it for you?

Truth is, AOL looks a lot like Yahoo these days: It's a portal to e-mail, chat rooms, news, classifieds, personal ads and discussion areas. There's a Flickr-type thing (post photos for friends to see--and order prints), a Google Video-type thing (post homemade videos or buy network TV episodes), a Weather.com-type thing, and so on. There's also a Google-esque search service that's powered by Google itself.

Most of AOL's goodies are available from any Web browser. In other words, you don't need to sign up for anything, and you don't need the old AOL client software--you know, the all-inclusive Internet dashboard that greets you with "Welcome! You've got mail!"

But even in its free version, AOL is not for everyone. AOL's "sanitized for your protection" approach still doesn't appeal to the technically proficient. One member of Digg.com, the techie news service, complaining about AOL's "ad-infested" pages, suggested that AOL "should reverse their model entirely, and pay us to browse."

Take this simple test: Do you know how to find your IP address, subscribe to RSS feeds or know what "FWIW" stands for? If so, you'll probably find AOL too mass-market for your tastes.

Still, a few AOL goodies, once reserved for paying members, are especially attractive now. For example:

Parental controls
AOL remains one of the most effective front doors to the Internet for households with children. You can specify which Web pages and chat or e-mail partners are off-limits, or let AOL do the blocking for you. You can limit your child's time online, by quantity or times of day. AOL can send you daily activity reports about your offspring by e-mail. AOL even adjusts the screen design and features according to your child's age.

A free add-on program for Windows called Internet Access Controls even stops enterprising young hackers from bypassing the parental controls by using other browsers and chat programs.

XM radio
AOL offers a couple of hundred free Internet radio stations (aolradio.com)--nothing exclusive there. But 20 of them are commercial-free music channels from XM Satellite Radio. The audio and programming quality are very high; the 20 free channels include some of XM's best.

OpenRide
If you have broadband, you're encouraged to download a new AOL dashboard called OpenRide (Windows XP only) instead of the aging Mac or Windows client software. Unlike the old software, which cluttered your screen with windows, OpenRide offers all of AOL in a single window.

It's divided into quadrants, dedicated to the Web, chat, video and audio, and e-mail (for both AOL mail and your other e-mail accounts). You can drag the intersection of the panes to resize all four panes at once, or click inside a pane to make it fill most of your window. The other three shrink down to little tabs.

The geek intelligentsia spit upon OpenRide, too, partly because of the banner ad across the window and partly because its individual components aren't as complete as standalone programs. For example, OpenRide doesn't offer RSS news feeds (self-updating lists of headlines from news sites and blogs of your choosing).

But the truth is, the four-pane approach really works. That, and OpenRide's tabbed browser design, keep novices from getting lost on the Internet.

Online backup
All free AOL account holders get 5GB of free online storage for backing up data, transferring big files to other people, and so on. Windows users even get a free backup program that automatically copies selected folders to this virtual hard drive (called Xdrive) on a schedule. The software is clean, easy to use and extremely convenient.

Antivirus software
AOL's free security suite for Windows offers both real-time virus protection and virus scanning (it's based on McAfee's software). The suite also includes protection against spyware, pop-up windows, phishing scams and spam. Commercial security suites cost $50 or $70 a year. So if you don't mind seeing a banner ad even in your virus software, this is quite a deal.

A custom e-mail address
AOL lets you choose an address ending in @aol.com or anything else you want, as long as it's available--so you can be david@thepogues.com or david@poguefamily.com. Then you can set up other addresses with the same suffix for friends or family. (To enforce its "one custom address per person" policy, AOL requires that you sign up using a cell phone number. It insists that it does nothing else with this information.)

There aren't many advantages to signing up for a free AOL account (as opposed to just using its features anonymously), but the AOL or custom e-mail address is one of them. The others include unlimited online photo storage and the option to use the AOL client software or OpenRide.

AOL still sells subscriptions, by the way, for $10 or $26 a month. Such memberships grant you dial-up access, 50 more XM radio stations, unlimited e-mail storage (versus 2GB for freeloaders), a 50GB Xdrive, identity-theft and PC-malfunction insurance, and so on.

But even the free AOL has a lot to offer. If you're a parent or a technophobe, AOL is still one of the easiest, safest Internet on-ramps. And even if you're an experienced Netizen, you should help yourself to the free antivirus software, or at least a custom e-mail address and a few satellite radio channels to listen to as you work. AOL's video search, meanwhile, is one of the Web's best; it finds video clips from all over the Web, including YouTube.

If you're already an AOL member, you can switch to a free or less expensive plan at AOL keyword "Change Plan." You don't have to give up your AOL e-mail address; in fact, if you quit AOL within the last two years, you can still get your old address back.

But if you plan to switch, do it soon. If the last tech bubble taught us anything, it's that freebies like these don't last forever.

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▪ *Fact Of The Week* - How Good Is A Banana?

Did you ever wonder what different types of effect certain fruits had on your body? I did a little research on Bananas and found some pretty interesting facts. Some of these facts could possibly help you live a healthier and longer life.

Anaemia: High in iron, bananas can stimulate the production of haemoglobin in the blood and so helps in cases of anaemia.

Blood Pressure: This unique tropical fruit is extremely high in potassium yet low in salt, making it the perfect food for helping to beat blood pressure. So much so, the US Food and Drug Administration has just allowed the banana industry to make official claims for the fruit’s ability to reduce the risk of blood pressure and stroke.

Brain Power: 200 students at an English school were helped through their exams by eating bananas at breakfast, break and lunch in a bid to boost their brain power. Research has shown that the potassium-packed fruit can assist learning by making pupils more alert.

Constipation: High in fibre, including bananas in the diet can help restore normal bowel action, helping to overcome the problem without resorting to laxatives.

Depression: According to a recent survey undertaken by MIND amongst people suffering from depression, many felt much better after eating a banana. This is because bananas contain tryptophan, a type of protein that the body converts into serotonin – known to make you relax, improve your mood and generally make you feel happier.

Hangovers: One of the quickest ways of curing a hangover is to make a banana milkshake, sweetened with honey. The banana calms the stomach and, with the help of the honey, builds up depleted blood sugar levels, while the milk soothes and re-hydrates your system.

Heartburn: Bananas have a natural antacid effect in the body so if you suffer from heart-burn, try eating a banana for soothing relief.

Morning Sickness: Snacking on bananas between meals helps to keep blood sugar levels up and avoid morning sickness.

Mosquito bites: Before reaching for the insect bite cream, try rubbing the affected area with the inside of a banana skin. Many people find it amazingly successful at reducing swelling and irritation.

Nerves: Bananas are high in B vitamins that help calm the nervous system.

Overweight and at work: Studies at the Institute of Psychology in Austria found pressure at work leads to gorging on comfort food like chocolate and crisps. Looking at 5,000 hospital patients, researchers found the most obese were more likely to be in high-pressure jobs. The report concluded that, to avoid panic-induced food cravings, we need to control our blood sugar levels by snacking on high carbohydrate foods – such as bananas – every two hours to keep levels steady.

PMS: Forget the pills – eat a banana. The vitamin B6 it contains regulates blood glucose levels, which can affect your mood.

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD): Bananas can help SAD sufferers because they contain the natural mood enhancer, trypotophan.

Smoking: Bananas can also help people trying to give up smoking, as the high levels of Vitamin C, A1, B6, B12 they contain, as well as the potassium and magnesium found in them, help the body recover from the effects of nicotine withdrawal.

Stress: Potassium is a vital mineral, which helps normalise the heartbeat, sends oxygen to the brain and regulates your body’s water-balance. When we are stressed, our metabolic rate rises, thereby reducing our potassium levels. These can be re-balanced with the help of a high-potassium banana snack.

Strokes: According to research in ‘The New England Journal of Medicine’ eating bananas as part of a regular diet can cut the risk of death by strokes by as much as 40%!

Temperature control: Many other cultures see bananas as a ‘cooling’ fruit that can lower both the physical and emotional temperature of expectant mothers. In Thailand, for example, pregnant women eat bananas to ensure their baby is born with a cool temperature.

Ulcers: The banana is used as the dietary food against intestinal disorders because of its soft texture and smoothness. It is the only raw fruit that can be eaten without distress in over-chronic ulcer cases. It also neutralises over-acidity and reduces irritation by coating the lining of the stomach.

Warts: Those keen on natural alternatives swear that, if you want to kill off a wart, take a piece of banana skin and place it on the wart, with the yellow side out. Carefully hold the skin in place with a plaster or surgical tape!

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▪ New Google Service Will Manipulate Caller-ID

Google has made available a new "Click-to-Call" service that will automatically connect users to business phone listings found via Google search results.

In order for this feature to function, the user must provide their telephone number so that Google can bridge the free call between the business and the user (including long distance calls).

An obvious issue with such a service is that there is no reasonable way to validate the user phone number that is provided. Google says that they have mechanisms in place to try avoid repeated prank calls, but the potential for abuse is obvious.

Of even greater concern is that Google says that it will manipulate the caller-ID on the calls made to the user-provided number, to match that of the business being called. This is extremely problematic, since it could be used to try to convince a prank target that they were being called directly by the business in question, and so cause that target to direct their anger at the innocent business. In the case of targets who are on do-not-call lists, it is possible to imagine legal action being taken by callers upset that the business in question called them "illegally," though in fact the call had been made by the Google system.

Google's explanation for this caller-ID manipulation is that it would be handy to have the called business number in your caller-ID for future calls. That may be true, but the abuse potential is way too high. Caller-ID should never be falsified.

I've written many times about how caller-ID can be manipulated to display false or misleading information, why this should be prevented, and how the telcos have shown little interest in fixing caller-ID or informing their customers about the problem (caller-ID is a cash cow for the telcos whether it is accurate or not).

Up to now, the typical available avenue for manipulating caller-ID has been pay services that tended to limit the potential for largescale abuse since users are charged for access. Google, by providing a free service that will place calls and manipulate caller-ID, vastly increases the scope of the problem. Scale matters.

Google has not vetted this caller-ID feature sufficiently, and I urge its immediate reconsideration.

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▪ Grand Theft Mario Bros

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▪ 10 Tips On Buying A HDTV

Making the leap to HDTV is a no brainer: Go to the superstore, settle on a size, pick a model with the best picture for the price, and pay the cashier. Piece of cake, right? Wrong. For lots of reasons. Like how do you know if you’re getting the highest definition picture possible. Or whether that hi-def DVD player you’re thinking of buying as well will connect properly to your new HDTV. Knowing the essential ins and outs of HDTV before you leave the house means you won’t be sorry after you bring home your big new purchase. Here are the top 10 things to know before you buy:


1. Genuine HDTV? A minimum of 1280 x 720 pixels — or little points of light — means you’re in genuine HDTV waters, while EDTVs (enhanced definition TV), offer lower resolutions. Make sure you go with true HDTV. And absolutely make sure the set has at least one HDMI connection port that supports 1080p and supports HDCP, the connection and protocol that guarantees you’ll be able to plug in a Blue-Ray or HD-DVD DVD player, as well as receive and view copy protected broadcasts.

2. Slim is in. The popular plasma type HDTVs tout generally “truer blacks” when it comes to contrast, while LCD, which costs more per inch, is typically brighter. Huge, boxy rear projection sets are cheap, but the viewing angle and brightness can be spotty. Consider an HDTV projector if you want to fill a whole wall. Lastly, experts agree that “tube” type HDTVs have the best picture, and apart from the fact they’re a dying breed, you’ll need to recruit half a football team to haul one into the house.

3. My favorite movie. Test drive potential HDTV purchases with your own DVD. Colorful, fast-moving titles like Pirates of the Caribbean work best. Pay special attention to the set's ability to handle quick action without the picture breaking up. A faster “response rate” means no blocky pixels when watching the Super Bowl. And be ready for a little shocker: Channels that are not broadcast in HD won’t look very pretty and some will look downright ugly, because the poor quality of standard broadcast gets magnified – and uglified – by your new, super-sharp screen.

4. How hi is up? Cable channels that offer HD generally broadcast in 720p, which is great quality, while some transmit in 1080i, which is even higher, though many debate on whether it’s actually better. Most HDTVs offer some or all of three resolutions: 480p, 720p, 1080i. Some of the latest HDTVs are beginning to offer 1080p, but they cost more. Get at least 720p and 1080i capability in your choice.

5. Tune in or out? To grab free, local high-def network channels over the air with an antenna, make sure your HDTV has a built-in tuner. For beyond-basic cable or satellite subscribers, consider an HDTV-capable “display,” or “monitor,” which leaves out the built-in tuner to save some bucks.

6. Good connections. While most HDTVs have component (red, green and blue) video inputs to connect to your cable, satellite tuner and DVD player, double check to make sure. Two or more sets means no swapping cables between cable and DVD and Xbox 360, for instance. Also, I repeat — make sure your new HDTV has an HDMI input with HDCP support — the connection and anti-piracy combo that future-proofs your purchase for years to come.

7. Plugging in. Connect your gear together using the highest resolution connections possible. DVI/HDMI is highest, followed by component, S-Video, plain Video-in, and finally the lowliest of low-quality lows, old fashioned Coax. HDTV cable and video games require at least the component connection, while hi-def Blu-Ray and HD-DVD players will plug in to the HDMI port for the highest resolution possible.

8. Wide or Not. You can choose between showing bars on either side of a non-widescreen program so that the image looks correct, or you can zoom it to fill the screen. But doing so will squash and widen people and objects. Experiment with the TV’s remote, and your cable or satellite box’s remote, to attain the best look.

9. Make Adjustments. HDTVs ship from the factory with the settings cranked up high in order to show off on the showroom floor. At home, kick things down a few notches by choosing the built-in picture preset settings like “Sports,” or “Vivid,” or “Natural.” Tune to a program with dark and light scenery (or use a DVD), to help find the picture-perfect balance.

10. Surrounded by Sound. Now that you’re feasting your eyes on a super hi-def picture, don’t forget the sound. HDTV boasts Cineplex-like surround sound – providing you have a receiver and speaker system to hear it. Those “Home Theater in a Box” systems have DVD players built-in, or consider a separate receiver and speaker system if you plan to buy a Blu-Ray or HD-DVD player. And make sure to use the “optical” or “digital audio” sound outputs from your HDTV cable or satellite or video game box when you connect to the receiver – that way you’re sure to be surround by the best possible sound around.

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