Digital video is a rising star, with DV camera sales increasing from year to year and digital software sales to consumers and enthusiasts alike also on the rise. It's a welcome trend, to be sure, but with all such trends there is a widening gap between the digital haves and the have-nots, with no easy way to share video between.

Take a portable media player, add video and sound recording functionality plus a 3.1MP digital still camera and you've got the Richo Vivitar DVR390H.

The ProV is a product similar in nature to the Canopus ADVC-100 (page 44), but where the ADVC-100 is used for transcoding video streams with an eye on digital video work, the ProV is used to bring versatility to your computer monitor, or breathe life into any spare monitors youve got laying around.

Similar in nature to the Zinwell ProV (June 2002, page 46) but with better execution, the X-Media DreamBox is a small set-top box for your desktop that lets you watch TV, video, console games and DVDs on your monitor without the need to power on your PC.

We've been impressed with InFocus' low-priced video/data projectors in the past (review on the PC Authority Web site), and were keen to see what one of its fully-featured data projectors was capable of.

HITACHI DZ-MV208E

Although similar products have been available (with much controversy) in the US for a few years, the Samsung DVD-H40A is the first Personal Video Recorder (PVR) to reach our sunny shores.

19in widescreen LCD TV which shows much promise and is Dell’s first consumer offering in Australia. Spec-wise it looks quite good on paper, with 450cd/m2 brightness, 600:1 contrast ratio and 1280 x 768 widescreen resolution, and it doesn’t disappoint when fired up.

It turns out that Microsoft [I]is[/I] bringing out Windows XP Media Center Edition in Australia, but until such time as it materialises -- and Microsoft Australia is being very sketchy on the dates -- those of us looking to integrate our PC media files with our televisions and hi-fi systems have to turn to bridging solutions.

There’s only so many times I can herald the coming switch from analog TV broadcasts to digital, so I’ll just dig straight into this impressive digital television card.

Whenever PC Authority reviews a data projector, we try it out with DVDs and games, and we test entertainment projectors with PCs just to see how they handle applications other than those they’re specifically designed for.

The Creative PC-CAM 850 is a 2-megapixel digital camera geared to double up as a Webcam and a camcorder. Priced at a low $279, it hosts an impressive 16MB of built-in memory, writes to both MMC and SD card media and also has S-Video output.

Sony's first Cineza, the VPLHS1, was an innovative projector: it featured 'sideshot', horizontal as well as vertical keystone correction which meant it was the first projector that could be placed in the corner of a room, and still project a perfectly rectangular image in the centre of a wall.

When we think of SiS graphics, we usually think of low cost, low-end cards or integrated offerings for the entry-level 2D market, with the possibility of some rudimentary 3D capabilities thrown in.

This unit is quite similar to the Pinnacle ShowCentre in look, as it's a wide and deep slimline component for nestling in amongst your other hi-fi componentry.

The problem with having a DVD player, cable TV or a VCR is that when you want to use them you’re usually relegated to the lounge room where they’re set up, and not the secondary comfort of a spare room, the kitchen or your bedroom.

The Aiptek Pocket DV II is an extremely cute little DV camera and is the perfect video analog of the tiny 'party snapper' digital still cameras that have been popping up. Not at all for serious videography, the Pocket DV II features a 1.3-megapixel CDD, a 1.4in LCD preview screen and some very simple design.

Panasonic's new business projector, the PT-LB10NTE is a stunning little unit for its price and size. It features a bright 2000 ANSI lumens rating - powerful enough that the projection is clearly legible even with the fluorescent boardroom lights on, and a wide 500:1 contrast ratio.

When we last compared sub-$2,500 projectors (December 2003) Dell was unable at the time to supply us with a review model. We were eager to see what their brand new sub-$2,000 projector was capable of, but it's taken it a while to complete the circuitous route to our offices.

Plus Corporation's U4 136Z projector is a fairly small unit measuring just 53 x 190 x 239mm and weighing only 1.5kg, and while it can be held easily in one hand its got the goodies where it counts.