European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 23, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse Home front the music hardly Ever stops when compact disc changers a such As this updated Jukebox from Sony a Are used at Home in a car or in a commercial changers keep the music playing longer with compact discs becoming the format of Choice for playback of prerecorded albums and singles there is a new wave of players ready to catch the eyes and ears of dedicated audiophiles. Most major electronics manufacturers Are now marketing compact disc changers to satisfy the appetites of those who hunger for hours of uninterrupted digital sound. The two most popular versions of cd changers Are the Magazine and Carousel styles. Most cd magazines hold up to six discs with newer ones capable of holding 10. The discs Are loaded and stored horizontally. Once loaded the Magazine is inserted into the player and each disc is then pulled from the Magazine and individually played. Carousel changers on the other hand hold five discs on one Large Platter. A merry go round like disc tray rotates to the pickup mechanism to play the cd. Other changers can play even More cd. A Jukebox housing can hold about so discs but it is apparently for mainly commercial use. Regardless of the make or style of the compact disc changer the end result is the same hours of hassle free listening. Cd changers incorporate the same laser optics used in single disc players to read the information stored on the discs. Cd changers Cost More than Many single disc players but done to be frightened by the thought of paying a higher Price for the convenience of owning one. The Price can be lowered by looking for changers without All the some Carousel and Magazine changers Are finally easy Way to program Vars fifteen years after the videocassette recorder began transforming the nations television viewing habits inventors Are still trying to figure out How to make it easier to program the darned machines. The latest contestants Are two Small California companies that Are developing systems intended to make it easy to record a specific program a task that in the past has seemed to require the mind of a physicist and the fingers of a safecracker. Gem Star development corp. Of Monterey Park has developed a Small hand held Gadget that allows recording of programs by punching in a code number corresponding to each particular program. The company said it had signed up several newspapers and to guide to publish the code numbers in their television listings. And earlier this month insight telecast of Palo Alto introduced an elaborate system that available without Remote control and have to be programmed on the units front panel. Eliminating the Remote feature can save you a few dollars. But fully programmable changers packed with options Are attractive. Here a what most of them will do a after loading a changer with discs now can program it to play Only the selections you want and in any order. Thanks to the laser pickup and the Way the digital recordings Are stored the changer can go from one disc to another to find a song in a matter of seconds. Most changers allow around 30 selections to be programmed. A some offer selection memory and title file involves broadcasting television listings that can be received by specially equipped Vars and displayed on the screen. The viewer can record a program by selecting its name on the screen with a device operated by Remote control. Videocassette recorders Are now in about 70 percent of the nations Homes but Many people have still not Learned How to record a program for later viewing. The most popular use of Vars is to watch commercially recorded movies Industry officials said. A i would make a guess that less than 50 percent Ever tried or can program their machines said Stan Hametz the vice president and general manager of the consumer video group at the Panasonic co., a leading Var maker. Programming videocassette recorders has required pressing numerous tiny buttons on the machine. And the situation has not been helped by the fact that especially in the Early Days the programming instructions were hard to understand. Various approaches have been tried to make the task easier including bar codes on screen programming and via the Telephone. But still viewers remain baffled. Gem Start a device the Var plus is a Small memory so favorite programs May be saved. A changers with a random play function allow the unit to pick and play selections on its own. That feature is Nice when listening to group a greatest hits cd. Its like having a Jukebox in your Home. Owners also have found it Handy to keep discs permanently stored in the cd changers magazines. You simply buy More magazines to accommodate additional discs and build a Library. Some of those magazines can be used with both Home and automobile cd changers and players. Associated press Remote control device that works with any machine. The user punches in a code usually about five digits Long which the device translates into information about the time duration and Channel of the program to be recorded. At the appropriate time the device sends a signal to the Var to Start recording. Gem Star plans to begin Selling its device in november in selected cities at a suggested list Price of $60. After buying the device Consumers punch in a two digit number to Tell the device what kind of Var they have. They then use a simple process to customize the device to the local Cable system a if there is one a so it knows on which Channel each network appears. Once that is done the device and the Var can take it from there with a limited amount of human input. As for insight the first Vars equipped with its technology should begin appearing in Early 1992 and will Cost $50 to $ 150 More than similar machines without the technology said Michael Faber the company a president. A monthly fee of no More than $ 10 will be charged for using the electronic listings he said. New York time september 23,1990 sunday c Page 5
