DVDs turn digital TVs into arty decor
Consumers who are smitten with their fancy flat-panel televisions might consider those gadgets to be works of art. Plasma Window DVDs take the TV-as-art concept a step further by playing artistic images through the set, thus turning it, in effect, into a rotating gallery.
Past Plasma Window DVDs have cycled through modern-art works, nature scenes and aquarium musings. A new volume features Impressionist paintings by Degas, Cezanne, Monet, Van Gogh and others--set, fittingly, to a backdrop of classical music. For those who have yet to tire of Da Vinci mania, another recent Plasma Window offering plays a montage by the Italian Renaissance painter. These newer DVDs, which sell for $22.95, are optimized for wide-screen displays, but work on all TVs.
As the blog Funfurde points out, projecting masterworks in the living room might not suit everyday life, but "it might be nice during a party, and it will keep your boorish guests from trying to turn on the 'big game' that day."
Leslie Katz, senior editor of CNET's Crave, covers gadgets, games, and most other digital distractions. As a co-host of the CNET News Daily Podcast, she sometimes tries to channel Terry Gross. E-mail Leslie. 
