October, 2005 | HD TV PROFESSOR

Month: October 2005

Someone Agrees about TV over the Internet

October 31, 2005 | Author: Muneeb Mannan

Apple announced today that selling video clips on iTunes is a success. This is their new service that lets you download a video clip of everything from the latest episode of "Desperate Housewives" or "Lost " to music videos by Madonna or Coldplay, to animated shorts from Pixar. How much of a success? How does 1 million downloads since October 12 sound? At $1.99 per download, that's pretty close to...

HDTV is a Hit

October 28, 2005 | Author: Muneeb Mannan

Consumer Reports released a report this week that found that 87 percent of their readers that they surveyed felt that they thought digital HD content from cable or satellite was significantly better than other programming. Half of them also complained that there isn’t enough HD programming available. It’s important to remember that the HDTV display is only one of three parts required to get the HDTV experience. If you spend...

Satellite HDTV Relies on More Compression

October 27, 2005 | Author: Muneeb Mannan

As more and more consumers get HDTV sets, the demand for more HD content is growing. (And the manufacturers of the HDTVs want more HD content to be delivered, as this should help drive increased demand for the new sets.) One problem for satellite services is that they have limited bandwidth over which to transmit their content, and the higher-resolution HD content can consume more that its share of that...

HP Asks for BluRay Changes

October 26, 2005 | Author: Muneeb Mannan

New developments continue in the fight to create the high-definition DVD format, though it appears that we're still far from being able to name a winner in the blue laser competition. HP had been a backer of BluRay for a long time, but last week, the company went public with its desire that the BluRay design incorporate some features currently included in the HD-DVD version. Many of these features would...

Comedy Central Goes Online

October 25, 2005 | Author: Muneeb Mannan

Comedy Central is scheduled to launch a broadband optimized IPTV site called “Motherload” on November 1. The site will include short clips from shows including The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. It will also offer original material created just for the site. The site will be funded through advertising for Verizon’s broadband services, as well as car makers and the Army. This is one more piece of evidence that...

Verizon IPTV Takes on Cable

October 24, 2005 | Author: Muneeb Mannan

Last month, Verizon got the go-ahead from the Fairfax County, Virginia supervisors to offer TV service. Yes, this is one of the first instances of the “triple-play” strategy, where a single provider aims to deliver phone, Internet, and television service all over a single connection. Verizon calls its service “FiOS”, which relies on fiber-optic connections instead of copper cable to carry digital signals to and from your home. The company...

Digital TV Deadline Looms

October 21, 2005 | Author: Muneeb Mannan

The US Congress has already passed a law requiring that analog terrestrial TV broadcasts cease by December 31, 2006, or when 85 percent of American households can receive digital terrestrial broadcasts. Now Congress is looking to push that up to a hard date of April 7, 2006. According to Consumers Union, as many as 80 million televisions in this country are dependent on the analog broadcasts. Why the rush to...

What’s the Right Size HDTV for Me?

October 20, 2005 | Author: Muneeb Mannan

One of the biggest questions among people shopping for an HDTV is "how big should it be?" If you have an unlimited budget, you might be tempted to get the biggest display in the store. And you'd probably be making a mistake. Think about when you go to the movie theater. Do you always try to sit in the first row? Probably not; the image will be uncomfortably large. And...

LCD TVs: From Desktop to Den

October 19, 2005 | Author: Muneeb Mannan

By all accounts — including the numbers from Pacific Media Associates where I’m a Senior Research Associate — the LCD TV market is growing rapidly, especially for screens 30-inches and smaller. Lots of companies have been making LCD displays in this size range for years for the desktop computer monitor market. That market is crowded and margins are tight, so it should be no surprise that some established brands are...

Dude! I’m Watching a Dell HDTV!

October 18, 2005 | Author: Muneeb Mannan

This changes everything. Dell is a juggernaut that has grown to dominate the desktop and laptop computer markets. And now the company is setting its sights on the living room with its new large flat panel TV offerings. In addition to smaller sets, the company now offers a 37-inch LCD HDTV and a 50-inch plasma HDTV. (You can learn more about the differences between LCD and plasma in Professor Poor's...