June, 2006 | HD TV PROFESSOR

Month: June 2006

Digital TV: Tomorrow’s Deadline

June 30, 2006 | Author: Muneeb Mannan

CORRECTION: When the federal government makes a decision, that doesn't mean that the decision is final. Still, I should have gotten this one right. A year ago, the FCC changed the timetable, and the deadline for 25-inches or larger televisions was moved up to March 1, 2006. So that has already passed. And the deadline for 13-inches or larger televisions and all devices was moved to December 31, 2006. Thanks...

Will Rear Projection HDTV Improvements Help?

June 29, 2006 | Author: Muneeb Mannan

Rear projection HDTV sales continue to defy logic. When you get up to the larger sizes -- especially 50-inches and larger -- rear projection models enjoy a huge price advantage over the more popular plasma and LCD models. Why are buyers so interested in spending more for the flat panels? Only about one in six actually get hung on a wall, so it can't be that feature. A 50-inch plasma...

Panasonic Starts HDTV Concierge Service

June 28, 2006 | Author: Muneeb Mannan

It comes as no surprise that people are confused to varying degrees by the whole process of moving to HDTV, from researching the choices, making the purchase, installing it at home, and then getting the most from it. Earlier this month, Panasonic announced a new service, Plasma Concierge, that is intended to help customers throughout the process. The service includes a new Web site, priority telephone support, and eventually an...

TiVo Delives IPTV

June 27, 2006 | Author: Muneeb Mannan

Earlier this month, TiVo announced TiVoCAST, a new service -- free to TiVo subscribers -- that provides access to video content on the Web. The service includes content from the NBA and WNBA, the New York Times, CNET, and iVillage. It also has content for extreme sports, hip hop and other music, and the Rocketboom video blog. TiVo also pointed out that this new service will make it possible for...

A New HDMI

June 25, 2006 | Author: Muneeb Mannan

Maybe you already know that HDMI is the digital interface that lets you connect HDTV devices to transfer image and audio signals. Early HDTV models didn't include it, but most recent models have an HDMI connector and sometimes even two. But did you realize that there's now a new version of HDMI? The companies that founded the HDMI standard have announced version 1.3 of the standard. This new design increases...

Radio Shack Picks HDTVs

June 23, 2006 | Author: Muneeb Mannan

Twice Magazine reports that Radio Shack has chosen LG and Panasonic as brands of flat panel HDTVs the stores will carry, starting in September. And contrary to what I reported here last month, they plan to carry models as large as 42-inches. These plans apply to the 5,000 company-owned stores. The company also offers an expanded line through their Web site. I know that the average Radio Shack store is...

One with Everything

June 22, 2006 | Author: Muneeb Mannan

Bad joke alert: What did the Buddhist monk ask the New York City hot dog vendor? "Please make me one with everything." Okay, not too Zen perhaps, but it's right in line with DirecTV's new offer: the Titanium Package. Talk about an "all you can eat" plan! This is clearly designed for the viewer who can't decide what to watch. You get every channel, every movie, every pay per view...

Blue Lasers: Follow the Money!

June 21, 2006 | Author: Muneeb Mannan

The first Blu-ray high definition DVD drives have finally started to ship, and at last, we are starting to see comparisons between Blu-ray and HD DVD based on actual products instead of just published specifications and supposition. But why do we have this major battle between two competing high definition, blue laser DVD standards? You might think that it's simply because each side thinks that they have the better technology,...

ABC Downloads a Success

June 20, 2006 | Author: Muneeb Mannan

One of my recurrent themes has been the question of who is going to pay for downloaded content from the Internet. iTunes has already shown that many people are willing to pay to download commerical-free television episodes. Now the returns are in on ABC's experiment with free downloads of prime time episodes that include commercials. The company reports more than 11 million viewings in the first month alone. Perhaps more...

Nothing on HDTV?

June 19, 2006 | Author: Muneeb Mannan

So you've got a big, gorgeous HDTV set in your living room. It looks great when you're watching TV or movies, but it just sits there taking up space when you're not watching. Sure, you could hide it behind the doors of an entertainment center, but Panasonic and GalleryPlayer figure you might want to use it for something a bit more artistic. The companies have collaborated to create a site...