July, 2006 | HD TV PROFESSOR

Month: July 2006

Big HDTV Sale for Dell

July 31, 2006 | Author: Muneeb Mannan

I know that this makes two Dell items in a row, but this one is on a different subject. You may be having a hard time deciding which HDTV to buy, but what if you were buying nearly 500 HDTVs at once? This was the problem faced by the folks who run the American Airlines Center -- home of the NBA Dallas Mavericks (owned by HDTV-proponent Mark Cuban) -- when...

When Is a Store Not a Store?

July 28, 2006 | Author: Muneeb Mannan

You walk into a store. You find a product that you like. You ask the salesperson for one. You're told that they don't have any in the store. In fact, they don't have any of the products on hand for sale. Huh?! It sounds crazy, but that's exactly what Dell has done in opening its first company-owned store, in Northpark Center Mall in Dallas, Texas. And later this year, a...

Another LCD Maker Cuts Back

July 27, 2006 | Author: Muneeb Mannan

This week, AU Optronics (AUO) announced that it's cutting back on its capital expenditure plans. Taiwan's largest LCD manufacturer, AUO said that it will cut the expansion budget by about a third -- from about $3 billion to $2 billion -- and is postponing additional capacity on its Gen6 and Gen7.5 production lines. Different manufacturers are responding to the current oversupply of LCD panels in different ways. LG.Philips LCD and...

Barney and Betty on iTunes

July 26, 2006 | Author: Muneeb Mannan

Is there any money to be made in downloading television shows from the Internet? Multiple choice: How many videos have been bought and downloaded from iTunes so far? (A) 1.5 million (B) 3.5 million (C) 15 million (D) 35 million. And the answer is (D); at $1.99 a pop, that works out to nearly $70 million in sales. That figure is enough to get the attention of Warner Brothers, and...

HDMI Costs Reduced

July 25, 2006 | Author: Muneeb Mannan

I'm the first to admit that the alphabet soup of television technology and organizations is one of the main reasons that people's eyes glaze over when we start to discuss the subject. Even HDTV is an FLA (four-letter acronym). But we need to use the abbreviation today in order to discuss news about HDMI. HDMI is the interface that makes HD possible for many displays. It is a digital connection...

HDTV on Your Laptop

July 24, 2006 | Author: Muneeb Mannan

You may have read some of my posts here where I make the case where the cut-off of analog over-the-air broadcast signals will be a non-issue by the time February 2009 finally rolls around. My contention is that there will be plenty of low cost ATSC digital tuners available as add-on products by then. As evidence, I point to the T14A from Artec. NOTE: I have not tested this product,...

A Big HDTV Built for You!

July 21, 2006 | Author: Muneeb Mannan

Panasonic has made it official. The company has announced that it will start shipping its 103-inch plasma HDTV in December. The 1080p TH-103PZ600U will reportedly be built to order, and will be covered by a three-year warranty. Better measure your wall to make sure you have room; it will be about 90 inches wide by 50 inches tall, about the size of a full sheet of plywood. Oh, and you...

Reader Question: Buy Now?

July 20, 2006 | Author: Muneeb Mannan

Q: I'm looking to buy a 32" LCD HDTV within the next six months. The model I'm considering costs about $1,600 in stores and $1,200 online. What will it cost six months from now? Should I wait for a higher resolution 32-inch model? A: I also would like to know what that LCD will cost in six months. If I knew for sure, I could parlay that one fact into...

A La Carte Won’t Work

July 19, 2006 | Author: Muneeb Mannan

Kagan Research held an audio conference last week explaining why unbundling of cable and satellite programming won't work. Many groups have been calling for "a la carte" pricing of television programming, so that consumers don't have to pay for channels that they don't watch. Kagan makes some good points as to why this won't work. First, they make the point that the average cost per channel in a basic package...

Can’t Beat Them? Join Them!

July 18, 2006 | Author: Muneeb Mannan

NBC did an about face this month when the company announced plans to make promotional clips of the network's shows available on YouTube. Previously, they had demanded that clips (posted by others) be taken down due to copyright violations. Now, in addition to posting their own clips, NBC apparently will also start advertising on the YouTube site. What caused the turn around? Maybe it was the 13 million unique visitors...