November, 2006 | HD TV PROFESSOR

Month: November 2006

Download Movies from Wal-Mart

November 30, 2006 | Author: Muneeb Mannan

Wal-Mart is one of the most successful brick-and-morter retailers out there. Still, it's a bit surprising when the company is in the vanguard for electronic retailing. They recently announced that they will be offering download versions of DVD movies. The interesting wrinkle is that you have to buy the physical DVD as well; only then can you download the movie for your portable video device or PC/laptop. The downloads will...

Taiwan LCD TV Plants Slow Down

November 29, 2006 | Author: Muneeb Mannan

Just two days ago, I wrote about how the newest LCD plants were making it possible to product large numbers of enormous LCD HDTVs. One of the questions is whether or not there is a market for all those panels. Apparently, some Taiwanese LCD manufacturers think that there may not be, at least in the short term. AU Optronics and Chungwa Picture Tubes have announced plans to cut back production...

HDTV over IP by AT&T

November 28, 2006 | Author: Muneeb Mannan

Okay, this headline speaks volumes about the biggest problem with the whole field of HDTV: all those acronyms. Here's another one that describes why it's a problem: MEGO. (That stands for My Eyes Glaze Over.) But this alphabet soup is news of interest. AT&T has been testing its Internet-based television system called U-Verse, and has just started offering up to 30 HDTV channels to subscribing households in its San Antonio...

Samsung Thinks Big for HDTV

November 27, 2006 | Author: Muneeb Mannan

Samsung announced last week that it intends to produce 70" 1080p LCD HDTVs starting in February. This is made possible by the fact that they have their second Gen 7 plant running, which is capable of producing 1 million 70" panels per year. We could see these new models on the market as early as March. This announcement is just another volley in LCD's continued attack on larger screen sizes....

HDTV from Soot?

November 25, 2006 | Author: Muneeb Mannan

Recent reports have highlighted Motorola's ability to create carbon nanotubes as emitters for a field-emitter display (FED). Motorola was very active in FED research in the early 90s, but withdrew when it appeared that semiconductor emitters could not be manufactured at competitive prices. FEDs remain enticing, as they are thinner and lighter than an LCD or plasma panel, but have the excellent image characteristics of a classic vacuum picture tube...

Happy Thanksgiving!

November 23, 2006 | Author: Muneeb Mannan

No news today. Just a simple wish of happiness to you and yours, and all others fans and supporters of the HDTV Almanac. May your day be filled with high-definition food and friendship. And be sure to rest up, if you're planning to go for some of those incredible Black Friday deals tomorrow!

Survey Says: Watch More HDTV!

November 22, 2006 | Author: Muneeb Mannan

A vice president from ESPN spoke at a Samsung conference last week, and reportedly gave some interesting statistics about the viewing habits of HDTV owners. He said that 22% of sports fans with HDTVs said that they watched events that they probably would not have watched if they didn't have HDTV. And of the HDTV viewers polled who did not identify themselves as sports fans, it was still 22% who...

Reader Question: Screen Size

November 20, 2006 | Author: Muneeb Mannan

Q: I have a 24" diagonal analog tv in my den. I want to buy a LCD HDTV widescreen to replace it. What size 16:9 aspect ratio widescreen HDTV will equal the screen size of my standard TV? I sit about 6 feet away from my TV. What is the largest screen size I should consider? Joe Ficara A: The 24" SDTV has an image height of about 14". A...

Research Globally, Buy Locally

November 17, 2006 | Author: Muneeb Mannan

New research sponsored by CEA and Yahoo reveals that most people research their consumer electronics purchases online before buy anything. 71% of purchases were not made online, yet nearly three-quarters of those were researched online first. The average amount of online research was 12 hours per purchase. The average time for television purchases was even higher, at 15 hours. Over the six month period covered by the study, online research...

Does My Hat Look Green?

November 16, 2006 | Author: Muneeb Mannan

One of the big myths of HDTV is that your new set will arrive from the factory with all the image adjustments at their optimal points. In general, this is not the case. And you can get in big trouble if you set about trying to adjust them on the fly, trying to judge "what looks good" as you go. You can end up with awful image quality, and because...