August, 2007 | HD TV PROFESSOR

Month: August 2007

Tiny Projector

August 31, 2007 | Author: Muneeb Mannan

Ilgin Display has announced that they intend to ship an add-on projector for mobile phones in Korea starting this September, followed by exports to other markets soon after. The projector uses a tiny imager with solid-state lasers as the light source. It's bright enough to display a 20-inch diagonal image on a wall or other surface. This is exciting as cell phones are new services that deliver video and other...

Half of You Are Watching!

August 30, 2007 | Author: Muneeb Mannan

ABI Research has published a new study that finds that almost half of all U.S. consumers watch video on their PCs. (Actually, I expect that since you read HDTV Almanac , you are probably ahead of the curve and among the half that watches video on your PC.) What are they watching? About 72% are watching video with their Web browser. This is hardly surprising, given the popularity of YouTube...

65″ 1080p HDTV Under $2,000

August 29, 2007 | Author: Muneeb Mannan

Syntax-Brillian announced their new Olevia 665H, a new 65" HDTV that has a suggested retail price of $1,999. Does that get your attention? It's got 1080p resolution, dual HDMI and dual component connections, a PC input. It's also got RS-232 serial control for commercial applications. Video processing is handled by Pixelworks DNX technology. Okay, 65" 1080p HDTV for less than $2,000; how do they do it? This is a rear...

HDTV: Who profits?

August 28, 2007 | Author: Muneeb Mannan

At the height of the personal computer price wars, I often said that the only company making money in the PC market was United Parcel Service. Manufacturer and dealer margins were razor thin -- if not actually negative -- and only the freight companies were profiting from the sales. Well, it's deja vue all over again (with a tip of the cap to Yogi). Flat panel HDTV manufacturers continue to...

Panasonic Ships LIFI HDTVs

August 27, 2007 | Author: Muneeb Mannan

As I've mentioned before, sales of rear projection HDTVs continue to defy gravity. The advantages over flat screen models are considerable; they cost less, they weigh less, and they take up less space because their bezels are a small fraction of the typical plasma screen. And the new slim models are not much deeper than the base of an LCD or plasma panel of the same screen size. One of...

LCD HDTV: Never Too Thin

August 24, 2007 | Author: Muneeb Mannan

Sharp announced a new prototype LCD HDTV this week. The 52" model is remarkable for the fact that it is less than 30 mm thick. For those of you who don't have the metric system memorized, that's less than an inch and a quarter. And that's about the thickness of a typical 10" LCD. The panel is also lightweight at about 55 pounds, which is about a third less than...

Paramount Backs HDTV

August 23, 2007 | Author: Muneeb Mannan

Paramount and its subsidiary DreamWorks announced this week that they were dropping production of Blu-ray high definition discs for future movie releases, and will go ahead exclusively with HD DVD. Up until this announcement, the studios released titles in both formats. According to an interview by (a former colleague) Melissa Perenson in PC World with Paramount CTO Alan Bell, the main reasons for the decision were that it is easier...

Reader Comment: HDTV Size Too Big

August 22, 2007 | Author: Muneeb Mannan

A reader who purchased a copy of "Professor Poor's Guide to Buying HDTV" sent the following comment yesterday: Your “calculation” of distance from the TV produces impractical results. At 1080p, your calculations indicate for a 42 inch TV you have to sit 5 feet from the screen. It makes no sense! A lot of people have that reaction, but the fact is that an HDTV needs to be much larger...

Tougher Times for Tweeter

August 21, 2007 | Author: Muneeb Mannan

In June, Tweeter filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection from its creditors. The company announced restructuring plans that included closing all stores in California, Tennessee, Alabama, New York and most of Georgia. In July, the company's assets were sold to Schultze Asset Management for $38 million. On Friday, the new owners announced that half of the corporate staff would lose their jobs, including 80 employees at the headquarters in Canton,...

Truth Patrol: Not All Digital TV is Wide

August 20, 2007 | Author: Muneeb Mannan

I hate to pick on National Public Radio (NPR) because they do such an excellent job of broad and deep reporting on a wide variety of subjects. Following a sequence of links, I came across a piece on their Web site that does a pretty good job of addressing the problem of the upcoming cut-off of analog TV over-the-air broadcasts, and how to make sure you're getting an HD picture...