November, 2010 | HD TV PROFESSOR

Month: November 2010

Comcast vs. Level 3 Forces Net Neutrality Issue

November 30, 2010 | Author: Muneeb Mannan

Yesterday, Level 3 went public with its complaints that Comcast is demanding new fees in order to deliver Level 3's data over its cable broadband networks. The dispute becomes a lot more interesting when you consider that Level 3 is now distributing the content for Netflix's on-demand streaming video service. The stakes are increased by the fact that Comcast -- the largest cable service in the country -- is already...

Time Warner Scales Down

November 29, 2010 | Author: Muneeb Mannan

This is big news, folks. Time Warner has announced a new subscription option. For $30 to $40 a month, the cable service will offer a stripped down "basic" plan named "TV Essentials" as a response to subscribers who complain that the monthly fees are just too high. The service will include local channels and 12 of the top-rated cable channels. The company's press release indicates that this is in response...

Are You Watching South Korea?

November 26, 2010 | Author: Muneeb Mannan

Note: I wrote this entry earlier this week, and the situation has undoubtedly developed further since I put this together. So while the details may need to be updated, the issues remain the same. You may be expecting some insightfull commentary about Black Friday deals on HDTVs, but I'm leaving that for others to cover. Instead, I want to discuss some other current events that may or may not be...

Happy Thanksgiving!

November 25, 2010 | Author: Muneeb Mannan

I'm enjoying a day when our home will be filled with friends and family, so I'm not here to write an HDTV Almanac entry today. Instead, let me just wish you and yours happiness and a wonderful list of reasons to be thankful today and always. Among the many items on my list is the support and encouragement that I have received from so many of you over the years...

Speed Bump in FilmOn Road to Success

November 24, 2010 | Author: Muneeb Mannan

What would you say about a company that started streaming television programming over the Internet to subscribers, and chalked up 30 million users in a few weeks? That's reportedly the score for FilmOn, one of two companies that are streaming locally-broadcast television content over the Internet. Along with iviTV, FilmOn believes that it has the right to rebroadcast the content as a cable company, but the networks are opposing this...

No-Disc NetFlix Subscription

November 23, 2010 | Author: Muneeb Mannan

The future is here. Netflix has announced a new subscription option; for $7.99 a month, you get unlimited access to the company's streaming video content for movies and television episodes. That's a drop of $1 a month from the old plan that also included one DVD movie rental at a time. The cost of the single-DVD plan is now increasing to $9.99, so you can save $2 a month if...

3D Avatars on Stage?

November 22, 2010 | Author: Muneeb Mannan

Last week, I stumbled across the phenomenon of Hatsune Miku, a teen-idol Japanese pop singer. One important attribute sets her apart from other performers; she is entirely computer generated. Not only is her anime-style person digitally drawn, her voice and dance moves are also synthesized from the musical score and lyrics. And perhaps most impressive of all, she performs in "live" concerts that draw thousands of glowstick-waving fans. One of...

Samsung Shows 19″ OLED TV

November 19, 2010 | Author: Muneeb Mannan

According to several reports, Samsung demonstrated a prototype OLED television this week at a trade show. The 19" model only had a resolution of 960 by 540, which is not sufficient for a high definition display. This does represent one quarter of a 1080p panel, however, so it presumably demonstrates a production process that can be scaled up to larger substrates. The reports indicate that it was made using an...

India LCD TV Sales Soar

November 18, 2010 | Author: Muneeb Mannan

In 2009, about 745,000 LCD TVs were sold in India. In October this year, about 700,000 LCD TVs were sold in India. (These figures come from the display tracking firm, DisplaySearch.) In other words, they nearly matched all of the prior year's sales in just one month. Sony, Samsung, and LG were among the dominant brands. This is significant because it underscores the growing significance of the Indian consumer market...

DVDs in Decline

November 17, 2010 | Author: Muneeb Mannan

People spent much less money on buying movies on disc in the first nine months of this year than last year, according to research by BTIG Research, as reported by the LA Times. This is in spite of the amount spent on Blu-ray discs nearly doubling in that same period. What's behind the 9% drop? Redbox rentals have to be a big factor, as kiosk rental revenues grew by about...