Vizio caves on patent dispute and joins MPEG-LA licensees, gobble gobble

Chalk another one up for MPEG-LA, as the licensing group's members have dropped lawsuits against Vizio stemming from the one-time value HDTV company's refusal to license MPEG-2 technology, claiming it's suppliers had already paid the necessary fees. Despite Amtran's pleas, just like Target's TruTech brand televisions and DVD players, that argument appears to have quickly folded, . It remains to be seen what direct effect this will have on price, but between this and Vizio's notable Black Friday absence they must be serious about changing to a more upscale image, we wonder if Sony will invite them to a special reception. (Warning: PDF read link)

[Tyler Durden @ Nov 18th 2008 7:18AM]

GD they are the only reasonable priced HDTV!

[Gordon @ Nov 18th 2008 8:21AM]

What film is this image from?

[Salsa Shark @ Nov 18th 2008 8:51AM]

Looks like FREAKS...

[StalematE @ Nov 18th 2008 11:44AM]

it most definately is freaks.... one of us, one of us, one of us!

[Nacho PATA @ Nov 18th 2008 4:33PM]

One of us!

[Al @ Nov 18th 2008 8:32AM]

im getting modded low, but wtf, something has an "effect" ffs.

[Sean @ Nov 18th 2008 8:43AM]

I've always questioned this "double-dipping" that big technology licensors often do where they charge the chip manufacturers a fee to implement their technology and then charge the end product maker another fee when they use those chips. It doesn't seem right. I seem to recall Macrovision (which we all know is evil anyway) doing the same thing with chip manufacturers for DVD players and then charging the studios a fee just for having the enable bit turned on in their media!

[Dakhran @ Nov 18th 2008 10:03AM]

If you're quoting "Freaks", I believe it's GOOBLE gobble.

"One of us! One of us! We accept her, we accept her, one of us, one of us!"

[Nacho PATA @ Nov 18th 2008 4:35PM]

We accept her--one of us--gooble, gobble--we accept her--one of us--gooble, gobble...

[Hotrod @ Nov 18th 2008 11:10AM]

Where do you guys find these pictures? They're hilarious.

[ethan @ Nov 19th 2008 4:40PM]

You can screen capture any scene watching DVD's on a computer.

I wonder when Engadget will make more cult film references. Carnival of Souls, anyone?

[DavidLee @ Nov 18th 2008 12:33PM]

Please no! Love my Vizio and I can't handle higher prices. I've been waiting for the Holiday sales, but maybe I have the answer on why that hasn't been happening. Really wanted one of their smaller 1080p's :(