HdBeat
Latest
Ask HD Beat: What's the deal with 1366 x 768?
Reader Rob writes in and asks, "What's the deal with 1366x768? It seems like most of the HDTV's out there in the 32-37" range have those dimensions. How does that translate on a pixel to pixel basis, and why don't they do 1280x720?"Rob that is a great question and one that has come up many times before. I even asked the Pioneer representative at CES this year the same question. His response was that it was a PC resolution that has been standardized. He was of course talking about XGA which is 1024x768 but it is the same premise. More pixels is better, there is no arguing that, but the question still remains where do the rest of those pixels come from and how can they make a 16x9 display from a 4x3 resolution? The answer is actually pretty simple; it is not a 1:1 pixel mapping and pixels don't have to be square. In fact the Pioneer Elite plasma (arguably the best plasma) has a 1024x768 resolution and rectangular pixels.
DIRECTV expands local HD to eight new markets
DIRECTV continues to roll out more markets with HD locals by adding eight additional markets yesterday to the existing twelve and plan to cover 58% of the US by mid 2006. The new markets include;Minneapolis, Sacramento, Pittsburgh, San Diego, Nashville, Kansas City, Columbus, Ohio and Birmingham.This is great for those in these Markets, but as a DIRECTV subscriber I can't help but feel disappointed that they haven't added any new HD channels despite the new HD channels available today. Although I can't say I have watched TNT-HD or that I would watch MHD or HGTV-HD. Should DIRECTV even bother adding these new channels even if they are only available to MPEG4 equipped customers?
HD DVD review
I decided some time ago that I was going to wait for Blu-Ray since I believe that in the end it will win, but on Friday when others started to discuss their thoughts about picking up a HD-DVD players I decided I had to have one. I went to Best Buy yesterday, but like many others I was not able to buy the movies. I went back today and bought the first of three units that the Lakeland Best Buy received. I also picked up The Last Samurai and Serenity, as well as the DVD versions for comparison.
HDBeat Podcast 009 - 04.18.06
HD-DVD is still in the news this week as player and titles start to hit the street. We talk about 1080p and why you should or shouldn't get it. HGTV-HD and MHD hit the streets but no one noticed because of the lack of carriage agreements. I also spend some time ranting about the name HD Radio and Kevin and I regret that we missed the NBA Sky Cam game. Get the podcast [iTunes] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in iTunes (MP3). [RSS] Add the HD Beat Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator and have the show delivered automatically (MP3). [MP3] Download the show (MP3). Hosts Ben Drawbaugh and Kevin C. Tofel Producer Ben Drawbaugh Format 48.24, 22 MB, MP3 Program HD-DVD has arrived! Lionsgate delays Blu-ray movies HD-DVD & Blu-ray movie boxes unveiled, 1080p standard Got 1080p? Do you even need it? Sony's 82-inch Bravia makes a showing in Taiwan Home theater vs. movie theater HGTV-HD is in the building Is MTV's The Real World going high definition? The one and only MTV show that needs to be HD Did you catch the NBA's dual SkyCam special HDTV broadcast? What can possibly be HD about radio? Review: HD Downloads via Akimbo LISTEN (MP3)
Got 1080p? Do you even need it?
1080p is all the rage these days, we even talked about it on our Podcast, as we discussed is 1080p really an advantage for Blu-Ray over HD-DVD or is it just a marketing trick to sell more units? Is 1080p simply another marketing term that entices people to buy TVs? There is no doubt that true 1080p has it advantages over 1080i and 720p, but the problem right now is that most TVs that claim to be 1080p are really not true 1080p, they use tricks like wobulation and de-interlacing such as bob rather than weave which effectively throws away half the lines of resolution. Dave Zatz doesn't seem to think any of it makes a difference and plans to stick with his 480p TV. Personally I think he has missed the boat, but not because of the 480p, but because he only has a 30" TV. The best part about HD is that now we can have large TVs that still look great because of 1080p. I do agree with him on one point, I am going to wait to buy my first 1080p TV untill I can buy one without wobulation, accepts 1080p as an input and only uses weave as a de-interlacing technique.
Warning: You may find this post heinous and offensive
But Xbox 360 Fanboy needs your help. For every positive (like the HD Beat flickr group), there is an equal and horrifyingly opposing negative. This weekend they are running a contest to find out who has the most pathetic Xbox 360 gaming setup in all the land, and uh, some of these are pretty pathetic. Sweet 720p videogame loving should never be found in what appears to be a laundry room.Go, vote, and then thank your lucky stars that you have not found youself in such a pitiable position.
HD-DVD has arrived!
I was reading the AVSForum and what do I find, but a guy from Surf City, CA managed to pick up a HD-DVD player from his local Best Buy. I guess they didn't know that they weren't suppsed to be released till Tuesday. Lucky for him, but not as lucky as you think, he still doesn't have any movies to watch. The forums members are keeping him busy with questions, this is starting to get exciting.
Review: HD Downloads via Akimbo
Here at HDBeat we love to find new HD content and for some reason it seems more exciting when we can download it, this is partly because we can stream the HD content to our Xbox360. A few weeks ago there was a press release about Akimbo and HDNet working together to bring HD content to people via the Internet so I decided to check it out.
What can possibly be HD about radio?
We all know how great HD is, if we didn't love it then we wouldn't be here at HDBeat. HD is taking the world by storm and starting to hit critical mass. It's no wonder that some marketing departments have tried to latch on to take advantage, but HD radio? What could possibly be considered HD about radio? HD or High Definition as defined by answers.com is "The clarity of detail in an optically produced image, such as a photograph, effected by a combination of resolution and contrast." or "The degree of clarity with which a televised image or broadcast signal is received." As you can see this has nothing to do with sound, the worst part is that sound has it's own high quality designation; Hi-Fi, but unfortunately for us and the iBiquity's marketing department that term is so 1970. Regardless of the correct terminology HD Radio is here to stay and the worst part is the sound quality isn't even close to be as good as the audio from HDTV. It is better than AM or FM, but does it deserve to be tagged HD? So if you have something to market in the consumer electronics world don't forget to either put a 'i' in front of it(iRadio?) or call it HD or it won't succeed.
NeoDigits' Helios HVD2085 upscaling DVD player reviewed
Matt Burns has a thorough review of the NeoDigits' Helios HVD2085 upscaling DVD player (also known as the NeuNeo HVD2085) over at our sister blog HDBeat, and not only does he train his own experienced eye on the unit's video performance, he actually goes so far as to set up a single blind test at one of the big box retailers pitting the Helios against the store's top traditional player. In his private testing, Matt finds that the component and HDMI-equipped Helios delivers a superior picture quality compared to a standard Sony DVP-NS725P progressive scan unit (although, as he admits, it's not an apples-to-apples comparison), most notably in how it is able to smooth the picture -- but it doesn't really live up its advertised claim of improving a movie's resolution. He also digs the Hitachi-inspired remote, clean and intuitive menus, and plethora of connectivity options, although the construction here sounds a bit flimsy. At least in terms of pure picture quality, the big box customers were in total agreement with Matt; they overwhelmingly chose the $250 Helios over the almost-$300 Harmon Kardon DVD 22 in the random sampling, citing both its superior color and sharpness.
Universal to release Serenity on HD-DVD on 4/18/06
It appears that HD-DVD's secret weapon is about to enter into the game. You can say what you want about either format, but in the end it comes down to titles. People will buy the format with the titles they want to see and two of the biggest players in the movie industry are backing HD-DVD at least partially. Universal which is the only non Blu-Ray supporter is bringing out the first heavy hitter, a title that people are actually excited about; Serenity. Although it is not a block buster title like King Kong it is the hottest movie to be announced for either format to date. The entire basis of my HD-DVD will die prediction is based on the lack of quality content and if these types of titles continue to be released, I will be proved wrong. This only gets more interesting by the day and I for one can't wait to see which titles make it to market first. With just over 60 days till Blu-Ray is released HD-DVD has a good chance to get a good head start, but 4 movies (of which one new release) isn't going to be enough. Do you think the studios will save HD-DVD?via [HDBlog.net]
HDBeat Podcast 008 - 04.11.06
This week we kick off the new HD-DVD standard by discussing it ad nauseum. Kevin and I can't get enough and since we don't think you can either we asked HDBeat reader, listner and contributor Erik Hanson on the show to referee Kevin and I. (of couse I picked the referee) It isn't all HD-DVD vs Blu-Ray; we cover some of the biggest stories this week as well as some great HD sports coverage. Get the podcast [iTunes] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in iTunes (MP3). [RSS] Add the HD Beat Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator and have the show delivered automatically (MP3). [MP3] Download the show (MP3). Hosts Ben Drawbaugh and Kevin C. Tofel Guests Erik Hanson Producer Ben Drawbaugh Format 52:52, 24 MB, MP3 Program HD-DVD Roadshow: a readers impressions It's time to pre-order your next gen HD movies! Playstation 3 price: 500 euros ($600 U.S.) What is your price? How was the National Championship game broadcast? The Masters in HD round up Turn an Intel Mac Mini into a Windows Media Center - Offically Dolphin Stadium HDTV (worlds largest) unveiled LISTEN (MP3)
HD-DVD Roadshow: a readers impressions
One of the best things about HDBeat (if I do say so myself) is the great contributions by our readers and the listeners of the Podcast. It really does go to show that one of the best aspects of the Internet as a medium is two way communication. After reading about the HD-DVD roadshow and my impressions, Erik Hanson went to check it out for himself and he was nice enough to send us his notes. They were so insightful that I wanted to share them with everyone.
LG's 71" Plasma
I was reading Autoblog and was thinking of buying a new car, but then I saw this on Engadget and decided I would rather have it instead. At 28K it is a real choice, assuming you were planning on paying cash for the car. How many years will a bank lend on a TV?The newest addition to the LG line up has everything you would expect in a 28K TV. The latest resolution; 1080p, 1200:1 contrast ratio as well as all the inputs. No word on whether it is available with a dual ATSC tuner or DVR, but one would hope.via [Engadget]
The Masters in HD round up
HDSportsGuide has their second annual Masters schedule up. It looks like you will need a few channels to get your HD golf fix this week, including UniversalHD and CBS. Thursday the 6th at 4:00pm on CBS and UniversalHD.Friday the 7th at 4:00pm on both CBS and UniversalHD.Saturday the 8th at 3:30pm on CBS and Sunday at 2:30pm on CBS. (All times EST)They are also reporting that because of the fiber runs throughout the course this will be the best HD golf coverage we've seen.
It's time to pre-order your next gen HD movies!
So we can't buy HD-DVD or Blu-Ray just yet, but we can pre-order some movies as well as the players. A reader Erik sent in a tip about one of his favorite online Movie retailers after being impressed with their selection of HD-DVD and Blu-Ray titles. If you go by the number of movies Blu-Ray is way ahead of HD-DVD by about 15 to 4. Unfortunately available titles aren't that interesting, but the prices are. If you go by these prices there isn't much difference between HD-DVD and Blu-Ray, well other than the players that is.Thanks Eric!
A&E to go HD!
You know what I always say: You can't have enough HD channels. Of course we like it more when the channels are good, but you can't be everything to everyone. The latest to announce the plans to go HD is A&E. They will have a HD preview in June, but won't kick off their 24/7 HD network until September. I hope you like Horatio from CSI: Miami because A&E is kicking off their new network with a CSI: Miami marathon. The bad news is the fact that no carriage agreements have been announced. To me the biggest news is the mention of The History Channel going HD in 2007: Modern Marvels in HD yeah!
DIRECTV's pro HD DVR - D-HR20P
DIRECTV quietly announced a new HD DVR at EHX this past week. Despite my constant drilling, the DIRECTV representative couldn't satisfy my curiosity. He did indicate that the reason this device wasn't at CES was because it's not a consumer device. He did on the other hand tell me that it will have 750GB of capacity and run between $1500 and $2000. Not sure if we have reason to be excited other than the fact that our local watering hole might get one. He wasn't able to tell me how many TVs it supported, but he did say it will run similar software to their new MPEG4 HD DVR due this fall. Plus it has a cool display right on the front and is rack mountable. As a side note they had the same HD DVR in the plastic box as they had at CES, which isn't encouraging, but it was interesting that it had a "Pace" anti tamper sticker on it, which makes me wonder if Pace is making the next gen box.
MLB kicks off in HD on Sunday
It seems like just yesterday Major League Baseball was on TV and now it's that time again. Opening day is Monday, but MLB is kicking the season off right this Sunday in HD with the Indians vs The White Sox. There is also a full day of HD games to follow on Monday. Get the entire schedule over at HDSportsGuide.com, now if I only enjoyed watching Baseball I would be all set.
Any good new mid season HD shows?
I am not sure where I have been, but I just noticed that there are some new HD shows on TV. I will admit that I don't channel surf and I don't read the daily HDTV Listings, but now I find myself wondering if any of these new show are worth the space on my HD TiVo. Which new mid season HD shows do you think are worth a look?
