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NFL to replay to HD games later that week
So far today we have covered soccer, golf (Happy Gilmore), hockey and sports programming. Sorry folks if you aren't a sports fan; oh and to new readers, it's not usually like this. Next up today is the NFL. The league is going to rebroadcast the weekends top games later that week on the NFL Network. Best of all, and the reason we are talking about it here at HD Beat, is that these select games will be in high definition. You can expect to see these games the following Tuesday and Wednesday on the NFL Network. Hey, more HD programming the better - even if you already knew the outcome of the game.
OLN coming back to Dish Network
Hockey fans rejoice! OLN, the home of the NHL, is now coming back to Dish Networks lineup. They have reached a multi-year agreement that should keep the Outdoor Life Network on Dish for years to come. Now, they have not said anything about OLN-HD yet but the press release indicated that to receive the signal, a customer has to have Americas Top 180, DishHD Gold, or any higher programming tier. Lets hope that they are going to start broadcasting OLN-HD. If they do, we will let you know. Oh and the station is back to its original spot on 151.In related news, OLN is not going to be called OLN anymore. Nope, they have changed the name to "Versus." They say that it just brings out competition in people. The name should take affect in the fall. Around the HD Beat labs, we think the name is stupid. What about you? OLN or Versus?
HDTV Listings for April 24, 2006
What we're watching: The NBA Playoffs are a marathon, not a sprint so we'll forgive you if you take a night off for new episodes of Prison Break, 24, New Adventures of the Old Christine or Everwood, but hurry back tomorrow ok?Also worth checking out is HBO's Elizabeth I, predictably about the queen by that name. If you missed the first half of this miniseries, don't worry it is reairing in high definition at 6:10, followed by the conclusion at 8 p.m.Our traditional high-def listings continue below.
Is Viiv living up to the hype?
Viiv. Do you even know what it is. For starters it is somewhat like Centrino was to laptops a few years ago. Viiv is a combination of hardware that allows consumers to easily view and stream digital media. Intel introduced this last year at CES with a cool box that would look great in any equipment rack. But go into any major electronic store and seek out their Viiv systems. (if you can find one) HP has a desktop that is just a desktop filled with a few web clips and digital media files. Nothing special to us. So where are all the cool Viiv products? Well, for one, remember that Onkyo media center. That's one. We are sure more is to come but this is a home entertainment product that someone like Onkyo or TIVO would be great at making. There is more to come and hopefully penetrate into homes. [via digg]
Flickr pool update: equipment racks
HDTVs are great. We love 'em but sometimes they are not the most impressive part of a home entertainment setup. How all the equipment is stored and displayed can be a work of art. Our HD Beat pool over at Flickr has a few nice racks...equipment racks. Check 'em out. Oh and feel free to post your system in our pool.
DVR users: NBC extending shows by 10 minutes
Oh sweeps. The time of year when the weather is nice but the TV shows are at their prime. NBC is pulling out all the stops by extending its top shows by 10 minutes - all in HD too. Most DVRs should be able to handle this if the guide is downloaded properly. It would be worth your time though to set the DVR to extend 10 minutes past the end of the show just in case though.NBC is using this technique on Will and Grace, My Name is Earl, and The Office's May 11th showing. TV Squad also pointed out that a long time HD classic, ER, is going to be 10 minutes shorter. (does anyone still watch ER though)
Logitec brings Blu-Ray to Macs with the LBD-A2FU2
NOTE: This is not the same Logitech of mice and keyboard fame. But who cares! This is the first Blu-Ray burner that will work with PCs and Macs. What's that you say? Won't work with your Intel Mac Mini or MacBook Pro? They do have an external version coming out as well that will run on ether firewire or USB for a few bucks more. The drive itself though appears to be simply a re-badged Panasonic drive with the same price tag. So for about $850 you can except to see this drive at the end of June.[via Akihabara News]
The demise of EDTV
EDTV: we hardly knew you and truthfully, we won't miss ya. Enhanced definition plasmas was a great alternative to what was then a high priced item. There was a time not long ago when high definition flat panels were more of a Luxist item but there was enhanced definition that offered most of what high-def had to offer at a fraction of the cost. But alas, you are leaving us soon.The average price of plasmas has nearly been cut in half each of the past years. Enhanced definition has always been there a cool thousand under the price of its big brother, but with HD plasmas easily reaching 2K, EDTVs are no longer needed. Later!
HDTV Listings for April 23, 2006
What we're watching: Our usual Sunday night standbys, Grey's Anatomy and Desperate Housewives take the night off to do recaps of the story to this point. If you've missed a few episodes or haven't watched at all, this may be a good night to check them out. But c'mon, we all know what time of year it is and we know why you got your HDTV. Sports.NBA and NHL Playoffs are kicking off this weekend, with four NBA games today and a couple hockey games. Nice to see the NHL back in the national spotlight and in high definition, playoff action is always must see TV. After LeBron's triple-double last night, Carmelo's attempt to be the last second hero (again), and the Spurs' dismantling of the Kings, it will be interesting to see who comes out on top today.Our traditional high-def listings continue below.
Guess who makes a $4000 HDTV with only one component input?
Why is this so hard to do? Remember last year when every one was saidng one HDMI was not enough? Well, no one thought that by adding one more HDMI that manufacturers would take away a component input. Take this Samsung 46-inch LCD for example. Fine lookin' set but for 4K you get two HDMI inputs but only one component input. Astounds us too. So, here it is manufacturers. Sit up and listen. We need two or more HDMI inputs, two or more component and 2 composite inputs. More is fine but no less. GOT IT! Good. Or and one more thing. Start putting component input on the front jacks like Sony's A10 series.
Sony's 46-inch S-Series BRAVIA now shipping
Good thing its tax return season otherwise some of ya might be rackin' up the credit card bills. Newest HDTV to the block this spring is Sony's largest LCD to date - the 46-inch KDL-462000. This big and bad LCD brings Sony up into the ranks of Sharp with a 46-incher. The normal specs are all here: 1366x768 resolution, built in ATSC tuner, HDMI and the cool Sony light sensor. The best part of all is that this 46-inch LCD is now shipping for a low, low price (just kidding) of $3,999. That's not that bad.
Another look at the inside of Toshiba's HD-A1
Some people are just so curious. Take Lorin for example. He ran out and bought Toshiba's HD-A1 HD DVD player and documented him opening the thing up. The six minute clip includes everything from him removing it from the box to installing the HD DVD drive in a PC. No, Windows does not recognize it silly, but BIOS did. He did indicate that purhaps Vista would...It is differently worth watching if those internal pics of the player was not enough to satisfy you.
IO-DATA Blu-Ray burner
How come we never get to have any fun. Check out all the stuff Akihabara News has seen today at their trade show. They even were give blank BR-D disks at IO-DATAs news conference for their new Blu-Ray burner. This is basically a rebranded Pioneer drive but thats ok. This bad boy is going to be available in both the internal and external flavors but nether will be cheap. The internal one will run you $900 and the external $1,000. And you thought that Panasonic drive was expensive...
HD video conference from Epson
Now this is a great use of technology and high definition. We wish that we had more info on this but all we have are a few pics and our dreams. Akihabara News is at trade show and Epson is showing off their newest innovation: HD video conferencing. From the looks of the two pics we have, there seems to be a camera on top of the HDTV (50-inch plasma maybe). The HDTV is displaying three pictures and two of them seem to be from the trade shows floor, with the third, at some office. We image the data connection required to do this is something that we Americans can only dream about though. Or be President Logan of 24 'cause he has used stuff like this early on in the season. But WOW, hopefully Akihabara News puts up a HD video of this in action.
Where are all the My Name is Earl easter eggs?
Earl. Where're you been buddy? There hasn't been any HD Easter Eggs lately. Sure, new episodes have been far and few between but give us something. Most of us had already forgot that there was these little treats for your HD viewers till I stumbled across our original post. Ok, sweeps is coming up real soon and we need to see one of these famous HD Easter Eggs. Suggestion? Have an episodes in a school or computer lab and have our blog up on one of the computers so only us HD viewers could see it. Cool?Previous My Name is Earl HD Easter Eggs HD Rocks Vote for high def Blind Recording HD Draft
Panasonic's Blu-ray burner - LF-MB121JD
Panasonic chose what camp they were going to be in early on so they have a huge head start. From the looks of things, Panasonic has a Blu-Ray burner coming real soon, the LF-MB121JD. This drive, yes it is a computer drive and not a set-top player, can read and write on the BD-R and BD-RE media at a whopping 2X (72Mps). Oh, and it also supports BD-ROM too along with normal DVD±R and normal CDs.The blank media is available in 25 and 50 gig formats. Judging by the cost of TDKs blank discs, it would be a lot cheaper just to buy a huge hard drive, but that's just me The drive itself is going to be available on June 10th for $850. UPDATE: Akihabara News has a high-def clip of this drive you might want to check out. It is not of it in action still it is in high definition.[via NewLaunches][via Akihabara News]
HDTV Listings for April 20, 2006
What we're watching: Ladies night once again with Commander in Chief following up Alias (*whistles* nothing to see here) yesterday, showing Jack Bauer and David Palmer that boys don't have all the fun. Otherwise it's a slow night for HD, as the NBA and NHL gear up for the playoffs, but a new Everybody Hates Chris on UPN should get us through.Update: NBC has decided to swap out the dull Cooking Challenge for episodes of Will & Grace and My Name is Earl tonight. Good choice NBC.Our traditional high-def listings continue below.
Sharp Internet AQUOS LCD TV and PC systems
Today Sharp loosed their new Internet AQUOS TV / PC combo systems. At the top end is the LD-37SP1 LCD and PC-AX50M mini-PC kit capable of pumping out (and recording) those Hi-Vision (Japanese high def) broadcast pixels onto a 37-inch LCD with 1200:1 contrast ratio, 6ms response, 176-degree viewing angle, and HDMI and HDCP DVI ports. A wireless (RF) keyboard and remote are perfect for getting all potato-like up on the couch. The PC manages to eke out 500GB of SATA disk for hi-def recordings and such, up to 1GB DDR2 RAM, a DVD combo drive, and SD and xD picture card slots with direct-to-card MPEG-4 recordings -- all powered by a 1.66GHz Intel Core Duo T2300 CPU and XP Home. The kit is also available with a 32-inch LCD (LD-32SP1) and PC sporting a terrestrial analog tuner and a 250GB disk (PC-AX50M) all of which you can mix-n-match to your heart’s desire. No doubt, we like the design, but these systems are kept out of the high-end game with their Intel graphics cards, LCD resolutions of just 1366 x 768, and lack of a Windows Media Center Edition install option. Expect these to hit shelves in Japan sometime in May for an undisclosed price.[Via Akihabara News]
HDTV Listings for April 19, 2006
What we're watching: Sydney Bristow is back. No Lost, but two hours of Alias should hopefully make up for that. Tonight's Monster Garage is also a good pick, as Jesse & crew add wings to a Panoz sports car. The LA Clippers get some much-deserved national spotlight tonight against the Mavericks, although both teams will likely be just trying to stay healthy for the playoffs. Check out the game though, hopefully Shaun Livingston will play and you'll see why I think he is the player with the most potential in the NBA right now. Crazy handles & court vision are just part of the package.Our traditional high-def listings continue below.
Big things coming from Pioneer tomorrow
One of our favorite Asian tech blogs, Akihabara News, is hinting that something big might be coming from Pioneer tomorrow. OK, we do not have any conformation that it is going to be anything HDish but Pioneer is making a big push in plasmas lately. What would we like to see announced? That 1080p plasma of theirs will be sold here in the states. Oh and throw in a 42-inch 1080p plasma for good measure. Whatever the news turns out to be we will let you know. Check back tomorrow for Pioneers announcement.[Akihabara News seems to be down as of writing this.]
