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LG launches two new plasma TVs
LG is launching two new plasma into the frey today. Nothing really special here...besides the design. Someone apparently liked it a lot. A whole lot. The plasmas recently won a iF Design and Red Dot design awards. But other then the bezel they are just normal 720p LG plasmas. The TV does utilize LG's proprietary XG engine that takes any source and scales it up to the native resolution of the set; pretty normal stuff for a fixed pixel display. There is no word on price just yet and we have a feeling that these plasmas are heading for the European market.
Spectrum's small, and we mean small, HDTV antenna
Check out this cool, little antenna. There is no word on price yet but the manufacturer, Spectrum, is prepping this guy for a global launch. There really is nothing innovative as it is just a small UHF antenna, but boy is it still cool. It is meant to be used with all those USB and PCI ATSC tuner cards that are out there. Just set this guy on the desk/table/rock you are using as a desk and away you go. It does appear that it can be mounted too. It is just kind of neat.Your thoughts...
HDTV Listings for May 18, 2006
What we're watching: Only one NBA game tonight, the Clippers fight for a another day and a Game 7 while the Suns try to close out tonight at 10 p.m. on ESPN-HD. Will & Grace wraps up the series with two hours on NBC (only the second hour is in HD according to NBC.com), while CSI, E.R. and The O.C. end their seasons tonight as well.If it's all the same with you guys, we'll probably check out Small Soldiers on Cinemax-HD at 10 p.m.Our traditional high-def listings continue below.
HD DVD not "future-proof" enough
AVS Forum is a huge place; most of you probably already know that right? HDBlog.net has dug up a thread that outlines a producers woes with Blu-ray. Apparently he has hit the edge of HD DVD capacity. He has had to downgrade his audio and video stream to stay within HD DVDs 25Mbs video and 5Mbs limitation. Where with Blu-ray he has a lot more headroom to work with its 32Mbs/8Mbs streams. These are next gen formats right? How can we call it "next gen" if people are already hitting the limitation?[via HDBlog.net]
Apple releases Final Cut Express HD 3.5
This may be a bit past Apple's "Year of HD," but that is ok. Better late then never, plus there is a lot more Apple hardware out that can handle editing high-def video. Apple has just updated their pro-sumer video editing software to handle high definition video. Along with tons of advancements, they have made the program Universal Binary. The high-def advancements have made it all the way to LiveType that allows the user to scale text to any resolution. Final Cut Express HD 3.5 is available now through Apple's online store for $299 or users can upgrade for $99.
Dolby Labs helps with different audio options
Dolby has been at the forefront of everything that has to do with digital audio for years now and now they are helping to share that knowledge with me and you. Their website has a great section on the different ways to get the digital audio that high-def has to your receiver. The best way is via a IEEE 194 (firewire) or HDMI 'cause it carries the full signal of up to 8 channels of audio. But yet there are other options like line-level outputs and optical cables. There is tons of info on this site; more then we can cover in one post. Check it out.
Dish Network launches new local high-def stations too
Not to be outdone by DirecTV, Dish Network is launching eleven new local high-def markets. This role call includes Dallas, Houston, Miami, Phoenix, Portland, Ore. Sacramento, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, and Spokane. These new markets brings Dish Networks local station count to 24; the same as DirecTV. We aren't about to get into the classic DirecTV/Dish Network argument, but whoever wins this local HD battle will walk away with the title as "America's HD Leader."[thanks for the tip Nick]
HDTV Listings for May 17, 2006
What we're watching: Lost is still the show to watch, we guess. The last few episodes have been a bit of a drag, here's hoping they pick things up. Invasion wraps up their first (and last, thanks Bob!) season tonight, along with CSI:NY, Law & Order and Bones. The Detroit Pistons start from scratch tonight trying to put away the Cleveland Cavaliers with their series tied 2-2. The defending champ San Antonio Spurs however are just trying to stay alive after falling down 3-1 to the Dallas Mavericks. Think Mark Cuban can smell the Conference finals yet?Our traditional high-def listings continue below.
TrustedReviews.com tearing up HDTV reviews
It can be hard to find good reviews of HDTVs these days. Back when a television had a shelf life of a over a year, you could always dig one up, but now that TVs are only out for 6-7 months, it can be hard. TrustedReviews.com has been hitting TVs hard and they seem to have complied the most complete selection of current HDTV reviews. NOTE: this site is based out of the UK, so most of these TVs are not sold here in the States. But, there is always a 'but', while the model numbers might not match up, most of the TV remains the same in different markets. So for the most part, if you find the HDTV you are seeking about and they give a positive review, more then likely the US model would get a positive review as well.
Vogel's new LCD stand
LCDs are so small and light they can be placed anywhere. You can put them on mantels, on nightstands, or on the wall. But what if you want the TV on the wall but are having committement issues on where? Vogel has a new mounting system that might just work for you. This really isn't inovative but rather just practical. This is basicly a stick for LCDs to mount on, but you know what? It works. The mount will support up to a 24-inch VESA complient LCD panel and is available for $479.
DirecTV adds four local HDTV markets
DirecTV just keeps rolling out these high-def markets. The newest ones on the list of 24 cities is Milwaukee, Phoenix, Salt Lake City and St. Louis. DirecTV plans to have 26 more markets up by years end and at this rate we don't see them not achieving their goal. At the beginning of the year, they only had six markets up and now 24; nice. Keep in mind though that to receive these new local signals you will need the H20 receiver with the five LMB dish. These signals are MPEG-4 based and older boxes cannot use receive it. DirecTV has indicated in the past that they will give rebates to current customers in order to help with the new equipment costs.
Samsung intros plasmas with built-in DVRs
Samsung is showing off their newest plasma line across the Pacific. Their newest panels include, along with other advancements, a 300gb hard drive for your recording pleasure. That is if you use the internal turner; an option that is not real popular over here with all these cable and satellite boxes. If not, this hard drive really won't do you much good. Anyways, the plasma is set into Samsung's latest bezel and looks good. But, wait, look at that remote! It's huge!
HDTV Scrubs on NBC?
That's the rumor, I didn't get a chance to see tonights season finale but for those of you who did, was anything different? A couple of HD Beat readers caught it and saw it was in HD. If you don't already know, Scrubs has been one the shows I most want to see in high definition, so I certainly hope they aren't playing with my emotions.Taking a look at the NBC website, the aptly named "My Transition" episode is marked as an HDTV broadcast. Hopefully this means a full sixth season of 1080i goodness, check TV Squad's interview with cast member John C. McGinley for more info about Scrubs behind the scenes.Thanks Rick for the shot of widescreen Scrubs from his HDTV and camera phone!
HDTV Listings for May 16, 2006
What we're watching: As NBA Playoff action continues, the Heat look to make it a short series vs. the Nets tonight, while the Suns and Clippers both look to take an edge in what has become a best-of-three series. The parade of finales continues with Boston Legal, NCIS, The Unit and Law & Order SVU taking a bow.Our traditional high-def listings continue below.
Sony does not think they can meet the Blu-ray demand
Blu-ray is a month away from launching (hopefully) and Sony just doesn't think that they will be able to meet the demand. This concern is stemming from the sales rate of current electronic devices and their supply of parts. Apparently, this is going to hit our dear Blu-ray products hard and Sony just doesn't think they will be able to keep the inventory up on it. This is not only going to affect the PS3 but also component based Blu-ray players. So the moral of the story he is that if you want one of these Blu-ray players, pick one up when you can.
HDTV Listings for May 15, 2006 - Presidential Address update
What we're watching: Finales, finales, finales. Three hours of Grey's Anatomy tonight, two of them new. After last night's episode if you're a fan of the series this is a must-see. Prison Break completes its second season (it only feels like it's been on forever) with the long awaited escape, while How I Met Your Mother, One on One, All of Us and Half & Half wrap things up for the year as well. We were all "witnesses" to the Cavaliers surprising Game 3 victory over the pistons, but with a guaranSheed Pistons win tonight, there's not much sense in tuning in until Spurs-Mavericks at 10:30 p.m.After all that, I highly recommend Discovery Channel's documentary Shipbreakers if you haven't seen it already, and there's also some show called 24...Update: The re-air of last night's Grey's is apparently going to air after President Bush speaks, so you may want to put an extra hafl hour or hour on the DVR in case the finale does not start on time. Prison Break and 24 are both listed as being bumped 20 minutes, no word on the other networks. Also don't forget that Presidential Address' can often be a good opportunity to see the difference between the HD broadcast of each major network.[Thanks for the heads up James!] Our traditional high-def listings continue below.
First look at Sky HD
SkyHD is ready to launch on May 22nd but HDTV UK has their first impressions up about the system with a full review set to come soon. What did they think? They liked it. The box looks great and works like the non-HD ones. The DVR has a 160 gig hard drive in it that can record in 576, 720p and 1080i. They also like the programming offerings specifically Cricket in HD. This is apparently like what football is to us; their killer HD programming. We are sure there is going to be a whole lot more info and reviews once the service officially launches in a week.
Microsoft has a XBOX 360 HDMI cable coming?
Well this answers some questions but leaves us wanting more. Lik-Sang has a product page up for a Microsoft branded XBOX 360 HDMI cable. While there isn't any pics of the cable they do have a product description up that matches what a HDMI cable is all about. This makes tons of since now that the XBOX 360 HD DVD player is a reality. What's funny is that we would have thought that the HDMI cable would have been announced before the HD DVD player but there wasn't even any mention of this last week at E3. We still don't know if this is real or not but it looks good.
What show do you wish was in HD?
High definition programming is grow rapidly; It has almost doubled in the last year. Still there are shows and channels that we wish were available in HD. Like Sci-Fi. They have great original shows like Battlestar Galactica and all those Stargate series. Plus, that new Ghosthunters show would be great in high-def. Oh and then there is F/X. Who wouldn't want to see The Shield and Rescue Me in HD? Oh and don't forget about Nip/Tuck. It is ashame that these are some of the best shows on TV and they aren't in HD. What shows/channels would you like to see in HD?
Netflix's helps with Blu-ray and HD DVD movies
Hacking Netflix has stumbled across something rather cool. Apparently there is an option someplace in your preferences that allows for your high definition settings. For instance: if you set HD DVD as your first choice, Netflix will send you your next movie on HD DVD if it is available. Better yet, you can set a second and third option giving you the option of Blu-ray and normal DVDs. We couldn't find this option in our Netflix preferences so if this is true, this is a cool little option.
