Filed under: Displays, HDTV, Home Entertainment
Runco, obviously, is already in the game. So are Sony, Sharp, Marantz, JVC, and even a little outfit called projectiondesign. But when it comes to 1,080p front projectors, we’ve been wanting to call up Mitsubishi on our Boost Mobile phone
[Via HDBeat]
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Filed under: HDTV, Peripherals, Portable Video
owners -- as you'll recall, it lets the 4G-, nano- and mini-flavored 'Pods act as mass storage devices for feeding video to its 3.6-inch LCD -- a new version is looking to bring even the latest iPod into the fold by offering playback of high definition content. Like its predecessor (pictured), ATO's iSee HD (our name, not theirs) partitions your 'Pod's hard drive into two sections: one dedicated to DRM'ed material you downloaded from iTunes, and another for unencrypted MPEG-4, DivX, and HD.264 files that you want to watch on its screen. According to company CEO John Scott, the new iSee will hit stores in about five months, which should be plenty of time for you to save up the $200 to $250 that it's expected to set you back.Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | CommentsFiled under: Digital Cameras, Peripherals
While the iSight built into your new Macbook (or any laptop
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Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment
plunge, and whether Samsung's BD-P1000 is the machine to do it with. Luckily PCMag has a thorough write-up which not only discusses the merits and detriments of the player itself, but looks at the format as a whole to determine what type of consumer would actually benefit from next-gen optical devices in the first place. The review basically boils down to this: if you have a high definition TV larger than 42-inches, then you'll definitely notice a difference between Blu-ray and standard or upscaled DVDs, and the Samsung does a good job delivering the picture quality that Blu-ray is capable of. However, this particular reviewer also feels that Toshiba's HD-A1 HD DVD player -- at half the price -- has a slight edge in the picture department, although the P1000's uncompressed audio and ease-of-setup are judged to be superior. Ultimately the decision comes down to personal preferences, so you'll probably want to give both devices a thorough going-over at the store (even if you're buying online); as for us, we're just hoping that Ricoh gets that dual format laser out the door poste haste, so we never have to make a choice at all.Filed under: Displays, HDTV, Home Entertainment
Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment
camp cruelly torturing us with product delays, but in a refreshing change of pace, today it's rival format HD DVD's main proponent Toshiba announcing that a next-gen optical disc device won't be shipping as scheduled. Unlike Sony's procrastination in releasing the PS3 and BDP-S1, though, Toshiba claims that it only needs two more weeks to get its RD-A1 HD DVD recorder out the door, citing inadequate inventory stemming from component shortages as the reason for putting off tomorrow's scheduled launch. Since this model, with its 1TB storage capacity and OTA digital tuner, is only headed for Japan anyway, the delay probably doesn't concern the vast majority of our American readers -- nor most Japanese, for that matter, as the $3,500 pricetag will likely dissuade all but the most fervent early-adopters. Filed under: Desktops, HDTV, Home Entertainment, Laptops, Media PCs
With all of the time and money that Hollywood and the consumer electronics industry have poured into copy-protecting high definition content, we were amused to learn that both formats can already be duplicated by the simplest of means: the trusty Print Screen button on your keyboard. UK-based Heise Security is reporting that the special OEM version of Intervideo's WinDVD software bundled with both Sony's first Blu-ray Vaio and Toshiba's first HD DVD Qosmio contains a security hole that allows users to capture video frames at their full resolution by simply triggering that Print Screen option -- which in and of itself is little more than a curiosity, but opens up the possibility of running a script that advances a given film one frame at a time and automates the whole screencap process, which would allow pirates to create high def copies by compiling the pictures and dubbing in the audio. Toshiba is already aware of the "problem" and claims that an impending software update will provide the fix, but as one HDBeat commenter astutely pointed out, as long as you can see a picture on your monitor or hear sound through your speakers, there will always be a way to capture that data.Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment
Here ya go TeeVee fans, 5ish new models straight out of Japan. We know it hurts to see all this not-for-the-US tech coming through but just hang with us on these, ’cause from the looks of it, they’ll be available on these golden shores under the EyeFi branding soon enough. The five HDMI-equipped sets break down into 37, 32, and 27-inchers capable of 1920×1080, 1366×768, and 1280×720 pixels respectively. Each model features an ISDB-T Hi-Vision (high definition) digital tuner for Japan (with ATSC and DVB-T tuners on the way for the US and beyond). The big, bad, 37-inch LF-3701DFK (pictured) brings a 1,000:1 contrast ratio, 8-millisecond response, and 176-degree visibility along with the usual in and outs consisting of S-Video, 2 x composite, Japanese D4, and RGB. And fortunately, that speaker sprouting below the panel can be chucked for a cleaner look when attached to your home audio system. The two 32-inch models — LW-3202DFK and LW-3201DFK — are the same panels only with fixed speakers mounted either below, or along sides of the LCD. Same story on those 27-inchers — the LW-2702DFK and LW-2701DFK — with the former also offering that 1366×768 pixel resolution seen by the 32-inch models. Prices are set to range from ¥99,800 to ¥199,800 (or about $863 to $1,729) when these panels hit the streets of Japan starting today — righteous pricing by the time these panels hit the US.
[Via Impress]
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Filed under: Desktops, HDTV, Peripherals, Storage
burner (also known as the "Trio): it'll be coming out in late August, and set you back 799 euros, or a little over $1,000. As you'll recall, that grand is buying you an internal drive that writes to BD-R discs at 2x speed, to DVDs between 4x and 12x, and to CDs at 32x speed, while obviously playing back Blu-ray content at full 1,920 x 1,080 resolution as well. You're also getting the usual suite of features designed to dampen vibration and ensure data integrity, which will come in especially handy for folks who can't afford to be wasting those initially-expensive next-gen discs. Keep in mind, though, that this model won't be the only option available to you by the time it hits stores, so make sure to check out the supported formats and features on competing units from Pioneer, Samsung, Panasonic and Philips before you lay down all that cash.Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment
In what may turn out to be a small, final boost for the HD DVD
[Via Digital Media Thoughts]
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Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment
Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment, Laptops
We knew Acer was going to be one of the first vendors after Toshiba to roll out an HD DVD-equipped laptop, and now it looks like the company is ready to be one of the first out of the gate (after Sony, of course) with Blu-ray as well. Although Acer is refusing to comment, reports out of Taiwan are that the company will introduce both Blu-ray and HD DVD-equipped portables at the upcoming Computex 2006 trade show. We’re ready to see it happen — though what we really want is one box with both drives in it. Maybe they can follow up with that.Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Filed under: Gaming, HDTV, Home Entertainment
There were two things that we thought would be a lock for Microsoft’s Xbox 360 lineup last week at E3: their HD DVD drive (which they delivered on, insofar as a mockup can), and an accompanying HDMI cable for actually watching those movies without fear of the deadly image constraint token. We assumed the latter would actually make it to market first, being that there’s already an obviously pent up demand for a 360 HDMI cable, but we thought wrong — Microsoft announced no such thing. Then along comes Lik-Sang, claiming they’ve got the skinny on the “official” MS HDMI cable, which would also feature component HD, and Dolby 5.1. Now, what are the chances that this is actually the real deal and not just a product stub in anticipation of an accessory that may or may not yet actually exist? Probably pretty slim, but it is Lik-Sang, after all, and they’ve been known to raise a few eyebrows.
[Thanks, GhostDoggy]
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Filed under: Digital Cameras, HDTV, Storage
Sony and Panasonic-parent Matsushita have teamed up to develop an encoding format based on MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 that will enable future camcorders to capture HD footage directly to standard 8-centimeter DVDs. Called "AVCHD," the new format is able to handle numerous resolution/frame-rate combinations, including 480i at 60fps, 720p at 24, 50, or 60fps, and 1080p at 24fps (or 1080i for 50fps and 60fps configurations), and can encode audio in either 5.1 channel AC-3 or up to 7.1 channel Linear PCM. The advantages of this format over the current HDV scheme used with MiniDV cassettes aren't exactly clear -- although you are getting random scene access thanks to the nature of optical discs, recording time is cut down from around an hour with MiniDV to only 20 minutes at the AVCHD "average setting." Even worse, DVD players will require special software in order to read discs containing content encoded in the new format, and even then, they will obviously only play back at a maximum resolution of 480p.
It’s been a bad year for the Miami Dolphins: first they lost Heisman Trophy-winning running back Ricky Williams for the upcoming season, and soon their “biggest HD display in the world” may have to play second fiddle to a new scoreboard being installed this summer for the University of Texas Longhorns. At 7,370 square feet, the 134-foot by 55-foot ‘board being built for the school by Daktronics (who also manufactured the Miami display) has a slightly larger screen area than the current 7000-sqaure-foot title-holder, but nitpickers may argue that since the UT model will be almost a foot shorter diagonally, that it doesn’t qualify as the “world’s biggest.” The argument may turn out to be moot, though, as a horse track in Tokyo is supposedly planning to install a ridiculous 197-foot-wide monster of a screen later this year that will overshadow all who came before it. UT’s project comes as part of a multi-million dollar overhaul of their stadium, which will also include several other large displays, a new sound system, and a $150 million renovation of the north end zone meant to enable a 90,000 person capacity.
[Thanks, Brian]
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Filed under: HDTV, Laptops, Media PCs
with a built-in HD DVD drive. Toshiba is expected to show off the box at E3 today, and will begin selling it on its web site later this week for about $3,000. In addition to its HD DVD player, the G35 includes a 2GHz Core Duo processor, two 100GB drives, 1GB RAM and an Nvidia GeForce Go 7600 with 256MB. The 10-pound portable features a 17-inch display, and comes with Windows XP Media Center Edition.Filed under: Digital Cameras
Filed under: HDTV
Filed under: HDTV
Dell’s
got a new 26-incher kicking around on their site, the W2607C, predecessor to their
standout figures in terms of specs and performance (600:1 contrast ratio, 500cd/m2 brightness, 1366 x 768 panel, 89
degree viewing angles), but this thing does have an integrated ATSC tuner, and a decidedly sizable amount of inputs for
its class. We’re talking three composite ins, two S-Video, two component, two analog coax, DVI, and VGA in a $1,049
panel (well, $1,199 MSRP, but you know Dell).
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You know that
103-inch,
ain’t ever going to go on sale, plasma TV Panasonic’s been lugging around the trade show circuit? Well, start
pinchin’ those pennies son, cause Panny is putting them on sale in time for the holidays. This 7.5 x 4.2-foot (8.5-foot
diagonal) plasma goes 16:9 and throws up a 1920 x 1080 resolution, 3000:1 contrast ratio and features Panasonic’s 1080p
HD high-speed pixel drive we’ve already seen in their
perfect, er, accessory for their
player, no doubt. Sorry, no pricing announced — but if you gotta ask,
Launches]
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Filed under: Home Entertainment
Filed under: HDTV
Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment
Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment
It seems that HDCP, the high def content protection scheme that's all the rage among
Hollywood types, may not be as secure as the suits had hoped: Princeton University computer science professor Ed Felten
takes a look at the standard's supposedly well-known security flaws and dumbs down the basic tech on his blog so all us
non-math majors can understand. Basically, HDCP relies on a handshake between connected hardware wherein the two
devices send each other a set of rules to be applied to the forty-or-so numbers that constitute both devices'
"secret vector" -- if each device reports the same numerical result (as the pre-determined mathematical rules
dictate they should), sweet high definition content can begin to flow freely. According to Felt, all it takes to figure
out a given device's secret vector or create a workable "phantom" vector is to perform a number of handshakes
equal to the number of elements in the secret vector, followed by a little bit of algebra to tease out the results from
a matrix of equations (follow the "Read" link for a better explanation). Although HDCP-restricted HDMI and
DVI connections aren't prevalent enough yet for anyone to have actually undertaken this project (either that, or fear
of legal reprisals has kept any successful cracks from being published), the simple fact that it's doable could mean
nightmares for Tinseltown sooner rather than later.