I joined the HDTV Club last night.

[cat daddy]

High-Def Is the Word at Electronics Show

By GARY GENTILE
The Associated Press
Sunday, January 8, 2006; 1:10 AM

LAS VEGAS -- The wraps came off high-definition DVD players at this year's annual Consumer Electronics Show, offering the final component to replicate the movie theater experience at home.

And while a fierce DVD format war likely will delay the mass adoption of such devices, digital video is here to stay _ the Consumer Electronics Association trade group estimates 25 million U.S. homes will have a high-def TV set by year's end.

But big, expensive flat-panel sets aside, this year's gadget show offered plenty of smaller screens for video featuring the works of a phalanx of celebrities _ Tom Cruise and Robin Williams included _ who came to Las Vegas to help hawk them.

They included handheld devices that can play live or stored TV, music videos and even NBA games _ one of the offerings Google Inc. announced.

Yahoo Inc., DirecTV, Starz Entertainment Group and Sony were also among the companies getting deeper into the business of trying to make it simple to watch recorded Hollywood movies, home video and even live streaming television wherever you may be, on all manner of device.

Full Story

 

[pv_symbiotic]

I was watching the news this morning and they were talking about the HD-DVD Players....damn...I was shopping for a Upconverting DVD Player. Now what am I suppose to do?

 

[cat daddy]

With HBO, Shotime, Starz and HD On-Demand, I'm not buying anything. I have a DVR soI'll just record them using the DVR when I'm not able to watch the movie I want.

 

[J-State Tiger]

Ive been in the HD game for some time now. I just Picked up an HD DVR this weekend. the channels I have are:

ABC
NBC
CBS
FOX
UPN
WB
ESPN
HBO
Showtime
INHD
INHD2
HDNet
HDNet2
UniversalHD
TNT
SunshineHD
In Demand HD - PPV channel

I still have arguments with myself over whether I like 720p or 1080i better. Sports and high speed action look better in 720p and everything else looks better 1080i. I guess when they come out with 1080p that will solve the problem.

The BluRay/HDDVD debate will be a non starter with me. The PS3 comes equipped with BluRay so the BluRay is going to be in millions of homes by the end of 2006 and the HDDVD is going to be.. ???

 

[cat daddy]

I prefer sports in 720p, but everything else in 1080i.

I read recently that MTV is to launch a HD channel in the coming weeks. It will be a combo of MTV, VH-1 and CMT programming.

 

[Olde Hornet]

http://news.com.com/A+DVD+combo+Dont+hold+your+breath/2100-1041_3-6024875.html?tag=nefd.lede

You can read the entire article at the above link:

A DVD combo? Don't hold your breath

For consumers, a device that could play both HD DVDs and Blu-ray discs would take a lot of risk out of adopting the new video players--but one may not arrive for a while.

Legal agreements, intellectual property issues and technological pride will likely keep the two camps backing incompatible next-generation technologies from coming together in the near future, executives and analysts said.

"Until everyone agrees to check their egos at the door and help the consumer, there is nothing we can do about a universal product," said Peter Weedfald, a senior vice president of marketing at Samsung North America.

HD DVD and Blu-ray are competing video and storage formats for succeeding DVDs. While some movie studios said in mid-2005 that they were open to merging the two formats, by late summer, such talk had fizzled out.

Meanwhile, the technological world is bitterly divided. Sony, Samsung, Philips and Dell are among the Blu-ray backers. Intel, Microsoft and Toshiba are on the HD DVD side. Hewlett-Packard has said it will support both contenders.
News.context

What's new:
Legal agreements, intellectual property issues and technological pride will likely keep the two camps backing incompatible next-generation technologies--HD DVD and Blu-ray--from coming together in the near future.

Bottom line:
Pride and ill-will seem to play a significant part in the debate, and the conflict could end up hitting consumers' wallets.

More stories on this topic

Pride and ill-will seem to play a significant part in the debate. As in the old Betamax-VHS debate, both sides believe they have each found the formula that more perfectly suits consumers' desires.

Steve Kovsky, an analyst at iSuppli, recalled a meeting in Tokyo last year at a major Japanese consumer electronics manufacturer. A reporter asked about a "universal" player. The executive leading the tour blew up and called the notion "stupid."

 

[J-State Tiger]

The dumbasses at Microsoft should have put their product on the XBOX 360. They are going to get blown out of the water. By next Christmas everyone will have a PS3 and therfore a Blu-Ray player.

Ill cast my lot with Sony Samsung PHillips and Dell over microsoft and :snicker: HP.

 

[docmump]

The dumbasses at Microsoft should have put their product on the XBOX 360. They are going to get blown out of the water. By next Christmas everyone will have a PS3 and therfore a Blu-Ray player.

Ill cast my lot with Sony Samsung PHillips and Dell over microsoft and :snicker: HP.

So you are the ones who believe that you should play DVDs on your game console? Do you also believe that the picture quality should be as equally good to a regular DVD Player? Xbox is a game console, correct?

I believe Microsoft did a great job of marketing..

 

[cat daddy]

Friday, January 13, 2006
Majority of Super Bowl ads high definition

Super Bowl viewers with high-definition TVs this year will see every bead of sweat on Bud Light bottles as clearly as those on the players.

The game has aired in ultrasharp HD since 2000, but Super Bowl XL on ABC will be the first in which the number of HD ads crosses the 50-yard line.

"We expect more than half the ads to run in HD," says Ed Erhardt, ABC head of sports ad sales.

Last year, 10 of the more than 30 minutes of ads were HD.

Among this year's are the first HD Super Bowl ads from Anheuser-Busch, the largest advertiser, with 5 minutes.

As more consumers snap up HDTV sets, advertisers are adopting often more costly and complex HD sales pitches.

"High def continues to grow in popularity, and we want our consumers to see our ads in the highest-quality format," says Marlene Coulis, A-B head of brand management.

At the end of 2005, about 16 million U.S. households had at least one HD-capable TV, according to Leichtman Research Group.

Many more are being sold this month.

"In the weeks leading up to the Super Bowl, there's a lot of promotions," says NPD Group electronics analyst Ross Rubin.

Advertisers know a lot of viewers will be gathered in front of those fancy new televisions.

Full Story

 

[cat daddy]

I read recently that MTV is to launch a HD channel in the coming weeks. It will be a combo of MTV, VH-1 and CMT programming.

MHD has lanched today.

MHD on air
Laura A. Ball
January 15, 2006

VAIL MOUNTAIN - Neil Sharma and Morgan Hertzan are putting on their gloves and protective eyewear. They have a very important job to do - and it has nothing to do with the brid flu.

"We spread MTV," said Hertzan, head of programming for for MTV's new high definition music channel, MHD, as he loosened his ski boots.

Hertzan and Senior Director of Business Operations and Strategy Sharma are two of the masterminds responsible for the inception, programming, videos, logos and image of the new network, which launches today. Lucky for them, they happen to be spreading MTV's newest epidemic from Eagle's Nest atop Vail Mountain, where they get to enjoy some of the best skiing in the world.

"A couple of years ago we saw a gap in high definition programming and no one really delivering live music and artists the way they should be seen in high definition," Sharma said. "High definition technology enhances music and also panoramic views like this."

Lucky for viewers, MHD means more music videos and more live music shown in the best visual technology available. The network launches at 6 p.m. (E.S.T.) on Cox Communications television as well as Verizon. MHD may be viewed in parts of Florida and California beginning today, but not the Vail Valley - not yet.

Full Story

 

[J-State Tiger]

So you are the ones who believe that you should play DVDs on your game console? Do you also believe that the picture quality should be as equally good to a regular DVD Player? Xbox is a game console, correct?

No. I never play DVDs on my PS2.(unless im in a hotel) But there is no denying the effect that the PS2 had on the sales of DVDs. All you have to do is look at the numbers.

For the average schmo on the street, picture quality on a PS2 is as good as it is for that $8 orasoemy brand DVD player that they bought the Day after thanksgiving. After all most folks are looking at sheit on a 25 inch or smaller, and think that Widescreen "chops off the picture" :shame:

So people are going to have a Blu-ray in their house and the HD-DVD is going to be where?