HDV Blogs

Filed under: Industry, Displays, JVC, Others, LCD

Before long, we suppose all of these mainstays in the LCD biz will have at least one firm watching their back. The next pair of outfits to purportedly sync up is JVC and Funai, which are — according to an “industry source” — joining hands to “jointly develop and supply LCD television sets.” Of course, such an alliance is far from extraordinary at this point, but this particular partnership will apparently enable JVC to supply Funai with sets made in Mexico, after which Funai will sell them under its own brand name in North America. Meanwhile, JVC will be marketing LCD HDTVs in Europe produced by a Funai plant in Poland. Moving forward, it’s said that the two hope to collaborate on a TV to be released in 2009, but as of now, bigwigs from both firms have yet to confirm or deny these reports.

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Originally Syndicated via RSS from Engadget HD

Filed under: Blu-ray, HD DVD, Internet

Sonic Solutions has announced it will no longer sell the HD DVD version of its Scenarist professional authoring software, focusing instead on Blu-ray and digital distribution. Sonic — provider of consumer authoring software under the Roxio brand (still w/ that sweet HD DVD flavor, at least for now) — plans to expand its features to ease creation of BD Live features, and package high definition video for delivery on any of the many platforms popping up. It’s not all bad for red fans, Sonic promises to continue customer support and product updates “where appropriate” for its HD DVD package, and a special promotion for users to switch to Blu-ray, although the terms aren’t mentioned.

[Thanks, Kiwi616]

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Originally Syndicated via RSS from Engadget HD

Filed under: Speakers

There’s nothing like a postcard from the truly high end of audio to put things in perspective. With product names like “WATT Puppy” (back in the day, complete with cables called “Puppy Tails”), you might take Wilson Audio lightly. Mistake, friends — witness their latest assault on the low end of the audio spectrum, the “Thor’s Hammer” subwoofer. Dual 15-inch drivers housed in the 4-foot tall phenolic cabinet plumb the depths down to 15Hz, and the package comes in at a meaty 412-pounds (without the amplifier!). That’s right, your $21,000 doesn’t include an amplifier. But if you can afford this beast, we’re guessing that cranking one up in your listening room will shake loose the required coinage from your sofa. Might we suggest something along the lines of Bryston, perhaps?

[Via AudioJunkies]

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Originally Syndicated via RSS from Engadget HD

Filed under: Displays, Others, DLP, Projector, Runco

If Mitsubishi’s polite pair of projectors weren’t enough to satisfy those impeccably high standards of yours, we’ve all ideas that Planar’s duo won’t let you down. First spotted at Runco / Planar’s zanily themed booth at CEDIA, it seems that Planar is just now getting around to giving us a ship date that we can dutifully pencil in. The flagship PD8150 — which checks in with a glorious 1,920 x 1,080 resolution, 1,000 ANSI lumens and a 15,000:1 contrast ratio — will finally ship in early March for $7,999. As for the $5,999 PD8130, which also hits the road in March, you can expect the same resolution with a slightly lower 10,000:1 contrast ratio. Pretty tempting, no?

[Via AboutProjectors]

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Originally Syndicated via RSS from Engadget HD

Filed under: Industry, Blu-ray, HD DVD

There are always at least three sides to format war discussions: red, blue and neither. In the “neither” camp, it’s often cited that the total numbers in HDM are so small compared to, say, DVD that HDM just doesn’t matter. But DVD has a ten-year head start on HDM, so it’s not really a fair comparison. When viewing growth since inception, aggressive promotions in Q4 2007 actually put HDM’s growth ahead of DVD’s. We already got a hint of this at the BDA press conference, where a graph showed that HDM is in a similar growth trend to DVD and VHS, but it bears repeating — in the big picture, HDM is doing just fine. But whatever your “side” in the war, you have to admit that HDM growth has been built upon two formats. So the question becomes what happens to growth if one format disappears versus both sides continuing on? We think mainstream adoption will require one format to emerge and the increased volume will outweigh any negative backlash from adopters of the losing format; what about you?

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Originally Syndicated via RSS from Engadget HD

Filed under: Displays, Sports

Daktronics is continuing its quest to slather all available areas in your local MLB stadium with an HD screen of some type, with the latest target Citi Field, home of the New York Mets. Apparently eschewing the bigger/biggest race for a moment, no word on the size of a specific Godzillatron display, but Mets fans can expect 12,000 total square footage of display technology when installation is completed by August, ahead of the stadium’s inaugural 2009 season. The main displays feature Daktronics’ HD-X technology and will ensure that the best place to watch the game on TV is at the park itself. In other news about ‘dat ‘tronics, Bloomberg profiles the company’s work on the Cowboys’ enormous screen, and more than 18,000 sq ft of displays going into the new Giants-Jets stadium.

Update: The Mets also just acquired Johan Santana, so Mets fans can rest assured the next time their team is busy blowing the pennant race, they’ll be doing it in a top quality ballpark with one of the game’s best pitchers on the mound.

Read - Daktronics to provide 12,000 square feet of integrated scoring and video display technology at Citi Field
Read - Giants, Cowboys Pack Screens Into Stadiums for `Wow,’ Revenue

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Originally Syndicated via RSS from Engadget HD

Filed under: Displays, Mitsubishi, Projector

We’ll be straight with you — Mitsubishi’s latest duo isn’t exactly cut out for in-home use, but that’s not to say it wouldn’t be the source of copious quantities of enjoyment if you snagged one from the supply closet one weekend. Without further ado, we present the XL1550U, which features an XGA (1,024 x 768) resolution, 3,100 ANSI lumens and a lamp life of up to 5,000 hours. Moving on, we’ve got the XL2550U, which touts the same resolution but offers up 4,000 ANSI lumens, the firm’s new BrightEra LCD panels and a lamp good for around 4,000 hours of use. Furthermore, both units promise side-loading lamps, built-in Ethernet ports for LAN asset management and an RS-232 port for third-party integration. Both of these beamers will be on the market before this month draws to a close for $3,995 and $4,495, respectively.

[Via AboutProjectors]

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Originally Syndicated via RSS from Engadget HD

Originally Syndicated via RSS from Engadget HD

Filed under: Industry, Blu-ray, HD DVD, Players, Sony

We’re not exactly sure what German retailer Saturn plans to do with any HD DVD players that are surrendered as folks waltz in to take advantage of its latest offer, but we suppose the refurbished section could receive a boost in inventory if nothing else. Judging by a recent flier from the store, it’s offering consumers a €150 ($221) discount on Sony’s BDP-S300 — which is overpriced at €499 ($734) — if they trade their HD DVD player in at the time of purchase. Also of note, we can’t seem to find if there’s any fine print about what HD DVD players are acceptable, but it is certain that this deal is only available overseas at the moment. Not a bad idea to get customers to jump ship, though.

[Via Blu-ray, thanks Bhargav N.]

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Originally Syndicated via RSS from Engadget HD

Filed under: Cable, New content

A month after Comcast showed just how much it appreciated those subscribers parked in the Southeast, it’s apparently getting set to show the same courtesy to those in Central Pennsylvania. While actual locations in which new HD channels are scheduled to appear are still unclear, we are hearing that State College and surrounding locales will soon be enjoying A&E HD, HGTV HD, Food Network HD, TBS HD, USA HD, Discovery Channel HD, TLC HD and Sci-Fi Channel HD. Reportedly, customers will have to have at least the Expanded Basic Service level to indulge in these fine offerings, and it’s also noted that MHD and MOJO HD are being added to the same lineup in Adams and York counties. The proposed go-live date? None other than February 14th — how heartwarming.

[Thanks, MRCUR]

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Originally Syndicated via RSS from Engadget HD