I’m setting up my SageTV HD100 and a key component is the HDMI cable used to connect the HD media extender to the LCD television. One thing I learned long ago was to not buy theater cables from the big-box retailers, including Best Buy, Circuit City,Walmart , etc. Instead, I save myself a bundle by … Read more
Let’s say I win the lottery. Not just a little jackpot, but a really big one. If that happens, this is the home theater I might want to put in my mansion. It costs about $6 million and includes a gigantic, Snowmatte laboratory-grade screen, Sony ultra-high-resolution (4,096-by-2,160) SRX-S110 digital projector, a 8.8-channel audio system with … Read more
With the exception of ~1 million owners, the HD DVD story pretty much concluded today when Toshiba pulled the plug: Toshiba Corporation today announced that it has undertaken a thorough review of its overall strategy for HD DVD and has decided it will no longer develop, manufacture and market HD DVD players and recorders. Toshiba … Read more
If you weren’t already convinced the next-gen optical disc battle was over, Wal-Mart has announced their intentions to dump HD DVD and exclusively stock Blu-ray. There’s also murmurs that Toshiba is about ready to throw in the towel… The quicker they do so, the better – a single format and less consumer confusion will lead … Read more
Vudu has thrown down the gauntlet… They contacted me yesterday to emphasize their “quality of HD video is better” than what Apple TV provides. The claim is based on Vudu’s resolution of up to 1080p versus Apple’s 720p. Of course, the pixel count doesn’t tell the whole story… How well are these movies compressed and … Read more
The BBC received a demonstration of Sony’s upcoming PlayTV accessory which will offer PS3 owners over-the-air tuning (DVB-T, abroad), OTA EPG, DVR functionality, and PSP placeshifting. Looks pretty cool (other than the UI load time)… Though, I wonder if we’ll ever see this in the US – is the PS3 OTA ATSC market large enough … Read more
Wal-Mart has announced availability of what may be the first over-the-air (OTA) digital-to-analog converter boxes to hit the retail channel. Apparently 3,400 stores have stocked the $49.87 Magnavox STB and are ready for your $40 coupon (arriving as soon as next week). My concern is that the folks requesting the finite number of vouchers are … Read more
Reuters reports, Netflix said that with such a clear signal from the industry, it will only buy Blu-ray discs going forward and will phase out stock of HD DVD by about the end of the year.