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HDTV Listings for July 13, 2009

by Richard Lawler, posted Jul 13th 2009 at 4:57PM

What we're watching tonight:
  • ABC Family (720p) brings The Secret Life of the American Teenager at 8 p.m. and Make It or Break It at 9 p.m.
  • Discovery (1080i) has Wild Pacific at 8, 9 & 10 p.m.
  • TNT (1080i) has The Closer at 9 p.m. and Raising the Bar at 10 p.m.
  • TLC (1080i) has Cake Boss at 10 p.m.
  • Discovery (1080i) airs Swamp Loggers at 10 p.m.
  • A&E (720p) has Intervention at 9 p.m. and Obsessed at 10 p.m.
  • Showtime (1080i) has Weeds at 10 p.m. and Nurse Jackie at 10:30 p.m.
  • ESPN (720p) has the 2009 Home Run Derby at 8 p.m.

HBO, Cinemax coming to Comcast's On Demand Online

by Richard Lawler, posted Jul 13th 2009 at 3:04PM


Following Starz, HBO has announced plans to provide programming on Comcast's On Demand Online trial. Of course, this move shouldn't surprise anyone given previous hints HBO was looking for ways to brings its video online or previous trials it has participated in. Just like Starz, users can expect a mix of television shows and movies, basically reflecting the current on demand lineup, including series like True Blood and Entourage, further detailed in the press release after the break. Also like Starz, following the launch, HD streaming is expected -- clearly premium channel subscribers have the most reasons to be interested in being included in the 5,000 customer nationwide trial Comcast is launching in the coming weeks, but what about the basic cable only folks?

Continue reading HBO, Cinemax coming to Comcast's On Demand Online

Numbers be damned, plasma eats LCD's cake in DisplayMate's tests

by Steven Kim, posted Jul 13th 2009 at 1:38PM

Panasonic plasma
Even as the past year has been cruel to plasma, we've stood by the "old" gas capsule technology. The results of DisplayMate's controlled tests clearly show some of the reasons why we love us some plasma. The lineup of 2008-vintage, top of the line LCDs from Samsung, Sharp and Sony were calibrated and pitted against a top-end Pansonic plasma. You'll have to hit the link to get the full blow-by-blow results, but suffice it to say that the plasma set trumped the LCDs in the areas of contrast, color accuracy (to be fair, the Sony came close) and black level -- both on and off axis. Even for LCD fans, these results show that the side of the box with its inflated specs is no place to look for indications of picture quality. For those already in the know about plasma, though, there's a lot of reason to hope that even if the technology is in its autumn years, there's an Indian summer up ahead.
[Via TVSnob]

International HD news roundup

by Richard Lawler, posted Jul 12th 2009 at 11:05PM


Here at Engadget HD, we'd prefer not to just focus on high-def happenings in the US of A. Thus, we round up the best of the best from the international front each week and present it here, bundled together in a single, easy to digest list. If something went down in your corner of the globe over the past seven days, let the rest of the world know it in comments. 'Til next week, Doei!

Read - Cogeco adds 8 new HD nets in Quebec
Read - E-Vision launches first HD TV in Emirates
Read - PLDT starts 'new era of TV viewing' with launch of Cignal
Read - Showtime Arabia, Orbit announce TV merger
Read - Showtime launches first premium HD channel (UAE)
Read - RNIB get into the 3D TV debate (UK)

HD channel expansion roundup

by Richard Lawler, posted Jul 12th 2009 at 6:48PM


Once upon a time, a smattering of new HD channels in one major metropolitan area was a huge deal. Nowadays, it's almost expected that one area or another will experience some HD expansion each week. In order to keep things nice and tidy around here, we deliver high-def expansions, market expansions and anything else dealing with HD channel growth right here. If we missed an area that you're familiar with, drop us a line in comments so everyone can catch up. The more the merrier, we say!

Read - Cablevision Significantly Expands Free Video On Demand Lineup With Programming From Eight Popular Networks
Read - Tour de France: live at Riverview Theater
Read - Comcast rolls out 80 new channels in Marin
Read - Fox signal returning; ABC gets upgrade (Montana)
Read - High-definition nearing for UH (Hawaii)
Read - Cox Communications adds 27 HD channels
Read - Time Warner Cable Will Buy More Samsung Tru2way Boxes

HDTV Listings for July 12, 2009

by Richard Lawler, posted Jul 12th 2009 at 4:11PM

What we're watching tonight:
  • NBC (1080i) airs Merlin at 8 p.m.
  • CW (1080i) has Valentine at 7 p.m.
  • NBC (1080i) presents part 1 of 2 of Meteor at 9 p.m.
  • History (720p) has Ice Road Truckers at 9 p.m. and Expedition Africa at 10 p.m.
  • USA (1080i) has Law & Order: CI at 8 & 9 p.m. and In Plain Sight at 10 p.m.
  • HBO (1080i) lines up True Blood at 9 p.m., Hung at 10 p.m. and the season premiere of Entourage at 10:30 p.m.
  • A&E (720p) has Hammertime at 10 & 10:30 p.m.
  • Discovery (1080i) presents Wild Pacific at 8, 9 & 10 p.m.
  • ESPN (720p) has Cardinals/Cubs baseball at 8 p.m.
  • ESPN2 (720p) has NHRA Nationals at 7 p.m.

Poll: Would you buy a TV running ChromeOS?

by Richard Lawler, posted Jul 12th 2009 at 1:15PM


Forget widgets and ten-foot experiences. If someone's designing a lightweight, net-connected operating system, why not jam that into a flat panel and let us have our way with it? That's the idea we had after all the Google operating system news of the last week, although like an embedded Boxee solution or the long rumored AppleTV TV, we may be waiting a while whether its ChromeOS, Moblin or something else, although there's already least one Media Center Extender-packing display on the way from Toshiba. So, are we crazy or is this something that could sell? Let us know in the comments below.

Would you buy a HDTV running ChromeOS or something like it?

FiOS TV expansions: July 11, 2009

by Richard Lawler, posted Jul 11th 2009 at 10:11PM


It's been a slow couple of weeks in FiOS TV rollouts, but Parrish, Florida has been announced as the latest community on the list. Perhaps Verizon was distracted by its MSG tiff, but that didn't stop the company from pushing forward for access in Massachusetts and backing an act introduced to ensure people with disabilities have access to IPTV as well.

Read - Thousands of Parrish, Fla. Residents Now Have Access to FiOS TV
Read - Verizon Petitions FCC to Rule on Cablevision's Refusal to Make MSG Channels Available in HD
Read - TV Choice and Competition Near for Residents of Kingston, Mass.
Read - Verizon Statement on Introduction of 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act

HDTV Listings for July 11, 2009

by Richard Lawler, posted Jul 11th 2009 at 6:24PM

What we're watching tonight:
  • NBC (1080i) has Kings at 8 p.m.
  • ABC (720p) brings the series finale of Eli Stone at 10 p.m.
  • CBS (1080i) has the two hour series finale of Harper's Island at 9 p.m.
  • SyFy (1080i) presents Sand Serpents at 9 p.m.
  • ESPN2 (720p) has Crew/Fire MLS action at 8 p.m.

LPCM is not always equal to bitstream

by Ben Drawbaugh, posted Jul 11th 2009 at 8:38AM

TrueHD and DTS-HD logoThis is an on going debate on certain forums and for good reason. The fundamental question is where should you decode your lossless audio? In DVD players we almost always decoded compressed audio in the A/V receiver, but when it comes to Blu-ray features like Bonus View, there is at least one specific reason to decode in the player.

Continue reading LPCM is not always equal to bitstream

Comcast, USOC trying to launch new Olympic Sports channel

by Richard Lawler, posted Jul 10th 2009 at 8:23PM

Get ready for more curling, archery, judo and other Olympic Sports, if Comcast and the U.S. Olympic Committee get their way and launch a new network after the 2010 Vancouver Games to broadcast Olympic Sports coverage all the time. Of course, the International Olympic Committee and its $2 billion partner NBC are none too pleased about the news, especially given it already has Universal Sports for this very purpose. as proposed, the U.S. Olympic Network would air archived Olympics footage, education and coaching shows and eventually regional and Olympic Trials competitions. There's no specific mention of an HD feed, but if its anything like every other dedicated sports network that's popped up over the last few years, we don't see how it could go on without one. While the USOC and IOC work things out, you think there's any room in the program guide for this channel?

Read - U.S. Olympic Committee plans to launch own cable network
Read - Comcast, USOC Eye Dedicated Olympic Service In 2010

HDTV Listings for July 10, 2009

by Richard Lawler, posted Jul 10th 2009 at 4:39PM

What we're watching tonight:
  • Syfy (1080i) has the summer premiere of Eureka at 9 p.m.
  • Fox (720p) airs Mental at 9 p.m.
  • MyNetworkTV (720p) has WWE SmackDown at 8 p.m.
  • ABC (720p) has Surviving Suburbia at 8 p.m.
  • TLC (1080i) has What Not to Wear at 9 p.m. and Say Yes to the Dress at 10 p.m.
  • ESPN (720p) has NASCAR Nationwide Series @ Chicago at 8 p.m.

Watchmen 5 disc UCE scheduled for the holidays

by Richard Lawler, posted Jul 10th 2009 at 2:53PM


This double dipping is getting out of control. The Watchmen Blu-ray disc hasn't even released in standard and Collector's Edition form, and Warner is already plotting a 5-disc set due for the holidays. As shown in the flier there will be 2+ hours of more bonus content, new commentary track plus the Watchmen Motion Comics packed in, with Tales of the Black Freighter integrated into the director's cut of Watchmen for an even longer movie. Because what Watchmen needed was to be longer.

Baseball umps cite HDTV, SportsCenter for changing the way games are called

by Richard Lawler, posted Jul 10th 2009 at 1:09PM


While we were just getting used to the football, hockey and basketball offseason, baseball umpires have piqued or interest with a statement that HDTV has changed the game. Now that viewers at home (& in the stands) have high res screens and feeds, not to mention DVRs to go frame by frame as many times it pleases them and constant replays on SportsCenter it's changed the way they call close plays on the base paths. Of course, we don't think that calling the game more accurately within the rules is a bad thing, but as this week's dustup involving Derek Jeter showed, not everyone has gotten the message, we're thinking a HD replay booth may be in order. Any longtime baseball fans noticed games getting called tighter over the last decade or so?

U.S. Customs sees it VIZIO's way, TVs to keep flowing in

by Steven Kim, posted Jul 10th 2009 at 10:09AM

VIZIO punches Funai
It looks like at least one round of the battle between Funai and VIZIO is drawing to a close, and it's a big win for VIZIO. U.S. Customs has ruled that all current VIZIO TVs do not infringe on Funai's Patent 6,115,074 -- which was rejected by the Patent Office a few months ago. With the USPTO and US Customs now on the same page, all the bureaucratic checkmarks are in place and VIZIO TVs can freely enter the US on their immigrant-inspired journey to homes all across this fair land. Next up is VIZIO's countersuit against Funai -- with drama like this unfolding between TV manufacturers, who needs an actual TV for entertainment?




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