Although Raleigh, North Carolina is set to become one of the first DVB-SH test markets in America, WRAL is already testing out yet another standard. The station known nationwide for taking its local newscasts to the world of HD while everyone else sat and moped in their SD control rooms is currently teaming with CBC in order to test out the ATSC-compatible MPH mobile television transmission system. As we've seen before, the system enables "local broadcasters to deliver digital television to mobile devices including cellphones, laptops and personal media players," all while moving quickly in vehicles, hoverboards, rocket-powered scooters -- you name it. There's no word on what exactly will happen once the trials conclude, but we'll be keeping an ear to the ground just in case it's something big.

[Via BroadcastingCable]

Be still, our hearts! After watching the wireless HD / HDMI sector fumble along for years on end, a team of mega-corps have finally agreed to push their self-interests aside and collaborate on a standard. WHDI creator AMIMON has joined forces with Motorola, Samsung, Sony and Sharp in order to form "a special interest group to develop a comprehensive new industry standard for multi-room audio, video and control connectivity" utilizing the aforementioned Wireless Home Digital Interface technology. Reportedly, the group will have a standard completed before 2009 dawns, but we all know how easily these things can get pushed under the rug. Nevertheless, the overriding goal here is to "enhance the current WHDI technology to enable wireless streaming of uncompressed HD video and audio between CE devices such as LCD and plasma HDTVs, multimedia projectors, AV receivers, DVD and BD players, set-top-boxes, game consoles and PCs." A tall order, sure, but one we're elated to see taken on. Full release (and promo spot) after the break.

Hologram technology has been secretly inching closer and closer to our living rooms for quite some time, though few have actually been paying attention to it as a bona fide display technology. A team from the University of Arizona is hoping to change that mindset, as they have developed a technology that "allows holograms to be rewritable for the first time." Essentially, this enables "allows 3D images to be changed many times per second, just like the frames in a movie," and you don't have to have the most vivid of imaginations to understand how incredible this could be. As of now, the tech isn't suitable for 3D movies, but team member Nasser Peyghambarian is hopeful that they "will be able to get to that capability." Better-than-3D visuals without the glasses? Consider us pre-sold.

Okay, so there are a few titles out there on Blu-ray, DVD and / or CD that simply shine. Those are undoubtedly the ones you bring out when looking to wow onlookers who are checking out your setup for the first time. But wouldn't you like to know which titles industry professionals use to seal deals and land clients? Thanks to a feature over at CE Pro, now you can. Bigwigs from SpeakerCraft, Richard Gray's Power Company and the Imaging Science Foundation were questioned about their favorite source material, and just to name a few, Cars, Casino Royale, The Fifth Element (the remastered version, obviously), Vertical Limit and Contact (DVD) made the cut. Hit up the read link for the full list.

Though we suspect this is totally normal judging by the fact that not all HD flicks available via Apple TV have 5.1 Dolby Digital surround sound, it is a wee bit disappointing. One particular tipster wrote in to express his frustration with Sony's recently launched PlayStation Video Store, noting that his HD movie rental featured only stereo sound. When contacting Sony on the matter, a Store specialist informed him that no refunds were allowed and there was no way to determine how audio was packaged prior to downloading. So yeah, if multi-channel audio is paramount, you may want to think twice about emptying your wallet in the PS Store.

While many film lovers across the universe are still itching to watch something in 4K, studio execs are already eying the next best thing -- or are they? The 1954 A Star is Born will soon be undergoing a 6K restoration makeover prior to its release on Blu-ray, and while this may sound impressive to those not in the know, industry experts have varying opinions on the worthiness of such an undertaking. According to Lowry Digital Images' Chief Technical Officer John Lowry, the 6K transfer "is just an attempt at marketing position," noting that "everything on film is captured at 4K." Listening to The Film Preserve's Robert Harris could make you believe otherwise, as he asserts that while there is only a "slight" advantage to preserving the film in 6K, it's still important to "get every last drop you can." (Not surprising considering his occupation.) Nevertheless, we'd recommend hitting up the read link for a few interesting viewpoints on 6K, and get on down to a 4K theater before it becomes "so last year."

Just days after we pondered the eventual fate of Blu-ray audio discs, we're faced with John Mellencamp's attempt to deliver high-resolution audio on a format that nearly everyone in America can handle. Reportedly, the artist's "Life, Death, Love and Freedom" will arrive in a CD / DVD combo package, the latter of which will hold tracks with "twice the sonic detail heard on most CDs." The secret lies within CODE, a process developed by the album's producer, T-Bone Burnett. According to Mike Wanchic, who has played guitar in Mellencamp's band for more than three decades, the end result "is comparable to sitting in on the original, in-studio performance," and he hopes that the release will "bring listeners into the room." Better still, anyone with a standard DVD player can reap the benefits of the $10 (street price) set. It'll be interesting to compare sales figures between this and Neil Young's Blu-ray release, wouldn't you agree?

Oh yeah, Onkyo's definitely going to dish out a Blu-ray player of its own later this year, but it can't just sit idly until that one has spent adequate time in the oven, now can it? Say hello to the DV-SP406, a 1080p upscaling DVD player that delivers upconverted content over HDMI. You won't find SACD / DVD-Audio compatibility here, but you will find coaxial / optical digital audio ports, a USB socket for loading up multimedia files and a 180MHz / 14-bit video DAC. Not too much else to gloat about beyond that, but considering the $125 street price (available now in black or silver), we suppose that's just alright.

[Via RandomlyAccessed, thanks littlefarny]

Slumping economy? Recession? Poppycock. Based on sales of home media, America's financial engine is humming along just fine, with consumers plunking down 1.6% more on DVD / Blu-ray purchases and rentals combined than they did in the first half of 2007. Granted, some may suggest that home entertainment is seeing an increase as more lavish alternatives (going out for a movie, taking a vacation, etc.) are utilized less frequently, but whatever the case, this sector is sure benefiting. Focusing on HDM, we're hearing that $194 million has been spent on Blu-ray Disc thus far in 2008, which is up some 350% from $43 million in 1H 2007. Amazing what a format war conclusion will do for numbers, huh?

[Image courtesy of Syracuse, thanks Joel]

We'll admit -- we had serious doubts that 3D cinema would ever take off so long as patrons were forced to wear those gaudy glasses, but the opening weekend numbers for Journey To The Center Of The Earth make a good case that 3D is viable. In a release put out by Real3D, we're told that 55% of the box office revenue generated by the film was handed over by guests watching it in the third-dimension. In short, the Real3D version took in "3.7 times the revenue of the 2D alternative." It should be noted, however, that 3D viewings are generally more expensive than traditional screens, so we can't say with any degree of certainty that more people saw the film in 3D than in 2D. Still, this seems like a pretty big deal in the 3D arena to us, and we're sure it's all the motivation some studios needed to move forward with costly 3D endeavors.

Okay, so we really have no clue what's going on inside of Toshiba's labs, but one thing is for certain: it has upscaling on the brain. After hearing of an elusive super-resolution DVD player and seeing an all-too-curious new DVD logo, in flies word from Germany that the outfit is prepping an updated line of Picture Frame LCD HDTVs for release at IFA 2008. On the surface, there's not too much different about these REGZAs compared to any others, but internally, the newcomers are expected to tout Cell-based Resolution+ technology, which will upscale SD images in an attempt to make something (read: HD) out of nothing. Granted, Tosh has been talking up this stuff since CES, so it's not an entirely new concept, but we'll be interested to see if this has anything to do with those rumored DVD deck plans.

[Via Big-Screen, danke Joel]

'Round these parts, we prefer to read the fine print first, so it should be noted that none other than Macrovision -- you know, the firm that purchased the now-cracked BD+ DRM scheme for $45 million last year -- financed this here study. According to poll results from US and UK consumers, around 1 in 3 individuals admitted to "making copies of pre-recorded DVDs in the past 6 months, up over a quarter from the previous year's study." Predictably, males aged 18 to 24 were most likely to wear an eye patch and own a DVD burner (if you catch our drift), and while revenue loss due to illegal copying is certainly a valid concern, researchers did find that 62% of American respondents (and 49% in the UK) were duping flicks they already owned. Arrr!

[Image courtesy of George Dillon]

As the Motion Picture Association of America continues on its unending (we mean that quite literally) quest to banish digital piracy, it has just announced its unbridled support for yet another technology. The MPAA has approved the use of DreamStream's secure online file streaming system "as a solution to curb digital piracy," and according to Michael Jay Solomon, founder of Solomon Entertainment Enterprises, the software will "allow the content providers to recoup the billions of dollars that they are loosing [sic] right now." If you got a chuckle out of that, get a load of this. Ulf Diebel, chief development officer for DreamStream, went so far as to say that in order to "win the war on piracy, the studios need DreamStream's military grade capabilities." Heck, the company even asserts that its "unpublished encryption has never been compromised by hackers or digital pirates." Sheesh , don't you all know what happens when you just beg to be circumvented?

We keep hoping that Toshiba will come to its senses and just let this whole thing die, but no. Apparently insistent on keeping the last-generation format alive for as long as it possibly can, it seems the outfit is getting ever-closer to a super-resolution DVD player that would reportedly upscale DVD content like nothing we've ever seen. The latest tidbit in this woefully depressing saga is a newly approved DVD Download DL logo, which was given the final thumbs-up by the DVD Forum Steering Committee last month. In reality, no one outside of Tosh's headquarters has any idea if this development is indeed intrinsically related, but at this point, we wouldn't be shocked one bit to find that it was. Then again, the June 11th meeting also saw specifications for CH-DVD approved, so here's to hoping Toshiba isn't jumping on that bandwagon fiery wreck.

[Via TG Daily]

Read - DVD Forum approval
Read - Discussion / rumors

[Via Slashdot]