Recent Comments:
Sony delivers Hancock via Bravia Internet Video Link, ahead of DVD & Blu-ray {Engadget HD}
Jul 1st 2008 8:53AM I am going to run out and buy a Sony LCD HDTV for $1,000 or more just so I can watch a crappy downloadable/streaming version of Hancock a week early. I think not. At best it will be Hancock in HD Lite (720p).
I'll buy a Pioneer second generation Kuro HDTV and buy or rent whatever movies I want to see on Blu-Ray disc, thank you.
This isn't much different than what AOL and Time Warner were going to try to do. Leverage the Roadrunner and other animated characters to sell (dial-up and high-speed cable) internet access.
Sony delivers Hancock via Bravia Internet Video Link, ahead of DVD & Blu-ray {Engadget HD}
Jun 30th 2008 6:45PM Hancock looks better than Wild Wild West. Wild Wild West earned over $250 million at the box office.
Universal exec sez Wanted:Blu-ray as The Matrix:DVD {Engadget HD}
Jun 27th 2008 10:39AM Wanted looks like a cool flick. To outdo the Matrix would be tough, though, but it would pretty much "just" require that Wanted is at least as good as the Matrix (which is questionable). Additionally, it would require that the movie is good enough that it can spawn at least one GOOD sequel. The first part is the tough part (warranting a sequel) -- the second part is pretty easy, though (besting Matrix Reloaded would be mildly challenging; besting Matrix Revolutions would be a cakewalk).
IMAX starts digital projection rollout {Engadget HD}
Jun 23rd 2008 12:07PM "Imax ticket prices tend to be 20%-30% more than a traditional movie ticket."
I wish that were true at my local theater. It is $10.00 for a regular (non-matinee) ticket, and $15.25 for an Imax ticket. That makes it 52.5% more than a traditional movie ticket.
I think matinees (before either 2 or 4 in the afternoon) are $7.00 with no break for Imax, I believe. So if I'm right about there being no price break for an Imax matinee, seeing an Imax film during regular matinee hours costs 118% more than a standard matinee.
Plasma Display Coalition emphasizes picture quality {Engadget HD}
Jun 21st 2008 12:42PM A lot of people buy Sony LCD televisions because they like the Sony brand. Sony gave up on Plasma because they couldn't get the quality control that they desired. I own one of the first Sony Wega tube televisions circa 2000, and Sony got a lot of fans from this line, which it has successfully extended to its LCD lines.
But the biggest problem plasma has is the burn-in experienced with the early sets. Burn-in still plagues plasma -- not because it is a current problem -- but because it used to be a serious problem. And 80-90% of customers associate plasma with burn-in and will not even look at a plasma. I should know -- when I first started looking at HDTV's I didn't even want to look at Plasmas because I was dead-set on LCD because of burn-in. However, after doing a considerable amount of research, I am a proud owner of a 42" non-1080P Panasonic plasma HDTV. I took great care to change the vivid setting to cinema shortly after (within a few days) buying the television, and I watched almost all (90-95%) of programming in 16:9 format for the first 100-200 viewing hours (I stretched 4:3 programs for the first 3-4 weeks) And I will probably buy another plasma HDTV in the next 1-2 years (probably 50" in size, and it will be a Panasonic or Pioneer).
Netflix to do away with Profiles {Engadget HD}
Jun 20th 2008 5:38PM as i believe at last one person has mentioned, if you have a tv series you are watching, you don't usually want to have two discs in the series at home at the same time usually. and a lot of times you would want the next disc in the series to be sent automatically.
i (and a lot of people) take the time to set up our queues, and netflix has worked perfectly up to this point (and since profiles were introduced in 2005) as far as shipping out the movies we want in the order we have specified days, weeks, months, or even years in advance. now netflix is taking back that control -- now it is their movies that they will send to you when they want to.
think about it this way, if aol told you couldn't have multiple e-mail accounts, they were going to delete all your secondary accounts, and your family was going to have to share one account, do you think that would work? you wouldn't want your kids looking at your online banking information any more than you would want your 5-year old adding R-rated movies to the family netflix account (but you may want to be able to save the happening, for example, to your queue, so you don't want to put a restriction on the entire account whereby only G and PG movies could be added to the Queue)
Panasonic's DMP-BD50 Blu-ray player gets reviewed {Engadget HD}
Jun 11th 2008 12:37PM I was considering getting this player awhile back, but I have already pre-ordered the Pioneer BDP-05FD. And I am paying less than $700 for it!
Somehow I think Panasonic's strategy is to get rid of the BD30's and even BD10's before they lower the price on the BD50. You will probably see the BD50 at Best Buy for $700, though, with an occasional sale bringing the price down to $600 until the MSRP is lower to the $500-$600 range later this year.
Rumor confirmed: FiOS TV to add 27 new HD channels in July {Engadget HD}
Jun 4th 2008 3:41PM Couple positives/negatives:
+ Looks like FiOS customers will be getting Starz Kids & Family, Starz Comedy, Starz Edge, and Showtime 2
- Adding HBO West in HD instead of HBO 2 or HBO Comedy (seriously why waste the bandwidth on 3-hour delayed programming? I have two Tivo Series 3's, so this seems like kind of a waste to me.)
Neutrals:
MOJO HD, TBS HD, and SciFi HD. Don't get me wrong, I am glad I will be getting these channels for either the first time ever (in the case of MOJO) or for the first time in HD. But in the last 18 months I got some/all of the following only in standard definition: the MLB playoffs, the NHL playoffs, and Battlestar Galactica. So I would just call this a sour grapes neutral.
Comments:
Outdoor Channel (did this channel used to be the Outdoor Life Network -- OLN?) and Golf Channel are part of the Sports Package. Hi-Def's 500 and 501 are Versus/Golf and Outdoor Channel, respectively.
Poll: Are you replacing your DVDs with Blu-ray Discs? {Engadget HD}
May 31st 2008 5:57PM The only Blu-Ray that I own that is a replacement is Blade Runner, and I have replaced my HD DVD copy of Blade Runner (which ironically I sold on EBay for more than I bought the identical Blu-Ray version). I have a Blade Runner DVD that is almost ten years old, but all the versions (including on DVD) that have been recently released in the last year or so are far superior to the old copy I have on DVD.
There are a few movies I would consider re-buying on Blu-Ray, but right now I am not really even tempted if the titles are on sale for $15. At $10 I would probably take the plunge, though.
Denon adds DVD-1800BD Blu-ray player to lineup {Engadget HD}
May 23rd 2008 1:10PM Nfinity, I was as big a HD DVD backer as you during the format war, but the format war is over. Get over it. I have pre-ordered a Pioneer Blu-Ray Player (the BDP-05FD). It is much more expensive than what I was planning to spend, but I am going to be happy to replace my RCA HD DVD player in a few months (street date is early August) in the $700 price range. The Pioneer isn't 2.0, but who cares? I mean really, I just want to watch (see and hear) movies in Hi-Def (Video and Audio)
I could have gotten a Sony Blu-Ray player that internally decoded Dolby Digital Plus, DolbyTrueHD, DTS-HD HR, and DTS-HD MA for about $500, but I decided that IMHO the Pioneer was going to provide the best picture and sound. I am planning on running video through component and audio through the analog outputs (I currently have a 5.1 system but my non-HDMI receiver can handle 7.1, so I may just buy two more identical bookshelf speakers for the side/back).
The Denon is also an upscale player (like the Pioneer). Oppo sells a $400 DVD player (the DV-983H). I personally own an Oppo DV-970HD DVD player (which cost $150 about a year ago) -- I could sell it now (on EBay) for $100. The Denon is also supposed to do a good job at upconverting. If I hadn't pre-ordered the Pioneer already, I probably would look at this because the price is reasonable for the product.
