Recent Comments:
Poll: Is Star Trek better at an IMAX or a DLP theater? {Engadget HD}
May 11th 2009 2:50PM You might want to check out this blog which features some feedback from various managers of Cinemark IMAX and XD3 theaters. The consensus is that XD3 and IMAX are equal visually but XD3 is superior in sound.
http://blog.thelifeofbrian.info/2009/05/03/you-know-youre-a-geek-updated-again/
Monster Cable learns nothing, sues Monster Transmission {Engadget HD}
Apr 10th 2009 2:38PM When is Engadget going to stop covering Apple products? Does not Apple do the same thing to anything named Apple or with an i in the name of the product? Correct me if you see a distinction but I don't get it.
Pioneer exec touches on exit from plasma business {Engadget HD}
Feb 16th 2009 9:18PM I'm disappointed to see Pioneer exit the PDP market as well but partnering with Panasonic wouldn't have helped Panasonic much since they are able to hit a lower price point right now with product that is only a hair lesser in quality than the Pioneer according to most industry reviews.
LCD's have gotten much better and have probably already overcome much of the blurring/submarining that used to occur during sporting events with high motion scenes thanks to higher refresh rates via faster processors. Hopefully LCD's can one day match the plasma (PDP) in darkness of blacks since low light scenes can be difficult to watch on the LCD's that I've always seen. Correct me if this issue has been overcome by the LCD.
Looks like manufacturing costs are lower with LCD's and LCD quality is close enough to the PDP to render them obsolete,,,not lower in quality,,,just not profitable to make.
CNET tests out Gefen's EXT-WHDMI wireless HDMI extender {Engadget HD}
Feb 2nd 2009 7:20PM Earth Control to Major Tom: Why are we paying rocket science prices???
Poll: Would you switch carriers if fiber came to town? {Engadget HD}
Dec 13th 2008 4:44PM I traded in DirecTV for U-verse about six months ago and I'm happy with it (PQ, channel surfing speed, price, no contract, no equipment purchase, no down time when thunderstorms/tornados are threatening and DVR for the whole house).
I would consider FIOS if it had a better price and gave me the capability to tape more than two simultaneous HD channels.
However, if U-verse gives me access to my DVR content via my iPhone (as rumored) then I'd be even happier.
MSNBC to go HD in the spring {Engadget HD}
Oct 24th 2008 2:56PM I thought the snarky tone was appropriate given we're talking about Olbermann and Maddow who make their living by being snarky. Don't fret though, I'd put Sean Hannity in the same boat,,,and what a sight that would be.
I'm on U-verse and we don't have Fox News in HD but it's rumored to be coming soon. I don't know how long Fox News has been in HD on other services but if it's only been two weeks on DirecTV then that isn't enough time to explain why Fox News is blowing the doors off everybody in their category. Perhaps the reason is that they are the only conservative voice in the news. Just for the record, nobody in the news business is balanced anymore and all you get is cheerleaders from the left and from the right, but there are more left cheerleaders than right.
FOX News turns HD on DirecTV {Engadget HD}
Oct 19th 2008 9:39AM Fox isn't fair and balanced but Fox IS the balanced opposite of the rest of the main stream media compared to CNN, NBC, MSNBC, etc... who are all so pro-Obama/liberal/democrat that they won't even follow up on a story to confirm that Obama launched his political career in the living room of domestic terrorist Bill Ayres.
I agree that Republican attack dogs like Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh are not fair and balanced but I have seen fair and balanced from Bill O'Reilly who has blasted both candidates and parties.
I think Fox News needs to be in HD simply out of fairness since all the other liberal news media channels ARE in HD.
I also wish that AMC were in HD as they have the finest lineup of movies and Mad Men on the SD side. I have also really enjoyed HDNet's movies and other shows as they have some great HD content and Magnolia Studio's content that hasn't yet been released to theaters, DVD or VOD/PPV.
Plasma surprisingly gaining ground on LCD? {Engadget HD}
Oct 10th 2008 12:49PM I think it's fairly common to find less expensive 1080p LCD's of 40+ inches than 1080p Plasmas and to get the price to match you end up comparing 1080p LCD's with 720p Plasmas. But that's not where the decision was made in my house. I picked up a 42 inch 720p Panasonic plasma last Christmas because watching sporting events or anything with fast action is superior on a plasma. Or at least it was when I bought it. LCD's that had high enough response rates were far too expensive compared to 720p plasmas and since there wasn't and isn't enough 1080p content to worry about it was an easy choice. The other issue is black levels during dark movies. Plasma's show greater detail in dark scenes than LCD's. So plasmas are better for movies as well. Panasonic has an antireflective coating on their glass that does a nice job of eliminating the issue of too much natural light/too many windows.
I don't doubt that LCD's are cheaper to make and will surpass Plasmas when they can have a lower price and a higher response rate so that a thrown football doesn't blur but until that happens, Plasma will be a better product for many consumers even if they have to get 720p instead of 1080p.
DirecTV confirms HD DVR / receiver glitch, apologizes profusely {Engadget HD}
Oct 8th 2008 11:43AM I guess I don't understand why this was important enough for DirecTV to issue a press release since this is a common problem that many people have endured for years. DirecTV boxes will freeze up from time to time. For some people it can be more frequent and for others like myself, I rarely had to reboot more than once per month and all my shows and scheduled recordings remained in tact. This is standard operating procedure for DirecTV equipment. It's not ideal and in fact it's a pain but it's just the way that it is and it must be weighed in with all the other good and bad trade offs for this service vs the others that are available to you.
AT&T will increase HD compression on U-verse {Engadget HD}
Sep 22nd 2008 11:16AM Just to clarify, that I meant that I didn't have to purchase the HD set top boxes & HD DVR's like you have to do from DirecTV or DISH. I don't remember all the details of my bill but I'm probably paying a STB rental fee as well as an HD surcharge or $10/mo.
To clarify my setup on PQ, I am 1500 feet from the node which is may help PQ. The routing inside my house is done over the coax that DirecTV installed a couple of years ago instead of what many consider superior CAT5 ethernet wire. So coax distribution within my home isn't hurting my PQ. I also have the set top box set up for 720p which is native for my plasma and I'm using HDMI cable.
When the installer first set up my set, I wasn't too impressed because I was watching Olympic sprinting and didn't realize that it was on SD standard definition. Once I learned how to get to the HD channels I was content. HD channels start at channel 1000 and go up but when you first turn on your box it defaults to the SD channels 4, 5, etc...
I have found the SD PQ to be very good for movies and TV shows but I won't watch sports with anything other than HD.
Those who commented above about poor PQ should detail their setups (distance from node, coax/CAT5 in house distributioin, HDMI or component cables from STB to TV, STB HDTV setting 720P/1080i, TV picture size and viewing distance).
