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3 studios announce a slew of new HD DVD titles & 2 Blu-ray titles

by Matt Burns posted Sep 19th 2006 at 4:55PM

HD DVD may not have had a lot of releases this week but that doesn't mean that the format is slowing down. Three major studios have announced a ton of HD DVD titles that will be released before the end of the year. Oh and there is 2 Blu-ray titles mixed in there too. (labeled as such) HD DVD seems to be keeping that content lead almost everyone thought they wouldn't have as soon as Blu-ray launched.

Warner
  • Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (Blu-ray release too)
  • Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
  • Tim Burton's Corpse Bride
  • Syriana
  • 16 Blocks
Rhino
  • The Eagles: Farewell Tour 1 - Luve in Melbourne
  • Cream: Royal Albert Hall
  • James Taylor: A MusiCares Person of the Year Tribute
Paramount
  • Reds (Blu-ray release too)
Universal
  • Dune
  • The Mummy
  • Meet the Parents
  • An American Warewolf in London
All of these titles have been added to our Google Release Calendars

HD DVD


Blu-ray


Read: Warner release
Read: Universal
Read: Rhino
Read: Paramount

First real review of Canon's high-def cam

by Matt Burns posted Sep 19th 2006 at 3:53PM

Camcorderinfo.com got their grubby little hands on the Canon HV10 and produced the first review. Canon's first venture into the high-def camcorder market has sparked a lot of attention from the online media but how good is their first camcorder? We won't keep you waiting as you would probably scroll down to Camcorderinfo's conclusion anyways so, it's alright. They liked it, not loved it though. Low light shooting is really bad and that's a killer for a lot of people. Plus, the upright form factor doesn't lend kindly to a stable picture. That same form factor however is highly regarded by the fans of pocket cams as it's smaller then Sony's HC3 counterpart. This is Canon's first jump into the water so expect the more from the (dare we take a stab at the name) the HV20.

HD Trailer Tuesday

by Matt Burns posted Sep 12th 2006 at 2:55PM

It has been a few weeks since we have had the chance to do one of these but luckily Apple has been too busy as well to update the site with loads of content. They have only added a few new high-def movie trailers to their site and even though today might be a bad day for bandwidth (for Apple - not us), ah, what the heck. First up is Driving Lessons staring one of the boys from those popular Harry Potter flicks. The clip of course looks good in high-def, we love the transitions, but the movie looks surprisingly good. Give it a chance. But if you only have time in your busy day to watch one of these high definition clips, you must watch A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints. Wow. Looks amazing in HD but to be honest, this movie is going to be all about the content and most people would be happy with a 480i version if the flick turns out to be half as good as the preview. Lets Go To Prison looks funny and you might just need a laugh or two after Saints. If you are new to this, start at the 1080p option if you have a 'beefy' computer, but more then likely you are going to need to drop down to ether the 720p or 480p option if the system is a little older. That's fine though, the 720p and 480p clips still look great. Enjoy!

Miglia TVBook Pro - watch & record DVB-T broadcasts

by Matt Burns posted Sep 12th 2006 at 2:17PM

File this under "wish it was ATSC not DVB-T." Miglia has produced what appears to be the first digital TV reception card for the ExpressCard slot. DVB-T means that this guy will not work Stateside but in most European counties and well, that is where it is being sold for 150 Euros so it better use their standard. If the little built-in antenna isn't strong enough to pick up the broadcasts, Miglia has included a USB based amplified antenna to hopefully give ya that extra little boost. Thanks to the ever-so-popular eyeTV software, it can schedule and record broadcasts, along with the standard DVR functuality of pausing and rewinding TV. But still, when is the ATSC version coming out?

Dr. Seuss is going to steal Christmas thanks to HD DVD

by Matt Burns posted Sep 12th 2006 at 12:52PM

Universal has gone and done it. Dr. Seuss is coming to HD DVD and he is going to make all the little children cry when he steals Christmas. The Ron Howard/Jim Carry classic is set to come out on November 21 loaded with Dobly Digital 5.1, DTS 5.1, Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 on a 1.85:1 1080p disc. This title is going to be present via a combo disc that is sure to make parents happy as the disc will play in the family room's HD DVD player and in the portable player as they traverse snow and ice to go see Grandma for the holiday season.

This title has been added to our HD DVD Google Release Calender

Star Wars HD is coming to Sky

by Matt Burns posted Sep 12th 2006 at 12:11PM

Georgie didn't forgot about all the Star War/high-def nut over in the UK. Sky HD has worked out an arrangement with LucasFilm to allow all six episodes to be shown via the provider. There isn't any announcement of when or where but you know, who cares? All that matters is all of our peeps over the UK, that is with Sky HD, will be able to check out one of the best movie sagas in high definition just like us here in the States. But we are sure you would like to know when the films are coming so you can plan your day around the 15 hours of George Lucas goodness and we will let you know as soon as we find out.

Logitech updates the Harmony look and feel with the 1000

by Matt Burns posted Sep 12th 2006 at 11:48AM

Logitech finally spent some cash with their design department and updated the look of their dated Harmony remotes. The previous high-end design wasn't anything pretty but it did function very well in it's conventional form factor. If you have never used one of these remotes, they have built in macros which makes it a joy not only to you but everyone else that uses your amazing, but complex, AV system. (Our review of the $150 659 here) The 1000 brings a nice, big LCD touch panel to work with. Basically, Logitech took the look and feel of those uber-expensive custom install remotes and worked the Harmony system into a similar form factor. Just like the previous high-end, the 890, it operates via RF waves that will allow users to control the volume of the tunes in another room. For $499, it isn't a bad package and a rather nice alternative to remotes that cost more then your house payment.

HDTV finally comes to head

by Matt Burns posted Sep 12th 2006 at 11:13AM

This is what we have been missing in the HDTV game. We have seen HDTV cameras in newsrooms, studios, helicopters and even on the bow of a speed boat, but we have yet to see HDTV by way of one of these helmet cams. For good reason too as who would want one of those monster cameras on their head? But thanks to Iconix, we should start seeing nausea-inducing high-def shots from peoples noggins real soon. They have produced a super-miniature 3CCD 720p/1080p cam. This little boy weighs in at the super-duper-light weight class at 2.3oz and is less then two inches square. But this small package comes with a price; a $16,000 price. Still, who can put a price on even more high-def action?

[via DVguru]

"Little Man" and "Monster House" coming to Blu-ray

by Matt Burns posted Sep 12th 2006 at 9:57AM

Sony just keeps trudging along with these Blu-ray titles. They may not release the most titles or even the best, but no one can say that they are not contributing to the format. Next up to be added to the calender is Little Man for a day-and-date release of November 7. The other title this time around is the CGI family flick of Monster House on October 24. Both of these titles are void of the pretty VC-1 codex that oh so many people are waiting for but Sony said, nah, these discs are encoded in MPEG-2/1080p. Both of 'em sport an MSRP of $38.99 but as history has taught us, that price will be cut nearly in half when they hit the shelves.

These titles have been added to our Google Blu-ray Release Calender.

DIRECTV's satellite launch plans (READ: more HD content)

by Matt Burns posted Sep 11th 2006 at 5:44PM

What's on the minds of every DIRECTV HD customer these days. We're thinking "When the blasted are we going to get more high-def stations?" Well, we have good news and bad news. First the good: DIRECTV is, in fact, launching two new satellites. Cool. The bad news is that they aren't until next spring and summer. Sucks. Satellite, blandly but accurately named, Directv-10 is scheduled to launch on April 6 and then Directv-11 sometime in the summer of '07. Unfortunately, this is right on schedule with their DIRECTV's plans from two years ago yesterday. We were hoping that maybe, just maybe, they would get up there a bit sooner and just because these birds are flying doesn't mean that they are going to be active immediately. It takes time to get them set and who knows, they might not be turned on till both of 'em are up there. We still don't know exactly what they are going to be used for but one can only hope, and pray, that they will remedy DIRECTV's bandwidth problems and provide subscribers with many new HD stations. But the big question is, can they hold their subscriber base for at least another 9 months with their current lackluster high-def lineup when Dish Network offers 30 high definition channels.

[Thanks, Xavier]

SED production lines to be built as soon as this year

by Matt Burns posted Sep 11th 2006 at 4:45PM

Remember SED HDTVs? You know, the type that takes all the benefits of CRT technology and crams 'em into a flat-screen package. We are sure that most of you had already given up and moved on like after that chick stood you up at the senior prom. Should have waited a little longer though cowboy as Canon and Toshiba have plans that may include building the production lines before years end. This seems right on track with the strategy to have the sets available for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. If they start building the production lines now and get the initial batch of TVs to the market 6 - 9 months later, that puts 'em on track for the 2007 holiday shopping season and 2008 Olympics. So don't despair big guy. The gorgeous SEDs is just going to make you wait a bit longer, but she is going to knock the socks of all the jealous LCDs and plasmas - hopefully.

Is the music industries fate in the hands of high-def media producers?

by Matt Burns posted Sep 11th 2006 at 12:48PM

Is the high-def medium the next golden market for the music industry? We don't know but we aren't exactly what you could consider experts on the music scene. But just think about the iPod generation and their love affair with low-quality but highly portable music. Is high-quality music on HD DVDs or Blu-ray going to spur sales alone? Debbie Block (pictured) from eMediaLive thinks so but only if they add video. You see, before the iPod-gen came around there were the MTV kids that actually watched MTV for the videos and Ms. Block believes that this is the key. The music industry is going to need to team up with a high-def media and produce discs that are going to appeal to this crowd. The iPod generation already has the portable scene wrapped up with cheap, white headphones but there is a whole new market opening up in living rooms and media rooms across the country and it is all thanks to high definition. Keep in mind that this was tried before but failed thanks to another format war between SACD and DVD Audio. Maybe the third time will do the trick.

Would you buy a music HD DVD/Blu-ray disc for use in your home?

Gefen's new monster 1080p-equiped 8x1 DVI switcher

by Matt Burns posted Sep 11th 2006 at 12:22PM

Don't know how this slipped under our high-def radar but Gefen introduced a 8x1 DVI switch a few days back aimed for the truly HD obsessed. This monster can take eight different 1080p-enabled DVI connections and output 'em via a single DVI connection. Yeah, we know. DVI is so 2005 but don't forget that HDMI can work with DVI but you lose the audio stream. For some reason we don't envision this device on normal consumers media rack but rather a home distribution judging by the RS-232 port on the back. (top center) We are sure some HD nuts might just have enough DVI/HDMI equipped devices to fill this monster but at a whopping $899 we could see ourselves reaching behind of something to switch plugs to save a little cash.

Sky HD software gets updated - Brits rejoice

by Matt Burns posted Sep 11th 2006 at 11:47AM

Hopefully all those issues that Sky HD users where having will now by gone thanks to a much-needed firmware update. Users are claiming that the update fixes bugs, stability issues, the EPG, and video transportation. Hopefully this update is already downloaded into owner's boxes and to check, simply navigate to the Services menu, select System Setup, and then System Details. The model number should read 607120. The growing pains of Sky HD hopefully were eased a little with this much-needed update. It is unfortunate that the technology market moves at such a rapid pace these days that products and services get rushed to the market and early adopters must suffer through many updates till the product they paid good money for finally works as advertised.

Anyone Sky HD user care to comment on the update?

5 reasons HDTV might NOT boom

by Matt Burns posted Sep 11th 2006 at 11:03AM

TVPredictions.com recently listed five reasons HDTV will succeed and now Mr. Philip Swann spouts out five reasons that it might boom. The first time around we agreed with his reasons just not in the way they were ordered, and the same thing goes for this time too. In truth we just have an issue with number one and two; flip-flop those and we are on board 100%. Price is important but there needs to be more programing. Retail salesmen can chime in when we say people are more frightened by the amount of, or lack of, programming than anything else. If a person is going to spend X amount of money on something, they expect to use it more often than not. Lack of high-def programming is more likely to signal a dip in HDTV sales than the price.

TVPredictions 5 reasons why HDTV Sales WILL NOT boom.
  1. Price
  2. Not Enough Programming
  3. Industry Confusion & Chaos
  4. The HDTV DVD Disaster
  5. People Still Have Their TV
[Via HDBlog.net]

[updated title]




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