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Researchers ditch DLP, develop OLED panel-based mini projector

by Ross Miller posted Jun 11th 2009 at 2:32AM

Looking for a way to differentiate among the ever-expanding niche of pocket projectors, researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering (IOF) of Germany are working on an OLED panel-based mini projector, using static optical systems and not the usual reflective system à la DLP. Currently being shown at SID Display Week 2009, the decidedly green picture (seems to be the norm with OLED prototypes these days) forms via a 6-inch VGA screen from 30 to 50 centimeters away, and the machine itself takes up just about ten cubic centimeters of space. Despite all the faith, there's still the rather nasty problem of luminance, which the scientists estimate needs to be about four or five times as bright as current levels -- but hey, you gotta start somewhere, right?

Videociety VOD service uses Blu-ray players with BD-Live

by Richard Lawler posted May 1st 2009 at 11:03AM


German production house Enteractive is readying its Blu-ray Java disc powered service Videociety that turns any BD-Live enabled Blu-ray player into an Internet delivered VOD box. Still unknown is what resolution movies will be offered in and which ones, although h.264 compression (with Dolby Digital 2.0 or 5.1 soundtracks) is confirmed, and the company has access to 400 films from sister companies Splendid Film, Polyband and WVG Media and negotiations with other major and independent studios are ongoing. Just like Netflix's Watch Instantly, movies are queued from a PC or iPhone, then streamed to the Blu-ray player once the disc is inserted. Anyone else hoping that if this works well it gets picked up outside of Germany after the official launch at IFA in September?

[Via Blu-ray.com]

International HD news roundup

by Richard Lawler posted Apr 19th 2009 at 8:11AM


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, até à próxima!

Read - Sky HD EPG relaunched
Read - Fox Pan American Sports Establishes Its First HD Platform on the Intelsat Network
Read - Portugal goes for Zen
Read - Movies debut on German iTunes store

Marantz unveils high-end UD9004 Blu-ray / SACD player

by Darren Murph posted Mar 20th 2009 at 7:44PM


We can definitely see where this is headed. Hot on the heels of Denon's DVD-A1UD and OPPO's BDP-83 comes yet another Blu-ray player that does just a pinch more than handle audio CDs, DVDs and Blu-ray Discs. Unveiled as a prototype over in Munich, the Marantz UD9004 is just one format shy (it's lacking DVD-Audio support) of being a complete "universal" Blu-ray player. Said device, which is slated to get official sometime in 2009, is built upon the $6,500 SA-7S1 SACD player (pictured) and features a 10-bit Silicon Optix chipset, 14-bit video DAC, an SD card reader, RS-232 control interface, support for BD-Live and an Ethernet port. Outside of that, details are nonexistent, but we'll definitely be keeping an ear to the ground for more.

[Via Slashgear]

Samsung launches its own movie download service for Europe

by Chris Ziegler posted Mar 19th 2009 at 11:39AM


For phone manufacturers, it seems like having a decent multimedia ecosystem tied to your devices is nearly as important to success these days as the platform you're running, and Samsung wants in on that action -- at least in Europe. The company will launch its Acetrax-powered Samsung Movies service in the UK and Germany first (it's already live in beta form) with more launches elsewhere in Europe down the road, offering 2,000 movies and TV shows from Warner Bros., Paramount, Universal and Momentum Pictures by mid-year starting at £2.49 ($3.60) for a 24-hour rental and £4.99 ($7.22) to buy the goods outright. Sammy is tying the service into its recent and forthcoming OLED launches, implying that the screen tech is the perfect way to enjoy movies on the road. Eventually, the company plans to expand the service to PMPs and connected TVs, but for now, you'll have to struggle along with your Omnia HD, you poor baby, you.

MTVNHD & Nick Jr. going Deutsch

by Richard Lawler posted Jan 14th 2009 at 3:46PM

It's a promise, in 2009 Germany get MTVNHD and Nick Jr. distribution. Sure, they may not be quite on time but this is a new year and we're forgetting about the past. MTV Networks Germany didn't let slip which broadcaster(s) would be putting the channel on the air, but MTVNHD is due in the early part of the year with Nick Jr. following, although until then you can get your Nick fix while it replaces the Palladia loops on weekend mornings.

[Via HDTV Total]

Deluxe Lounge HD music channel launches on Germany's Deluxe Television

by Darren Murph posted Dec 29th 2008 at 10:49AM

Munich-based Deluxe Television has just launched an all new music channel in high-def, Deluxe Lounge HD. For now, the station is being broadcast on Kabel BW's cable systems in the region-state of Baden-Württemberg, and while it's currently being distributed free-to-air, the signal is scheduled to be encrypted in early 2009. The station is said to be completely commercial free and shows only content that was originally produced in high-definition; according to founder and CEO Markus Langemann, the channel aims to "offer pure relaxation for eyes and ears." If Deluxe Television has its way, it'll be available on many more systems in the near future, and we can't imagine any HD-lovin' German being opposed to that.

Panasonic unveils new 11 Series plasma displays in Germany

by Darren Murph posted Nov 5th 2008 at 5:35PM


While not quite as brain-melting as Panasonic's 150-incher and not nearly as sophisticated as its tru2way-enabled VIERA TH-50PZ80Q, Panny's 11 Series is still worth a gander. Announced today over in Deutschland, the line gets going with the 42-inch TH-42PH11EK/ES and 50-inch TH-50PH11EK/ES, which check in with a 1,024 x 768 and 1,366 x 768 resolution, respectively. Moving on to bigger (or similarly sized) and (mostly) better things, we've got the TH-42PF11EK (42-inch), TH-50PF11EK (50-inch), TH-58PF11EK (58-inch) and the TH-65PF11EK (65-inch), all of which offer a Full HD (1,920 x 1,080) resolution and a 30,000:1 contrast ratio. As for pricing and availability, everything smaller than 58-inches can be acquired now for undisclosed amounts, while the big daddies should follow in December.

[Via Macrush]

Gallery: Panasonic unveils new 11 Series plasma displays in Germany

Motorola rings millennials overseas for media survey

by Darren Murph posted Sep 11th 2008 at 6:54PM

Motorola already sent out its dutiful survey team to pick the brains of millennials (ages 16 to 27) in the US, but now those same folks have infiltrated nations across the pond. Somewhat surprisingly, the results were mighty similar, even though Europe is notorious for buying HDTVs and not the HDTV programming to go along with it. Still, some 78% of the 1,200 surveyed confirmed that they would prefer a TV program to restart the moment they switched over, leading us to believe that only 22% enjoy showing up to a movie that has already started. Also curious was the fact that 53% of respondents in the UAE said they "loved HD content," yet the region is just now starting to see high-def material from broadcasters. Anywho, the read link has lots and lots of numbers if you care to humor yourself, but the real comedy is in the Millennial Generation video after the jump.

Continue reading Motorola rings millennials overseas for media survey

LG's 42- / 50-inch PG6900 plasma packs built-in 160GB hard drive

by Darren Murph posted Sep 1st 2008 at 3:14AM

While we new LG had a pair of DVR-packin' plasmas lined up, nothing was officially official until now. The 42- and 50-inch PG6900 plasmas were designed to hold up to 86-hours of programming (SD, we assume) on its 160GB of internal hard drive space, and the 8-day EPG should give you a pretty decent view of what's coming on in the near future. Additionally, you'll find a 30,000:1 contrast ratio, Energy Star compliance, a DVB-T tuner (plus an analog tuner), three HDMI 1.3 ports, 100Hz refresh rate and integrated speakers which are said to be "invisible." Look for these to pop up soon (at least in Europe) for $1,799 and up.

[Via Gizmag]

Germany's CDA invests some dough in Blu-ray production, expands DVD capacity

by Darren Murph posted Aug 21st 2008 at 2:28PM

Welp, at least we now know one company that helped Singulus beat its Blu-ray duplicator sales estimates. Germany's CDA, which was still producing 3X DVDs as of mid-February, has finally realized that Blu-ray is the victor and the sole remaining high-def format that anyone cares about. Thus, it's finally investing in a production line for Blu-ray Discs that will boast capacities of 17,000 single-layer and 12,000 dual-layer units per day. In somewhat related news, the outfit is also expanding its DVD capacity to meet "growing demand." Clearly CDA hasn't been listening to the analysts, or else it has a darn good phase in / phase out plan for 2012.

SES ASTRA tardily trumpets 12 channels of HD Olympics across Europe

by Darren Murph posted Aug 19th 2008 at 9:58AM


There's nothing here that wasn't apparent already, but SES ASTRA is just now getting around to boasting about a dozen HD channels that it's hosting to broadcast the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Ready for an exhaustive list? The channels broadcasting the Olympics in HD include for the UK, BBC HD, for France, France 2 HD and CANAL+ HD, for Germany, ANIXE HD, for Poland, TVP HD, for the Slovak Republic, STV3, for the Netherlands, 1 HD, for Belgium een HD, for Spain, TELEDEPORTE HD, for Sweden, Viasat HD and SVT HD and for Austria, ORF HD. So yeah, if you somehow missed this for the first week of the Games, at least you're clued in now.

[Image courtesy of Beijing 2008]

Palladia / MHD European launch slated for September

by Richard Lawler posted Aug 14th 2008 at 7:32PM


Europeans eagerly awaiting more high definition concerts (updated weekly, still) rejoice, as MTV is launching a European HD channel next month. Although it goes unnamed, based on the content mentioned (concerts, special music events and festivals) and the relaunch of Palladia (the station formerly known as MHD) happening at the same time we've been able to reach the surprising and stunning realization that they are pretty much one and the same. In addition to being underwhelmed by an incredibly limited amount of HD content in rotation at any given time, our HDTV-equipped friends in German speaking markets can look forward to Nick programs on the weekend. D-d-d-dora, Dora.

All-classical music concert HD channel in the works

by Richard Lawler posted Aug 14th 2008 at 10:16AM


Poised to take advantage of the dearth of classical music television stations in the U.S., Unitel Classica is planning a worldwide classical channel formatted for HDTV. The German production company already supplies HD concerts via satellite in Europe on SES Astra, and the Classica standard definition opera and classical channel in several countries. The new channel will launch in Germany first in the fourth quarter, before potentially making the jump over here. With that much experience behind them, and the enthusiastic response to opera and classical broadcasts already available, Unitel should be ready to give the classical fans what they've been waiting for sometime in 2009.

Anixe HD joins Kabel Deutschland lineup just in time for Olympics

by Darren Murph posted Aug 6th 2008 at 11:15PM

We already knew that Anixe HD would be covering select parts of the 2008 Olympic Games this month, but until recently, Kabel Deutschland customers have been left in the dark. Now, Germany's largest cable operator will be adding the aforementioned channel to its lineup just before the festivities begin, enabling subscribers to catch the action in athletics, triathlon, equestrian, cycling and sailing events. When the digital free-to-air station goes live this Friday, it will be the third HD channel offered by KDG next to Premiere HD and Discovery HD, both of which are pay-TV stations.




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