World Touring Car Championship is the first FIA racing series in HD
[Via F1SA]
high definition posts
[Via F1SA]
Digital foundry's HDScope is the capture device for gamers who serve gamers videos about gaming
[Thanks, Dirk]
Comedy Central HD launches today on Cablevision
by Richard Lawler, posted Jan 13th 2009 at 2:34PM 
Comedy Central HD launches today, and Cablevision iO TV subscribers will be the first to see it. According to Multichannel News we can expect 200 hours or so of native HD programming to start, including about 30 episodes of South Park, The Sarah Silverman Program, plus loads of archived stand up and films. Coming up fresh and new for your HDTV is season 13 of South Park, Reno 911, The Flaming Sward of Fire and Krod Mandoon, while The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,and The Colbert Report will get an HD upgrade at a later date. Besides nabbing the exclusive, Cablevision's trumpeting its numbers showing HD penetration is up to nearly 50 percent of iO TV subs, with 69 HD channels available. Otherwise, DirecTV and Cox will be adding later this month with more launches due later in the year -- hopefully Time Warner worked that into the latest deal with Viacom.[Via Multichannel News]
Election '08 coming home in HD like never before
HD decoding CPU usage shootout: ATI vs nVidia
While around here you're more likely to see a flame war erupt about Blu-ray versus HD DVD, on many computer gaming websites the war is over ATI and nVidia, with the two major video card manufacturers constantly leapfrogging each other in an attempt to benchmark the highest scores on games like Unreal Tournament and Doom. Ars Technica has a head-to-head comparison on how well the their latest offerings perform decoding high-definition content, using an Xbox 360 HD DVD add-on drive and some prerecorded 1080p and 1080i content. While both camps did similarly well, ATI was better at playing back VC-1-encoded HD DVD content, and nVidia held a slight edge on 1080i recordings. The benefits to both allow even older video hardware to take a load off the CPU, meaning home theater PC builders can pair a cheaper CPU and video card for playing back HD on the cheap.Hama PhotoPlayer 1080i digital picture viewer
[Via PhotographyBLOG]
DirecTV HR21 Pro gets leaked
We first stumbled upon a prototype of the DirecTV D-HR20P DVR at Electronic House Expo last year, but haven't heard anything about it since then. Now with CEDIA coming up, a promo image of what could be the next evolution in this design has been leaked, the HR21 Pro. The DVR will reportedly handle 100 hours of high-def recording and output it at 1080p over optical HDMI, but lacks any over-the-air antenna inputs, probably due to DirecTV's 100-channel rollout plan. We should see it in November, so clear out some rackmount space... you do have a rack to mount it in, right?
Daewoo shows off Blu-ray Profile 2 player at IFA
Straight from IFA 2007 in Berlin comes Daewoo's surprise entry into the Blu-ray camp with the company's first player, the DBP-1000. Interestingly, even though Daewoo is probably more well-known for their Trutech ODM devices -- or even their autos -- this player supposedly supports the full 2.0 Profile for Blu-ray Disc, including BD Live internet functionality, picture-in-picture, and local storage. Pricing and availability are nowhere to be found, but it won't be soon enough for Blu-ray fans to see players with that interactive functionality built-in like competing HD DVD players have. Another picture after the jump.
AMIMON releases wireless HD chipsets
To help clean up that rat's nest of cables behind your AV rack, semiconductor company AMIMON is now shipping its Wireless High-definition Interface (WHDI) chips to manufacturers. Loewe and Funai will be demoing WHDI products such as wireless HDTVs and high-def DVD players at IFA in Germany next week, following up on the WHDI-equipped projector prototype Sanyo showed off at CES. The chipset supports streaming uncompressed 1080p over the unlicensed 5GHz spectrum -- with worldwide compliance up to 1080p / 30fps -- at ranges up to 100 feet (30 meters) and a latency of less than 1ms. Let's hope you can handle the dust bunny apocalypse you'll release from behind the stereo.More details on Pioneer's KURO plasma line
Pioneer has finally launched their KURO plasma line this week, with sets beginning to show up in retailers for prices ranging from $2,700 for the KURO -- Japanese for "black" -- PDP-4280HD 42-inch model to $6,500 for the 60-inch PDP-6010FD 1080p bigg'un. Three of the sets in the line are 720p-ish, with the two top 50- and 60-inchers sporting 1080p resolution. All models feature standards like CableCARD support, quad HDMI 1.3 inputs, and Home Gallery for displaying photos and the like via USB, with contrast ratios and color reproduction that's all the rave with reviewers.
[Thanks, Joe]
Sharp releases smaller-bigger LCDs
Sharp is bringing to the US market a subset of the series of slimmer LCDs recently released in Japan. The D64U series of 1080p LCDs includes four models from 42 to 65 inches, all with re-engineered circuitry inside for a 25% slimmer and 20% lighter frame than previous product lines, while consuming less power. With the thinner bezel and smaller speakers, you might fit a 42-inch set where a 40 would normally go. The panels feature 10,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, 4ms response time, and RS-232 automation controls. The series will be available later this month, with the 42-inch LC-42D64U retailing for $2,099, the 46-inch LC-46D64U for $2,699, and the 52-inch LC-52D64U for $3,799, with the 65-inch LC-65D64U unpriced and following in September.Lost: The Complete Third Season headed to Blu-ray Dec. 11
According to Home Media Retailing Magazine, Disney representatives confirmed that one of our favorite HDTV shows, Lost, will make its Blu-ray debut day-and-date with the DVD set of season three December 11th. No word on possible HD special features or price, but we can expect more details soon.[Via MovieWeb]
HDTV Listings for July 26, 2007
What we're watching: My Name is Earl and The Office reruns? We'll take it.Our traditional high-def listings continue below.
Toshiba extends 5 free HD DVD offer until September 30
We are shocked, SHOCKED to find out that not only does giving away movies and lowering prices increase HD DVD hardware and software sales, but now Toshiba has announced it is extending its "The Perfect Offer" of five free HD DVDs from a selection of 15, via mail-in with the purchase of any Toshiba HD DVD player. Originally set to run through July, the promotion has been extended until September 30th, so you might be able to find out if that Harry Potter box set has any HDi special features before choosing a side in the format war. Still, with the base HD-A2 player at a price of $299 and several free movies in the mix, Toshiba's certainly hoping to grab the attention of remaining fence sitters and current Blu-ray owners alike.Read - Consumers Can Get 'The Perfect Offer' All Summer Long With Toshiba's 5 Free HD DVD Disc Promotion
Read - The Perfect Offer web site
DreamBee 1080p projector could double as alien probe
DreamVision has released a 1080p D-ILA-based projector called the DreamBee, which boasts a 15,000:1 contrast ratio, and 1000 lumens of brightness. The oddly-War of the Worlds-shaped projector includes an RS-232 port and a pair of HDMI inputs, with the usual analog video and audio connectors, and retails for $14,000. The DreamBee Pro model adds another pair of HDMI ports, along with an external scaler for source management, and is priced at $19,000. Both models are available in colors like midnight, coconut, blue sky, hibiscus, and sunflower. No word on the possibility of a custom "red alien weed" color, or whether the controls are tentacle-friendly.
