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tour posts

Panasonic taking 3D, Avatar on world tour this fall

by Richard Lawler posted Aug 21st 2009 at 1:33PM


Instead of offering a tour of its 3D lab as we hoped, Panasonic is bringing 103-inch plasmas and 3D capable Blu-ray players to you, planning to send around tractor trailers to promote its technology and the new James Cameron flick, Avatar. IFA and CES will also get the full 3D experience, with the company still planning to put hardware on shelves in 2010. It expects HDMI 1.4 and Blu-ray 3D spec standardization to have the market primed and ready, and while 3D may not be for everyone, we're sure those interested are just waiting to toss those silly two-color glasses in the trash to get with this stereoscopic solution.

Engadget goes behind the Dolby logo

by Steven Kim posted Jul 8th 2009 at 1:28PM Featured Story

Dolby front door
With AV software and hardware alike carrying at least one Dolby logo, not to mention the presence of that same branding on big screen cinema, Dolby is truly a household name. If you ask people exactly what Dolby does, however, you're likely to get a pretty fuzzy picture, which isn't too surprising -- the brand is so prevalent in the media space that it's kind of like asking a fish to describe what water feels like. So when Dolby invited us to spend a day with them to talk about their current goings-on in home theater, we just couldn't pass up the opportunity.

To get a look behind the familiar logo, we spent a day at Dolby's lab in San Francisco. During our time there we talked about TrueHD, Digital Plus, Dolby Volume, the new Pro Logic IIz, and even got a short peek at some current research efforts. It was a fast run over a lot of ground, for sure!

Continue reading Engadget goes behind the Dolby logo

FCC hitting the road to talk digital TV

by Richard Lawler posted Aug 20th 2008 at 11:09AM

For anyone who's still confused about the digital television transition -- somehow missing the TV ads, radio spots, numerous articles and a part of the small minority not vigorously refreshing the Engadget HD front page -- the FCC is sending staff out on tour (sans the slick bus, didn't anyone tell them you've got to have a bus? It worked so well for HD DVD...ok maybe not such a great idea) to spread the 0 and 1 gospel. 23 cities identified as having more than 100,000 households or with at least 15% getting their TV strictly via antenna are on the list to be visited by a commissioner, while others will have to make do with mere staffers. FCC.gov has thedetails on when and where they'll be (warning: PDF read link), feel free to see when they're coming to your town. Will you save your ticket stubs to tell everyone "I was at digital switch '08"? (Note: FCCapolooza '08 is not actually converging on Haight-Ashbury in a phenomenon of cultural and political rebellion, but it would be much better if it were).

[Via Variety]

[Image courtesy of Supertouch Art]

Behind the scenes with the Windows Media Center dev team

by Richard Lawler posted Aug 5th 2008 at 12:06PM


Windows Media Center fan and photographer Thomas Hawk recently got to visit the people behind the platform, returning with pics of the people who put the product together and a few of the tools used to make it happen. Captured above is the team's listening room (also used by other AV teams working on Windows Media Player, codecs, etc.), unfortunately there aren't any snaps of future upgrades and projects from the team, but if you use it, be sure to hit the read link and find out a bit more about where and who it comes from.

JVC hitting the pavement with summer road trip

by Steven Kim posted May 26th 2008 at 8:44PM

JVC Hi-Def Experience
The company soon to be known as JVC Kenwood Holdings is kicking off its six month long summer road trip this month to show its wares to the masses. There are 30 pushpins on the "JVC Hi-Def Experience" map, spread across 19 states. That's a lot of ground to cover, so there are two teams -- one for the East and another for the West. The stops will coincide with local events, such as NASCAR races, fairs and festivals. This looks to be a JVC-only event -- Kenwood car stereos which seem like a natural fit for NASCAR events aren't featured. Check out the event web site and see where to go to get some quality time with Everio camcorders, P-series LCDs (with iPod docks and no longer available in Japan), or the Pioneer Kuro doppelganger HD100 projectors. If you catch it, share the details in the comments below!

[Via TWICE]

Hitachi takes skinny HDTVs on the road, your LCD wants to purge

by Richard Lawler posted Mar 4th 2008 at 8:37AM


Flat panel manufacturer's disgusting obsession with being thin is coming to a high-end location near you, thanks to Hitachi's "Thin is in Motion" campaign. Focused on its 1.5-inch thick ultra-thin family of LCDs, the company is sending four trucks around the country equipped with 32- and 37-inch display models on rotating pedestals (because who doesn't watch their HDTV from the back or side angle?) to show off how thin they are. We wouldn't advise showing these to impressionable "fat" panels, for fear of psychological damage.

Disney's Magical Blu-ray Tour starts in August

by Richard Lawler posted Jul 17th 2007 at 4:17PM

Just in case you thought Disney's support of the Blu-ray format might be slipping, the company is taking its show on the road with an 18-city mall tour to promote the format. Disney's Magical Blu-ray tour, sponsored by fellow Blu-ray backers and experienced mall-tourers Panasonic, starts August 17th and aims to educate customers about the format with interactive demos of Blu-ray movies and hourly presentations on Blu-ray tech. While consumer confusion over high definition in general and the format war specifically is definitely a problem, we have a feeling that "education" will go a lot more smoothly once hardware prices drop a bit more. Check the link for dates the tour is coming near you, no word on if the HD DVD tour plans to crash any stops.

Panasonic's taking plasmas on tour

by Richard Lawler posted Oct 28th 2006 at 1:01PM

With the big holiday selling season coming up, Panasonic is hitting the road to "educate" consumers on the benefits of its plasma TVs. Featured most prominently in this roadshow is the famed 103-inch 1080p plasma, but more affordable 37-, 42-, 50- and 58-inch 720p models will make an appearance as well. The current 65-inch 1080p plasma will also be on show, but still no word on when the U.S. will see the new 1080p PZ600U series that would go so well with that new DMP-BD10. Between this and its Plasma Concierge program, Panasonic is doing a lot to capitalize on alleviate buyer confusion about HDTVs, if you live near Tyson's Corner Center Mall in Washington D.C. stop by and have a look today. Good luck at getting a pic of yourself next to that 103-incher in the Flickr pool before Mark Cuban.

HD DVD tour stops at Digital Life 2006 and drops details on Miami Vice's U-control

by Richard Lawler posted Oct 12th 2006 at 1:49AM

The HD DVD tour isn't spending all its time in New York hanging out at the Today Show's new HD studios, its pulled up to Digital Life 2006 at the Javits Center. In a press release issued by the North American HD DVD Promotional Group there were also new details about the upcoming December 5th release of Miami Vice on HD DVD; like Fast and the Furious 3: Tokyo Drift and Accepted, it will include U-control special features. Viewers can check out specs on cars and boats featured in the movie, track car chases through Miami streets via GPS, or look at production photos and cast details while the movie continues to play. Firing off more shots in the format war, the group also announced statistics from AC Nielsen showing HD DVD owners have already purchased an average of 8.4 titles each, and Nielsen Videoscan numbers indicating HD DVD outsold "competing formats" -- we're pretty sure they don't mean VMD -- by nearly 3:1 in August. The best defense is a good offense, and the HD DVD camp is taking the big Blu-ray holiday push head-on, showcasing not just new movies but also new hardware like the Xbox 360 HD DVD player and upcoming Toshiba HD-XA2.

HD DVD takes to the road

by Matt Burns posted Aug 22nd 2006 at 8:57AM

HD DVD's promotional bandwagon is going to take to the road after Cedia '06. The format is going to tour the country courteous of a tricked out semi loaded with more TVs and HD DVD players then the guys at Pimp My Ride could handle. You have to check out the pics of this mobile entertainment, lets be honest here, sales floor. There is a theater, laptop stations, plasma TVs, and they are all in the same place. It's almost like going to a Circuit City or Best Buy, but tent sale style. Of course there isn't anything a person can pick up and buy at this event, but the exhibitors are trying to sell you something: the HD DVD format. According to the informational page, the tour is going to travel to over a dozen cities from coast-to-coast, but the tour map only shows seven cities, so lets assume they haven't updated the map just yet. Oh, and just a warning, turn down your speakers before you click the read link.

JVC HD-ILA goes on tour

by Matt Burns posted Jun 20th 2006 at 11:45AM

JVC has hit the road and coming to a major city near you. This years "The JVC Perfect Experience Road Tour" is bringing you new HD-ILA HDTVs and Everio, their hard disk drive camcorders. They have two decked out tour buses, one for each side of the country, and they are going to run for 90 days. The tour is going to visit retail locations in 34 states to train employees and educate customers. Because of the amount of area they are going to cover, the buses are going to stop at three or four stores during the weekdays to train the employees, but on the weekends, the tents go up and the fun starts for the average Joe. The tour starts in Tampa, FL on June 23rd.




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