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Posts with tag usa

Sharp's 108-inch LB-1085 LCD HDTV comes Stateside in September

by Darren Murph, posted Jun 18th 2008 at 12:04PM


Sharp's biggest announcement at InfoComm isn't the plethora of new projectors and LCD monitors. No, dear friends, it's the proclamation that its 108-inch LB-1085 1080p display will soon be available right here in the US of A. Sharp's smart enough to not let out a US price just yet, but our handy Japanese currency conversion calculation puts it somewhere around $100,000. Chump change, right?

Hitachi's 1.5 UltraThin LCD HDTVs now available in US

by Darren Murph, posted May 1st 2008 at 6:54PM


You heard it right -- Hitachi's UltraThin 1.5 family that caused such a stir at CES is finally available for US consumers. Available in 32-, 37-, 42- and 47-inch sizes, the lot has been broken down into two distinct clans: the Director's Series (X) and Ultra Vision (V) models. Each member of the former comes with a 2-year warranty and a sticker ranging from $1,999 to $4,699, while the latter gets a 1-year warranty and price tags between $1,799 and $4,499. Curiously enough, it seems that several sets (the UT47X902, UT47V702, UT32A302/W, UT32V502/W, UT42V702 and UT37V702) may actually not yet be ready for shipping judging by their July to September availability dates, but we'll leave it to you to sort out the contradictions in Hitachi's press release with your dealer. Hit the read link for more details.

Blockbuster expanding Blu-ray dedication across US / Canada

by Darren Murph, posted Apr 10th 2008 at 8:34AM


We're not exactly sure what Blockbuster's saying here outside of what's already been said -- after all, the rental chain chose to back Blu-ray eons ago -- but nevertheless, a new release from the company is trumpeting the expansion of Blu-ray all across the US and Canada. As of this week, BD Discs will be available in every single corporate store in the US and Canada (along with select franchise locations), and to entice you further, it's setting up more Blu-ray kiosks featuring a 42-inch HDTV and a PlayStation 3. Additionally, the firm's by-mail service has had a BD preference option added so users can "automatically indicate that they want to receive all available movies in the high-definition format." We certainly dig the sound of that last part.

[Image courtesy of Portfolio]

Only half of US HDTV owners subscribe to HD programming

by Darren Murph, posted Mar 26th 2008 at 6:28PM


We'll be honest -- we US-based HDTV owners are taking advantage of our set entirely more so than those in Europe, but considering the (relative) smorgasbord of high-def options that we have here in the States, the latest data from ABI Research is quite disheartening. Reportedly, some 41-percent of American TV owners possess an HDTV, but out of those, just 56-percent subscribe to a HD programming package. Of course, we're well aware that OTA consumption is on the rise, but still, that figure is simply abysmal (though not at all shocking). The report goes on to mention that while 45-percent of respondents admitted to using pay-per-view, most did so just one time per month. Additionally, 46-percent asserted that they were "unsatisfied" with their carrier, with the primary gripes being high prices and lame customer service. Still, we're glad to see that HD recognition is on the rise here in the US, but we have a seriously long way to go before 100 million homes are signed on to high-def programming services.

[Image courtesy of AT&T]

More news from 2012: 100 million US households to pay for HD programming

by Darren Murph, posted Mar 18th 2008 at 10:48AM


Alright, so it was mildly humorous at first -- now it's just downright freaky. For the fourth time in just a few months, a report is emerging that forecasts numbers for 2012. Not 2011, not 2013, just 2012. Nevertheless, the latest research doled out by Pike & Fischer asserts that "up to 103 million households will be paying their multichannel video provider for some form of HD service or rental equipment" by 2012. As it stands, around 47 million US homes will be coughing up for HD programming by the end of 2008, which should be a 17 million domicile increase from 2007 if everything goes as predicted. Needless to say, we've no doubts that HD consumption has nowhere to go but up, but even we are taken aback by the $2.6 billion in annual revenue that content providers are expected to garner in just four short years.

20% of US households will spend stimulus funds on consumer electronics

by Darren Murph, posted Mar 15th 2008 at 4:34PM


Forget income tax rebate checks -- what are you doing with that bonus that should be arriving between May and August of this year? Apparently, 1 in 5 of you will be spending at least a portion of your economic stimulus rebate check on consumer electronics. Granted, this "research" was dug up and put out by the Consumer Electronics Association, but all in all, it actually sounds about right. After all, shipments for flat-panels have already been on the rise this year despite a softening economy, and according to the CEA, "computers, televisions and mobile phones" are the items most likely to be targeted. More specifically, some 39-percent will purportedly use their extra income on a TV, but for their own sake, we certainly hope they set aside enough to purchase HD service to go along with it.

[Image courtesy of Crutchfield]

WWE RAW: live in HD for first time tonight

by Darren Murph, posted Jan 21st 2008 at 5:47PM


Not that rabid professional wrestling fans really needed a reminder, but WWE's first high-definition broadcast of RAW does indeed start tonight. Set to air from Virginia's Hampton Coliseum on USA HD, we can expect to see crystal clear glimpses of Triple-H, Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho (among others) -- sweat beads and artificial blood included. Gather up the fam, the party starts at 9:00PM EST.

[Image courtesy of WWE]

WWE RAW scheduled for HD on USA

by Darren Murph, posted Jan 2nd 2008 at 9:51PM


For fans of WWE and HD, things are about as good as they could possibly be. Just as you get ready to experience Smackdown and Royal Rumble in high-definition, along comes word that next Monday's episode of RAW will likely be aired in HD, too. Apparently, DirecTV is listing the show in HD on USA, which means that either RAW is indeed finally making the leap to HD or DirecTV has labeled it erroneously. Needless to say, we're hoping for the former, even if it ends up happening a bit later in the month.

Update: Sure enough, we may not see RAW in HD until after Royal Rumble. Better late than never, we say.

[Thanks, Colin V. and gamedude420]

Half of US households own a digital television

by Darren Murph, posted Dec 29th 2007 at 11:09AM

We already learned that some 28-percent of US households were rocking at least one HDTV back in March, but now the Consumer Electronics Association has come forward with new figures showing that over half of American abodes are home to a digital television. According to revamped CEA projections, around 32 million DTV units will ship out next year, with 79-percent of those being HD sets. 'Course, the downside of this is that a good chunk of America still isn't prepared for the DTV cutover in 2009, but thanks to all the advertising that will likely be taking place over the next year and change, we'd say they've got plenty of time to get on board.

Comcast beefs up HD lineup in DC Metro area

by Darren Murph, posted Dec 23rd 2007 at 11:10PM

We could certainly get used to hearing all these HD expansion stories, but the ones most excited about Comcast's latest additions are housed all around our nation's capital. According to tipster Casey, customers in and around Baltimore, Maryland and Northern Virginia are just now receiving six new high-definition channels: Discovery Channel HD, CNN HD, TLC HD, USA HD, Animal Planet HD, and yes, Sci-Fi HD, too. Interestingly, it's said that subscribers in Washington, D.C. have yet to see the newcomers, but feel free to toss a comment in below if that status changes.

[Thanks, Casey B.]

USA HD / Sci-Fi HD launching on Dish Network?

by Darren Murph, posted Dec 6th 2007 at 7:44AM


We've seen two reports now leading us to believe that Dish Network subscribers can tune in to two new HD channels as early as tomorrow. Apparently, the satellite provider has already uplinked Sci-Fi HD and USA HD, and according to Scott Greczkowski over at SatelliteGuys, the two channels could go live to customers Friday -- as in, tomorrow. If all this pans out, it should be quite a nice weekend in front of the set for Dish customers.

[Thanks, Daryl and Matt]
Read - SatelliteGuys
Read - HighDefForum

Vizio slips to second in North American LCD TV sales

by Darren Murph, posted Nov 2nd 2007 at 8:59AM

Oh, how the times they are a-changin'. Merely months after Vizio ousted Samsung as the LCD TV king in Q2, Sammy is back on top of overall flat-panel TV sales here in North America. Thanks primarily to a staggering 37-percent quarter-to-quarter growth rate (compared to Vizio's 12-percent), Samsung now has an 11.8-percent unit share compared to Vizio's 10.2-percent. Strictly looking at LCD TVs, Vizio still isn't holding the gold; rather, Sharp rocketed ahead to the top spot in that category and left the previous leader clinging to second. It should be noted that Vizio's sales are far from stagnant -- the firm has experienced a 334-percent increase year-to-year in LCD TV growth compared to Sharp's 88-percent. Still, we wouldn't count on the current leaderboard staying this way for long, as Black Friday (and the holiday season in general) has a tendency to shake things up.

JVC's trio of Clear Motion Drive II 1080p LCD TVs coming to America

by Darren Murph, posted Sep 10th 2007 at 7:28PM


Yeah, there's a decent chance you'd forgotten all about JVC's three Clear Motion Drive II-equipped TVs, but just in case you've been waiting in tense anticipation, we've got stellar news. The 37-inch LT-37X898, 42-inch LT-42X898 and 47-inch LT-47X898 are all set to take the US by storm, featuring a 120Hz refresh rate, 10-bit IPS LCD panels, and Full HD support. Additionally, these sets boast the firm's "fifth generation D.I.S.T. (Digital Image Scaling Technology) engine on the JVC-exclusive 32-bit Genessa chip," a 178-degree viewing angle, 2,000:1 contrast ratio, a 4.5-millisecond response rate, 500 cd/m2 brightness, a trio of HDMI 1.3 inputs, and 20-watts of amplification for the built-in speakers. The trifecta is set to land this month as a part of JVC's new Procision series, and will run interested consumers $2,100, $2,600 and $3,300 from smallest to largest.

Toshiba's new 1080p REGZA LCD lineup gets official in US

by Darren Murph, posted Sep 6th 2007 at 11:49AM


You know those oh-so-sexy RF350U LCDs that Toshiba has slated for Japan? Yeah, they're heading stateside, too. According to Tosh, the latest duo of REGZA LCDs boast 1080p resolutions, the "world's thinnest LCD TV bezel" at less than one-inch wide, and PixelPure's 14-bit internal processing. The duo will be available in 40- and 46-inch flavors, and will tout a "high-gloss black with chrome trim," xvYCC signal support, DynaLight backlighting, an uber-slim SoundStrip2 speaker system, and a trio of HDMI inputs with CE-Link control. Both of the REGZA Super Narrow Bezel (SNB) models will be landing this month, and while the 40RF350U will cost $1,899.99, the 46RF350U tacks on another $600.

Sharp announces AQUOS BD-HP20U Blu-ray player for US

by Darren Murph, posted Sep 6th 2007 at 10:11AM

Looks like those whispers we heard about Sharp's forthcoming announcement of (yet another) Blu-ray player were true, as the firm has chosen CEDIA as the locale to introduce the US market to its slim-profile AQUOS BD player." The BD-HP20U will be the first product "outside of the Sharp LCD suite to carry the AQUOS name," and will feature HDMI 1.3, 1080p24 support, AQUOS LINK, component outputs, compatibility with the lossless audio formats, and 1080p upscaling of vanilla DVDs. According to Sharp, the unit itself will boast a "piano black finish with one of the slimmest designs in the industry," and if all goes as planned, we should actually see this one hit shelves later this month for $549.99.




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