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Samsung slims down Blu-ray player

January 7th, 2009, 8:45 pm by

DVD players are no longer very big, but when it comes to high-definition Blu-ray players, there is room to shave. Samsung offered the best looking redesign. Its new BD-P4600 is 1.5 inches thick, which Samsung believes makes it the slimmest Blu-ray Drive player in the industry.

Bonus: Includes a Wi-Fi dongle that plugs into one of two USB ports. So, technically, it’s wireless. Also, this player plays CDs, upconverts regular DVDs and supports BD Live (to access more videos from the Internet). Being so skinny, Samsung offers a way to mount it on the wall for those folks who really want to keep things tidy.

I didn’t see it in person — only through slideshows during Samsung’s press conference. Release date and price were not available. Here are some better photos provided by Samsung:

More CES 2009 coverage: 

Posted in: Video & TV • • • • • • | 1 Comment »

The best TV Toshiba has to offer

January 7th, 2009, 4:35 pm by

 A 240 Hertz TV? Toshiba says it’s possible with software. As higher-end TVs moved from the standard 60 Hertz to 120 Hertz last year, videophiles who demanded absolutely no blur during fast-moving video made the switch.

Translation: Less blur for fast-moving video, like sports and video games. Most TV viewers have 60 Hertz TVs, so viewers typically see 60 frames of video per second. While that’s pretty fast, the split second where the frame updates the image could cause a blur. Hence, 120 Hertz, or double the images in 60 seconds. The 120 hertz is becoming more prevelant in higher-end TVs today.

While it would take a finely tuned eye to see any blur at 120 Hertz, there, apparently, is some, causing Tosbhia to introduce “ClearScan 240.” 

Now ClearScan 240, said Scott Ramirez, Toshiba’s vice president of marketing for the TV group, isn’t really 240 frames of video per second. Rather, using backlight scanning “you perceive two frames for every one,” he said during a press conference on Wednesday.

Since it’s not technically 240 hertz, Toshiba calls it “the 240 Herz effect.”

(Note: After Toshiba’s announcment, I stopped by press conferences for Samsung and Panasonic. Both, too, say they are or will offer TVs with a 240 Hertz refresh rate. I will have to explore this later.) Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in: Video & TV • • • • • • | Comments Off

Western Digital offers way to watch PC’s HD movies on TV

November 3rd, 2008, 8:25 am by

Problem: Lots of high-def videos and movies stored on your home computer or external hard drive but no simple way to play them on the big TV in the living room. 

Answer: The Western Digital WD TV Media Player. The Lake Forest hard drive maker just announced its new gadget that stays connected to the TV. When you want to play video files from a hard drive, just plug in the hard drive to the Media player, select the file and hit play — up to two USB drives at a time. 

This sounds much neater than wiring up a laptop to the TV for that cluttered home electronics look. But then again, it’s not perfect. It’s not a networked gadget so you’ll need to transfer all those PC video files to a hard drive instead of trying to access the files on your home network. And too bad it’s not wireless. It appears to be much like many other media players that have been on the market for years, but this one allows you to plug in a hard drive or two. Plus, it’s HD — up to 1080p resolution. 

The system comes with a remote control and will let users watch photo slideshows and listen to music too. It also comes with ArcSoft MediaConverter 2.5 to convert photos, video and music into formats optimized for the WD TV HD Media player. It’s available now at shopwd.com for $129.99.

Posted in: Storage • Video & TV • • • • • | Comments Off

30 new HD channels for AT&T U-verse

October 27th, 2008, 7:00 am by

AT&T U-verseFor the handful of Orange County residents who can even order AT&T U-verse, good news: 30 more HD channels will launch on Nov. 3.

Most of the new channels are available for no additional charge. And it’s heavy on sports — lots of Fox Sports channels (10 total), and Comcast Sports (3). List is below the jump.

That brings AT&T U-verse’s number of HD channels to 75, which tops that of Time Warner Cable and Cox Communications locally. 

While the HD service does cost an extra $10 per month, most of the new channels are free, like QVC and The Weather Channel.  U-verse is adding another HD plan for $5/month, which will include Universal HD, MGM HD and the Smithsonian Channel HD.

In addition to the new HD channels, U-verse is adding a few standard-definition channels, including The Outdoor Channel, NASA TV and WAPA America and V-me. Plus, lots of ethnic programming is coming Nov. 10.  See details below: Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in: Video & TV • • • • • • | 3 Comments »

Slingbox HD offers high-def video away from your TV

September 25th, 2008, 8:47 am by

Slingbox lovers who love their HDTVs even more should be happy to know that Sling Media just announced the Slingbox Pro-HD for $299.99.

The gadget — which streams a user’s home TV service (TV channels, DVR recordings, over-the-air signals and all) to the Internet so you can watch your TV away from home on a computer, PDA, or other mobile device – now also streams High-Definition video. Besides the device, you’ll also need a fast Internet connection of at least 1.5 megabits per second. 

The company also upgraded its PC software to SlingPlayer 2.0, which can be downloaded at slingmedia.com. The upgrade allows users to pause and rewind live video without interfering with the same show that the home user is watching.

Reviews:

Posted in: news • • • • | 1 Comment »

Portable TVs will fade away after February

August 12th, 2008, 6:56 am by

10/2/2008 — UPDATE to this question: There is now a battery-powered converter box. Read the post, “50% more coupons available for digital TV converter box program”

Stump the GadgetressStump the Gadgetress isn’t really back. I’ve just been answering a ton of digital converter box questions and this one seemed worthy of sharing my research with all readers.

Question: Will my portable TV not work after Feb. 2009?

Gadgetress: Nope. You’re out of luck. 

**UPDATE** WineguardDirect.com now sells a battery-powered converter box.**

My initial research shows that nearly every portable TV will need a converter box because they are analog TVs. And everyone should know by now that on Feb. 17, 2009, TV broadcasts for the major channels will switch to digital only, leaving analog TV viewers in the dark. But you don’t need to get rid of your TV — you just need to buy and install a digital converter box. Lots of info on that at “Guide to the Digital TV transition.”

The lone exception to ditching the TV is the portable TV. There are no battery-operated cAccurian 7″ Portable Handheld TV sold at Radio Shack is one of the rare digital portable TVsonverter boxes available and no manufacturer has stepped up to make such a product. It’s probably because the portable TV market is so small, no one can make any money developing such converters.

This is quite sad for many folks out there who rely on portable TVs for news during emergencies.  Guess you’ll have to rely on TV on your cell phone during those tough times.

However, there are portable TVs that have the digital tuners built in, but that will set you back at least $200. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in: news • • • • • • • • • • • | 1 Comment »

UPDATE: Watch the Olympics in HD

August 8th, 2008, 12:30 pm by

**Time Warner offers an update to its Olympic HD coverage. See below in bold **

The games have begun, but if you’re wondering who’s actually offering the Olympics in high definition, I did some checking around.

NBC is broadcasting the games in HD at certain times of the day. Its Universal HD channel is broadcasting in HD 24 hours a day. Also, NBC has provided two sports-specific channels with 24-hours of either soccer or basketball.  In total, NBC is offering more than 800 hours of coverage, which includes video on demand. In high-definition, NBC’s coverage is: NBC HD (225 hours), Universal HD (379 hours), USA HD (165 hours) and CNBC HD (95.5 hours, broadcast late at night)

Online, NBC’s Olympics site makes it easy to search sports schedules based on your TV service and region. Check the schedule at nbcolympics.com/tv_and_online_listings

But not every paid-TV service offers everything. Check out the list below:

Cox’s Olympic Showcase channel shows what’s on mulitple channels

Cox Communications — Offering HD Olympic soccer (channel 797) and HD Olympic basketball (channel 796) Both are free to digital cable customers. Also, its Olympic Showcase channel (shown above and on channel 998) gives viewers a glimpse at what’s happening on five channels simultaneously. Cox also offers on-demand coverage of the Olympics, though none in HD.

Time Warner Cable –  Also offering the two special HD channels of just Olympic soccer (channel 413) and basketball (channel 422). The two channels temporarily replace MOJO HD (Ch. 422) and HD Special Events (Ch. 413) during the games. This is available to all areas that receive those channels. See Time Warner’s roll-out schedule for HD in various cities.

DISH Network –  Free access to HD Olympic soccer channel (Ch. 99/367) and Olympic basketball (Ch. 98/365). There’s also numerous Video on Demand titles for free but not in HD (Meet the Athletes, Beijing 411), as well as the usual NBC channels (Universal HD on Ch. 366 is available to Platinum HD subscribers). Select DishHOME (Ch. 100) to get highlights of day’s events though not all are in HD. For foreign language coverage, the Mandarin Chinese broadcast is on Ch. 664, while Korean is on Ch. 655.

DirecTV –  HD basketball will be on channel 754, while soccer will be on 755.  Lots of video-on-demand content (ch. 1008) of the Olympics, though not all in HD.

Verizon FiOS TV — Just in time for the games, FiOS users got two more NBC HD channels, including CNBC HD, USA HD (in addition, FiOS added Bravo HD and Sci Fi HD). FiOS users also get the two 24-hour HD channels of soccer and basketball.

AT&T U-Verse — On-demand content features shows that wrap up the day’s events. AT&T Wireless is offering customers around-the-clock coverage on its mobile TV service, available at www.att.com/mobiletv.

For more Olympic coverage from The OC Register, visit the OC in Beijing page.

Posted in: Uncategorized • • • • • • • • • | 6 Comments »

Ask iGirl: Dampen volume on TV commercials

February 5th, 2008, 9:00 am by

helpme!Q: Cox Communication is my signal provider and we are having problems with the incoming signal for sound volume. When changing from another channel to Channel 3 the volume is extremely loud compared to the other channels. The same goes for commercials for many of the stations. We are in the market for a new HDTV; is there a TV on the market that will maintain the volume of incoming signals? If not a TV is there a device that can be connected to the TV line that will manage the sound volume?

iGirl: The volume of TV programs and commercials is not regulated by the Federal Communications Commission. According to the FCC Web site, the agency regulates the amount of power a station can transmit and the peak sound level of the program material. The site goes on to say that within the FCC’s power limitations “broadcasters and program producers have considerable latitude to vary the ‘loudness’ of the program material.”

Now that we understand why some TV programs and commercials are louder, it’s time to explain how that can be avoided.

Wait: Since you are looking to buy a TV, it might be wise to wait until later this year to make that purchase. That’s when two solutions — Dolby Volume and SRS Volume IQ — could solve your problem. Both products maintain a steady audio volume on TVs, as well as set-top boxes, computers, mobile phones and portable media devices.

The Volume IQ from SRS Labs in Santa Ana was picked up by Cirrus Logic this January to be added to that company’s chips. Bill Schnell, a Cirrus spokesman, said manufacturers are designing products right now so consumers could see TVs with these volume controls built in as early as the second half of 2008.

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in: news • • • • • • • | 2 Comments »

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