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Irvine’s Vizio expands into Blu-ray

January 9th, 2009, 8:00 am by

Vizio Inc., the little Irvine HDTV company that could, has expanded into into high-definition DVD players with the VBR100 Blu-Ray Player.

And keeping with Vizio’s tradition, this player is just $199.99. While that’s become the going rate for Blu-ray players, most major brands don’t usually start pricing Blu-ray at that price. They just end up selling at that price.

I caught the Irvine company in a sweet suite at the Wynn hotel. It was showing off a full line of TVs that are coming out later this summer and fall (more on this later). But I wanted to highlight the Blu-ray player first. My photos don’t do the player justice, but Vizio hasn’t had professional pictures taken yet. So here’s a first look:

 

The VBR100 is a sleek, black box that matches the shine of Vizio’s existing lines. Besides Blu-ray discs, the player upconverts standard DVDs for simulated high-definition viewing. It includes HDMI, component and composite video outputs.

More technical stuff: A 24-bit/192kHz audio Digital to Analog Converter is to make sure the sound matches the video quality. There’s also built-in audio decoding for uncompressed audio formats such as Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD Master Audio, and multi-channel PCM in additional to all other surround codecs (Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, and DTS), according to the press release.

The new player is expected to go on sale in April.

More images (click for larger view):

  

Earlier reports from CES 2009:

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Panasonic’s 0.3-inch skinny TV

January 7th, 2009, 6:01 pm by

At past Consumer Electronics Shows, the Japanese TV makers had their fun competing with one another to build the biggest HDTV. This year, it’s the battle of the bulge, or lack thereof. 

Panasonic showed a working model of a plasma TV that is just 1/3-inch thick. With my point-and-shoot camera, I recorded a quick video to give you an idea of how skinny this baby is:

YouTube Preview Image

This so called “Neo-PDP” (Plasma TV display) is triple the brightness and yet uses one-third the energy of regular plasma TVs.  This is a future product so don’t expect it in stores tomorrow. Price? Ha! Companies don’t like to talk about such pertinent information until the product is already out.

More pics: Read the rest of this entry »

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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 »

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HannSpree releases world’s first 28-inch TV

November 24th, 2008, 10:38 am by

For folks who just don’t have room for a big-screen HDTV, Irvine’s HANNspree North America Inc. has added a whole new category  to the market: 28-inches. 

Typical smaller HDTV sizes are 26, 32 and 37 inches. So the new HANNspree HT09 fills the gap for those rare folks who want a full HDTV but only have a 28-inch spot to put it. The size is also a way HANNspree can say it has a “world’s first.”

HANNspree, by the way, has been around since 2005. They made those cute novelty TVs but those never quite never took off (they are only available at the HANNspree boutiques in Los Angeles and San Francisco). Earlier this year, the company moved its North American headquarters to Orange County and decided to focus on consumers who want a full HDTV but don’t have the space.

The HT09 is the world’s first 28-inch LCD HDTV with full 1080p resolution. Other features: 2 HDMI ports, built-in VGA port (to use as a monitor), 2 S-Video and 1 component port. There’s also a headphone port. Actual dimensions are 26.5″(W) x 20.3″(H) x 7.5″(D). Lots more details at HANNspree’s site.

HANNspree put the price at $499.99, but at least one retailer is offering it for $399.99. However, the store, Bernies.com, won’t deliver to Orange County. The TV is also available from Buy.com ($496.25), ProVantage.com ($439.79) and a few other online retailers.

Related O.C. gadget news:

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Time Warner’s new HD channels and why Costa Mesa, Tustin get them first

October 29th, 2008, 3:00 am by

This is the third in a 3-part series of posts. Read the first at “Time Warner still cleaning up cable merger mess in O.C.“ and second at “”Time Warner Cable’s new features finally coming to O.C.“

While most of Time Warner Cable’s Orange County subscribers will have nearly 50 high-definition TV channels by the end of the year, certain customers in Costa Mesa and Tustin will have at least 63 and up to 85 (list of what to come is after the jump).

While it may not be enough to appease some residents, there is an explanation, said Fred Stefany, president of Time Warner’s O.C. operation.

When Time Warner acquired Comcast customers in Orange County last year, Comcast offered fewer analog channels than Time Warner did. In fact, Comcast offered 33 analog channels to its customers in Costa Mesa. In other areas, Time Warner offered 78.

Analog channels take up a lot of space in the cable pipe. One analog channel is equivelent to 15 digitals or 3 HD channels, Stefany said. Time Warner can only transmit a set amount of channels and services before the pipe gets clogged. So get 30 analog channels or 450 digital channels? Hmm… That is definitely one incentive to switch to digital — or move to Costa Mesa or Tustin. 

“Costa Mesa and Tustin, the ex-Comcast areas, they were getting 22 to 33 analog channels to begin with. So, we reclaimed those channels and have room for more HD,” Stefany said. “We’ll have 85 channels of HD (in those areas) by the end of the year.”

Of course, if you’re not a Time Warner customer, you may already have 85 HD channels. DirecTV offers 130 HD channels. Verizon’s FiOS TV offers at least 104 HD channels. Not quite there: Most of Cox Cable’s O.C. customers have 51 HD channels, DishNetwork offers around 60 HD channels, and AT&T’s U-verse just announced 30 new HD channels, bringing its total to 75.

Time Warner shared with me its list of future HD channels. Read the rest of this entry »

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UPDATE: Is Broadcom getting into digital converter boxes?

August 25th, 2008, 10:20 am by

AMD’s Xilleon chip for digital TVs**UPDATE: Broadcom interview added below**

Irvine chipmaker Broadcom Corporation this morning plunked down $193 million for AMD’s digital TV business because it wants to be in every piece of the digital TV market possible “from low-end value and mid-range quality to high-end interactive platforms and panel processors,” according to the press release.

Low end? Cody Acree, an analyst with Stifel Nicolaus analyst told Reuters that this could mean cheaper televisions — like 20-inch flat TVs for less than $300.

“If Broadcom gets into a lower end DTV box, it allows them to target markets like China, India and Brazil,” Acree told Reuters.

The prices of flat TVs have been falling and it’s rare to find a TV for less than $300. But they still exist. This week at Best Buy, there’s a 19-inch Dynex TV for $240. Circuit City has a 19-inch Apex LCD for $250.

**Just spoke to Broadcom’s Daniel Marotta, who heads up the company’s Broadband Communication’s Group that includes the TV unit. The company wants to offer chips for low-end TVs so customers of its high-end chips won’t have to look elsewhere for low-end lines.

“What they’d like to do is be able to reuse our software at different (priced products),” said Marotta, senior vice president and general manager of the broadband group. “Because if you don’t have the right product, they’ll go elsewhere.”

Broadcom and AMD do overlap on the high-end chips. Both offer chips that provide 3D graphics and an Internet connection to TV (for watching YouTube or your music stored on a PC).  The plan is to take those advanced features and move them quickly into lower-end TVs.

“Given the very technical team we have, we want to drive that down (to lower-end TVs) as fast as we can,” he said.

Read the rest of this entry »

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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.

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New ‘entry-level’ TVs cost more than high-end models

August 6th, 2008, 8:22 am by

Sharp’s new entry-level SB-series HDTVSharp Electronics just added a cheaper version of its AQUOS TV to its lineup that targets an ‘entry-level’ market.

These are full 1080p LCD HDTVs. But the prices didn’t look very entry-level to me. They start at $1,400 for a 42-inch TV and go up to $1,700 for the 46-inch version and $2,300 for a 52-inch non-Aquos, according to Sharp.  Sharp’s higher-end TVs are priced higher, at least you’d think.

I asked Sharp about the difference and a spokeswoman told me it’s not just price difference, but these new TVs lack a few other high-end features.

The entry-level SB series doesn’t t include the “AQUOS Engine,” which has a 4-wavelength backlight system for video processing (i.e., without this, the TV’s range of colors isn’t as wide or deep). Read the rest of this entry »

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