Archive for: June, 2009
June 30th, 2009
The Wall Street Journal shows the limits of its HDTV knowledge
I can’t really argue with some aspects of a new Wall St Journal story titled “Lower Price Tag for Plasma TVs Comes at Price, but if you already have some knowledge about HDTVs, don’t expect much illumination from the article.
There are several minor gaffes and omissions that add up to an unsatisfying piece. For one thing, though the writer points out that the average price for a 50-inch plasma is about $300 less than a 50-inch LCD TV, there’s no mention of the fact that LCDs are sold as 52-inch sets, not 50 inchers like plasmas. There’s also an oversimplification of the benefits that higher refresh rates have for LCDs: Higher rates don’t automatically equal “better picture quality,” and there’s no explanation of the 240Hz rates being tailored to improving the video quality of fast-moving action. Or that plasmas generally suffer less from this problem—which is why LCD manufacturers have had to improve their judder-reduction techniques.
The article also talks about improving LCD contrast ratios without including two key details: 1) most LCDs still can’t touch plasma’s black-level performance, which is why critics consistently prefer plasma picture quality, except for 2) LED-backlight LCD sets, which actually have high enough contrast ratios to compete with plasmas. It does mention that plasma manufacturers have worked to reduce the weight and power consumption of their sets, but other criticisms seem to die hard: One consumer interviewed said he was shying away from plasmas because he was afraid of burn-in, even though it’s become extremely rare.
The bottom line is that the article suggests the only reason you’d really want a plasma is for the lower price. But just take a look at the TV reviews from our sister site CNET, and you’ll see that plasmas routinely outperform LCDs. So what’s the “price” you pay? Apparently that your decision to grab the superior technology at a better price flies in the face of the majority of consumers who are buying LCD sets instead.
June 29th, 2009
Supreme Court rebuffs Hollywood's attempt to block remote DVR services
The consumer hasn’t often won in Washington when its interests have squared off against Hollywood’s, thanks in part to the industry’s strong lobbying efforts. But one institution where lobbying money doesn’t come into play is the Supreme Court, and Monday’s session dealt an indirect blow to the entertainment industry when the Court upheld a a federal appeals court decision that allows for the use of remote DVR technology.
In this particular case, Cablevision’s remote DVR service, which records customer’s programming choices on its own servers instead of a DVR installed in the home, was under fire. Hollywood balked at what it deemed as its exclusive right to reproduce its copyrighted material, but its injunction against Cablevision was removed by the appeals court.
Of course, this doesn’t preclude future lawsuits that could test other variants of this technology, such as online services storing copies of your music files on its servers. But precedent is a powerful legal force, and this (non)decision will allow some breathing room for services like remote DVRs to emerge before another lawsuit can move up the chain to the Supreme Court again. And have no fear: There will be another one.
[Via Wired News]
June 27th, 2009
Research firm challenges supposed popularity of HD-DVD format
The recent survey by Harris Interactive, which suggested that HD-DVD continues to be roughly as popular as Blu-ray, has met with some controversy over its methodology. In fact, I received a lengthy e-mail from Adams Media Research’s press representative strongly refuting the Harris study’s findings.
At dispute is that Harris interviewed a random selection of consumers rather than relying on actual sales figures, which Adams says favors Blu-ray by a wide margin. For instance, the 2008 sales data noted that 2.7 percent of U.S. homes with TVs had Blu-ray standalone players, along with 5.6 percent owning PlayStation 3s. In comparison, only 0.3 percent of households owned a HD-DVD set-top player. That’s a huge discrepancy, especially odd since how likely is it to find that large a random oversampling of people with HD-DVD drives?
In any event, Adams’ research concludes that Blu-ray adaptation is ahead of standard DVD technology at the same point in each product’s lifespan. Still, I’m not convinced Blu-ray has reached “critical mass,” as Adams claims, or that PlayStation 3 market penetration will reach 10 percent of U.S. TV households by year’s end. Nonetheless, the best way for Blu-ray to put the ghost of its format wars with HD-DVD in the past is to lower prices on players and Blu-ray discs and sell much, much more of them.
June 24th, 2009
Vizio spills the beans on its Internet TV plans
While Vizio was one of a number of TV makers showing off networked TVs at CES in January, the company was mum on details about them when it announced its 2009 lineup a couple of weeks ago. Now, the company, which recently became the top TV seller in the U.S., has finally come clean with some more information about its VIA Connected HDTV sets.
Three sets will be available toward the end of the year, all part of the company’s top-of-the-line XVT line, including two LCDs with LED backlighting and 240Hz refresh rates. Those models include the 55-inch VF552XVT, which will be shipping in December for $2,199.99, and the 47-inch SV472XVT ($1,699.99), due in October. Rounding out the VIA line is the 42-inch SV422XVT, which lacks LED backlighting and only has 120Hz refresh rates, but will cost just $1,199.99 when it hits the market in November.
Vizio has the good sense to include both an Ethernet jack as well as 802.11n Wi-Fi adapter in the VIA sets, making it easier for more consumers to connect their TV to the Internet. VIA’s online capabilities are powered by Yahoo’s Widget Engine, and Vizio has an impressive lineup of services ready at launch. Some, like Twitter, Facebook, and Flickr widgets, are pretty basic, but the audio and video apps are the real news: for music, there’s Pandora, Radiotime, and Rhapsody, and for video you have your choice of Amazon Video On Demand, Blockbuster On Demand, Netflix, and Vudu. Showtime is also preparing a widget, though it’s limited to samples episodes of its original programming, trailers, and extras.
Vizio has probably amassed the best roster of widgets among the TV makers who are starting to offer networked TVs. The big questions that remain are: 1) Will people want to use widgets on their sets, and 2) Are they willing to pay a bit more for the privilege? Let us know your thoughts on those questions in our TalkBack section.
June 22nd, 2009
Holy Betamax, Batman! Blu-ray is still barely beating out HD-DVD
It appears Blu-ray being the “winner” of the high-def DVD wars early last year hasn’t led to mass adoption—or even delivered a knockout blow to the “loser,” HD-DVD. According to a study just released by market research firm Harris Interactive, more consumers have a dedicated HD-DVD player (11 percent) than a Blu-ray one (7 percent). Particularly eye-opening is the fact that there was more growth in standalone market share for HD-DVD players than Blu-ray units.
Including households with PlayStation 3 consoles (9 percent) gives Blu-ray a slight overall advantage, as only 3 percent of respondents said they own the HD-DVD add-on for the Xbox 360. But the survey says that consumers still purchase slightly more HD-DVDs than Blu-ray discs. Of course, the dying format has had the advantage of being sold at closeout prices, while most Blu-ray players still cost over $200 and Blu-ray movies are priced at $20 or more. Of Blu-ray/PS3 owners who responded, 43 percent say they’re waiting for the cost of Blu-ray discs to drop before purchasing more of them.
So while some think Blu-ray’s woes are related to the influx of ways to stream movies from the Internet—why bother buying discs?—the persistence of now bargain-bin HD-DVD as a format suggests that price is still the primary inhibitor to wider Blu-ray adoption. The fact is that Blu-ray doesn’t provide the same value proposition that updating from inferior videotape to DVD was, especially when players haven’t hit the $99 sweet spot yet. Any thoughts on why Blu-ray isn’t exactly surging in popularity? Take the poll below and then let us know more in the TalkBack section.
Loading ...June 20th, 2009
Sonos killer? Yamaha unleashes MusicCast2 multiroom audio system
Unless you want to do a custom install, Sonos’ Music System is generally seen as the top product for delivering audio to multiple rooms in your house. Cisco has made a play in this market with its Linksys by Cisco Wireless Home Audio system, and now Yamaha is adding to the competition with its new MusicCast2 Network Music System.
As with Sonos and Cisco’s systems, MusicCast2 uses Wi-Fi to connect to your digital audio collection as well as stream music from the Internet using a touchscreen remote and wireless players that can be placed anywhere in your home network’s range. The MCX-RC100 Network Music Commander has a 3.5-inch color LCD to control what’s playing and where. If you have a compatible Yamaha A/V receiver like the RX-Z7 or RX-V3900, the Commander can control its functions as well.
MusicCast2 offers a choice of two different playing devices for your rooms, one (the MCX-A300 Network Music Player) that needs to be hooked up to speakers and the other (the MCX-P200 Network Music Player) connects to a receiver or other amplified component. One advantage to the latter device is that it can actually control other home theater equipment via its multiple IR outputs. You can also attach iPods and Bluetooth devices to the players, though these require optional accessories. Up to 32 Commanders and Music Players can be used in a single setup.
In terms of audio support, MusicCast delivers the usual suspects: MP3, FLAC, WAV, WMA (though not lossless and Pro files) and AAC (except loseless and secure files). In addition to Internet radio, it can stream the Rhapsody service, but doesn’t currently offer Sirius or Pandora.
Yamaha’s pricing is basically in line with the competition, which means it isn’t exactly cheap—except compared to a custom solution. A package of one Commander and two MCX-A300 players costs $1,199.95; a la carte the Commander costs $499.95 and either version of the Network Music Player is priced at $399.95. The accessories aren’t bargains, either, as the YDS-11 iPod dock is $99.95 and the YBA-10 Bluetooth receiver will set you back $129.95.
June 18th, 2009
Popcorn Hour C-200: Hot, buttery media streamer
Streaming media devices for your home theater are quickly becoming a dime a dozen, so any company that doesn’t already have a big name needs to stand out in order for anyone to pay attention. Popcorn Hour certainly has a moniker that’s easier to recall than competitors like Roku or Vudu (and that of its parent company, Syabas), and its approach is a little different as well. Instead of having partnerships with Netflix or Hulu, Popcorn Hour sticks in your teeth (metaphorically) with support for a huge range of codecs.
Following up on its predecessor, the Popcorn Hour A-110, the Popcorn Hour C-200 is due next month. In addition to streaming content from your networked PCs through an Ethernet port or an optional $37 Wi-Fi adapter, the C-200 also comes with an open 3.5-inch drive bay for a SATA hard drive or for an internal Blu-ray drive you can install. Since it has BitTorrent support, a hard drive could come in handy for storing your downloads directly to the device. It also sports a whopping four USB ports to attach external storage devices, along with a full array of A/V ports: HDMI v1.3, component video, S-video, composite video and optical and coaxial digital audio. The unit thankfully comes with an HDMI cable, along with a RF remote control. A front-panel display provides an alternative way to see your media collection.
While the C-200 comes with YouTube and Flickr support, its other content partners aren’t anything too exciting: no Netflix for streaming movies (but a number of online news broadcasts), no Last.fm, Pandora or Sirius for streaming audio (instead you get Radiobox and Live365 Internet radio). It makes up for it with its variety of supported multimedia formats, including: MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, H.264, WMV9, and Xvid (SD and HD) for video (but no DviX, apparently); unsecured AAC, FLAC, MP3, OGG, and WMA for audio; and Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby True HD, DTS, DTS-HD HR, and DTS-HD MA for surround sound.
The Popcorn Hour C-200 is available for pre-order for $299, though you’ll have to pay extra elsewhere to make use of that open drive bay.
June 16th, 2009
FCC says transition to digital TV has been fairly smooth
If you’re reading this, you probably weren’t impacted by last week’s official transition to digital TV signals, but there was concern that many people would be without their usual programming and raise a big fuss. According to the FCC, any disruption of service was not widespread, though there were over 300,000 calls last Friday to the government’s special help line. It turns out that many of those callers saw their problems solved—literally—after they were instructed to rescan their digital converter boxes.
But all is not rosy in certain major cities like Philadelphia and New York. In fact, FCC agents are being dispatched to Chicago to help people with DTV problems there. In particular, one station (WLS) is having “unique issues” that the FCC has to address individually.
If you’re one of the unlucky ones who has had problems with the transition to DTV, let us know in the TalkBack section. Did you call the FCC help line? What were your problems and were you able to solve them?
[Via PCWorld.com; Chicago Tribune]
June 14th, 2009
LG begins shipping first HDTVs with built-in Netflix capabilities
Streaming media devices are a good idea, but a better idea is baking those features straight into your TV. While TV manufacturers have been pretty slow about integrating online services with their sets, they’ve finally started figuring out it’s not too tough to add an Ethernet port to their models. Of course, you also need to give buyers compelling reasons to connect those TVs to their home networks, and LG is the first company to ship sets with support for Netflix
LG has announced four 1080p models using its NetCast suite of interactive services, two are should already be available: the 47-inch 47LH50 LCD and the 50-inch 50PS80 plasma. This summer, they’ll be joined by a pair of other sets—the 42-inch 42LH50 LCD TV and the 60-inch 60PS80 plasma (pictured). The plasma are also notable for their THX Display Certification, a technology that optimizes picture settings regardless of the content. In order to make use of Netflix’s on-demand titles, you’ll need to be a subscriber to the $8.99 monthly plan or higher. The NetCast sets will also be able to run Yahoo’s new TV widgets, which will start popping up on other manufacturers’ displays in the coming months.
Of course, you’ll pay a premium price for the new LG sets: The cheapest one, the 42LH50, will cost $1,700, while the 47LH50 and 50PS80 are each priced at $2,100. (In comparison, the 50-inch THX Display certified but non-networked Panasonic G10 plasma costs $1,799.95.) Not surprisingly, the 60PS80 costs a lot more than the others at $3,200.
June 11th, 2009
Wal-mart's Father's Day deals: $128 Blu-ray player, $398 37-inch LCD HDTV
Love it or hate it, you can’t deny that Wal-mart knows how to stick a thumb in the eye of its competitors. It enjoys offering deeply discounted products around holidays, especially big ticket items like electronics. Last year, it offered a $128 Magnavox Blu-ray player as a “door breaker” on Black Friday, and it’s bringing that deal back starting on Sunday (through next Saturday) for Father’s Day shopping.
Of course, Magnavox isn’t a top-tier brand, but people looking to upgrade to Blu-ray on the cheap probably won’t care. The mega-chain is also offering select Blu-ray discs at a two-for-$20 rate. On the HDTV front, Wal-mart is dangling another bargain-brand deal with a 37-inch LCD Sanyo model. It also is offering a 42-inch 1080p Vizio set for $697, while a 52-inch Sony Bravia LCD will run $1,788. Note, however, that you can get the same Sony (the KDL-52S5100) for $1,649 with free shipping from Amazon.com.
Do you these sound like good deals? Would you consider buying any of them (or being happy to receive them as Father’s Day gifts)? Let us know in the TalkBack section.
Sean Portnoy spent several years as an editor at Computer Shopper magazine, most recently serving as online executive editor. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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