High Definition Codecs

Avoid buying 32″ LCD TV with any format lower than 1080.  I made the mistake of buying one and although it is great it is not as good as my 42 Plasma at the 1080 level.  The LCD are nice and light but the picture quality of a plasma tv getting high level HD signal is at it best on a 1080 TV.

There are not many 32″ LCD tv in the 1080 format so you might need to look at the 40″ size TVs.

You may find that choosing the HDTV that best suits your needs isn’t the easiest feat to accomplish. When you’re trying to pick out the right HDTV, the available products break down into three major product groups, based on their display technology and cabinet type. By comparing display technology and cabinet type to your needs, you can easily rule out a whole bunch of different TVs and home in on the ones that are likely to be good matches for your preferences. HDTVs come in all sorts of different sizes and shapes. Some are flat-panels that you can hang on the wall; others are projection systems like what you find in a movie theater. And, of course, you can find HDTVs based on tubes that look just the way TVs have for decades (only with a better picture). Flat-panel HDTVs Flat-panel TVs - the super-thin models that you can literally hang on the wall - are the sexiest HDTVs around. You can find two main display technologies for flat-panel HDTVs: * Plasma: These big flat-screens use a layer of gas trapped between two glass screens to create their images. Here are some factors to consider when thinking about buying a plasma HDTV: • Pros: Thin, sexy, good picture, good color • Cons: Not all are HDTV, less-than-perfect black (how well the TV reproduces dark tones on-screen), screen burn-in (when an image on the screen for a long period of time remains visible, even after you should no longer see it), costly * LCD: These flat-panel TVs use liquid crystal displays, just like those used in laptop computers. An LCD HDTV has its positives and negatives: • Pros: Same as plasma, plus no burn-in • Cons: Black is very poor, costly, restricted angle of view Projection HDTVs These TVs project their picture from a smaller image source (either three small picture tubes or a digital system known as a microprojector) onto a screen. The screen can be either part of the HDTV itself (rear projection) or a separate screen hung on your wall (front projection): * Front-projection HDTVs: These devices are the HDTV equivalents to movie theater projectors, with a big screen on the wall and a separate projector mounted somewhere across the room. Here are some reasons for and against a front-projection HDTV: • Pros: Biggest screen, potentially best picture • Cons: Expensive, complicated, requires setup/focus/maintenance * Rear-projection HDTVs: The picture is projected on the back of a screen that’s built into the HDTV itself. Weigh these pros and cons if you want to buy a rear-projection HDTV: • Pros: Best bargain, no burn-in with microprojectors, near flat-panel thinness for microprojector • Cons: Burn-in for CRT, expense for microprojector, size for CRT CRT HDTVs The final category of HDTVs is based on the good old-fashioned picture tube - also known as the CRT, or cathode-ray tube. Here’s the CRT HDTV’s good and bad: * Pros: Cheapest, great color, great blacks * Cons: Smallest screen, bulky, lower resolution than digital displays

I have to say that it is truely really nice to see the NBA playoff games in HD on TNT.  The quality is so much better than regular games on regular channel.  I think this trend will continue as ABC will upgrade the quality of their playoff games.  A good sign of things to come.

For those of you who have a HD TV, Directv has the best quality signal and package for your HD TV.  And overall, the best quality channels are Discovery HD and HD.NET.  HD.net has the best picture.

Promoters and retailers of HD DVD players and software continue to spin positively about the new format and its impact on consumers since the format’s April 18 launch. Toshiba, which shipped about 15,000 HD DVD players to U.S. retailers at two price points, said sales were upbeat for the lower-priced $499 model. Best Buy reportedly sold 1,000 players at 733 stores the first day they were on display. “Initial sales results have been very positive and many key retailers quickly sold out, particularly on the $500 model,” said Toshiba marketing VP Jodi Sally. “We are continuing to make shipments daily to fulfill the demands from our retailers.” A Circuit City spokesperson said the chain currently did not stock HD DVD hardware or movies but was taking pre-orders for HD DVD hardware on its Web site. Sacramento, Calif.-based Tower Records said it would soon carry a limited number of HD DVD players and remained committed to the format. “While we are pressing hard for a single format, Tower will carry both the HD and Blu-ray titles,” stated Rick Timmermans, director of video purchasing & merchandising, Tower Records. “We are currently carrying all available HD titles in most stores and they are also available at Tower.com.” That said, some analysts believe the spin among retailers and manufacturers might have to substitute for actual sales in the short term. “People aren’t clamoring for the next generation of DVD,” Laura Behrens, analyst for Gartner Consulting, told Reuters. “It’s too complicated, too expensive, and they don’t see the benefits.”

One week into the launch of HD-DVD, format supporter Toshiba and national retailers are spinning upbeat initial hardware sales, according to Home Media Retailing. Since launching April 18, Toshiba has shipped a combined 15,000 units of its first two HD-DVD players. The manufacturer claims sales have been brisk, especially with the lower-priced $499 HD-A1 model, with Best Buy reportedly selling 1,000 of the players at 733 stores the first day they were on display. “Initial sales results have been very positive and many key retailers quickly sold out, particularly on the $500 model,” Toshiba marketing vp Jodi Sally told HMR. “We are continuing to make shipments daily to fulfill the demands from our retailers.” Major retail chain Tower Records also announced it will begin carrying a limited selection of HD-DVD hardware and software beginning next month, as well as Blu-Ray when the format launches in June. However, some industry analysts are skeptical that initial consumer interest in HD-DVD is based more on spin than actual sales. “People aren’t clamoring for the next generation of DVD,” Laura Behrens, analyst for Gartner Consulting, complained to Reuters. “It’s too complicated, too expensive, and they don’t see the benefits.”

PC Magazine - The companies backing competing formats for next-generation DVD technology will never again talk about forming a unified standard, an executive at Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. said on Friday, leaving it to the consumer to choose the winning side. "We are not talking and we will not talk," Kazuhiro Tsuga, an executive officer at Matsushita, the world's largest consumer electronics maker, told Reuters in an interview. "The market will decide the winner." Matsushita, best known for its Panasonic brand, is a leading supporter of Blu-ray, one of two competing formats for the next-generation DVD. The other format, called HD-DVD, is backed by a group led by Toshiba Corp. At the core of both formats are blue lasers, which have a shorter wavelength than the red lasers used in current DVD equipment, enabling discs to store data at the higher densities needed for high-definition movies and TV. The two sides held talks last year in the hopes of avoiding a prolonged format battle similar to the one between Betamax and VHS videotapes in the 1980s, knowing that it could discourage consumers from shifting to the advanced discs and stifle the industry's growth. But the talks soon fizzled out, with each side reluctant to establish a format based on the other's disc structure. At stake is the $24 billion home video market and a slice of the personal computer market as PCs will be equipped with Blu-ray or HD DVD optical drives. The backing of Hollywood was seen until recently as the main deciding factor in the format battle, but with studio support split between the camps, the focus will now shift to cost-competitiveness and the products themselves, Tsuga said. He said it was doubtful how long Toshiba, which launched an HD DVD player this month for $499, could continue selling its next-generation equipment at such low prices, estimating that Toshiba was probably doing so at a loss. A Toshiba spokeswoman declined to comment on whether it would make or lose money on its players, but said the price point was also aimed at helping the HD DVD industry grow. "It's now a test of physical strength," Tsuga said. Matsushita plans to launch DVD players later this year with a price tag likely to top $1,000. Tsuga said that Matsushita was working hard to lower production costs and that it would make a profit on its next-generation DVD products from the start. Earlier on Friday, Matsushita announced that it would start shipping Blu-ray disc drives to PC makers, becoming the first in the industry to do so. It also unveiled single-layer and double-layer Blu-ray discs able to hold 25 gigabytes and 50 gigabytes of data, or 10 times conventional DVDs.

TechWeb - The new division will look for new opportunities in digital media, like the interactive applications the company featured on digital satellite and cable during the 2006 Olympic Games.

AFP - Microsoft founder Bill Gates has expressed confidence in the success of the software giant's new Xbox game console as well as high-definition HD DVD technology.
Visiting Japan, a key battleground for next-generation video game consoles and DVD players, Gates said he hoped the Xbox 360 would win a new legion of older fans with its simple games and online multi-player system. "The Xbox came out for the last Christmas season. That's been a very sold-out product and really ushering in this idea of high-definition gaming -- realism -- but even more importantly, the idea of community. "Bringing that social community aspect into this we think is very critical and it will redefine and revolutionize those products, in fact make it attractive not just to young men but to people of all ages," he told reporters. The first Xbox, which was launched in November 2001 and came to Japan in February 2002 -- nearly two years behind Sony's PlayStation 2 -- flopped here, in part due to a lack of games that appealed to local tastes. This time Microsoft is doing its utmost to avoid history repeating itself and has stolen a march on Sony, which recently announced a six-month delay to the launch of its PlayStation 3 next generation console to November. Microsoft and Sony are also key players in another battle between global technology giants -- over the next-generation of DVD players. The US software behemoth is supporting the HD DVD format pushed by Toshiba and NEC, which is vying with the rival Blu-ray format, led by Sony and Panasonic, in a replay of the VHS-Betamax video tape battle of the late 1970s. "We think products like HD DVD and Xbox 360 are really going to drive consumers to expect that high definition," said Gates. He also indicated that Microsoft's next operating system, Vista, the release of which has been delayed until next year, could eventually be made compatible with the Blu-ray format if its developers share the necessary information. "In terms of Blu-ray that's also coming along. As they finalize their specifications we'll understand how well that's able to connect up to Windows. As yet they haven't shared that," he said.

NewsFactor - How much would you be willing to shell out for the PlayStation 3, with its eye-popping graphics, superior sound quality, and home-entertainment features? The price tag for Sony's next-generation gaming console could be pretty steep when it is released, but gamers won't know for certain until the Electronics Entertainment Expo (E3), held next month in Los Angeles, where Sony is expected to reveal the details.