HDTV Magazine Articles

3D TV at CES 2010 - Was it Actually Like HD a Decade Ago? (Part 4)

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 09:04:44 -0800

My previous articles in this series have mentioned a few factors by which the 3D implementation effort is different from HD a decade ago, rather than similar, as some industry experts have expressed.

In this fourth installment, I analyze how consumers could embrace the 3D effort, and I provide some ideas to help them evaluate the adoption of 3D for their particular application: Either as a replacement of HDTV, or as a value added feature for 3D content, whether it is sourced from satellite, cable, or Blu-ray.

3D TV at CES 2010 - Was it Actually Like HD a Decade Ago? (Part 3)

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 09:11:15 -0800

As mentioned in part 2: In addition to the DTV type of conversions, such as digital compression, resolution and frame rate, 3D will subject the signal to conversions of structures/formats to match source devices with display devices capabilities.

From the world of digital audio/video, although many mistakenly generalize that bits are bits, we know that original signal quality suffers with conversions, which is what we will discuss in this part 3 of this series.

As mentioned earlier, 3D for the home is been implemented either with...

3D TV at CES 2010 - Was it Actually Like HD a Decade Ago? (Part 2)

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 06:05:16 -0800

As I mentioned in part one, many experts in the HD industry, such as Mr. Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association, compared the 3D CES movement of 2010 to when HD was introduced in 1998.

Several factors make the two efforts similar: they are both based on digital technology, use the same digital distribution channels as 2D HDTV, use similar digital displays (with upgraded features for 3D), and both are as complex regarding having multiple formats, standards, conversions, compressions, connectivity requirements, etc.

Unfortunately, due to that complexity, consumer confusion is also as high, if not higher. If local consumer electronics stores for years had difficulty learning HD right and to explain it correctly to consumers (and many have not reached that point yet even after a decade), I anticipate that 3D will be worse, and misinformation will fill consumers heads again.

One could say that standards and compatibility should help … keep reading.

3D TV at CES 2010 - Was it Actually Like HD a Decade Ago? (Part 1)

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 11:30:24 -0800

The 2010 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) took place in Las Vegas between January 5 and 10 (the first two days were for the press). The show received approximately 120,000 attendees and 2500 exhibitors, according to preliminary estimates.

I visited all the exhibits relevant to audio and video, including the high-end audio exhibits at the Venetian and THE Show, and the usual non-CES high-end audio event, this year held at the Flamingo, in addition to 62 meetings I planned with companies, 90% related to 3D this year. If you wonder why, you might be the only one who did not see Avatar.

Although it was an exhausting effort, it was worth every minute of it. CES was a great opportunity to see ...

WirelessHD - Integrating Wireless HDMI For Displays

Fri, 15 Jan 2010 08:35:30 -0800

A wireless solution to get rid of the audio and video cables for a display has been a focal point for many years now. While many wireless adapters have come to market the Achilles Heal has always been that none of these solutions could fully duplicate the capability (and more importantly the performance) of a wired HDMI connection. At CES 2008 the WirelessHD group announced they were developing a new wireless standard and technology that could!

At CES 2009 there were...

3D HDTV in the Home

Thu, 14 Jan 2010 08:36:44 -0800

This is not a full technology report on 3D because there is still so much development going on and standards yet to be formulated. This report covers observation of 3D demos at CEDIA and what I have been told or have read about 3D that should remain true regardless of future standards.

During the Sony press conference at CEDIA we were told their goal...

Green Nonsense

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 08:46:30 -0800

We did it again! Yup, my very own State of California has once again been the first to ring the Stupid-Bell in an attempt to lead the Nation into yet another set of ill-advised legislations destined to cost its population jobs, cash and freedom of choice.

Undoubtedly you have read about our most recent embarrassment, the enactment into law of “Standards” that will require most flat panel televisions sold in the State to be 33% “more efficient” by 2011 and 50% more-so by 2013.

Consider for a moment...

The End of High Definition Broadcasting

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 15:15:13 -0800

It is not a nightmare. You have read it correctly.

According to recent reports, the FCC's broadband plan mandated by Congress is due next February and although the consideration of freeing spectrum for commercial use is not final, the FCC is requesting information from the industry to evaluate the current and future utilization of broadcast airwaves.

The idea is...

2010 International Consumers Electronics Show (CES) - New York Press Preview

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 09:22:32 -0800

This event by the Consumers Electronics Association was held on November 10 in New York City to show to the press a preview of the new products and planned events that will take place at the 2010 International CES in Las Vegas on January 7- 10, 2010.

Steve Koenig, CEA’s Director of Industry Analysis, and Shawn DuBravac, CFA, CEA’s Chief Economist and Director of Research disclosed their analysis of the holiday outlook for consumer electronics sales and technology trends for CES 2010, introduced some new hot products, and announced the best of Innovation Honorees, mentioned in a link below. Several exhibitors with tabletop displays introduced new products in advance of their official debuts at the actual CES in January.

The expectation for the holidays is...

CEDIA 2009 Review: PC Home Theater Integration

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 09:25:16 -0800

Still to this day, the PC world lacks the ability to fully integrate into a home media or theater system. Touching on all the ifs, ands and buts over the last 8 years would add a lot of length but it would add up to some feature or service not being available on a PC making a universal PC solution for all users impossible.

With the release of Windows 7...

CEDIA 2009 Review: Mitsubishi

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 09:31:27 -0800

While I had no intention of providing reports on manufacturers, the direction Mitsubishi has taken with rear projection and some design changes ended up a highlight for me.

They had their laser-driven rear projection DLP, marketed as LaserVue, at the show providing the only 3D demo of the active LCD shutter system for Mitsubishi (there were three demos from others at the convention). Oddly enough there was not any promotion of this new laser light driven technology which left me wondering why they were going through the trouble. I did press a representative over what Mitsubishi hopes to accomplish with this technology and...

CEDIA 2009 Review: Whole House Automation

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 09:27:40 -0800

If the product in your home accepts a remote command, has an RS232 serial interface or access to the internet, there are numerous products out there for whatever you want to control from a central or remote location. Think big and out of the box; if the current product in your home lacks a particular feature, there is likely another you can buy that doesn’t!

Speakercraft had a press conference on the March 2010 release of the Nirv system. They claim to...

CEDIA 2009 Review: LCD Gets Greener, Along with a Facelift

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 09:56:43 -0800

The change in LCD display cabinet finishes along with the new LED lighting system was the game changing highlight of the show for me!

Regardless of manufacturer or backlighting technology, it appeared all LCDs displays received a facelift in the form of a new shiny glass-like screen throwing out the anti-glare screens of the past. It’s some form of Plexiglas along with an added optical coating to improve contrast and naturally it works quite well. Gone are the days of SSE (Silk Screen Effect) that we have been seeing on micro-display rear projection and LCD flat panels. My first newbie question upon my first arrival at a manufacturer’s booth was...

CEDIA 2009 Review: Multimedia Directly To Your Display

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 09:30:14 -0800

This is one area that has trickled its way down to regular folks and CEDIA was chock-full of products that provide it, along with whole-house automation to run it. What was different was the expansion of more new ways to view, listen, stream and capture content directly at the display. Samsung and others are including...

CEDIA 2009 Review: More Motion Flow Processing

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 19:55:02 -0800

Motion flow processing has played a huge role in the marketing of LCD product, turning what used to be negative into an unnecessary marketing positive. At first it was 120 Hz processing and now the big hype is 240 Hz processing; bigger numbers infer better. The common misperception is that motion flow processing is all about compensating for LCD pixel speed when actually the main purpose is to remove the potentially objectionable strobe effect of 30 and 24 frame content that appears most strongly with high contrast displays, like an LCD. All displays suffer from this artifact to some degree with contrast ratio playing the greatest role. For a deeper understanding...