HDTV Magazine Columns

Video Report - Buffalo TeraStation III NAS

Wed, 13 May 2009 03:50:12 -0800

The TeraStation III is a network-attached storage (NAS) device that lets you share and backup files on a network. It is also a DLNA Certified™ media server. In this company-sponsored five minute video, Alfred Poor gives you an overview of the various features, and shows how easy it is to install and use on your home network.

Ed's View - HD Radio in HD

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 08:55:29 -0800

When working for Sirius Satellite Radio (now Sirius-XM), I was asked to attend a seminar in Newark, N.J., sponsored by iBiquity, the developer of the HD Radio standard. I was uninformed as to the purpose of the seminar and assumed it was a "spy" mission.

With the invitation in my hot little hand, I presented myself at the conference room sign-in desk. Since the HD radio group considered Satellite radio the mortal enemy, I was greeted with a lot of upturned eyebrows and numerous whispers.

I discovered that...

Ed's View - Better Broadcast HDTV

Thu, 26 Mar 2009 08:49:37 -0800

I am sure most of you have experienced the superb HD picture offered by Blu-ray discs, and wonder why over-the air (OTA) HD broadcast do not exhibit the same quality. The answer to this question is compound and has been discussed in similar blurbs on this subject. However, one of the broadcasters' limitations to optimizing HDTV is inherent in the ATSC standard itself, and that is the obsolete MPEG-2 compression system.

When the digital (HD or SD) signal is originally digitized...

Ed's View - HDTV Broadcast Wish List

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 08:47:33 -0800

As mentioned in my prior wheezes on this subject, the present US economic climate would appear to present over-the-air (OTA) television broadcasters with fantastic possibilities. With the tremendous opportunities offered by digital production and transmission (i.e. HD and SD multi-channel and mobile and IP capabilities all at the same time), and most of it "free" to viewers, one would think that the time is ideal for OTAs to take a big chunk of penetration from their pay brethren. However, as an undying cheerleader for success of OTA, I feel there are a couple of wishes that must be granted before broadcasters have any hopes of stopping and successfully reversing their 15% household penetration ratio. First...

The DIRECTV Plus High Definition DVR – Year Two

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 08:11:13 -0800

After a jam packed year, the DIRECTV Plus High Definition DVR has become the flagship receiver for a company that has become one of the leaders in high-definition programming. The enthusiast community is stronger than ever, fusing innovation and collaboration in ways that have never been done before. Sit back while we reflect on the things that have made this trip something to remember.

Joining the HR20-700 and the HR20-100 this year are the...

Ed's View - HD3D: It's Coming Fast

Wed, 22 Oct 2008 09:22:32 -0800

Spurred on by the technical and economic success of digitally produced and distributed motion pictures, the inevitable emergence of the third dimension of consumer HD is upon us. Consider the following items...

Ed's View: Local HD in Indy - Lucky "13"

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 09:48:27 -0800

Actually, it's Indianapolis that's lucky to have WTHR, Channel 13, as one of the premier US leaders in providing local HDTV programming. WTHR is at this time the only Indiana station producing HDTV local news and other local programming in this 25th largest market in the US - in which it has been consistently Number 1. This narration is not to be considered a "commercial" for WTHR, (but it would not be judged an affront if so assumed). Rather it is a salute to all those local digital broadcasting pioneers who have had the foresight to fully embraced the technology and adjust their business plans to exploit all the benefits to their customers that can be provided - including, most specifically, locally produced HDTV programming.

It is no secret that the old over-the-air (OTA) TV broadcast business model is in trouble at both the major network and local levels...

HD Waveform - Vertical and Horizontal Filtering

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 08:16:04 -0800

While rarely mentioned over the decades, vertical filtering, which removes horizontal detail in your image, has been around as long as CRT has and is still used to this day in displays and source scaling. Even with the arrival of DTV in 1998, vertical filtering was commonly used in the video circuits of consumer 1080i HDTV CRT displays. For this article we are looking at vertical or horizontal filtering related to luminance response.

The first step with horizontal and vertical filtering is...

Ed's View - Will Your Favorite TV Channel Disappear on Feb. 17th?

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 09:38:41 -0800

So far, practically all the digital transition "buzz" has been focused on avoiding the trauma that would be suffered by the "poor little old ladies" vainly wiggling their rabbit ears atop their 1975 Zeniths and getting no picture (or sound) on February 17, 2009.

Yes, I'm sure there will be a few of those. But there will be a lot more, and very vocal, "little old ladies" who already have digital reception capability (HDTV or otherwise) who will be shocked on Feb. 17th to find out they are not receiving one of there favorite DTV channels, and many...

Home Theater Concepts: Is a 1440x1080 HD Camcorder Inferior to a 1920x1080 HD Camcorder?

Fri, 16 May 2008 09:08:18 -0800

The question has been raised regarding how good 1440x1080 resolution from HD camcorders is when compared to "full" 1920x1080 resolution devices. While it is technically accurate to say that 1920x1080 images contain more pixels than 1440x1080 images the actual appearance to the native eye is not as different as logic might make you think. And the choice of "1440" as the resolution in the horizontal direction in a "1920x1080" world is not an arbitrary number but carefully selected due to

Another Opinion - A Matter of Integrity

Wed, 02 Apr 2008 14:01:27 -0800

I guess it's a sign of the times. With TV shows like "Survivor" and "The Bachelor" espousing the virtues of deceitful behavior and getting big ratings, why should I be surprised that specifications from A/V manufacturers occasionally stretch the truth. I'm not, and they do......and they continue to on an ever more frequent basis. Still, one has to draw the line somewhere.

When they sold us "1080p" sets that wouldn't...

Ed's View - The Atomic Power Cell (APC): Atomic Cordless Power for HDTV Monitors

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 09:45:29 -0800

Much has been written about wireless component connectivity. The most recent publicity surrounds the "WirelessHD" initiative - an incipient standard for wirelessly interconnecting signal processing components to an HDTV display. This is a great concept except one big cord remains - the power cord.

Wireless power has been a much sought-after technology since Nikola Tesla first demonstrated the possibilities in the early 1900's. Inductive battery recharging technologies have recently been aggressively explored for cordless cell phone applications, but have not been seriously commercialized. However, a recent exciting innovation being developed by...

Newbie's Corner - Audio and Video Cables

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 09:58:07 -0800

So you want to buy a brand new HDTV, A/V Receiver, Blu Ray player and some of you have an old VCR that you want to incorporate into your home theater experience. There is something that you probably didn't even think about, much less budget for, and that's how you are going to tie it all together. This is the job of the cable. There are many kinds of cables out there all with different uses. Today's column will discuss the various kinds of AV cables on the market and what they are used for.

Before we get started, we want to talk a bit about cost...

Ed's View - HDTV Quality Reduction - A Time for Action

Thu, 06 Mar 2008 09:58:26 -0800

In 1969 Japan's National Broadcast Network (NHK) started research on an advanced television system to bring truly high definition television to the public. Their goal for such an endeavor was to "appeal to a higher level of psychological sensation and emotion by transmitting highly intellectual information with detailed characters and graphics." ¹

That highly eclectic goal for HDTV remained through its complex evolution to the US system commercialized in 1996. Unfortunately, that goal is being severely and continuously...

From the Industry - The Big Picture: DisplaySearch's Outlook on the HDTV Market

Thu, 28 Feb 2008 07:45:03 -0800

In 2007, the flat panel display industry reached the $101 billion mark, and it is expected to grow to $131 billion by 2012. While there are many display-centric applications on the rise such as notebooks, mobile applications, digital photo frames, home appliances and navigation systems, flat panel HDTVs continue to comprise 50% of all 10-inch and larger LCD panels shipped on an area basis-a segment that on a revenue basis, hit the $33.5 billion mark in 2007, $11 billion more than in 2006.

DisplaySearch predicts the cumulative number of HDTVs in the US will...