HDTV Magazine provided some nice perspective in recapping the evolution of DirecTV's non-TiVo, homegrown HD DVR.
Most interesting -- and encouraging -- is how DirecTV has actually
reached out to initially disgruntled online critics and converted them
into beta testers and product advisors, resulting in a better product. More companies should follow this lead.
Across the pond, the BBC revealed a new twist on HD time-shifting. Due to a lack of terrestrial broadcast bandwidth, the BBC isn't able to transmit a dedicated over-the-air HD channel. Instead, it plans to air its HD offerings after midnight, by temporarily shutting off a number of its standard-def channels. What's interesting here is that the Beeb is tacitly encouraging viewers to use a DVR to record its HD programming. I guess the BBC can be a bit more sanguine about DVRs than the typical broadcaster, since the government-funded media titan doesn't air commercials.
On the local broadcast front, there's an item about foul language on the US airwaves, courtesy of the London-based Financial Times. What's most interesting about this one is the fact that the objectionable words aren't so objectionable to the FT, as it included them -- uncloaked -- in its online report (and presumably print editions).
But you'll just have to click through to be offended...
As earlier noted, the big news on the HD programming front this week
was the release of 21 new HD channels by DirecTV. But there was other
HD programming news, undoubtedly much of it driven by DirecTV's expansion, with cable TV providers Comcast, Cablevision and Cox announcing new HD carriage deals, TBS announcing multiple carriage agreements and DISH switching on an additional four HD regional sports nets.
It seems pretty obvious that if broadcasters know how to make roughly 50% of the population aware of an upcoming "Ugly Betty" episode, 2 years' lead time should be sufficient to clue in viewers about the fundamental changes taking place in its own industry.
Although the big news this week for Sling Media was its plan to sell out to DISH Network, the company also found time to announce the release of its newest product, the Slingbox SOLO. I'm intrigued by this new Sling offering, as it claims both HD and analog component video input and output capabilities. From what I can tell, output resolution is limited to 640x480, but that seems like a limitation that should eventually be leveled by faster Internet connection speeds. Is there an "analog hole" issue here?
Meanwhile, a story at the Forbes magazine web site declares the Apple TV set-top box product, released this past spring, to be the rarest of rare things -- an Apple Inc. product flop. But in its time-honored fashion, Microsoft this week unveiled its answer to Apple TV.
Forrester, on the other hand, is a technology consultant that analyzes all manner of developments in the world of consumer electronics, software and IT services. In its latest report on Blu-ray and HD DVD, Forrester says Sony has the lead and that it's their battle to lose. I'm hoping that if some company actually commissioned this Forrester study, they didn't pay too much more than the Journal's $1.50 newstand price.
Is there any greater buzzkill than a discussion of interactive TV? I think not, so it seems to me that slapping the new HDi logo onto HD DVD players is the next best thing to begging for an early end to the format battle. No doubt Toshiba and Microsoft would disagree, but I think so-called interactive features are among the least important factors for consumers deciding between the competing formats. The color of the remote probably matters more.
High-Def Digest notes that the pornography industry has been relatively slow to embrace either HD disc format. This follows the thinking of many that the pornography industry will play a key role in determining how the HD Disc format war turns out, based largely on pornography's key role in deciding the original format war between VHS versus Betamax.
This overly conventional view overlooks the fact that pornography is much more widely available today than it was during the pre-VCR era, in large part due to the Internet. Therefore, pornography will only play a superficial role on the HD DVD versus Blu-ray battleground.
A better bet is for pornography to take the early lead in popularizing high-quality video downloads, with that trend eventually crossing over to the mainstream film industry. The reason for this is simple -- pornography is driven by individual, self-contained "scenes," rather than complex plot development that unfolds slowly over several acts. As a result, high-definition porn can be delivered relatively quickly -- even over today's broadband speeds -- meeting that all-important "instant gratification" criteria.
The web site for This Week in Consumer Electronics (TWICE) carried a story analyzing recent trends in the "shelf share" among TV manufacturers, broken down by display types. This is probably mostly of interest to marketing types, but if you're looking to buy an HDTV and you're restricting your quest to brick-and-mortar shops, this article might just shed some light on why you're seeing the choices you're seeing -- or why you can't locate that set you'd like to audition.
It's hard to believe, but a little over 2 years ago, plasma had the flat-panel HDTV market to itself -- and then along came LCD. Even though plasma continues to earn higher marks for picture quality, LCD wins the battle of the sales numbers. And a recent report says plasma HDTV sales will peak in 2008 . The Plasma Display Coalition was recently formed to coordinate more effective promotion of the technology, and this week the group issued a report arguing that plasma sales will continue to expand, due to the growing availability of "full HD" models and increased manufacturing capacity.
Australian publication Smarthouse reports that consumers there are increasingly bullish on all things HDTV, and that sales of plasma panels are up 48 percent from 3 months ago. However, Smarthouse also notes that LCD outsells plasma by a 3-to-1 margin in Australia.
Dog Bites Man Dept.: Asia-Pacific sales of CRT-based computer monitors are down to just 20% of total market sales. This is hardly surprising, considering the office and living space constraints prevailing in most Asian countries, But this is another strong sign there won't be much of a market for any type of CRT display in a few years.
And Runco this week announced details of its new 103-inch plasma panel, available for sale just in time for Christmas. The good news is that with a $100,000 price tag, that's one line you won't have to stand in for long. I bet they don't get many walk-in returns either.
No event this week created more excitement than Tuesday's release of "Halo 3" for Microsoft's XBox 360 gaming console. A few days later Microsoft claimed that Halo 3 had achieved higher first-day sales revenues than any entertainment product in history. While that may be true, "Halo 3" total sales will ultimately pale in comparison to a Hollywood blockbuster such as "Spiderman 3," due to the fact that movies tend to have more prolonged sales power, months, and sometimes years, after initial release.
But that doesn't take anything away from video games, which are more than ever a major force in the entertainment and leisure industry. What might somewhat dim the "Halo 3 effect," if true, are reports that Halo 3's graphics were ratcheted down in order to provide acceptable game play performance. But this doesn't seem to be a widespread complaint, with at least one review praising the more detailed images.
Based on recent developments, it seems that the next best thing to playing video games is speculating on new PlayStation 3 models that Sony may or may not be working on. Gizmodo takes its turn at reading the tea leaves (FCC filings) to suggest that Sony may be readying the release of a long-rumored $399 40GB model of the game console.
Techdirt continues to produce the most interesting and relevant reporting in the area of copyright law. If you read nothing else on the subject this year, be sure to read Techdirt's succinct summary of the purpose of copyright and how both an industry and society at large are undermined when copyright is used primarily as a tool to protect narrow interests.
To date, the RIAA strategy has been to file lawsuits demanding significant damages in the expectation that the accused will settle before trial. This approach could unravel, as for the first time one of these RIAA suits is headed to a jury trial.
There's no question that Hollywood has done its best to be increasingly restrictive in how its customers can make use movies they've purchased. There's no better evidence of this than a Hollywood technical type showing up at a conference on digital rights management (DRM) and admitting to personal activities in violation of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act.
Video Savant 
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