Digital Home Canada has a list of HD programs to be made available this fall from ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, WB, UPN, CBC, CTV, and Global networks. (Those last two will be recognizable by those of us in the north.)

Personally, I love HDTV, but I am consistently disappointed by the quality of television programming these days. So the list of shows that I’m looking forward to is depressingly short: Smallville, Alias, and Joey. My wife will also enjoy Everwood, Gilmore Girls, and Reba. Hey! Why isn’t The Apprentice on that list? Ah, it’s been going downhill since the first season anyway.

DHC - Digital Home Canada Network HD Programming List

Imagine my disappointment when my wonderful new iPod nano lacked FireWire (aka IEEE 1394) support. (Go ahead, take a minute.) Apple seems to be dropping support for this wonderful format instead of pushing FireWire into new applications.

So the 1394 Trade Association is taking up the slack, it seems. They are developing a specification to enable the IEEE 1394 standard to deliver audio and video over coaxial cable. They expect this to help spur the spread of HDTV.

“Cable MSOs (operators) are looking for the optimal long-term solution and we believe that native 1394 over coax is the most cost effective way to deliver multiple streams of HD video with trick play over a single coax cable,” said James Snider, the TA’s executive director, in a statement.

Now, I don’t know much about cable, but I think by “trick play” the guy means pause, rewind, etc.

Dick Davies, 1394 Trade Association spokesman, said the specification will enable video to be transmitted from set top boxes over coax to PCs and MPEG2 decoders in HDTV format.

“You have an FCC mandate to create all these new HDTVs and living room equipment that must have digital tuners,” Davies said in an interview Monday. “The 1394 Trade Association is trying to get 1394 ports on set top boxes so consumers can use the technology. At 400 Mbps, coax makes it possible for cable operators to implement the highest quality hookup.” Davies said the TA expects the new technology can begin to be implemented in 2006.

EETimes - FireWire group developing spec to spur HDTV

Don’t just buy computers from HP, buy HP rear-projection HDTVs too! Their MD6580n is just such a beast, and uses DLP with “wobulation” for 1920 x 1080 HD goodness.

Sound & Vision’s review says that HP invented wobulation, but what I think they really invented was the ability to put those letters together into that word. If I remember correctly, TI did the legwork here (correct me if I’m wrong). (Wobulation being, of course, the technique whereby a 960 x 1080 DMD is used to create a 1920 x 1080 by doing some magical shifting of pixels.)

One of the greatest things about this set is that it accepts 1080p on its HDMI input. Hurrah for all future PS3 owners out there!

The MD6580n is a 65″ television with a lamp life rated at 6,000 hours. It includes two HDMI inputs, CableCARD support, and two component video inputs.

Bottom line? Here’s what the reviewer thought:

Put simply, HP’s MD6580n produced the best DLP-based rear-projection TV image I’ve seen yet, and in many ways its picture compared favorably with that of the much more-expensive Sony Qualia 006. If its rookie effort is any sign, HP should have no trouble successfully making that long trip from the home office to the living room.

Sound & Vision - HP Pavilion 65-inch DLP HDTV

The movie industry is setting up “MovieLabs”, a $30 million research effort to “develop effective anti-copying technologies”. Over at the Freedom to Tinker site, they think this is a prime example of someone shooting themselves in the foot. Because it seems to imply that the movie industry actually believes it can be done. Whoa!

Freedom to Tinker - Movie Studios Form DRM Lab

I’ve been talking about Toshiba and Canon’s SED efforts on and off for a while now. It’s a great technology that I think everyone will lust for once it becomes available. Over at PC WORLD they have a nice little diagram showing off how SED works, and have a shot of two Canon prototype SED displays in operation (though from a bad angle). SED is coming!

PC WORLD - Canon Plans HDTV Flat-Screen Displays

Sharp is adding two new LCD displays to its Aquos lineup. They are the 1920 x 1080 57V “LC-57GE2″ and the 37V “LC-37GE2″. Which I guess means they’re 57″ and 37″ in size. The 57 incher will have a response time of 4 ms while the 37″ has a response time of 6 ms. Great stuff for LCD, and this will help greatly when watching sports.

Newlaunches.com - Sharp AQUOS 57/37V with fastest response time
I4U - New Sharp Aquos LC-57GE2 1080p LCD HDTV

NuVision has announced that its 23″, 26″, 32″, and 37″ Deep Black LCD televisions are now shipping. They have a 1000:1 contrast ratio, 10ms response time, 1366 x 768 resolution, and DVI with HDCP. (What? No HDMI?)

Widescreen Review - NūVision 23-, 26-, 32-, And 37-Inch Deep Black™ LCD TVs Now Shipping

ultimate AV reviews V Inc’s VIZIO P50 HDM PDP (plasma) monitor. It’s a 50″ plasma that retails for just $3299, available at Costo for $2999, and a Costco rebate gives you this plasma for $2599! It has a resolution of 1366×768, Faroudja DCDi deinterlacing, a 10,000:1 contrast ratio, and two HDMI inputs.

Conclusion: “Viewed in context of its price and versus similarly priced available competitors, the P50 HDM is an incredible value. Here’s a 50-inch PDP monitor for less than the price of some DLP rear-projectors. The VIZIO has better blacks and more natural colors than the DLPs I’ve seen…”

ultimate AV - V, Inc. VIZIO P50 HDM PDP (plasma) Monitor

In an effort to gain the support of the huge Chinese market, the DVD Forum is studying the possibility of a Chinese-only format based on the HD DVD spec. The move was approved by the Forum’s 31st Steering Committee held in South Korea, September 14.

The new format is supposed to have the same disc structure as the HD DVD, using two bonded 0.6-mm-thick platters. But it will slightly modify the physical layer and will simplify the video application layer. The resulting China-only format would be incompatible with a HD DVD player, at least without modifications on both the circuitry and the optical pickup unit (OPU).

CDRinfo - DVD Forum to Study Chinese Version of HD DVD Format

This fall Toshiba will be providing retailers with HD-DVD players they can use to showcase HDTV during the holiday season. But Toshiba still hasn’t given a launch date for the HD-DVD format.

Executives with Toshiba America Consumer Products attending the recent CEDIA Expo, here, demonstrated the HD DVD deck to showgoers in their booth, offering a disc of high-definition movie trailers, which was output in 1,080i format by the player and later up-converted to 1,080p by one of Toshiba’s new 1,080p DLP rear-projection sets.

Jodi Sally, Toshiba’s digital A/V Group marketing VP, said the player which will be offered to dealers for in-store demos starting this fall will carry the model number HD-AX1, and is expected to sell for about $1,000 when it arrives.

The dealers will receive HD-DVD that contains demos, movie clips, and various other HD programing to show off the HD-DVD format.

TWICE - Toshiba Reports HD DVD Demos Set For Autumn (free subscription)

HDBlog.net would like to welcome John Corless, a new contributor to the site. John has graciously agreed to help me with making HDBlog.net the best HD daily resource on the net, and I’ll be eternally thankful! In case you missed it, his first article was about DTV legislation. I’m going to have to add the author of each article to the byline now!

Welcome, John.

Living where I do, you would expect me to be a hockey fan, but I didn’t even know when the strike ended. But for those of you out there who do care about NHL, you’ll be able to enjoy it in HD. NHL and HDNet have announced their 2005-06 HDTV schedule. “The 52-game NHL on HDNet schedule begins Opening Night on Wednesday, Oct. 5th at 10 p.m. (ET) featuring Wayne Gretzky’s debut behind the bench as his Phoenix Coyotes take on the Vancouver Canucks.”

NHL.com - NHL & HDNet announce 2005-06 HDTV schedule

Daytek has added a 40″ LCD HD display to its lineup. “The 40″ model features a panel with 1366 x 768 pixels, 800: 1 contrast ratio and 500 cd/m2 brightness fabricated in the latest generation plant. The Unit can display 480i, 480p, 720p and 1080i high definition signal, supports various video inputs and computer sources including high definition Component YPbPr and DVI-HDCP. S-Video, Composite Video and D-Sub are also available.”

Digital Home Canada - Daytek 40″ LCD HDTV Panel

CNET.com is launching “HDTV World”, a guide to all things HDTV. It will offer features such as:

Within each section, consumers will find numerous editorial features such as:

• HDTV Boot Camp — Quick answers to basic HDTV questions, such as the difference between analog, digital and high-definition TV.
• Three ways to get HDTV — An explanation of all the different options for receiving HD programming, and the pros and cons of satellite, cable and antenna.
• Interactive Tools — Learn to find the best HDTV by cabinet size, viewing distance from the couch to the wall, or desired screen size and aspect ratio. A separate calculator tells consumers how standard (4:3) programming will look on a wide-screen view (windowbox) versus a normal view (letterbox).
• Videos — A collection of online videos demonstrating features of the latest HDTVs and how to set up a great home theater.
• Daily programming lineups — A listing of recommended shows and sports event to watch in HD, and a complete lineup of all the HD programming available on every channel.
• “The Screening Room” Community forums — An online discussion area for the CNET community to exchange HDTV tips and advice.
• HDTV Kick-off — A companion feature geared specifically for sports nuts and timed for the start of football season.

Yahoo! Finance - CNET.com Launches ‘’HDTV World'’

CyberLink will soon be showing off a PC with a Pentium D dual-core processor playing back HD-DVD.

“Intel is excited to offer platforms with the processing power to meet the demands of the new era of high definition content,” said Kevin Corbett, vice president and chief technology officer, Intel’s Digital Home Group and general manager of the Content and Services Group. “By offering the newest dual-core processor platform in conjunction with Cyberlink PowerDVD’s playback technologies and expertise, attendees will get an exclusive first-hand look at the sheer potential of high-definition DVDs.”

Business Wire - CyberLink Demos Unprecedented HD DVD Playback on an Intel Dual-Core Processor Platform

Lastly, the Tampa Bay region really seems to love its HDTV. Bright House Networks reported that 85,000 subscribers now get HDTV, about 8 percent of its customer base. This is compared to 50,000 a year ago, and 20,000 two years ago.

St. Petersburg Times - Bright House says HD subscriptions are soaring

I keep hearing that company X has the largest plasma, company Y has the largest LCD, and never are X and Y the same between tellings.

Well, according to LG, X = Y.

At Gitex this year LG will be showing off the largest commercially available plasma display, tipping in at 71 inches. They’ll also show off the largest all-in-one LCD TV at 55 inches. Maybe Sharp’s largest LCD display (at 65″) wasn’t “all-in-one”.

Strategiy - LG to unveil revolutionary technology at Gitex 2005

For those of us who enjoy HDTV viewing experiences, the lack of content has long been a problem. We have followed the various fits and starts by the US government to legislate DTV broadcasting (and, of course, with the digital signal the promise of more HD content). Some well-known lawmakers (Sens. McCain and Biden) are blaming the problems in emergency response from hurricane Katrina to lack of emergency response bandwidth, which promises to get larger when the conversion to DTV happens (see the interesting article at UltimateAV). With such influential legislators pushing for a 2007 conversion, and the Katrina tragedy fresh in the public’s mind as a catalyst, perhaps a “firm” switch-over date will be set sooner rather than later.

Seemingly, everybody but the broadcasters is in line to win with a speedier DTV transition. Consumers will have access not only to more HDTV content, but also the increased broadband internet access that will result from the analog spectrum being sold off to the tech industry. And it’s not too often lawmakers get a chance to collect such a windfall of cash and declare that public safety is improved as a result. This is about to get very interesting so stay tuned!

I got an e-mail from one of my readers, asking about HDTV and gaming. I thought he asked some interesting questions. Here it is (edited with permission):

Hi there.

I’ve been reading about High-Def TV’s and stuff. I’ve also seen one in action, and the picture quality was outstanding. This got me thinking.

I’m assuming that the PS3 / Xbox 360 will be supporting HD images etc. but how will these look on standard tv’s? Will it just be a standard resolution? Will they have different options like the current 4:3 & 16:9 widescreen sizes?

Also, what about current DVD’s played on High Def players & TV’s? I have an extensive DVD collection, and don’t want these to become obsolete when I upgrade to a HighDef Player & TV. Will the current DVD’s look & play normally as opposed to HD movies?

Look forward to your reply

Anthony

Here’s my reply:

Hey Anthony, thanks for your questions.

Microsoft has said that they will downrez the games for SD (standard definition) televisions. This probably means that you’ll end up with a letterbox version of a game. I don’t know if developers will have separate 4:3 and 16:9 versions of a game, but I guess it’s possible. Sony’s PS3 is much further away and details are sketchy at this point. But it’s a given that you’ll still be able to hook it up to SD displays. Sony has given their developers the option of creating different resolutions (including 480p) in their game for performance purposes. An SD game would of course run faster than an HD game. In practice, though, we’ll just have to wait and see what developers do.

Normal DVDs look great on an HDTV. I have a 57″ rear-projection HDTV, and watch DVDs on it all the time. The really good DVDs look spectacular and you’d think it doesn’t get better than that, but then you see something HD and realize that it does.

Personally, I think DVDs look good on HDTVs. When I get a BD player I will most definitely NOT be replacing my DVDs with HD versions. Well, except for Star Wars of course.

If anybody has any experiences they’d like to share, please comment.

The DVD Forum has officially endorsed the 2 layer writable HD-DVD, henceforth to be called “HD-DVD-R DL”.

In the HD-DVD part, the DVD forum decided to adopt an aggressive strategy in promoting the HD-DVD as the next generation format for HD content worldwide and especially in new markets like China. The goal of this decision is to allow the members of the Steering Committee to study and find ways to collaborate with Chinese manufacturers and laboratories their aim being to establish the next generation DVD.

CDRinfo - DVD Forum Approves Dual-layer Standard for Recordable HD DVD

[Update: Infocus will actually be leaving the ultra-thin RPTV market.]

Infocus is laying off workers and restructuring as the company tries to return to profitability. Among several changes is that Mike Yonker, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, is leaving the company.

Audioholics - InFocus Layoffs and Restructuring

Yamaha is bringing their DPX-1300 to the market in October. It is the successor to the Yamaha DPX-1200 model projector, and will include the Realta HQV processor. The DPX-1300 will have and MSRP of $12,495.95.

I4U - New Yamaha DPX-1300 High-End HDTV Projector

The FVD optical format is being put forward by Taiwanese manufacturers as a competitor to HD-DVD and Blu-ray. Recently, Microsoft has said that it will support the FVD format.

Has Microsoft even said anything about Blu-ray support? And here they go announcing support for the obscure FVD? Whew! Must be something going on behind the scenes that I’m unaware of.

If the FVD format wins support from Microsoft, Taiwanese makers of optical discs and drives are expected to gain a great opportunity to enter the global market because they will not have to pay the high royalty costs of the big international formats, Blu-Ray and HD-DVD.

The FVD format differs technically from the DVD standard in physical format, compression (encoding) and decoding, and content protection, and therefore is not subject to normal DVD royalty charges. However, the FVD standard is compatible with the DVD format, a fact that strengthens its position to the market. First-generation FVD discs will have a storage capacity of 5.4-6GB for single-sided discs, and 9.8-11GB for double-sided discs, and will support resolutions of up to 1280 x 720 pixels. Second-generation FVD discs are expected to have a capacity of more than 15GB and will support resolutions up to 1920 x 1080 pixels. However, the FVD standard is compatible with the DVD format.

Since FVD is so similar to DVD, maybe Microsoft is trying to learn more about HD on normal DVD discs because the Xbox 360 will be doing just that? I’m just guessing here.

Thoughts?

CDRinfo - Microsoft to Support Taiwanese FVD Project for HD Video

Epson unveiled two 720p front-projection 3LCD projectors and two 1080p rear-projection 3LCD projectors at the CEDIA expo.

Epson is introducing two unique rear projection, high definition display products that were designed specifically for the CEDIA channel and focus primarily on maximum image quality, sleek design and easy installation. Epson’s new CrystalPRO HD displays not only fulfill these core requirements, but also represent the company’s most advanced display products to date. Available in 55 and 65-inch screens, the Epson CrystalPRO HD displays are the first to incorporate Epson’s new 1080p 3LCD OptiFocus™ engine and can accept and project 1080p signals via their HDMI and component inputs.

“Some projection companies today are claiming they achieve 1080p performance using part-time imaging or virtual pixels that create the illusion of seeing 1,080 full-time vertical lines of resolution,” said Jodi Maugham, product manager, Home Entertainment Division, Epson America. “Epson’s new 3LCD engines deliver true 1080p resolution, which means there are actually 1,920 x 1,080 pixels on each of the three LCD chips. The end-benefit for consumers is full-time color and full-time resolution that gives them superlative, high-definition detail and accurate color performance.”

They all boast HDMI inputs, though nothing is mentioned about whether or not those inputs accept 1080p sources.

Widescreen Review - Epson Unveils New High-End 3LCD Projection Products