HP now wants iHD, something invented by Disney and Microsoft, though Disney ended up supporting BD-J. Fox wants BD-J. But Warner Brothers and HP want iHD. Should Blu-ray have both? Too expensive for the hardware manufacturers. Just pick one then. But then someone will get ticked off.

Warner wanted BD-9 (red laser HD) as part of Blu-ray, and nobody else really did. But it’s in there. Fox wanted BD+ and ROM Mark, but nobody else really did. But it’s in there.

HP now wants managed copy, something I think (not sure…) Fox doesn’t want.

* sigh *

I don’t like office politics, and I don’t like Blu-ray politics. Maybe this is why Universal is staying away.

To get more of the twisted tale, follow the HD Beat link to the VBO article.

HD Beat - Doing the Blu-ray shuffle

My brother-in-law is a Raptors fan. More accurately, he’s a basketball fan.

So he should be happy to find out that Raptors NBA will be launching an HD channel.

Except he’s not so happy.

One, he doesn’t have an HDTV. (Doh!)
Two, the channel is only available to Bell ExpressVU customers. Talking about limiting yourself…

Yeah well, hopefully all you basketball/HDTV fans out there without ExpressVU can make your voices heard and get the channel from your cable or satellite provider eventually. I was gonna make a remark here about a ball being in someone’s court, but then I thought it would be too tacky.

Digital Home Canada - Raptors NBA to Launch HDTV Channel

This isn’t a new topic, but Ed over at HDTV Magazine has an editorial I found interesting.

Lots of HDTV owners aren’t actually watching HD. They have a larger set, better looking imagery, and a picture than can be made wide. Isn’t that HD?

Ed goes on to give salespeople a simple rundown of how to explain DTV and HDTV to customers, such that it is easy to understand and that people understand what HDTV gives them over DTV. It goes in the form of a Q&A, where the questions are “So, tell me, what is this digital television thing anyway?” and “OK, so why would I want HDTV?”. Each get three understandable answers. Check out the article for the answers (hint: they should be obvious to you and me, but not so obvious to first time HDTV buyers).

If more salespeople employed this approach, maybe more HDTV owners would be watching HD.

HDTV Magazine - Ed’s view - KISS

I previously mentioned a Projector Central review of the Panasonic PT-AE900U. They thought really highly of the projector.

Recently, they also posted a shootout between the AE900U and a similarly priced DLP projector, the BenQ PE7700. The AE900U came out on top, and the folks seem to think that LCD’s day has come.

Now Audioholics reviews the AE900U, and it’s quite an in-depth review, taking four pages. And it’s a smash hit with the Audioholics folks as well:

Settling back in and enjoying the Panasonic PT-AE900U I realized that this just might be one of the best price-for-performance projectors I’ve seen in a long time. By far, the best attribute of this product is the Smooth Screen technology that puts the nail in the coffin for screen door effect. Add to those decent blacks, exceptional color reproduction and a slew of features like lens shift and user-calibration of RGB brightness/contrast/gamma levels and you’ve got a winner for its $2200 street price. I would have no problem recommending this projector to anyone in the < $2500 budget range looking for an excellent front projection system.

Audioholics - Panasonic PT-AE900U 3LCD Projector Review

480p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p
Aspect Ratio, ATSC, Brightness, and Colour Gamut

And many, many more.

HD Beat’s Kevin C. Tofel did a great job on an article defining a bunch of these terms. So if you’re ever caught scratching your head about HDTV terminilogy, just head over there.

HD Beat - HDTV defined

HDTV is a new frontier. And as such, “facts” are bound to come up that aren’t really facts at all. You know the kind. “John Q. says that watching more than an hour of HDTV a day will make you impotent.” That kind of stuff. (Hey why didn’t PCWorld mention that one?) PCWorld has collected some HDTV myths and busted them up. Personally, I’ve never heard some of these, especially #4 or #6.

1. An HD set is all you need to get high-def programs.
2. The bigger your HDTV set, the better it will look.
3. The higher the screen resolution, the better the image quality of an HDTV.
4. You have to relinquish the fluid motion of a CRT screen when you move up to HDTV.
5. Burn-in will wreck your plasma HDTV within a year.
6. Bright LCDs look beautiful everywhere, and they use much less power than plasma or CRT sets do.
7. These pricey TVs look so great out of the box that it’s a waste to pay a small fortune to have a professional calibrate your set.
8. All true HDTV programming looks equally great.
9. Standard-definition TV is unwatchable on HDTV.
10. I’ll have to toss all my current analog sets when the digital conversion kicks in.

#2 - Yeah, but all things being equal, don’t you want it bigger?

#9 - This something I hear a lot, and I can attest that it is certainly not true. It all depends on the program, and how much your cable company compressed it, etc. I’ve seen some SD TV that looked very good on my HDTV, and some that looked like crap.

PCWorld.com - Ten HDTV Myths

Kevin over at HD Beat just had to point out that Best Buy is offering the 60″ SXRD for the price of the 50″. Circuit City is following suit.

So if you want a really excellent rear projection HDTV from Sony, and want to save a thousand bucks, you owe it to yourself to check it out.

HD Beat - 60-inch SXRD set at 50-inch price

Also, HD Beat had a reader give a review of the 50″ set, and he likes it very much: “All in all, the Sony SXRD 50 (it also comes in a 60 inch screen) is an awesome HDTV with a large range of features and high quality screen. I might just keep it.”

HD Beat - HD Beat Reader Review: Sony’s 50-inch SXRD

For you football fans out there, you’ll be happy to know that 24 of 25 bowl games will be in HDTV.

ESPN HD, ESPN2 HD and ABC Sports HD will air 24 postseason bowl games in HD Dec. 20-Jan. 4, concluding with the BCS National Championship at the Rose Bowl on Wednesday, Jan. 4th at 8pm (ET).

I’ve heard it said that football is the best reason to get an HDTV, but personally I know nothing about it. So I’m keeping this article as short as possible to avoid as many mistakes as possible.

HDTV Magazine - 24 of 25 Bowl Games will be in HD on ESPN Networks

HD this HD that. But 1024 x 768 HD ain’t.

Someone should tell Norcent.

Their new 42-inch “HD Plasma TV” has a resolution of just 1024 x 768, which falls short of the 1280 x 720 minimum HD requirement.

Which is just a bit annoying. It takes away from sets that are really HD. Plus people buying this set think they’re getting an HD set when they’re not. I’ve seen it elsewhere too. Hey look, HD movie trailer! HD video clips! HD games! Well, 480p doesn’t count. Nor does widescreen mean HD. HD means a resolution of at least 1280 x 720. Tell your friends. Tell a whole bunch. I’m tired of downloading clips that turn out to be nothing like it was advertised.

Hmmm. False advertising. Sounds about right.

Home Theater - Norcent Unveils New 42-Inch HD Plasma TV