Sony is investing a lot of money in the PS3, and it shows on their bottom line.

Sony Corp said its net profit for the first half to September tumbled nearly 72 pct to 21.20 bln yen because of falling prices of electronic products and high restructuring charges.

But the world’s second-largest maker of consumer electronics retained its forecasts for the year to March 2006, which were last revised a month ago, when Sony announced a three-year turnaround plan calling for 10,000 jobs to be cut and the shutdown of 11 manufacturing plants.

Sony will also be shutting down some plants that produce CRTs.

Under the plant closure program, Sony will shut down some of its CRT television assembly factories by March 2008 in order to shift its focus to the flat-screen TV business.

Forbes.com - Sony H1 net profit tumbles on lower prices, high restructuring costs

The Anthem D2 Surround Sound Processor has four (4) HDMI inputs. It uses the Gennum GF9350 VXP image processor to convert any SD or HD signal to any other, up to 1080p. This is great news for those wanting a single HD connection from their processor to the TV, especially those with an HDTV accepting 1080p. (I know of only one of those right now, the HP MD6580n. But I think there are more.)

Instead of external image processing, the Anthem D2 uses internal image processing that offers convenient switching from source to source; the ability to have as many sources as the preamplifier can handle; separate tweaking for each source; and DVD-A playback through HDMI. Also, Anthem notes that easily incorporated software upgrades are “coming soon” for current Anthem AVM 20s, AVM 30s or Anthem Statement D1 owners. Anthem also notes that plans are underway for the D2 features to be made available as a factory upgrade (cost to be determined) for existing Anthem AVM 20s, AVM 30s and Anthem Statement D1 owners.

I have to put in a plug for this Canadian company that keeps providing great value for a great price. If my budget allowed separates, Anthem would be the first place I’d look.

Marketnews.ca - Anthem Debuts Statement D2 Surround Sound Preamp/Processor

Using wobulation technology to produce a resolution of 1280 x 720 (that’s right), this HDTV from RCA goes for a street price of about $2300. And Sound & Vision has a review.

The remote looks great and is backlit, the set has a diagonal size of 50″, and includes and HDMI input. The picture quality could use some improvements, with dark areas turning pretty noisy. Plus the picture could be a bit sharper.

Conclusion?

After some tweaking in the service menu, the RCA HD50LPW175 did a fine job of displaying everything from standard-def TV all the way up to full HDTV. It’s hard to say from looking at just one set if Smooth Picture 720p DLP is generally less sharp than discrete 720p DLP. It was this time, but the difference was minor when watching from the typical viewing distance of about 6 feet. The RCA’s less-than-stellar reproduction of blacks may be a bigger issue for critical viewers.

Sound & Vision - RCA Scenium HD50LPW175 50-inch DLP HDTV
RCA - Scenium HD50LPW175

Q: Name the biggest problem the DLP projectors.
A: The rainbow effect.

Right!

Even if you are not personally susceptible to the effect of rainbows, someone else in your household may be. Or a friend that you want to invite over. Or your neighbour peeping in your window.

So how do you get all the benefits of DLP without the rainbow effect? A 3 chip DLP projector of course. Those DLP chips aren’t cheap, though, so Sim2’s 3 chip DLP projector goes for a cool $15,995. But for those kind of clams you’ll be getting an excellent projector. It even comes in a small-ish form factor, something new for 3 chip designs. The projector has a resolution of 1280 x 720, contrast ratio of 6500:1, and includes an HDMI input.

Audio|Video Revolution - Sim2’s New 3 Chip DLP Projector

The first station to start broadcasting HDTV in Europe is ProSiebenSat.1, which launched its HDTV service on Wednesday.

The free-to-air broadcaster plans to show selected programmes in HDTV on its two main channels, ProSieben and Sat.1, starting with the Hollywood blockbuster “Minority Report” starring Tom Cruise on Sunday.

Other European broadcasters including BSkyB in Britain, CanalSat in France and Sky Italia in Italy have all promised HDTV by next June in time for the soccer World Cup, which will be used as a showcase for the format.

Reuters - Germany’s ProSieben kicks off HDTV in Europe

HD Beat recently reviewed the 50″ Sony KDS-R50XBR1 SXRD HDTV, and thought very highly of it. Now it’s Sound & Vision’s turn.

This $4000 projector has 3 1920 x 1080p SXRD panels. SXRD is Sony’s version of LCOS, a display technology with a very smooth picture. The set includes CableCARD and both HDMI and iLink inputs. The review says that the set can’t display true 1080p HD signals. So I guess that means the HDMI input doesn’t accept them. For a company that will be releasing the PS3 shortly, they have to fix this.

Sound & Vision gives this set the ultimate compliment by saying that it has CRT-like levels of shadow detail. The colours are also richly rendered. Conclusion?

I have so many good things to say about Sony’s KDS-R50XBR1 HDTV that it’s tough to sum it all up. First, there’s the gorgeous picture, which combines natural color and deep, CRT-like blacks with fine resolution. Then there’s the extensive feature set and picture tweaks, which go well beyond many other televisions. Finally, there’s the price tag. Four grand might seem high compared with similar-size rear-projection HDTVs, but very few of these offer 1080p display.

Sound & Vision - Sony KDS-R50XBR1 50-inch SXRD HDTV

Take a trip into the future with me.

It’s opening night for Serenity II: Search for Book. You and a couple friends decide that this is a movie worth paying full price for. Theater price. But you don’t want to pay full price for the popcorn, beverages, candy, or the sticky seats and noisy audience. Oh, what to do?

Download the movie in full HD to your home server, of course. You pay the $12 for a nice HD version of the movie, and you and the guys watch it in the comfort of your own home. (Or Jim’s because his HT setup is actually better than yours, though you refuse to admit it.) You watch the glorious 1080i HD movie on your Qualia 004, and listen in full DD+ surround.

The $12 is basically your fee for seeing the movie during its theatrical run instead of months later when released to video. And this isn’t a just any dream. It’s Joe Kane’s dream, and he’s working to make it happen.

Check out ultimate AV for more.

Ultimate AV - A Video Revolution?

If you’re a Spatialight shareholder, and you’ve been keeping your left eye on the LG 71SA1D LCOS HDTV launching this fall, you’re in luck. It seems like they have a promotion whereby Spatialight shareholders will get a discount when purchasing this huge 71″ LG TV.

Thomas Hawk - Spatialight offers HDTV dividend

Sound & Vision has a roundup of three plasma displays, two of which are HD. The 42″ Panasonic TH-42PX50U, 50″ Philips 50PF9830A, and 55″ Fujitsu P55XHA40US have resolutions of 1024×768, 1366×768, and 1366×768, respectively. They all include HDMI inputs and Sound & Vision gives a brief review of each.

Sound & Vision - Plasma in Steps

“SnapStream Media, Inc., a leader in digital home entertainment products, announced today that world-renowned TV tuner card manufacturers ADS Technologies, KWorld, and VBox Communications will bundle Beyond TV, SnapStream’s award-winning DVR software, with their aftermarket HDTV tuner card products.”

PRWeb -
Leading HDTV Tuner Card Manufacturers Bundle SnapStream Media’s High-Definition DVR Software

Remember that 4K SXRD projector Sony was showing off at Cinema Expo? Well, it’s now available for theater use. Though if you really have the dough and nothing else to do with it, you can probably procure one for yourself if you wish. 4K means a resolution of 4096 x 2160.

This thing is designed for screens up to 40′ wide, so you better have a big wall ready for it! Either that or it could burn a hole through you 80″ screen! (Uh, just kidding.)

[via HD Beat]

eCoustics - Sony Unveils SXRD 4K Resolution Projector

According to Mr. Ed Bott, the Xbox 360 is going to be the primary way to send digital media around the house and that “the older, simpler, cheaper extender technology is being phased out.”

Now, I’ve never really cared much about Media Center PCs. I have a nice home theater system with a PS2, and a separate computer system. I never really thought much about joining the two beyond a short-lived PVR experiment. (Conclusion: a dedicated PVR is much better than one in a PC in a different room from the TV.) Well, I thought they wouldn’t meet until recently. Recently I had a need to stream HD video from my PC to my HDTV. As it turns out, it’s easier said than done, but it got me thinking that maybe one day I’ll want a Media Center PC.

If Microsoft has their way, it looks like I’ll be needing an Xbox 360 at my TV to deliver that Media Center content. Not really what I had in mind, as I have no intention of buying a 360.

Having to get an Xbox 360 just to play some videos from my PC seems overkill.

Chris Lanier - My Thoughts on Xbox 360 Media Center Extenders
Ed Bott - Do I have to buy an Xbox 360 if I want an extender?

If you know who Grand Moff Tarkin is, you’ll be happy to know that LucasFilm is working on creating two new Star Wars television series. The first is a CG animated series set during the Clone Wars featuring characters from the franchise. Supposedly Boba Fett might be part of the series. Isn’t he a just a little young? Maybe they meant Jango Fett.

Anyway, the second TV series in production is a live action show with a budget of $1.8 million per episode. It’ll be set between Episodes III and IV. And get this: it’ll be shot in HD! Woo hoo!

Personally, I’m looking forward to these shows. LucasFilm did a great job with Young Indiana Jones. I’m sure they can pull that off again with Star Wars.

Now I just need to figure out how to become an extra…

JoBlo.com - Star Wars TV news

DVI/HDCP. You may have heard of it. HDCP is also part of the HDMI standard.

But what is HDCP? What does it stand for? Digital Home Canada has a small article that answers just that question. HDCP stands for “High-Bandwidth Digital Content Protection” and is a copy protection scheme invented by Intel. It prevents the unauthorized duplication of digital signals sent over a DVI or HDMI connection.

For more details, check out the article.

Digital Home Canada - What is HDCP?

I missed this the first time around, or maybe it’s just new information. I kinda wish it was the latter, ’cause then I won’t feel so foolish. So anyway, I saw an article on TWICE about Warner now support Blu-ray. I almost didn’t follow the link because it’s old news, but it said “UPDATE!” next to it, so I thought what the hey.

Just a sec. Here’s a small apetizer. It seems that Warner doesn’t care about iHD vs BD-Java. HP recently made waves by asking that iHD be included in the Blu-ray spec, but it seems like a fence-sitting studio doesn’t care.. Also, Warner wanted managed copy and are happy they got it (see HD Beat). Managed copy is also something HP pushed for. This article doesn’t say, however, if managed copy will be mandatory or up to each studio. The HD Beat article seems to suggest it will be mandatory.

Okay, here’s the main course. It looks like one of the concessions that Warner Brothers got from Sony is the inclusion of BD-9 (or what the HD-DVD group calls HD DVD-9). BD-9 is basically a red-laser based HD disc. An HD DVD (note the lack of dash), if you will. You know, like the HD WMV discs available now. So for the production cost of producing a DVD, you can have an HD disc. With the latest compression technologies, an HD movie will fit on one of these discs. With all the complaints about the costs of producing a BD disc (which will come down), it’s good to see that a cheap alternative will be available to the studios.

This brings up two questions. (1) Will studios use this ability, and (2) Will you or I care - how does it affect us?

TWICE - Warner Announces Blu-ray Support

Analog TV broadcasters will be shut off on April 7, 2009, and not any sooner. The committee has voted, and everyone shall be thankful. Well, the CEA certainly is. This will give the broadcasters more time to commit to the DTV transition, because it’s not cheap, you know!

HD Beat - Senate comittee sets date for digital TV transition

Would you like a 35 poung DVD player? How about one that upscales DVDs to 1080p over HDMI? Then the Canadian company Classe has just the thing for you. It also includes a bunch of other high end features like XLR outputs and a $6,500 price tag.

HD Beat - 35lb, $6,500 1080p upscaler DVD player

HDR = High Dynamic Range

Remember that acronym, because it may become the next big thing in television. HDR is already a big deal in computer graphics. It allows you to store more information in an image, partially to make it easier to control how an image seems lit. You also get a much better range of contrast. The only problem is that you only get a small idea of what HDR is like because no displays inherently support HDR. Not so any longer. BrightSide Technologies has a prototype HDR display which looks stunning.

bit-tech.net - BrightSide DR37-P HDR display

Samsung, in its quest to beat Sony and all others to the top of the hill, wants to double its LCD sales by 2010. They also plan to introduce 100″ models by 2010.

TechNewsWorld - Samsung Moves to Double LCD Sales by 2010