Toshiba had previously said that they’ll delay the launch of HD DVD in North America to next year, but that it continue on as planned this year in Japan. Well, that’s no longer the case.

Toshiba said on Tuesday it will delay the year-end Japan launch of its next-generation HD DVD players to address copy protection issues, potentially undermining its advantage as the first supplier to put such machines on the market.

The Japanese company had said in September the domestic launch might be postponed until after December. A spokesman for Toshiba said it would continue to push for a U.S. launch in the first quarter of 2006, most likely some time between February and March.

c|net - Toshiba to delay HD DVD player launch

Sorry I didn’t post this before, but I forgot! My brother just got an HDTV. He made sure it had all the latest: 1080i, HDMI, CableCARD, etc. But CableCARD isn’t going to be the latest for long:

The National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA) has reported to the FCC that it is feasible and preferable to move security away from CableCARD and to the Downloadable Conditional Access System (DCAS). Instead of using a CableCARD hardware key for authentication and decryption, a common security chip is embedded within set-top boxes or televisions will receive and apply a software security key downloaded from your cable providers. Basically, they’ve developed a framework to allow the download of digital certificates. Several manufacturers including Motorola and Scientific-Atlanta have collaborated in the design and testing of the hardware and common language of DCAS. The NCTA expects this technology to begin appearing in consumer devices the summer of 2008.

The good news is that these security features are separate and distinct from the ongoing development of multistream and bidirectional functions currently associated with CableCARDs. We can expect to see that same technology in DCAS devices. Ultimately, implementing DCAS would be simpler for consumers and providers to manage (any set-top box should work with any cable provider without needing to acquire a unique CableCARD). However the limited lifespan of CableCARD technology is an expense manufacturing will ultimately pass along to consumers. Not to mention that CableCARD TiVo box or HDTV you buy in 2006 could be superseded in 2008.

Hmm. I wonder if, when DCAS becomes the standard, my brother can get a CableCARD with DCAS on it?

Zatz Not Funny. . . - DCAS To Replace CableCARD In 2008?

Apple’s latest HD movie trailer is for the movie “Poseidon”.

When a rogue wave capsizes a luxury cruise ship in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, a small group of survivors find themselves unlikely allies in a battle for their lives. Preferring to test the odds alone, career gambler John Dylan (Josh Lucas) ignores captain’s orders (Andre Braugher) to wait below for possible rescue and sets out to find his own way to safety.

Apple - Poseidon

Projector Central and Projector Reviews both review the Epson Cinema 550 projector. It is 1400 Lumens bright, has a contrast ratio of 3000:1, includes a 1.5:1 zoom lens, and is a 3LCD design with a resolution of 1280 x 720. Is this thing good enough to beat the current kings, the Panasonic PT-AE900U and Sanyo PLV-Z4? Who knows? But it looks to try, that’s for sure.

It goes for around $2500 MSRP, and for that money you get the above, a two year warranty and also an HDMI input.

The projector has great brightness uniformity, is really bright, and has good sharpness.

Unfortunately, Projector Central’s unit had a problem with the alignment of the 3 LCD panels, creating problems with colour and pixel structure. But theirs was a pre-production model.

Projector Central’s conclusion:

The Epson Powerlite Cinema 550 is among the strongest of the new high contrast LCD projectors released this fall. Those who make their projector selections based on manufacturer’s specs will tend to overlook the Cinema 550 with its official 3000:1 rating, and go for one of the competing units rated at 5000:1 or higher. They do so to their detriment, for the Cinema 550 is fully capable of meeting or exceeding the actual contrast, black level, and color saturation performance of the other high contrast LCDs in its price range.

Projector Review’s:

Overall, the Epson is excellent for users with mixed viewing requirements, (sports, HDTV, movies, and probably gaming), especially if you don’t want to fully darken your room. DVD’s are a little soft, but next generation DVD’s (Blu-Ray or HD-DVD) should be much sharper. For those primarily interested in DVD viewing (today’s DVD’s), however other projectors do exceed its performance. While black levels and shadow detail are very good, a few others do better.

Projector Reviews - Epson Cinema 550 Home Theater Projector Review
Projector Central - EPSON PowerLite Cinema 550

Epson announced last week that they’ll be selling two new LivingStation rear-projection LCD HDTV’s in the Japanese market.

Epson announced last week that they will be shipping two new LivingStation rear-projection LCD HDTVs for the Japanese market before the end of this year. The 55-inch ELS-55GL1 and the 65-inch ELS-65GL1 will have 1080p resolution, and memory-card slots. There’s no word yet when or if they will be available in the USA market, but since more RPTVs are sold here than anywhere else, it’s likely that they’ll show up sooner or later.

These are 1080p sets, so of course I have to wonder if they accept 1080p signals. Is this mentioned? Nope.

HDTV Almanac - Epson Announces New Rear-Projection HDTVs

What’s the world’s first HDTV show?

It’s called MariposaHD.

MariposaHD is the first free TVshow available in HDTV format. The show is about the “adventures” of the Mariposa girls and totally depends on Bittorrent as a distribution method. This is the future of TV shows, and we hope many shows will follow this great example.

It is 1920 x 1080 interlaced video, and you can get it only on Bittorrent.

Torrentfreak - World’s first free HDTV show

Superman! HD! Need I say more?

Following a mysterious absence of several years, the Man of Steel comes back to Earth in the epic action-adventure Superman Returns, a soaring new chapter in the saga of one of the world’s most beloved superheroes. While an old enemy plots to render him powerless once and for all, the woman he loves, Lois Lane, has moved on with her life.

Apple - Superman Returns

Ice Age was a movie that my kids really liked. And we didn’t mind - we liked it too even after the 17th time viewing it. I personally think it’s a very underrated movie. I’m glad to see a sequel is coming - I hope it’ll be as good as the first. And now there’s another trailer in HD.

Apple - Ice Age 2

Chronicles of Narnia has a 3rd trailer out, and it’s in HD as well.

Apple - Chronicles of Narnia

ultimate AV review the Hitachi 42HDT52 Plasma HDTV. This 42″ set comes with CableCARD, two HDMI inputs, and lists for $3,399.

This plasma has an odd resolution of 1024 by 1024. Rather strange for a 16:9 display, but that’s okay. Picture will still look great, though not as great as a 1920 x 1080 display.

This set has great screen uniformity, a common problem with other plasma displays. Deinterlacing was excellent, HD content was bright and sharp, and colour rendition was excellent.

On other hand, this set does have a problem with a bit of video noise in dark areas of an “active picture”. I think he means that it wasn’t a photo! Red push was also extreme, but that’s not the worst. The worst is the black levels, which were rather poor, affecting shadow detail. This is a common problem with plasmas, and Hitachi didn’t fix it with this one.

Ultimate AV - Hitachi 42HDT52 Plasma Television

Paramount has its feet firmly planted in both the Blu-ray camp and HD DVD camp. But until now, I wasn’t sure where DreamWorks SKG stood. Now that Paramount plans to buy them, maybe DreamWorks’ movies will be released in both Blu-ray and HD DVD.

If the acquisition goes through, Paramount would control DreamWorks’ non-animation movie production operation (its animation department has already been spun off into ‘Dreamworks Animation’ for which Paramount would have worldwide distribution rights) and its entire movie library, including “American Beauty” and “Gladiator.”

Dreamworks has been an interesting ride. Initially began as a multifaceted studio that would span television, music and movies - however nearly all of its ventures outside of the movie realm failed to produce any significant accomplishments and were mostly sold off (I guess that’s why Geffen is the last letter in SKG!)

Paramount is no stranger to working with Dreamworks, but this deal takes it a step further and solidifies some financial ties to Spielburg films, whether they are done with Paramount Pictures or not. The idea is to end the three-year slump that has plagued Paramount of late and get it back into position as a leading studio.

What are the chances?

Paramount To Buy DreamWorks for $1.5 Billion

Nope, this thing isn’t an HD DVD player or Blu-ray player. It’s the same old DVD with a twist. The twist is upconversion to 1080p. So this is one of the few sources out there for 1080p content, though it won’t be the real thing because it’s just upconverted. But still, you can test your display’s 1080p input now!

Like any newfangled player worth its salt, the DV9600 is sporting the trick video processing and scaling, with HDMI outputs connected to full 10-bit scaling and processing powered by Anchor Bay Technologies (ABT), creator of the vaunted DVDO line of video processing. In addition to 480p, 720p and 1080i outputs the DV9600 also outputs 1080p to support 1080p displays.

Ultimate AV - New 1080p DVD Player From Marantz

Lieberfarb was a great proponent of DVD when it was a new format. His advocacy helped the adoption of DVD.

Now Lieberfarb is talking about the next-gen of disc formats, and I don’t think he’s helping.

In a speech delivered at the Perspectives in European Video conference, Warren Lieberfarb said: “If I put Blu-Ray in PlayStation and I don’t license it to Microsoft for Xbox and I get all the studios to only publish in PlayStation, I’ll beat Microsoft in the next-generation games market.”

“We’ve been sucked into PlayStation versus Xbox.”

First, I’m not sure about this but I don’t think that Microsoft wanted to license Blu-ray. It’s my personal opinion that they should, and that it would be good for both Microsoft and Sony if they did. Having a Blu-ray player in the PS3 won’t win the console war for Sony. But having a Blu-ray player in the 360 as well as the PS3 would most definitely win the next-gen disc format war for Sony. No matter how good this would be for Sony, I have a feeling though that they wouldn’t do it. The same feeling I got when I thought Mac OS X should be made to work on the PS3. Just not going to happen. Which is really a shame. Some things just go together like peanut butter and chocolate.

Second, Warner Bros not getting sucked into anything. They decide what format they want to support, and if there’s a console out there that gives a format many more homes to live in, then that’s just another reason to support the format. It makes their decision easier.

Sure, they’re creating software (movies) playable in HD on the PS3 but not the 360, but that support is for the format, not the gaming console. For example, people don’t complain that Warner Bros entered the current console war by supporting Xbox and PS2 but not GameCube because the GameCube doesn’t have a built in DVD player. That’s ridiculous. They’re supporting a playback format, not a gaming console.

GamesIndustry.biz - Warner Home Video boss criticises Sony over Blu-Ray tactics

If you’re a lucky owner of an Xbox 360, then you’ll be able to download trailers in HD to your 360 and play them back over your home theater system.

Today Microsfoft announced that they will have high definition movie trailers available for download through Xbox Live Marketplace. Walt Disney Pictures are among the major studios to take advantage of this whole new advertising medium with a trailer for The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion The Witch And The Wardrobe trailer in 720p High Definition and 5.1 surround sound on Xbox 360.

How cool is that? I like to watch all the HD trailers that Apple releases on their site, and I would like even more to watch them on my home theater set up instead of on my computer. This is definitely a cool 360 feature.

Xbox Today - Movie Studios Will Offer HD Trailers On Xbox Live Marketplace