When I was a kid, our TV viewing was heavily regulated. We weren’t allowed to watch just anything. Hogan’s Heros was off-limits because it made fun of the Germans, for example. (Our family is of German heritage.) Gilligan’s Island would have been on the restricted list too, except for the fact that my parent’s couldn’t really find anything bad in it for kids. But man, this show annoyed my mom. She thought it was some of the most inane claptrap on the air.

But us kids liked it.

How would you like to see it in HD? Well, not real HD, because it wasn’t filmed in HD. But upconverted and cleaned up HD? At first I thought “Why would they bother?”. And well, I didn’t have a second thought. I kinda stayed with the first. Why would they bother? I dunno. But Warner Brothers seems to think it’s a good idea, saying “shows such as Gilligan’s Island have nostalgic value and could find a new audience among today’s younger viewers”.

Gilligan!!!

Would You Watch Gilligan’s Island In HD?

I’ve never really claimed to be anything but biased when it comes to the format war. I think BD is the format of choice and it’s still early days in the format war. While BD may have gotten off to a rocky start, there’s still a long way to go. It has more studio support and more electronics manufacturer support. Ben Drawbaugh has similar thoughts and more about why BD will win the format war, and has a lengthy write-up on HD Beat. Take a look-see. He makes some good points.

Why Blu-ray will win

There are several milestones in the development of the BD format, and we’ve long been waiating for the dual-layer promise to be fulfilled. Sony has finally accomplished at least a small part of it, though admittedly not the best part. They’ve started shipping dual-layer blank BD-R discs, with each of them going on sale for $48 per disc. The 2x media uses their AccuCORE technology to protect it from scratches or warping.

Now that they’ve delivered the dual-layer writable BD-R discs, we’re eagerly awaiting the release of some dual-layer BD movies. That’s where all the fun is, of course!

Sony shipping 50GB dual-layer Blu-ray BD-R discs

V, Inc., makers one of the more respected budget brands of HDTVs, Vizio, has released some new models that provide a stunning range of features and specs for the price point. My favorite feature that the lineup shares? All sport NTSC/ATSC/QAM tuners, making them plug and play TVs. Their highest end 42″ Gallevia GV42LHDTV has a dynamic contrast ratio of 1600:1, a plethora of inputs, and a wide 178 degree viewing angle. According to SlashGear, it sells at Sam’s Club and Costco for only $1599. They are also dropping the price of their 37″ LCD to $999, breaking that all-important $1000 price point. The barrier to entry into the HDTV world continues to drop. Perhaps we really will reach a critical mass before the mandated NTSC broadcast shutdown deadline in 2009.

Via SlashGear

V, Inc. Website

c|net has a poll going, asking people if they prefer HD DVD, Blu-ray, or if they’re sitting things out for now. Interestingly, only 25% chose Blu-ray, and only 16% chose HD DVD. The rest of the people are sitting it out, waiting for now.

I don’t really blame them. HD DVD was delayed several times before its debut, and only one manufacturer is currently making players, and it looks to stay that way for a while. HD DVD discs are currently almost at their capacity limit, and the format is just in its infancy. BD came onto the market with bad software and a faulty Samsung player. Dual-layer BD discs are just a vague promise.

The fact remains, though, that the format war is still in its infancy. More manufacturers will come online. Software will get better. Compression will get better. More titles will be released. Software will start pouring out of the floodgates, instead of the trickle we see today. People are predicting HD DVD or BD as the winner. You might as well try to predict a raindrop’s path. Impossible. One year from now, maybe two. Then we’ll see how things are going. Personally I hope that BD will win, but I really have no basis to make an accurate prediction one way or the other. And frankly, I don’t think anybody else does either.

DVD 2.0: HD-DVD and Blu-ray

If you’re a content producer, you might be able to afford this software from Sony.

The Blu-print authoring application, developed by Sony Pictures Entertainment, runs on most high-end Windows-powered workstation and enables postproduction facilities and movie production studios to utilize the advanced features of the BD-ROM format. In addition to ensuring proper encoding, users can use Blu-print to create menu navigation for their Blu-ray discs and utilize the advanced features of the format such as BDMV (Blu-ray™ Disc Movie) “popup” menus and BD-J (Blu-ray™ Disc Java) interactivity.

Blu-print is available for a measly $50,000 per license. But then, it wasn’t really meant for you or me anyway.

Sony Unveils Blu-ray Software

My wife told me the other day that Prison Break was premiering a little early - August 21st to be exact. So I had to check out the fall schedule and see what was what. I’m glad that Prison Break is in HD, of course. It’s one of the few shows that I watch. But it’s not the only one. Last season I was severely disappointed that Rogers didn’t provide me with an HD version of Smallville. The year previous to that, I watched Smallville in glorious HD, and I hope to do the same this fall. And according to the CityTV program schedule (PDF), I do indeed get to watch Smallville in HD this fall. And Battlestar Galactica to boot! Oh what a happy day.

‘Smallville,’ ‘West Wing’ to Make HD DVD Debut?

Thomas J. Norton at Ultimate AV took an in-depth look at Sony’s BRAVIA KDL-46XBR2 LCD HDTV, and he likes what he sees. Life is full of coincidences, because just yesterday Tosh, a reader at PS3Blog.net, was saying that he’d like to buy the KDL-46XBR2.

According to Mr. Norton, Tosh would be getting a very nice LCD. Not only is the design very pleasing to the eye, but the picture quality is pleasing as well. As a matter of fact, Mr. Norton says that this set really knocked him out, despite a few quibbles.

This is a 1080p set that can accept 1080p/60 (but not 1080p/24) on its HDMI inputs. It has good blacks (for an LCD). But this set’s MSRP is $4300, which is quite expensive. (Though you can probably get it cheaper.) Personally, I’d go for one of Sony’s SXRD sets, like the KDS-60A2000 which is 60″ and whose MSRP is $3700.

Ultimate AV: Sony BRAVIA KDL-46XBR2 LCD Digital Color TV

An Israeli startup company, Amimon has raised a total of $21 million in venture capital to help fund their chipset designed to transport HDTV around the home wirelessly. This kind of technology has enormous potential, and will undoubtedly spur a huge crop of new products making enthusiasts and custom installers alike very happy. The technology allows for streaming rates up to 3Gbps, which is enough for 1080p HDTV. The standard, dubbed WHDI (Wireless High Definition Interface) could be placed in HDTVs directly, bypassing the need for external boxes. Thus, as with a matrix switch, you could consolidate your sources into one rack and stream them wirelessly throughout the home. The current costs associated with having multiple HD cable or satellite boxes include both a rental and programming fee, and can add up quite a bit if you want to have HD on more than one TV. The ability to cut those costs while still having HD content available to you anywhere in your home is a fantastic proposition. I can’t wait to see this technology mature!

Via Silicon News

Amimon’s Website