Hello everyone. After almost two years on the net blogging all about things related to HD television and movies, etc, I think it’s finally time I close this site. It’s just taking too much of my time, so I will no longer be updating HDBlog.net with any news. I will, however, leave this site up as a reference. (For a while at least.)

So barring any purchase offers, you won’t be seeing any news here anymore.

Thanks for reading.

It may come as no surprise that the other format war (VHS/Beta) was supposedly decided by the porn industry and the availability of porn on VHS.

Today, with the new format war, everyone is looking at this as the new litmus test and if it will decide which side wins.

I beg to differ. Porn is a $10 billion industry. $10 Bil is not something to be sneezed at, but today people can get their porn in many ways. Internet, DVD, cell phones, you name it. Back in the VHS days there were only peep shows, XXX theaters, and HBO. VHS revolutionized the privacy of watching porn. Now that revolution is over. People can now get porn anytime, and with services like TOR, anywhere (even work).

So my prediction is that the porn industry this time around will be just another player like Time/Warner. They’ll produce for both formats and eventually will choose one, but the winner of the format war will be decided well before these guys choose. Who knows the winner may be streaming video?

Slashdot | Porn Industry May Not Decide Format War

So it seems one of my predictions is coming true. I did predict that the PS3 would boost Blu-ray sales and now we have some hard facts that this is the case.

Videoscan says that Blu-Ray is outselling HD DVD right now at a 2:1 margin. This is despite either format coming out with a killer disc during this time.

Now in February Blu-ray will bypass HD DVD in number of titles.

It took a little while to get the steam train rolling, but I predict that by mid February there will be no looking back.

Finally: VideoScan Releases High-Def Disc Sales Numbers | High-Def Digest

So watching the State of the Union address last night was a hoot.

There was definitely some major filtering going on to reduce wrinkles, and what was Nancy Pelosi doing back there? Chewing her cud?

Anyway, back to the feeds. All of them looked good, but the overlay graphics were the big problem. I didn’t like CBS taking up the bottom quarter with that huge moving flagish thing. NBC I thought was second with a smaller less intrusive flag and the best was HDNet which just got out of the way and had a small bug in the corner. I didn’t check the ABC feed.

The sound was good on all feeds throughout the speech but what was that noise on HDNet at the end of the speech? It sounded like someone inside tin cans clapping. Very weird.

Anyway, This just goes to show that HD is still being tested and broadcasters still have a thing or two to learn.

The State of the Union address here in the US gives those of us with HDTV’s a chance to see which channel has the best picture and sound.

This is because all the networks will be getting a pooled feed from one camera.

So pull up a chair and get that channel surfing remote out. Engadgethd will have a poll tomorrow to find out which is the best.

Why you should check out the State of the Union Address - Engadget HD

If you didn’t get to go to CES 2007 to see what all the hoopla was about, you’re in luck. IGN and HDTVExpert have both given us some summaries of the event.

Check it out for TI’s response to the flat panel, and more.

HDTVexpert — What You Really Need To Know About CES 2006
IGN: CES 2007: Post Show Wrap-Up: HDTV

OK so maybe not a full disappointment, but for me I was looking for only one thing at CES. A pioneer line of receivers that could do DTS-HD, DD +, and lossless audio with HDMI 1.3.

Simple request. No?

Denon may be vague about ship dates or prices for their receivers, but at least they say they are going to do it.

Maybe my money will be going to Denon this year.

Pioneer Announces Four Low to High-End A/V Receivers - Gizmodo

OK we know the limit of HDMI is 15M or for us trolls south of the Canadian border 45 feet. Even with these specs you usually need a pretty thick cable to get that run without any “sparkles”.

So now comes Phillips with Wireless HDMI that runs on UWB (Ultra Wideband) so it shouldn’t interfere with all your wireless networking.

Look for it in the second quarter in the $250-$300 range.

Philips intros Wireless HDMI - Engadget HD

OK, I haven’t posted for a week and I feel like if I don’t get something out to the masses I’ll explode. So here goes.

My PS3 is awesome. Works great and Blu-Ray is a dream. Almost all titles have been good except X-men 3. My wife kept asking if there was something wrong with the player, but when I popped Superman returns in she said “Yeah, that’s what it’s suppose to look like”. I think the studios are still futzing with the settings on their new fangled hi-def equipment.

Now most of you know I have a Runco CL-410. Great projector for upconversion. Not so good with true hi-def. I see lines in some of the shrubs on Motorstorm. I may have to upgrade to “true” 1080p next year (Don’t tell the wife :>)

I tried the PSP remote play with one of my nephews PSPs thinking it would be something where I could remotely play PS3 games. No love. It just plays media like stored videos, pictures, and music. It kept dropping out even when I messed with the reponse time on the PSP, and sitting in the same room! I can play a file off of my server in my house, why can’t I hear music in the same room? The movie trailers were cool, but I think more could have been done on the PS3 side to downconvert these then send them (not stream them) to the PSP. I sure home Sony has as large team working out these kinks.

PS2 titles are not as good as they could be. I am worried though because as most of you know Sony bolted on a PS2 inside the PS3. I think that is why they are having trouble with pumping the resolution through HDMI and also why this may not be able to be fixed with a patch. HDMI didn’t exist in the PS2. What scares me is Sony coming out with a PS3.5 with the PS2 being emulated and PS2 games looking great because then the video hardware for the PS3 can be used. Stay tuned.

On another note, I think you guys (and gals) already know about the Denon receivers coming out next year with HDMI 1.3 support. It is just days away from CES 2k7 and I still don’t see any other receiver manufacturer announcing their lineup. I sure hope the field isn’t dry in this respect (Come on Pioneer!).

Lastly I want to comment on the “shortage” of PS3s. I got mine just a few weeks after launch. No problems. Went to a BB, CC and Walmart over the weekend. Counted over 50 PS3s on the shelves. I think some as consumers thought it was a bad move on Sony’s part to put a high price on their units. I think it was brilliant. It short circuited the bundling and scalping because your average 12 year old doesn’t have $800 (PS3, game or two and some accessories) just laying around. The most under reported item I see is the lack of Wii’s on the shelves. I haven’t seen a one since launch. If your counting, there are now more PS3 out there than Wiis. Maybe there was something to the story of the Sony manufacturer that was sabotaged this fall because they certainly have been able to pump them into the channel all through December. I even got my PS3 remote this past weekend at CC.

Well we hope to have a lot more to say in the next few days as press releases come out prior to CES.

Peace and gaming,

Mole

Hello everyone! It’s been a lot of fun doing HDBlog this year, thank-you for reading. It’s Christmas time, and I’ll be taking about two weeks off from HDBlog.net for the holidays. So come back around January 5th or so, and you’ll see regular updates again!

Merry Christmas everyone, and have a happy new year!

Because the PS3 (which I hope to get mine today) has HDMI 1.3 in it, the PS3 is positioned to be “the” blu-ray player for a while. Really with the 60GB model having WiFi and card readers, plus USB plugins, and the possibility of homegrown device drivers to support almost any hardware, the PS3 really could be positioned to be the media hub in your home theater.

I know it will be mine for the next few years.

All Blu-ray players bow to the PlayStation 3?

This is just nuts with a captial N.

The MPAA in their infinite wisdom wants every person with at 29″ or larger TV with a stereo system to register with them for $50 or face fines of $500,000 per movie shown.

They also want manufacturers to put in technology to count people who are watching a movie and send it to the MPAA.

Of course, this is listed as satire, but who knows what the MPAA has up it’s sleeves.

MPAA Goes After Home Entertainment Systems

In honour of Thanksgiving, Swanni has put out a list of 10 HDTV Turkeys for the year.

1. CBS
   For only displaying 3 HD football games each week.
2. U.S. Congress
   For generally screwing up on the digital transition.
3. EDTV Makers
   For confusing consumers.
4. 1080p HDTV Makers
   For making you think that anything else isn’t HD.
5. Sony & Toshiba
   For the format war.
6. Cox
   Just for being another cable operator. Which means they do really annoying things.
7. DIRECTV
   For blacking out an HD channel every Sunday to give bandwidth to NFL Sunday Ticket.
8. Sony
   For releasing a BD player that’s way too expensive and for the low PS3 shipment quantities. (Yeah, like they wanted to come up short!)
9. TiVo
   For releasing an HD PVR that’s way too expensive.
10. Retailers
    For promoting the most expensive HDTV’s they sell.

What do ya think?

The 10 Turkeys of High-Definition TV!