DVD

Format Wars: A Format Dies!

- by Avi Greengart - 1 Comment

Yes, at long last, the industry is consolidating the number of media types for pre-recorded movies… unfortunately, it looks like both Blu-Ray and HD-DVD will be launched as is, without any compromise.  This really isn’t all that unexpected, given the jockeying back and forth lately: Blu-Ray announced that its media can be manufactured inexpensively (which was supposed to be a key HD-DVD advantage) and HD-DVD announced 45GB capacity versions (nearly matching Blu-Ray’s 50GB storage, which was supposed to be a key Blu-Ray advantage).  But the two formats are fundamentally different at a technical level.  For example, the laser reads a …

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Industry

Engadget’s Walk Down Memory Lane

- by Avi Greengart - Leave a Comment

Engadget unceremoniously posted a version of its witty, sardonic take on all things gadgety (including some home theater content) circa 1985, as if Engadget started out as a BBS (Bulletin Board System – a pre-pre-pre-cursor to web sites).  Was today April 1, and I missed the memo?  This is brilliant, brilliant stuff.  Of course, there wasn’t much of a home theater industry back in 1985 – which in and of itself is interesting, showing just how fast this market has grown.  The best you could do then was HiFi VHS and a 35" TV — RPTVs were just too dim …

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Accessories / Computing

Media Center PC, Part 2: Logitech Harmony 680

- by Avi Greengart - 2 Comments.

This is the second in a series on experiences using and enhancing Windows XP Media Center for home theater. To control my Media Center, I have two remote controls: one for the audio system, and one for the Media Center itself. (As mentioned last time, I also use the media control buttons from the Logitech DiNovo media pad as a remote of sorts).  While this is an extremely basic setup – no plasma TV, no audio receiver, no light control – it still seemed like two remote controls for one desk was overkill, and I had a Logitech Harmony 680 …

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Computing / HDTV

The XP Media Center PC Experience

- by Avi Greengart - 3 Comments.

This is the first in a series on experiences using and enhancing Windows XP Media Center for home theater. When I needed to upgrade my home office PC earlier this year, I chose to buy a Media Center PC because of the endless testing possibilities it offers.  At the time, the Orb service, which lets you stream content from your PC to any Internet connected device, only worked on Media Center PCs (it still requires a PC with a TV tuner card to be compelling).  Media Center extenders require a Media Center PC as a hub (though I currently use …

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Displays / HDTV / Industry

Woot.com Sells $1.3 million in TVs over 22 Hours

- by Avi Greengart - 2 Comments.

Woot.com has built on its relationship with InFocus and yesterday the one-item-per-day online outlet store flexed the power of its unique retail model: it sold out an allotment of 450 new (not refurbished) 61" ultrathin (6.85" deep) DLP RPTVs over 22 hours for $3000 each.  InFocus sweetened the deal further with a $500 rebate.  This TV typically cost $5,000 – $8,000, and includes 2 ATSC tuners, an NTSC tuner, a Windows CE-based web browser, and all the trimmings. With woot’s flat $5 shipping, this leads to some remarkable statistics: Item Quantity: 450 Item Price: $2,999.99 Total Sold: $1,349,995.50 Last Order …

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Audio

Atlantic Tech branches out(side)

- by Avi Greengart - Leave a Comment

More coping with the death of audio: most speaker manufacturers long ago moved out of the room and into the walls, so where’s the next growth area after in-wall speakers?  Atlantic Technology is going outside, introducing its first indoor/outdoor speaker, the AW-424.  The $399/pair AW-424 is a relatively normal looking speaker – not a fake rock or a planter.  Still it does have some features specific to the environment, such as drainage channels in the terminal well to keep water from collecting around the connections. -avi

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Accessories / Audio / Displays / Industry

Coping with the Death of Audio

- by Avi Greengart - Leave a Comment

At a macro level, it’s pretty clear that audio component sales are dropping, while displays – flat panel and DLP rear projection sets in particular – are consuming the bulk of consumer outlays.  So what is a company that specializes in selling high end audio components to do?  Audio Advisor started out as a catalog retailer of high end audio toys (they’re now on the Internet as well), and each catalog used to feature pages after page of amps, preamps, integrated amps, high end CD players, extremely expensive record players for analog lovers, and digital audio doodads that supposedly improved …

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Computing / Industry

When the walls are open, Microsoft’s moving in

- by Avi Greengart - Leave a Comment

I was at Microsoft’s Preview Day today in New York, which for me was largely about mobile devices (see my bio). One thing that came across clearly, however, was the centrality of Windows XP Media Center (XP MCE) to Microsoft’s overall consumer plans.  This reminded me of an interesting case study in Digital Connect about a custom installer, Silicon East, which has a somewhat unique specialty putting systems into new construction. That’s nothing new – when the walls are open, it’s the best time to put in home networking gear, and the walls are never more open than during new …

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HDTV

HDTV and Plastic Surgery

- by Avi Greengart - Leave a Comment

I maintain that the worst thing to hit to our "national pastime" (officially still baseball) is not steroid abuse, but HDTV. In high resolution closeups, players spitting chewing tobacco and "adjusting themselves" is far more offensive than Super Bowl halftime shows or Desperate Housewives previews. In a high def world, certain things have to change: performance enhancing drugs are fine – until they kill the athletes, they make their muscles look nice and ripped. But chaw, and polyester pants that gather in the crotch? Those have to go. It’s not that HDTV has so much resolution that you can see …

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