Matt Burns
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Matt Burns is a person that you can go to when any advice is needed about TVs or audio equipment. He is that guy that just seems to know about almost everything and if he doesn't, he will later. Matt has been selling consumer electronics at one of the nations largest electronic stores for over five years and specifically TVs for the last two. He understands that the world of HDTV can be overwhelming and frustrating at times and he is here to help.
by Matt Burns Oct 22nd 2007 @ 7:57AM
Hanging a flat-panel on a wall these days is middle-class. Sure, you can
frame the TV,
add artwork, or even
hide the display with mirrors, but it's still there. That's why K2 Mounts and MK 1 Studio developed what is safe to say, a unique AV rack, for the affluent types. Mounted underneath the box spring, the rack can hold two set-top boxes, subwoofer, AV receiver, and, of course, the display -- 42-inch under a queen and 50-inch under a king. But with a click of a button, the display rolls out from under the bed and rises into view during an anticlimactic 32-seconds sequence. No word on pricing just yet, but expect to find the rack through
CEDIA installers and integrators. Click through the link to see this mount here first before some rap'n superstar shows it off on
Cribs next year.
by Matt Burns Oct 19th 2007 @ 8:53AM
The
BBC have been testing a dedicated high-def station, which should end in November '07, to determine if they need a dedication high-def station -- hellz yeah, they do. BBC HD seems to have a mash-up lineup similar to
Discovery HD Theater with shows from other BBC channels all merged into one dedicated mega-channel. Currently, BBC is taking 50% of their content from BBC One, 30% from BBC Two and the other 20% is coming from BBC's other digital channels making up the high definition station that will launch in 2012. The programming seems to be there and we sure know people want
HDTV, so why the wait for the British digital switch-over in 2012? It doesn't sound like BBC HD needs more testing, cut through the red tape and just launch the channel to high-def starved Brits already.
by Matt Burns Oct 19th 2007 @ 7:45AM
Just in time for another season,
Dish Network adds the National Hockey League Network to their always-growing HD lineup. NHL HD will sport 50 live regular-season games, classic games, documentaries, and how-to shows; we're wondering how much of the extra features will be in high-def however. The station is already live on channel 403 and 559 for subs with America's Top 100 package or the NHL Center Ice subscription respectively. This new station should calm rabid Hockey fans but they do hold Hockey's dirty, little high-def secret: the sport is, arguably, the best looking programming in high definition.
by Matt Burns Oct 18th 2007 @ 9:15AM
Boy, all these new high-def
scoreboards is a trend we can really dig. Next up on the construction list is Camden Yards with their $9 million AV upgrades including a new sound system, control room, upgrades on the ribbon scoreboards and of course, the 16x9 HD screen. The ribbon cutting is expected in time for the '08 Oriole's season and reportedly, right before the 15-year-old Sony JumboTron (pictured) losses its last leg -- and last replacement part. Right now, it seems stadiums aren't concerned about sheer size anymore -- by our records, a Tokyo racetrack still holds the size title at
221-feet diagonal -- but keeping up with the Joneses and simply have a high-def scoreboard to call their own.
by Matt Burns Oct 18th 2007 @ 8:24AM
High-def owners living down-under now have the freedom of choice at JB Hi-Fi stores. The Australian electronics shop was previous
Blu-ray /
Sony exclusive, but according to their marketing director, it was the landmark
Paramount deal that opened the door for
HD DVD. No word on their sales format over format, but the addition of the HD DVD seems to suggest that Blu-ray wasn't selling 'nough and they need to something to spur high-def media sales. Most fanboys can agree that in the end, folks just want high-def movies on their HDTV, and this pesky format war is just getting in the way.
by Matt Burns Oct 18th 2007 @ 7:39AM
Orlando residents are going to have a choice when it comes to local high-def news when WESH flips the switch on November 1. Back in June of '06,
ABC-affiliate
WFTV switched on the high-def local feed but within a few days,
NBC-affiliate expects to broadcast 35 hours a week of HD local goodness. We can't nail down their exact budget - tends to be in the millions - the station invested heavily into onscreen graphics. For now, Orlandians will have to wait for their other network stations, WKMG and WOFL, to nail down plans but with two networks in the local news biz, they have more choices than most Americans.
by Matt Burns Oct 17th 2007 @ 11:40PM
Guess who has a swanky new website? The
Blu-ray Disc Association just launched a revamped site promoting a its high-def format and it sure looks nice. Sure, not everyone will be as excited about this as others but for those looking for an extensive list of hardware and titles, this is the place to go. Just like every other promotional site in the vast space we call the Internet, there is a newsletter, trailers and clips, latest news and of course, a tech support site - really just a link to the manufacturers support sites. HD DVD peeps need not apply but for those that bleed Blu, this is for you.
by Matt Burns Oct 17th 2007 @ 8:29PM
Traveling during football season? Hyatt Place's Sports Package has everything for us sports and high-def fans need to enjoy college / pro football. They allow guests to check in earlier and stay later, give 'em a bigger room with an eight-foot sectional couch, a choice of either the college or pro DirecTV package, and even a pizza with two 20 oz. beverages (read: non-alcoholic). The package is available now through December 30, 2007 - bowl games and the Play-Offs are on national stations after that anyways - at 70 Hyatt Places nationwide.
by Matt Burns Oct 17th 2007 @ 7:51PM
Texas Instruments has launched their latest low-cost
DaVinci MPEG-4 video encoder / decoder intended to bring high-def to a new product set. The $12 DM355 handles
MPEG-4 and
JPEG processing on an ARM9E CPU core with uber-low power consumption making it perfect for digital photo frames, IP video cameras, digital still cameras and even video baby monitors. If that's not enough, the chip is also equipped with additional coprocessors for resizing, histogram generation and an on-screen display. The low-cost chip of course has its limitations as it cannot encode and decode at the same time but it should work just fine for the stated on-way applications. Oh, and yes, a high-def baby monitor is a good investment even though the old one works fine.
by Matt Burns Oct 17th 2007 @ 6:57PM
While
LCD and
plasmas boost amazing display tech, they both have a vulnerability 'bout the size of a womp rat - their screen. Plasma screens tends to be rock-solid kid-proof however they produces a good amount of glare, where LCDs don't suffer from glare; their screens aren't exactly dense. Therefore, the savior of flat-screens just might lie with Wolverine Data's ProShield. This cure-all claims to eliminate all glare, increase screen contrast, and is of course, is scratch / impact resistant up to 150 mph. We're not exactly sure if this product is simply clear, flat snake oil but with prices starting out at $99 for the 37-inch size, any parent with a flat-screen, might wanna take the chance.
[via
TV Snob]
by Matt Burns Oct 17th 2007 @ 6:00PM
There is simply nothing worse than leaving the comfort of your own high-def home theater and spending hard cash at a local cinema that sports projectors from the 90's. Thankfully,
Texas Instruments DLP magic has infiltrated at least 5,000 theaters world-wide providing what we HD geeks need out of a movie going experience. So far there are DLP-equipped theater on every continent, save Antarctica, and they expect to double their install base to 10,000 one year from now. Plus, DLP Cinema has found a niche market in the revival of 3D films and is one of the chief reasons for their installations. If your not lucky 'nough to have a dedicated home theater yet, the shear number of these theaters indicate that there probably is a
DLP Cinema close by anyways.
by Matt Burns Oct 17th 2007 @ 4:46PM
We doubt anyone has every looked at their cable box and thought, "You know what this set-top box needs - finger painting." What do we know though; they say Brits have a higher sense of style than we do here in the States. These set-top boxes from
Sky are designed by Christopher Brooke and Bruno Basso and will be available in five styles for £199 to £299 with a Sky HD subscription. We have to ask though, are you suppose to sit these boxes on your A/V rack or do they come with a wall mount?
by Matt Burns Oct 17th 2007 @ 3:23PM
Have you eye on a
Syntax-Brillian LCoS? Well, you might want to jump on it a bit quicker now that they are pulling out of the business to concentrate in the crowded LCD market.
Syntax-Brillian not only sells these rear-projection sets, but also manufacturers the
LCoS microdisplays and light engines.so we aren't clear on how this will affect the rest of the LCoS market, but the
RPTV market is shrinking as fast as the flat-panel market is growing. People want thin before size and we're sure that this won't be the last manufacturer calling it quits on the rear projection market.
by Matt Burns Oct 17th 2007 @ 1:48PM
Best Buy is saying sayonara to analog TVs by announcing that it has pulled all analog sets from its shelves, which marks the first time a big box retailer of this magnitude has publicly announced an exit from the analog TV biz. Of course, this decision now enables the firm to shamelessly proclaim that any television purchased within the confines of its brick and mortar walls will work in the
all-digital future -- and for those not willing to pick up a new set, it also stated that it will be participating in the NTIA DTV Converter Box
Coupon Program starting early next year. At first glance, the announcement sounds like much needed progress towards getting folks ready for the 2009
switchover, but for moms and pops scouting a 13-inch analog CRT on the cheap for that garage / playroom, it looks like you'll be "forced" to check out one with a digital tuner... or an LCD. As if you needed another excuse, right?
by Matt Burns Oct 17th 2007 @ 12:17PM
Everyone knows that flat-panel TVs are the way of the future and
Sony is expanding their manufacturing capabilities in
Europe. Many consumers are under the impression that all things electronic is built in some Asian facility but in fact, a good amount of flat panels come from Europe. Sony's latest plant just opened in Nitra, Slovakia and should pump out three million high-end
Bravia LCD TVs each year. The best news is that as manufacturers such as Sony expands their production base, the overall cost of these sets should decrease more rapidly resulting in more flat-panels for everyone.
