Richard Lawler
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Richard Lawler is used to being on the bleeding edge of technology, he can usually be found with a cellphone that does everything except make or receive phone calls, an Xbox that no longer plays games, and a car that's not running, but has slightly more speakers than the indigenous North American language "Onandoga". He can usually be found extolling the virtues of the Phantom game system for any and all who will listen on the High-tech boards of Okayplayer.com that he also moderates. He's not as much of an HD addict as Kevin, but he's probably seen Sunrise Earth on Discovery HD more times than he's seen a real sunrise in the last year.
by Richard Lawler Sep 7th 2008 @ 10:42PM
We know, you're all
politics, sports, tech and other "serious" subjects when it comes to your HDTV programming schedule, it's just you have this...friend who watches daytime syndicated programming. Tell your "friend" that talk show hosts
Ellen, Oprah (only a year after
initially rumored) and Dr. Phil will all make the jump to glorious high definition. Later in the day,
Entertainment Tonight and
The Insider make the jump to 720p/1080i (depending on your local station and if they're
ready to handle syndicated HD at all), complete with newly built sets and likely a few extra layers of makeup. Anything else your "friend" is still waiting to see get a resolution bump? Check after the break for a video tour of ET's new HDTV-ready digs.
Read - Dr. Phil
Read - Entertainment Tonight & The Insider
by Richard Lawler Sep 7th 2008 @ 5:41PM
What we're watching tonight:
- MTV (1080i) has the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards at 9 p.m.
- ABC Family (720p) brings the season finale of Samurai Girl at 8 & 9 p.m.
- HBO (1080i) presents the series premiere of True Blood at 9 p.m. and Entourage at 10 p.m.
- History (720p) has the season finale of Ice Road Truckers at 9 p.m. and the series premiere of Sandhogs at 10 p.m.
- NBC (1080i) has Sunday Night Football with Bears/Colts at 8:15 p.m.
- TLC (1080i) presents Painted Babies 2 at 9 p.m. and Toddlers & Tiaras at 10 p.m.
- AMC (1080i) drops in Mad Men at 10 p.m.
- ESPN HD (720p) has MLB action with Phillies/Mets at 8 p.m.
by Richard Lawler Sep 6th 2008 @ 7:57PM
What we're watching tonight:
- CBS (1080i) has U.S. Open Tennis at 8 p.m.
- Fox (720p) brings the season premiere of Cops at 8 & 8:30 p.m.
- ABC Family (720p) drops in Samurai Girl at 8 & 9 p.m.
- TLC (1080i) brings Hope for Your Home at 8 p.m.
- Cinemax (1080i) has The Bourne Ultimatum at 10 p.m.
- ESPN HD (720p) presents Florida/Miami college football at 8 p.m.
- ESPN2 HD (720p) has Texas/UTEP college football at 10:15 p.m.
- HBO (1080i) presents Boxing After Dark at 10:15 p.m.
- FSN HD (720p) brings Stanford/Arizona State college football at 10 p.m.
by Richard Lawler Sep 5th 2008 @ 7:03PM
What we're watching tonight:
- ABC, NBC & CBS feature Stand Up to Cancer at 8 p.m.
- ABC Family (720p) premieres Samurai Girl at 8 & 9 p.m.
- CW (1080i) has WWE: SmackDown at 8 p.m.
- Discovery (1080i) has Discovery Project Earth at 9 & 10 p.m.
- USA (1080i) has Monk at 9 p.m. and Psych at 10 p.m.
- Sci Fi (1080i) has Stargate Atlantis at 10 p.m.
- CBS (1080i) brings the season finale of Swingtown at 10 p.m.
- TLC (1080i) lines up What Not to Wear at 9 p.m., Say Yes to the Dress and Rock the Reception
- ESPN HD (720p) brings college football with Navy/Ball State at 7 p.m. followed by MLB with Diamodbacks/Dodgers at 10 p.m.
by Richard Lawler Sep 5th 2008 @ 4:19AM
Check a few more areas off of DirecTV's
summer hit list, with the Little Rock-Pine Bluff, Arkansas, Springfield Missouri and Baton Rouge, Louisiana markets all experiencing HD locals starting today. According to the satellite company, that adds up to 85 cities and 78 percent of U.S. households served, with 36 more markets to add before the end of the year. The long list continues to unfurl, we're guessing
DirecTV had a pretty awesome "what I did over my summer vacation" story for the rest of the class.
Read - Little Rock-Pine Bluff
Read - Springfield
Read - Baton Rouge
by Richard Lawler Sep 4th 2008 @ 8:20PM
Add two stations to
Project Infinity,
Comcast has -- after
several years of battling -- signed up
Mark Cuban's HDNet and HDNet Movies, plus a free video on-demand package. Specifics on when the channels should go live in your area weren't noted, only that the cable company plans to increase its carriage of the two networks over the next year. Hopefully Comcast subscribers will get a (
non-bandwidth starved) peek at Dan Rather, HDNet Fights,
early movie premieres and more before tru2way and switched digital video roll out, but we can't be sure.
by Richard Lawler Sep 4th 2008 @ 4:58PM
What we're watching tonight:
- NBC (1080i) brings the start of the NFL season with Giants/Redskins at 7 p.m.
- USA (1080i) has U.S. Open tennis at 7 p.m.
- Discovery (1080i) has Some Assembly Required at 8 & 8:30 p.m. followed by Destroyed in Seconds at 9 p.m.
- ABC, CBS, CNN NBC, PBS has the Republican National Convention at 10 p.m.
- A&E (720p) brings Jacked: Auto Theft Task Force at 10 p.m.
- Showtime (1080i) premieres Russell Peters: Red, White & Brown at 10 p.m.
- ESPN HD (720p) has college football with South Carolina/Vanderbilt at 8:30 p.m.
- ESPN2 HD (720p) drops in MLS action with Colorado Rapids/FC Dallas at 8:30 p.m.
- ESPNU HD (&20p) features Florida A&M/Delaware State college football at 7:30 p.m.
by Richard Lawler Sep 4th 2008 @ 12:39PM
Those heading to CEDIA, keep your eyes peeled for something never before seen: a
Panasonic tru2way plasma connected to the local Comcast cable system. Despite some differing opinions on the two-way cable standard, actually seeing it
working off of the same line that could be running to your living room is a big step. On deck for CEDIA is a display of the
Comcast EPG and TV on-demand. The downside is all that functionality could add up to a $300 or so premium over non-
tru2way HDTVs, although cable companies could help pick up some of that tab with promotions and rebates. We'll get to decide if it's worth it soon, Panasonic VP Bob Perry told CEPro we can expect the 50-incher on display to hit shelves in time for the holiday season.
by Richard Lawler Sep 4th 2008 @ 11:42AM
The Pioneer Elite
BDP-09FD Blu-ray player -- its first with BD-Live, featuring 4GB of storage -- is finally official. Blu-ray discs will have their video treated to Pioneer's 16-bit video processor, Marvell QDEO and Renesas processing, including 24p support, plus the company's Adaptive bit Length Expansion that claims it restores 8-bit color on disc to the original 16-bit studio master. The audio side is treated to eight Wolfson Audio DACs, delivering full decoding and bit-stream output for all those high-res audio formats the kids like so much in a truly superior fashion. Dual HDMI 1.3a outputs capable of splitting or duplicating the workload, RS-232C control and heavy solid steel construction just further the point -- if you'd like to pay more than the price of a PS3 for a fully featured Blu-ray player, here's a good reason. The only truly sad news is that the $2,199 price and "2008" release date remain unchanged.
by Richard Lawler Sep 4th 2008 @ 10:46AM
Pioneer's top of the line
Elite Signature Series Kuro plasmas are finally officially priced and shipping, but make a decision quick, word on the street is these "limited run" screens have been finding their way into more than a few installers pipelines over the last few weeks. At 2.5-inches thick, these panels -- hand selected for the deepest blacks and accurate colors --- will fit anywhere you'd like to have them installed, and each unique serial number gives access to a Pioneer website for that specific monitor's certified factory white balance setting. A slew of tweaks and calibrations for your guy to run through when he's putting this in are also part of the package, ultimately contributing to a $5,500 (PRO-101FD, 50-inch) or $7,000 (PRO-141FD, 60-inch) price tag. Pros only, please.
by Richard Lawler Sep 4th 2008 @ 9:50AM
Hitachi's "
UltraThin" line of TVs might not be the skinniest on the block
anymore, but a new top of the line 50-inch plasma (
CES prototype pictured above) keeps the size crown in their camp. Expect the
Thin is In tagline to be a centerpiece for Hitachi's booth at CEDIA, we'll try to get some specs and in person pics (including the ubiquitous iPhone comparo) when we stop by later.
by Richard Lawler Sep 4th 2008 @ 8:09AM
There's no doubt about it, according to a survey by New Corporation subsidiary NDS Group -- you can't live without your DVR. In numbers that likely surprise absolutely no one who has almost forgotten what it was like to have to watch TV only when it aired, DVR owners ranked it second only to cellphones as a tech item they can't live without. That device might be saving your relationship as well (clearly they were not witness to our who-deleted-the-
BSG-season-finale breakup of spring '07), with owners saying it makes for a happy home life. Of course, since NDS makes DVRs, we understand why they'd want to make sure everyone knows how vital they've become. More numbers are available past the read link, we'd delve deeper into them but this season pass of
Futurama isn't going to watch itself.
by Richard Lawler Sep 4th 2008 @ 1:01AM
It's official, Amazon has moved
Unbox-replacement
Amazon Video on Demand out of beta for Mac and PC users, while
confirming rumors the still-in-beta BRAVIA
Internet Video Link service is open to all Sony HDTV owners. The streaming option (you can still download and watch via Unbox on PC or TiVo, and no matter how they're purchased, content is added to the Your Video Library accessible from the web or IVL) gives Amazon that critical buy-now / watch-immediately element some other online stores lack, for its library of 40,000 licensed movies and shows. Prices start at $1.99 for single episodes of TV shows and at least $2.99 for movies -- with savings available on season passes, now all we need to keep an eye on is the bandwidth
meter.
by Richard Lawler Sep 3rd 2008 @ 6:46PM
What we're watching tonight:
- USA (1080i) has U.S. Open Tennis quarterfinals at 7 p.m.
- Fox (720p) brings the season premiere of Bones at 8 p.m.
- Discovery (1080i) has NextWorld at 8 p.m., Mythbusters at 9 p.m. and Man vs. Wild at 10 p.m.
- Sci Fi (1080i) drops in the season premiere of Ghost Hunters at 9 p.m. followed by the season premiere of Destination Truth at 10 p.m.
- FX (720p) has the series premiere of Sons of Anarchy at 10 p.m.
- ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC & PBS bring the Republican National Convention at 10 p.m.
- History (720p) has Jurassic Fight Club at 10 p.m.
- ESPN HD (720p) has Yankees/Rays at 7 p.m.
by Richard Lawler Sep 3rd 2008 @ 8:16AM
Japan has only a few weeks to prepare for the latest Sony 6X Blu-ray recorders, ready to hit the streets in a wide array of sizes and features. All pack BD-Live support as well as the company's latest "CREAS" upscaling technology --
Resolution+ vs. CREAS, fight! -- promising 14-bit "HD Reality enhancement" and "Super Bit Mapping for video" with only high end X series models seen fit to include DRC-MFv3 image processing already seen in the latest BRAVIA LCDs, plus the ability to transcode and transfer video to PSP / phone / walkman. From the high end BDZ-X100 (1 TB, ¥280,000, $2,574 U.S., September 27, pictured) to the bottom BDZ-T55 (320GB, ¥110,000, $1,011 U.S., October 10) there's a DVR to fit your
15 h.264 HD channels in here somewhere. wondering about a U.S. release? Don't hold your breath.
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