JVC seemed pretty proud of its LT-42WX70 back at CES, and while some may consider this unit's main selling point a fillip, graphic professionals will likely disagree. The Xiview LT-42WX7 is a 42-inch 120Hz 1080p panel which targets imaging junkies and those who just can't get enough of those wild, vivacious colors seen in Family Guy re-runs. Said display covers 96 percent of the Adobe RGB color space, theoretically making it suitable for image editing. If you're buying all that, you can voice your support right now with $2,399.95. Full release is after the break.

This one's been on the books since September of 2007. Now it looks like the first retail product based on Intel's Canmore System on Chip (SoC), aka the CE 3100, will take its first step into the spotlight at Computex with this "ready-to-market" Mediaconnect TV. The highly customizable Mini ITX device runs a Linux-based Metroconnect OS that supports all the major video codecs and Dobly Digital/DTS decoding over 7.1 channels -- the CE 3100 then acts to hardware accelerate sourced 1080p video stored locally or streamed over DLNA / uPnP from anywhere in the house over fixed gigabit Ethernet. Standard features include a pair of USB 2.0 ports, HDMI 1.3a/component/composite and TOSLINK jacks, an SD/MMC card reader, and up to 2TB of on-board (SATA) storage. The box itself is highly customizable with options to include UMTS/HSUPA radios, DVB T/C/S tuners, Bluetooth (for mouse and keyboard), and 802.11n WiFi to take your media streaming wireless. It even features a webcam of unspecified quality. The built-in web browser with Adobe Flash 9.0 support means all the Hulu you can eat and optional dual DVB-T tuners will give you simultaneous over the air TV reception and recording. It remains to be seen how much of this customization will be made available direct to consumers as opposed to the cable companies and telcos that Metrological will ultimately partner with. Nevertheless, they'll be at Computex next week where we'll be on hand to bring you more detail.

Put this on our watchlist for the 2010 CES (or earlier, we're not picky) TiVoBlog.com recently pointed out a twitter indicating TiVo is looking for a Flash expert to work on embedded applications -- like the ones that could bring Adobe's widgets to its DVR hardware. Assuming the Series4 (or whatever it ends up being called) uses processors from Broadcom or Sigma, Flash platform support should come included, let's just hope this is a part of an overall UI refresh and not a resource hogging add-on slapped over the same old SD interface.

The plan is to get Flash from every computer to every television screen, and Adobe's ready to take the next step this week at the National Association of Broadcasters show in Las Vegas. Broadcom, Comcast, STMicroelectronics, NXP Semiconductors, and Sigma Designs join Intel as set-top box makers with chipsets ready to stream widgets and HD video to connected televisions, while content is on the way from Netflix, New York Times, Disney and Atlantic Records. Of course, Yahoo's widgets and Microsoft Silverlight aim to turn up the interactivity and streaming video to TVs and handhelds as well, though Adobe seems content to share with Yahoo! if need be -- Vizio's Connected HDTV demo and Intel's CE 3100 support both -- expect the blades to come out when Flash enabled hardware comes to market in the second half of this year.

[Via Venture Beat]

Not, you're not having some awful case of déjà vu, Sigma Designs is indeed outing a new Blu-ray-optimized chip here at CES. The new SMP8642 media processor was designed from the ground-up for "mainstream Blu-ray players," and coupled with the firm's Profile 2.0 software suite, it supposedly provides a high performance interactive experience. Not quite sure if that translates to "quicker than usual," but we'll take whatever improvements we can get. In related news, it also announced today that it will integrate Adobe Flash Lite software into its SoC solutions for next-gen televisions and web services. So, what's it mean? It could mean that future set-top-boxes with this mojo within could have all new access to online content, which is obviously a huge theme (along with 3D) at this year's show. For all the details, well, you know where to head.

Read - SMP8642 media processor
Read - Adobe Flash Lite
Read - Other CES announcements from Sigma

Intel's been talking up the CE 3100 (née Canmore) processor for quite some time now, and with Adobe as its newest partner -- late again Yahoo? -- pushing HD Flash streams to Internet connected TV's and set-top boxes. Frankly, we've already gotten quite used to YouTube and other online video access in the living room, but with the first Flash Lite-enabled system-on-a-chip due by mid-2009 and everyone and their mom watching TV on Hulu this could be the push that takes online video to the TV mainstream. Still, Intel must know that only Flash support so 2008, we'll be expecting more widgets to come.

Pull up that task chair and fire up that web browser, HD-mavens. Hulu has finally stepped up its HD game with the latest update to its HD Gallery. If your rig has a 2.5 Mbps connection to the outside world and a few CPU cycles to spare, Hulu is looking to hook you up with full-length, 720p episodes of Heroes, 30 Rock, 24 and The Office. If you need more incentive to check it out, how about the fact that these videos are ad-free for the time being? If TV isn't your thing, there are a few scraps (read: excerpts) in the "Nature and Documentary" section, and the "Sports" genre houses Game 1 of the 2008 NBA Finals. Yes, the selection is thin and the "Movie Clips" heading is crushing. But since we're feeling "glass half full," we'll be encouraged that Hulu is getting serious about HD internet video. And really, you can't beat the price.

With all the HD going online recently, a release claiming that 75% of "leading broadcasts" plan to deliver high definition via the internet in the next 24 months isn't surprising -- but we'll at least have to consider the source. Delivered by Akamai, a company in the business of providing the network to deliver all that high bandwidth video, the survey results also showed that 80 percent of those who plan to offer HD video, either already do, or will within the next year so don't expect the 'net to be getting less crowded any time soon. The company claims it can reliably deliver bitrates of up to 6 Mbps -- and expects TV and movie producers to take advantage of that quickly. Whatever, as long as we can catch replays of The Office, Lost, Battlestar Galactica and of course Airwolf even when away from home, we'll be happy.

Since everyone else is launching a Flash-based video portal, Adobe itself is mixing things up with the AIR-powered Adobe TV. Via the new Adobe Media Player (AMP) 1.0 standalone app, users browse through assorted content from partners like CBS, Universal Music Group, Viacom, PBS or RSS feeds of video podcasts, while the Adobe TV channel itself focuses on how-to content for the company's various tools like Photoshop and Flash. AMP supports up to 1080p, however while ad-support TV content like The Hills and CSI: NY is disappointingly low-res, there are some HD online shows, but the bitrate's so low it's tough to tell if we're getting all the promised pixels. It's a lightweight download, check it out and see how it measures up to Hulu and the rest of the internet challengers.

Read - Adobe TV press release
Read - Adobe Media Player press release

We're not sure who asked for high definition-enhanced online advertising, but its here all the same. DoubleClick has announced its ability to deliver HD ads through Adobe Flash. The first one to take advantage is Epson's "Epsonality" ad campaign, created by Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners and encoded in h.264. Questions of how much bandwidth this will take up aside, we're content in the knowledge that least on this site if such an ad pops up unprompted, few will complain about how annoying it is, just how badly its been compressed and how much better it would be on (insert format here).

Just in case you haven't heard enough about Adobe's latest HD-enabled Flash release, Swarmcast has introduced a brand new player that supports the aforementioned technology while "protecting against video stalls and skips." Autobahn HD for Flash is a free, full-screen-capable player that is built on the firm's "patented multi-source streaming technology," which "dynamically adjusts the video bitrate to ensure that individual viewers are always watching the highest-quality video possible for their internet connection." Furthermore, the company will be making the source code available to the Flash community for those who'd like to modify it, and while a set date hasn't been announced, an OS X-friendly version of Autobahn HD should be ready soon.

As we saw with Hulu's dive into HD, Adobe's latest version of Flash does indeed support high-definition content. More specifically, it plays nice with H.264 / HE-AAC v2, but requires a fairly beefed up computer and an uber-quick internet connection in order to fully experience 480p, 720p and 1080p material. Additionally, the "flash on" portal aims to inform you of how Flash is "powering next-generation television," which sounds quite delicious, no? For those curious to see what your own content would look like if streamed out in glorious high-definition, be sure and take a peek at the Adobe HD gallery -- assuming you've got the latest version of Flash Player 9 and meet those admittedly stringent system requirements, of course.

[Via Reel SEO]
Read - Adobe's HD video website
Read - Adobe's flash on portal

Just eight days after we pondered the future of HD content over the web, Hulu has stepped up to the plate to move things in the right direction. The streaming video site has recently announced the opening of an HD Gallery, which houses a small collection of 1,280 x 720 resolution files. Granted, the requirements for actually playing these files are quite high -- an internet connection exceeding 2,400Kbps, the latest build of Adobe Flash Player 9 and a wicked fast computer -- but at least the option is there for those with the requisite gear. Apparently, the files are being compressed via H.264, and while we're not told what other high-definition content is planned for the future, we'll be keeping our browsers tuned in to find out.

[Via CNET]