Today’s Show:

Skifta – May your stuff be with you.

The concept of ‘cutting the cord’ is more than just dropping cable or satellite to get rid of a monthly bill. It’s also about the freedom and convenience of being able to access whatever content you want, whenever you want it, and on whatever device you’d like to play it back on. As smartphones and tablets continue to proliferate, we can only assume they’ll play a big role in that new world. Qualcomm hopes Skifta can help get you there.

What is it?

From the Skifta.com website:
Skifta is an easy way to control, play and enjoy your music, videos and photos at home and on the move. There’s no uploading to the web or syncing to your phone. In fact, you don’t copy or move your stuff at all. You just leave it where it is. Then, whether it’s somewhere on the Internet or on your computer at home you can access your stuff remotely using your smartphone or tablet.

And here’s the magic bit.
Not only can you access your digital media from anywhere, with your smartphone or tablet you can also stream it to DLNA-Certified™ and UPnP-compatible TVs, IP-connected stereos, PlayStation 3 game consoles, Windows 7 PCs thousands of other connected consumer electronics devices anywhere.

So, you can take your digital media with you, without actually taking it with you.

How it works

At its heart, Skifta is an Android app (Android 2.2 and above) for playing back and sharing media. Sorry Apple fans, no iPhone or iPad support yet. To be honest, Skifta probably butts heads with AirPlay, so there may never be support for it on Apple devices. The biggest difference is that Skifta is built on the DLNA and UPnP specifications, which should make it a bit more generally available outside the Apple ecosystem. The app can be a player, a server, or what you might call a “bridge” between a server and a player.

As a player the Skifta app can connect to DLNA servers and play the content directly on your phone or tablet. The server can be local using a wifi connection, or can be accessed remotely using a 3g or 4g connection if you install the Skifta desktop application and register for an account. The player itself relies on the codecs and playback functionality of your Android device, so not all file types will play on all phones.

As a server, you can use any DLNA player, like a PC or a PS3 or Xbox360, to view, watch or listen to the content from your phone or tablet. Did you take some great pictures you’d like to show your friends or family? If they have an Internet connected TV with a DLNA app, you can throw your photos up on their big screen in no time. Or you can share music at a party or movies for movie night. It’s very simple. Skifta is able to find some DLNA players on the network and push content directly to them. For others, like the PS3, you have to use the player itself to connect to Skifta on the phone to view or listen to the media.

But the real magic comes in what we call, for lack of a better term, “bridge” mode. This allows you to use your phone to connect a DLNA server, either local or remote, to a DLNA player. If you’ve installed the Skifta DLNA desktop app on your movie server, you can play your movie collection on any DLNA player, anywhere in the world where you can get 3g or 4g data. The folks at Skifta are also madly at work adding “channels” you can add to play back Internet content using the Skifta app. The selection is limited right now, but should grow over time.

Up next

As you can imagine, using your phone or tablet as the middle man between the server and the player is less than optimal. Ideally Skifta would simply connect the player to the server and remove itself from the equation altogether. Although we couldn’t find any definitive statements about this at the website, we did read some hints to this effect at some other sites. So if we’re thinking about it, and others are as well, you can imagine Qualcomm is too.

So that would leave us with a platform that allows you to connect any media server, be it your own collection of photos, movies or music, or an online content source, with any network connected player. Forget cable and satellite, guides and DVRs, movie and music servers. All you need is a tablet. Browse around on your tablet, find something you want to watch, and send it to your TV. Or if you want to watch it in multiple rooms or on multiple screens, send it to all of them. No more remote controls either, just a tablet and a screen. That’s it.

 

Download Episode #519

Today’s Show:

Cord Cutting – A Financial Analysis

Cord cutting has been in the news quite a bit lately.  A week doesn’t go by when we don’t receive an email from a listener telling us about how they have cut the cord and couldn’t be happier. Every email prompts us to consider a life without cable bills but inevitably there is something that keeps us from taking the plunge. A recent email from Van in Odenton Maryland got us thinking. Could we combine OTA with a Tivo Box and iTunes and a AppleTV and essentially eliminate our Pay TV bill altogether? For this paper study we will use Ara’s TV usage as the base.

The bulk of what is watched in the Derderian household are the broadcast networks which can be made up via OTA with no issues at all. Its the cable shows and Sunday Ticket that pose the real problem.  Pay movie channels are nice but with Netflix and a deep video server library, there is seldom a lack of things available to watch moviewise. We’ll begin the study with outlining the current cost and capability followed by the replacement solution and finally what if anything has to be given up.

Current Cost for Programming

Ara subscribes to DirecTV Premier Package including locals. The Premier package includes just about every channel including pay channel that DirecTV has to offer. The total cost is $114, but its the fees and add ons that kill you! Check out the itemized list:

• Monthly Fee for the Premier Package $114
• Protection Plan $6.00
• HD Extra Pack $5.00
• HD Access $10.00
• DVR Service $7.00
• Whole Home DVR $3.00
• Additional Receiver $6.00
• Leased Receiver $6.00

Total cost $157 a month plus Taxes. Ara also subscribes to Sunday Ticket which adds an additional $300 a year or $25 more per month. So the base we have to work with is roughly $185 a month. An advantage that using DirecTV or other provider is that you don’t have to buy your equipment and if something goes wrong the provider will fix it for you

Tivo

Part of the solution is a Tivo box that can act as a DVR. Tivo comes with a monthly fee but its a far cry from what you pay at DirecTV. Our solution will use the Tivo Premier which goes for $99 and we’ll connect it to the antenna on the roof. We will have to buy three of them so our cost start up cost will be just about $300 plus tax. In addition to the purchase price Tivo will require $20 a month service fee and since we have three boxes it will cost us $60 a month.

The reason we are choosing Tivo over a basic DVR is that the recording features of the Tivo are quite nice and we have become accustomed to setting season passes and all the other cool features of a modern DVR. Tivo also offers connections to Netflix, Hulu+, Amazon, and Blockbuster so for most people you can stop right there and be quite happy!

AppleTV

AppleTV will be our means of getting cable content that we lose by cutting the cord. Many shows are available in iTunes the day after they air on cable. These shows are in HD and 5.1 audio. The quality is quite good. If you can wait a season, many, but not all, shows end up on Netflix or Amazon so you may not need this option. The AppleTV will run you $99 a piece and we’ll need three of these as well. Like the Tivo we are up to $300 plus tax. For the Derderian’s the season passes that we’ll have to buy are the following:

• Covert Affairs – $40
• Burn Notice – $38
• Sons of Guns – $25
• American Guns – $24
• various shows on ABC Family for the kids – $200
• Budget of another $200 for single episodes or new series not yet discovered.

Total cost for non OTA programming $527.

Now let’s add a budget for movies. We’ll allow 2 HD rentals at $5 and one purchases at $20.

Cost

Let’s add it up and see what it will cost us!

• Hardware (One time Cost)  - Let’s say $650 after you consider tax and incidentals
• Content
  • Season Passes and individual shows on iTunes $527
  • Movie rentals/Purchase $30 ($360 for the year)
  • Tivo Service $60 ($720 for the year)

Total content cost for the year – $1607
Total cost for DirecTV without Sunday Ticket – $1884
Savings $277 ($577 without Sunday Ticket)

In actuality your savings may be more. If you don’t rent or buy movies from iTunes and if you buy a generic OTA DVR without the niceties of the Tivo you can save over a Thousand dollars. In the Derderian scenario we have three DVRs but if you only have one or two you can save quite a bit of money. Finally, this plan requires you to pay upfront for the equipment. In the Derderian’s situation, breakeven would be in just over one year.

What do you give up?

In the Derderian case you give up Sunday ticket. That means about seven or eight less Chicago Bears football games a year. They also give up Food Network and the joy of discovering a program simply by flipping through channels. While this isn’t a big deal for us there have been some Saturdays where this was the only option. Maybe it will free me up to do other things like create more content for the show!

Conclusion

Cutting the cord is probably a great thing for most people out there. Whatever is being missed on the cable channels can be found through Amazon, Netflix, or iTunes so you really don’t have to do without. Live content like news and sports can be found via the old fashion airwaves in better quality than what you would get on cable so there is no loss there at all. The only drawback is that there is an initial outlay of cash that may take a year or two to payback. With all that said, Ara is not ready to cut the cord. He is ready to talk to DirecTV about his bill however! We’ll revisit the analysis in a year or so.

Download Episode #518

Today’s Show:

What is OLED and why do we care?

One of the big hits at CES this year were the Samsung and LG OLED displays. Sure we’ve seen OLED TVs in the past, but they were 55” screens this year, and they looked great. But why all the hype? Why do we even see references to AMOLED in cell phone commercials? Is OLED really that big of a deal?

What is it?

We’ve talked about this before, but a quick refresher might be in order. OLED stands for Organic Light-Emitting Diode. It is an emissive display technology meaning that, like plasma and CRT, it doesn’t require a light source. Instead the organic compound itself is actually a semiconductor that will emit light in response to an electric current.

We talk about OLED so much that we tend to forget that it is a variety of LED, the same acronym/technology used to light the latest and greatest generation of LCD displays. So what makes the organic variety so much better than the ones used in LCD TVs? It’s the fact that the OLED combines the functions of the LED and the LCD into one. It is both the light source and the pixel itself (color, intensity, etc.).

Each OLED is actually a sandwich of several different layers of materials. The color of light produced by an OLED depends on the material used in the emissive layer. By arranging the organic films when the screen is being produced, manufacturers can create OLED groupings to form pixels for color displays. The intensity of each pixel is determined by the amount of electrical current passed into it.

Advantages and Disadvantages over LCD

The main advantage of OLED over LCD it that in an OLED display, each pixel produces its own light. If a pixel should go completely dark, or totally black, the display can achieve that by not applying any electrical current to it. With LCD the best you can do is dim a portion of the screen to make some areas darker (local dimming), but you can’t turn off the light source for an individual pixel. As far as contrast goes, OLED is much better.

One often quoted advantage that OLED has over LCD is thickness, or perhaps thinness in this case. Because the OLED combines the function of the LCD and the light source, it can be much thinner. Until the TV can be rolled up, it’s going to be mounted on a wall somewhere. Whether it comes off the wall one inch or one centimeter probably won’t make too much difference in your overall home theater viewing experience. This “advantage” probably won’t change your life too much.

The biggest debate about OLED and its viability in the market is cost. Right now OLED TVs cost much more to manufacture that LCD for two reasons. First, the fabrication of the substrate itself is costlier right now. And secondly, LCD has a tremendous head start in economies of scale. There are many LCD plants around the world cranking out thousands of LCD screens. It will take quite an investment to match that capacity for OLED displays. On the other hand, in theory OLED TVs will be able to be manufactured with a technology as simple as an inkjet printer. If that can scale, the TVs could be quite cheap.

Advantages and Disadvantages over Plasma

If the biggest advantage OLED has over LCD is the fact that it is emissive and can produce dramatically better contrast ratios, what advantage does OLED have over plasma, which is also an emissive technology? Theoretically, OLED will offer advantages in color reproduction and contrast and brightness because the organic (carbon based) materials are easier to manipulate that the noble gasses used in plasmas. Both technologies will be somewhat matched in terms of refresh rates and viewing angles.

The real killer for plasma will be energy efficiency. Although plasma manufacturers have been hard at work to optimize their screens and make them much more energy conscious, it is believed OLED displays might be the most energy efficient of all display technologies when they finally make it to store shelves. They’ll need to be much more efficient, we’re talking thousands of dollars a year, to justify the early price premium, though.

Other Considerations

There main factor really hindering the mass release of OLED TVs into the market is the color blue. You could say that the continued success of LCD and Plasma has been brought to you by the color blue and the number 14,000. That’s the number of hours a blue OLED has before it drops to half brightness. That is well below the 25,000-40,000 hours you expect to get from and LCD or Plasma. The blue material also degrades more rapidly, impacting color balance as much as brightness.

Conclusion

From what we’ve seen, OLED looks amazing. From what we can gather, it could be the best looking display technology, slightly edging out plasma in color and contrast, and also the most energy efficient, slightly edging out LED LCD. If the theory that they can be made by inkjet printers becomes reality, they could be the cheapest display as well. Who knows, in the future you might be able to go to your local printer and have them crank out a new screen for you that’s just the exact right size to fit in that niche or cabinet you’ve got.

 

Download Episode #517

Today’s Show:

Listeners Respond

There are many times when we ask our listeners for their opinions on topics we discus on the show. On last week’s show we asked you what you thoughts were on two subjects, How you would improve the Harmony Remote and would you pay $25 for day and date VOD titles. Since we received so many responses we thought we’d take a bit more time to share and discuss your emails as our main feature for today’s show.

Day and Date VOD for $25

Overwhelmingly the HT Guys listeners were for this idea. Contrary to what Phil Swann wrote in his article Wacky Wall Street Analyst Proposes $25 Movies all of our responses thought it was a great idea. Here is a sample of the email we received:

Twenty-five USD is a bargain. Last year, I went to two theater movies, Harry Potter Deathly Hallows Part II & Hugo. On each, I paid the extra for 3D. The ticket price alone was $13.00 each for my wife and me. Add to that the obligatory large ($5.00) diet coke, and we’re over $30.00.

If same day release were to happen, it would likely accelerate the upgrading of home theater systems. I’m planning on eventually buying a passive 3D. I’d like one that’s bigger than 60″. I’d prefer it to be plasma but local dimming LED would probably work. If same day download release at $25 per movie were to happen, I might pull the trigger sooner and settle for the 55″  $1200 3D LG + BluRay that was in this weekend’s Sunday paper adds.
- JL
$25 would be a steal to watch movies. Because of the cost (usually $30+) my wife and I don’t see as many movies as we’d like. We pretty much limit ourselves to blockbusters that need a giant screen or 3d (hugo, tin tin, and mission impossible were the last we saw).
The problem will be that theater owners will revolt. I guarantee that the first studio to try it will get boycotted by the large chains.
- Andrew
I would definitely go for a first run movie day and date in my home for $25.   HUGE savings and convenience for those of us who have families.   I rarely go to the movies as the value proposition isn’t good considering the whole family plus add-ons.
- Ralph

We did not receive one email saying that $25 was out of line. To be honest, the reason movie theaters are having so much trouble is two fold. First is price. Ten dollars a ticket is about half the cost of a Blu-ray disc. If a family of four can wait a few months they can own the movie for less than it would cost to go and see it in the theater. Throw in popcorn and drinks they can own two other movies that they didn’t even want to see. The second issue is quality of the movies. We post the upcoming Blu-ray discs every Wednesday, and every Wednesday we marvel at the lack of good content being released. There are better TV shows on than some of the movies out there. We hold off on some shows and watch two or three episodes back to back on a Friday and Saturday night. We prefer this to going to any movie theater!

Harmony Remote Improvements

We received a ton of email on this one. We hope the Harmony Engineers are listening because you guys had some great ideas! Here is a sample:

Just thought I’d let you know what I would like to change on the Harmony One.  I’ve had mine now for a couple of months now and I agree with you, it is perfect, but there are a few things I would like changed.

1.  Swap the Info and Guide buttons around.  I use the Info button quite a lot since when you are watching something on satellite, you hit the Info button to bring up the title bar at the bottom of the screen.  My finger always hits the Guide button by mistake – and I hardly go into the program guide.

2.  Introduce hard buttons for the red, green, blue and yellow buttons.  I use the red button quite a lot, but would rather prefer to have them as hard buttons instead since it reminds me so often how much full scale touch-screen remotes suck.  I think the Harmony 700 and 900 have them.

3.  The “click” the buttons make when you press them is too “loud”.
- Glen
I can think of at least one improvement I’d like to see in a new Harmony One… the blu-ray red, blue, green and yellow buttons.  That and real support for macros in at least the upper models.
- Zach in FL

Here’s what I would improve:

Longer battery life,
Shorter case,
Imdb type app via web wifi,
Support of two way feed for apple tv like iPhone which shows what’s playing and status (timings)
- Ed
The three improvements I would like to see in Logitech Remote Controls are:

1.  Allow multiple remotes on one account.  Let the account name (email address) be changed.  Due to an unfortunate error when setting up a Logitech remote control for a neighbor, I can not use my own email for setup of my remote which I got later.  If I switch the email then all the settings on that account go away.  If I would have known, I would have used a made-up email address.  This seems like a ridiculous restriction.

2.  In the power macros for the different activities I would like to see the web software allow for easy programming of delays.  It is a big hassle when certain devices like the TV turn on and the macro goes on too quickly so the TV does not set the correct input.

3.  Compared to other universal remotes or those supplied with most devices, the Logitech seems to send its commands slower.  For example if you are quickly surfing using the channel up, the TV responds slower with the Logitech than the original remote.
- Jeff in Chicago
I say give me a remote with a mini keyboard/keypad. Would be great for use with my HTPC and probably many of the other newer network-connected devices out there.
- Ed in SF
Around Xmas time we cant configure because there’s too much traffic to their servers. For two days i couldn’t configure it.
Maybe using the software on the PC to save and configure the remote and just upload the settings to their server on a time schedule would be better.
- Fernando Rato, from Portugal
We would also like to be able to have the remote issue a sequence of commands at predetermined time. Setting up a sleep function to shut down your system at 10:00PM would be great. Or program the TV to turn on a specific time and channel would add a nice touch to an already great remote!

 

Download Episode #515

Today’s Show:

Pioneer Elite N-30 Networked Audio Player

The HT Guys love music and when a product comes along that lets us enjoy it, we want to take a look. The Pioneer N-30 is just such a device. It’s a networked device that lets you listen to your favorite music whether it’s on a computer, iPad, or on one of over a thousand Internet radio stations from around the world. The N-30 will have a MSRP of $499 when it becomes available. At the time of this writing we could not find available from the usual outlets.

Setup

Setup is super simple but you do need network access. In our case we have a physical Ethernet port but don’t worry if you don’t. Pioneer has a wireless adapter (AS-WL300) that plugs into the back of the unit. We found setting up the wifi kind of convoluted. You have to connect the wifi adapter to a PC and connect it to the wireless network then connect it to the N-30. The setup screens on the N-30 are very basic. Our testing was done with a hard wired Ethernet connection.

The unit has Optical and Coaxial outputs for digital audio as well as left and right RCA connections. You can connect the N-30 to an amplifier/receiver or a set of powered speakers.

Performance

Since the N-30 supports a digital output we wanted to listen to the highest quality music we had. In our case that was 256Kbps AAC, which to most is indistinguishable to the original CD. There are a couple of ways to stream the music over to the N-30. First the N-30 is DLNA 1.5 certified so if you have a computer that supports DLNA you are good to go. Second the unit supports Apple’s Airplay so you can send your music over from your iPad, iPhone, or iTunes. The front of the unit has a 2.5 inch color display that shows album art and other information about what’s playing. Its a nice touch, but in reality, unless you are close to the screen you really can’t see what’s on it.

The listening results were pretty amazing. But to be fair, we were listening to the music on some pretty nice KEF Speakers. Regardless, the music sounded fantastic! The N-30 recreated every nuance of the classical music we listened to as well hard pounding sound of Van Halen. We even listened to some techno music with a heavy bass track that allowed us to FEEL the music. In all we were quite pleased with the sound.

The N30 also allows you to listen to Internet radio stations. Here the quality of the music is dependent on how much data is in the stream. A station that sends out its stream at 64Kbps is never going to sound as good as even 128Kbps mp3s. There are literaly thousands of stations out from all over the world. If you can’t find something you like, its because you stopped looking.

Odds and Ends

Pioneer has an iOS and Android app for control of the player. You can use the app to see what’s on your server and make your music selections. If you are using Airplay, there is no real reason for the App. There is also a Bluetooth adapter that allows you to send music to the device from your smartphone.

Conclusion

The N-30 is a nice device that bridges your digital library and online radio stations with your home theater. But with many companies, Pioneer included, making much of this functionality available on mid-range receivers, one wonders if people would rather spend the $500 on upgrading their receiver instead of buying this device.

Download Episode #515

Today’s Show:

CES 2012: Part II

It’s never enough to just talk about CES, we have to put eyes on all the goodies for ourselves. This year we did a whirlwind, one day, Vegas and back, Consumer Electronics Show supertrip. We hit the show on the final day and it was awesome. All the technology was the same, the TVs didn’t look any different than they did on Monday, but all the crowds had left and there were almost no lines for any of the demos.

Mitsubishi

Our first stop was Mitsubishi where we saw the LaserVue. There was a ton of hype about this TV when it first came out but we didn’t see what all the fuss was about. Good enough picture though. It just didn’t blow us away.

JVC

We also stopped at JVC and where was sat through a JVC 4K projector Demo. The DLA-X90RBU (MSRP $12,000) really impressed us. It has a ton of features but what blew us away was how good 1080p Blu-ray discs looked when upconverted to 4K!  Although most of the 3D demo on the projector was pretty rough, there was one part that was simply amazing. We’ll tell you about it on the show.

LG

Then it was on to LG where we saw really good passive 3D, the only example we saw at CES of really good passive 3D. The best thing about passive 3D technology is the prices of the glasses are dirt cheap! All active glasses demonstrations at other vendors were pretty much locked down. We also saw the LG OLED TV. Very nice but we felt the Samsung produced a better picture.

Dish Network

At the Dish Network booth we saw this cool Gizmo called the Tailgater. It has been out for a while but when you see it in person you really see how cool of a device it is. It goes for about $350 and only weighs 10 pounds.  The big message at Dish, however, was their new whole-house DVR system called the Hopper and the Joey.  They’re a bit late to the game, but add some cool features to the offering. We’re hoping to get a demo setup to review.

Panasonic

You can’t really call the Panasonic booth just a booth, it’s more on par with a small shopping mall.  They were showing a bunch of stuff but we zeroed in on the VT50. The VT50 finally has blacks on par with the Kuro demo we saw three years ago. No pricing yet.

Toshiba

At Toshiba we checked out some glasses free 3D. There were spots marked on the carpet where you were supposed to stand to optimize the effect. We have seen this technology for the last five years now with little improvement. We are still a few years away.  The “face tracking” technology isn’t exactly what you’d expect.

Sharp

Onwards to Sharp where we saw an 8K LCD. It was quite impressive. Kind of like looking through a window on the world. The scaled down picture does not do it justice, but imagine that the scene is just on the other side of a pane of glass!  Watching 3D gets old pretty fast, your eyes get tired and you just want to be done, but we could stare at this 8K screen for days.

But what really caught our eye at Sharp was their line of Elite LED LCDs. In the order of quality we would probably say it was Samsung and LG OLEDs then the Sharp Elite and Panasonic Plasma were nearly identical. Of course the plasma is something mere mortals can own. The Elites come with an Elite price tag. A 60 inch Elite goes for about $5K. We are estimating the 65 inch Plasma to come in at about half the cost.

Samsung

There’s a great HD video of the Samsung OLED display at HTGuys.com

In our mind the Samsung OLED stole the show as far as picture went.  Surprisingly, the video we shot shows off the TV quite nicely.  The pictures don’t do it justice but the TV is incredibly thin.  This was one area of the show that always drew a big crowd.  The displays certainly lived up to the hype.  Samsung also showed some other interesting ideas, like vaccuum tube amps in their Blu-ray home theater systems for the audiophile and the “dual” HD experience for those with attention span issues.

Sony

And no trip to CES would be complete without a stop by the Sony superbooth. We were mostly there for the Crystal LED display. And while the TV looked very good, it didn’t have the wow factor of OLED. For our eyes, we’d put it on par with the Panasonic Plasmas and Sharp Elite LCDs. Sony also had glasses-free 3D that was pretty rough. We really enjoyed the Personal 3D Viewer, though.  while there aren’t a million applications for it, when you put it on, you really feel like you’re in a private movie theater. It’s pretty fun.

Other stuff

Of course we walked through a bunch of other booths while we were at the show, including Intel, Microsoft, Dolby, DTS, and many more. All of them were great, but not earth shattering. We also took a stroll through the North hall where all the automotive technology is. There were some cars in there you could easily drool over.

There are a lot more pics of the adventure, including the parking lot at CES, at HTGuys.com

Download Episode #514

Today’s Show:

CES 2012: Part I

CES 2012: Panasonic HDTV Lineup for 2012 Announced

• 17 new models, ranging in screen sizes from 42-inches to 65 inches, Panasonic expanded its 3D line-up for 2012 (including 3 passive 3D LED LCDs 42”/47”/55”)
• Also new for 2012 is a cloud-based architecture to increase the VIERA Connect IPTV platform to an unlimited number of apps
• The six VIERA Plasma series, VT50, GT50, ST50, UT50, XT50, U50, feature self illuminating panels with ultimate black levels, NeoPlasma technologies(VT/GT/ST) providing a black filter with a higher efficiency panel that generates the best balance of black and white under brighter environments.
• Infinite Black Ultra Panel

CES 2012: Dolby Digital Plus on more devices for 2012

• Dolby is announcing that HBO Go® will adopt Dolby Digital Plus to deliver content to connected TVs and Blu-ray™ players.
• Samsung™ will use Dolby Digital Plus to support its Acetrax™ application for Smart Blu-ray players and Smart Blu-ray home theater systems in Europe.
• Portable devices with Dolby technologies—including tablets from Acer®, Samsung, and ZTE®, and Ultrabook™ devices from Acer, HP®, and Toshiba®—are shipping into major markets. For a higher-quality movie experience on iPad®, iPhone®, and iPod® devices, Dolby is showing the first mobile application with Dolby Digital Plus, the CineXPlayer video player from NXP®.

 
CES 2012: Sony Develops Next-generation “Crystal LED Display”

• Sony announced that it has developed the next-generation self-emitting display, “Crystal LED Display,”
• The “Crystal LED Display” is a self-emitting display that uses Sony’s unique methods to mount ultrafine LEDs in each of the Red-Green-Blue (RGB) colors, equivalent to the number of pixels (approximately six-million LEDs for Full HD).
• Compared to existing LCD displays, the 55-inch prototype exhibited at CES is boasting approximately 3.5 times*1 higher contrast in light environment, approximately 1.4 times wider color gamut, and approximately 10 times faster video image response time (all values based on current Sony models). Sony envisages a wide range of applications for its “Crystal LED Display”, ranging from professional to consumer use.

CES 2012: HomePlug Powerline Alliance Announces AV2 Specification for Next-Generation Broadband Speeds over Powerline Wires

• The HomePlug® Powerline Alliance announced the availability of the HomePlug AV2 specification. This new HomePlug technology enables significant performance and coverage for broadband networking over powerline wires while remaining fully interoperable with existing HomePlug AV / IEEE 1901 compliant products used in millions of consumers’ homes and widely available worldwide from service providers and retail stores.
• Gigabit-class PHY Rate (physical interface rate)
• Whole home coverage with inherent repeater functionality

 
CES 2012: IOGEAR Announces 4-Port HDMI Switcher that converts 2D to 3D

• IOGEAR announced the 4-Port Super Switcher with Advanced 2D/3D Video Processor (GHDSSW4), which allows the connection of four HDMI source devices to the HDMI input of a 3D HDTV or 3D-ready HD video projector.
• The GHDSSW4 also converts all of your flat DVDs, HD videos, and photos to 3D, with user controls that allow you to adjust the pop-out and depth effects for the optimal three-dimensional experience.
• The IOGEAR 4-Port Super Switcher with Advanced 2D/3D Video Processor (GHDSSW4) will be available April 2012 for a suggested retail price of $229.95.

CES 2012: Always Innovating Innovates again with the HDMI Dongle.

• Always Innovating announced the HDMI Dongle, a portable set-top box. The HDMI Dongle is a device of the size of a USB stick that can be plugged into any HDMI port to transform a dumb TV into a smart Internet-connected screen. The HDMI Dongle enables Internet browsing, movie watching and games.
• The HDMI Dongle can stream and decode from the Internet 1080p H.264 video.
• The device is compatible with popular services such as Netflix, Hulu or Amazon video-on-demand.
• The user interface is controlled with a 9-button remote control for easy navigation, and voice recognition for text input. The accelerometer located in the remote control enables a set of gravity-based games. The remote control also features a NFC chip to offer a tap-to-share experience.

CES 2012: Dish Introduces Next Generation Whole Home DVR Entertainment System

• Features two-terabyte hard drive for up to 2,000 hours of entertainment
• Never miss a primetime network show with PrimeTime Anytime. PrimeTime Anytime™ allows customers, with one click, to record using a single tuner all of the primetime TV programming from ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC – the networks that deliver the most popular shows during primetime. Once activated by a customer, PrimeTime Anytime records network programming in high definition, where available, every night and stores them for eight days after they have aired.
• Records up to six programs in HD simultaneously, including PrimeTime Anytime
• Hopper and three small Joeys let viewers watch HD and control DVR in four rooms

CES 2012: Sharp 2012 LED Lineup

CES 2012: LG 2012 HDTV Line Up Announced

CES 2012: Toshiba 2012 LED HDTV Lineup
(“Toshiba is at CES showing off a TV line that adds more new Internet TV features, including full Web browsing and support for Vudu apps, and it’s dropping active 3D by moving all its 3D models to passive technology.”)
CES 2012: Samsung Unveils the Super OLED TV – The Ultimate in Picture Quality

• It features unmatched vivid and true-to-life picture quality in both 2D and 3D, with significantly improved color accuracy compared to conventional LED TVs. Since light output on the Super OLED is controlled on a pixel-to-pixel basis, the truest blacks and purest whites can be achieved.
• Further, the Samsung Super OLED offers faster response times than LED, virtually eliminating motion blur even in the fastest-moving scenes.
• Because Super OLED technology features self-emitting RGB sub-pixels which do not require a backlight, the TV weighs significantly less than a standard LED TV.
• When powered on, a bright, vibrant picture illuminates the screen from edge to edge.

 
CES 2012: Simple.TV Launches DVR for the Connected TV World

• The Simple.TV DVR ($149) consists of a high-definition TV tuner that converts broadcast television into streaming MPEG-4 for the most popular connected devices. With the addition of a USB 2.0 hard drive or network-attached storage, Simple.TV users can store thousands of hours of their favorite TV shows and HDTV videos and watch them on their mobile devices or connected TVs.
• Unlike most DVRs, Simple.TV has no traditional analog or HDMI video outputs. Once connected to a home network, Simple.TV streams content directly to a web browser or to dedicated applications that users launch on their favorite connected platforms. For users who want expanded features, Simple.TV offers a Premier Service subscription ($4.99 per month) that adds an electronic program guide, automatic TV series recording, in-depth information on content, and unlimited remote streaming for up to five users.

 
CES 2012: VIZIO Takes Home Entertainment Beyond TV With New Blu-ray Players, a Stream Player, Audio Products and Accessories

CES 2012: Samsung 2012 Smart TVs get Boxless support for DirecTV

• DIRECTV and Samsung Electronics Co, Ltd. unveiled their plans to offer DIRECTV’s more than 19.7 million customers the ability to watch live broadcast and stored content from a compatible DIRECTV DVR on Samsung’s 2012 line of Smart TVs without the need for additional set-top boxes.

 

Download Episode #513

Today’s Show:

What’s Hot Right Now (2012 Time Capsule)

We often look back at the technologies and prices of years gone by with shock and amazement. Instead of simply trying to remember what things were like “back then” we thought it might make sense to put together a snapshot of the current HDTV landscape we can refer back to in the future.

As we do periodically we’ve decided to take some of the top sellers at Amazon across a variety of categories and get their prices. This will give us a good indication of what is hot right now and also what their prices are.

Televisions

3D TVs

LG Infinia 55LW5600 55-Inch Cinema 3D 1080p 120 Hz LED-LCD, $1282
The first 3D TV in the top 100 at Amazon is this top of the line 55” model from LG. Overall it ranks at #4 on the list. It has an LED light source, 120 Hz refresh rate and Internet apps built in. It is a passive 3D model that includes 4 pairs of glasses.

The 47” version of essentially the same TV, the LG Infinia 47LW6500 47-Inch Cinema 3D 1080p 240 Hz LED-LCD HDTV, $1077, is a few spots down the list at #12.

Samsung UN55D8000 55-Inch 1080p 240Hz 3D LED HDTV, $2058
Samsung holds the next TV on the list at #11. Feature for feature it is nearly identical to the LG that is nearly half the price. Sure the Samsung looks a bit cooler with the nearly nonexistent bezel, and it is an Active 3D unit and includes 2 pairs of glasses, which might account for a bit of the price premium, but it’s certainly on the pricey side.

We found 34 3D TVs in the top 100 made by LG, Samsung, Sony, Toshiba, and Sharp. There were 27 Active sets and 7 Passive (LG, Toshiba). They ranged in size from 40” to 70” and ranged in price from $699 to over $3400.

Plasma TVs

Panasonic VIERA TC-P50S30 50-Inch 1080p Plasma HDTV, $799
This the first plasma in the top 100; it comes in at #22 overall. It is a 1080p plasma, but not a 3D model. It includes Internet apps and DLNA support.

Panasonic VIERA TC-P60ST30 60-Inch 1080p 600 Hz 3D Plasma HDTV, $1400
Sliding down to #30 on the list, this unit, also from Panasonic, steps up to 60” screen size and adds 3D. It also gets to double as the first 3D plasma on the list. It is an active 3D model but it doesn’t appear to include any glasses at all. It is also an Internet app loaded set and supports DLNA.

Samsung PN43D450 43-Inch 720p 600 Hz Plasma HDTV, $492
Again moving down a few spots to #35 we find our first non-Panasonic plasma set. This is a bargain unit for sure. It is a strange screen size at 43”, is only 720p, doesn’t include Internet apps and is not a 3D unit. Basically none of the new features, but a great price at under $500.

Overall we found 14 plasma TVs in the top 100, not a bad showing. They were mostly made by Panasonic and Samsung, with one LG unit in the list. They ranged in size from 43” to 65” and ranged in price from under $500 to over $2500.

LCD TVs

Of course the vast majority of sets in the top 100 list were LCD.  Some of the notable sets were:

TCL L40FHDF12TA 40-Inch 1080p 60 Hz LCD HDTV, $319
This was the #1 TV on the list at the time we built this time capsule. Who knows where they brand came from, or where they’ll be in a couple years, but right now they’re flying high. The set is 1080p, but otherwise lacks any of the “newer” features. But that’s what you’d expect from a 40” TV for $319. It has 4 stars at Amazon so it must be pretty decent, and it includes a 2 year warranty in case anything goes wrong.

Sharp LC-70LE732U, $2389
This is the biggest set in the list, but not the most expensive by more than $1000. It slots in at #75. This full array LED LCD doesn’t do 3D, but it has Quad Pixel Technology, 120 Hz refresh, a USB port for media playback and Connected TV services with Built-in Wi-Fi. Seems like quite a deal for under $2500. Can’t wait to see what the price is like in a few years.

Sharp has a 3D version of this set in the list at #33. The AQUOS LC-70LE735U 70″ 3D LED-LCD TV is $2864 to upgrade to Active 3D.

Samsung UN65D8000 65-Inch 1080p 240 Hz 3D LED HDTV, $3488
This Samsung, on the list at #88, has the distinction of being the most expensive set on the list. We aren’t sure what exactly justified the cost premium, other than the Samsung badge on the front, but it does provide nearly every feature you can imagine.

Coby LEDTV2226 22-Inch 1080p HDMI LED TV/Monitor, $179
On the list at #46, this set from Coby isn’t the smallest, but it is the least expensive. Although it is only a 22” screen, it still sports 1080p resolution. No 3D or Internet apps.

The smallest set on the list is actually the Samsung UN19D4003 19-Inch 720p 60Hz LED HDTV, $181. It ranks in at #18.

Media Streamers

The Internet Apps and Movie Streaming services could shift a bit this year, so we thought we should also snapshot the top 10 media streamers. Roku dominates the top 10 with 4, Sony has 2, followed by Apple, WD, Logitech and TiVo all with 1 each. Yes all you haters, the Logitech Revue with Google TV is still on the list.

1. Roku LT Streaming Player, $49.99
2. Apple TV MC572LL/A, $98.00
3. Roku 2 XS 1080p Streaming Player, $99.99
4. Roku 2 XD Streaming Player 1080p, $77.09
5. Western Digital WD TV Live Streaming Media Player, $89.99
6. Sony SMP-N100 Streaming Player with Wi-Fi, $49.99
7. Roku 2 HD Streaming Player, $69.99
8. Sony SMP-N200 Streaming Media Player with Wi-Fi, $60.86
9. Logitech Revue with Google TV, $140.99
10. TiVo TCD746320 Premiere DVR, $75.64

Download Episode #512

 

Today’s Show:

HT Guys Predictions 2012

2011 was in some ways a wild year for HDTV and home theater, but in many other ways, fairly uneventful. We didn’t fare so well in our 2011 predictions, so we’re back this year with a vengeance. A lot of thought, research and soul searching went into these and we’re really hoping for a better than 50% score this year. Without further ado, the HT Guys HDTV and home theater predictions for 2012.

Prediction #1: The world will not end in 2012.

Braden’s Predictions

Wal-mart and Vudu will make a big play
Wal-mart has a ton of money, a gazillion customers and the highest quality streaming service available today. They are going to use that clout to make a big play in the new release streaming market this year. This could go one of two ways, either they will push into the realm of Ultraviolet and give away streaming versions of movies if you buy the disc at the store or online, or they will finally introduce a subscription service for new releases. Either way, they will shake things up a bit.

Netflix will remain fairly quiet
Trying to bounce back from a dismal 2011, Netflix will try to quietly rebuild the brand that once was.  No more crazy announcements of billions of dollars spent on pointless content, no more doubling prices over night, and especially no more Qwikster, we’re one service, no we’re two services, no we’re one service again goofiness.  Netflix will spend 2012 trying to erase 2011 from our memory by staying out of the spotlight and just doing business.  This means announcements like new releases or a live TV service in 2012.

The 3D market will evolve significantly
Realizing that consumers simply don’t care about Active 3D technology, manufacturers will try to reinvent the 3D TV market in 2012.  Many manufacturers will switch to passive technology and give away glasses by the truckload.  Several companies will attempt to release glasses-free 3D at prices consumers would actually consider.  Active 3D will start to fade away, like the CRT and DLP TVs of yesteryear.  Consumer priced Passive 3D projectors will come to market that either don’t require a special screen, or the special screens will be available from all the standard screen companies for the same prices as the standard screens today.

Still no live TV via streaming
Despite the fact that Google, Apple, Dish, Verizon, {insert company name here} are talking about making all your favorite broadcast TV networks available for a fraction of the cost over your home Internet connection, it won’t happen this year.  The Broadcasters and established distributors are still too powerful.  We’d be elated if it did happen, but 2012 is still a bit too soon for this.  Sure you may see pockets of “test cities” but for the vast majority of us, we’ll still need Cable or Satellite.

Ara’s Predictions

Apple will stop calling the AppleTV a hobby
Its a safe bet that a new AppleTV set top box will be introduced this year. Odds are that it will support 1080p and will have the same chip that’s in the iPhone 4S. What I claim that will set the AppleTV 3 apart is apps. My prediction is that Apple will open up the platform to application developers and that’s when the platform will really thrive. While you can do many of these things on a Roku its the iTunes eco-system that sets iThings apart from other devices.

Video On Demand Systems from Cable Companies will significantly hurt Netflix’s business
We’ve all seen VOD offerings on every cable or satellite service. This year they will have more and better titles sooner than they do today. I am predicting that some companies will offer subscription services similar to Netflix with titles that Netflix can’t obtain. The fact that the service fees will be rolled into the monthly fee will make it simple for subscribers to say yes. Consumers will continue to drop Netflix in droves which will cause a major management shakeup.

Forget about 3D, 4K is where its at
Its pretty clear that 3D did not spur the higher margin TV sales that manufacturers were hoping for. As a result, manufacturers are looking for a new technology that will separate consumers from their money. A 4K TV could just be that technology. At last year’s CES we saw a 4K TV that looked quite good with 1080p content being fed to it. I am predicting that we will see a 50 inch 4K set on sale for $2,500 or less. And with this TV hitting the streets video scaler companies will rejoice. They now have a reason to sell you hardware that will scale and process 1080p video into glorious 4K video!

A Studio will stop selling Stand alone DVDs
With Blu-ray players below $100 for more than a year now market penetration of the players is at about 25%. That number will hit 75% in about three years (side prediction). To make that happen faster look for at least one studio (probably Sony) to offer a combo Blu-ray/DVD package as the only option for a new release movie. The thought here is that some will spend the $75 or so to buy a Blu-ray player and watch the same movie in glorious HD.

 

Download Episode #511

Today’s Show:

HT Guys 2011 Prediction Results

Every year in late December or early January we look into our crystal ball to see what the coming year will bring in the way of HDTV and Home Theater. Each year we struggle to get a score of 50%, and in many years we fall way short. So let’s take a look at 2011 and see how we did.

Braden’s Predictions

Designer 3D Glasses
This was a somewhat busted prediction. As was pointed out by our audience, there were already designer passive 3D glasses on the market by such companies as Oakley and others. My prediction was more along the active 3D glasses line, but even that was a failure. With 3D being the somewhat “meh” flop that it has been, and that it’s difficult to produce a “universal” set of glasses, there’s just no demand for any glasses, much less designer glasses.

Pico Projectors will build a niche
I’ll be generous and score this as partial credit. Pacific Media Associates (PMA) says that total pico projector sales (including all battery-powered, or battery-powerable models and embedded light engines) reached about 830,000 units in the first half of 2011 – up from 270,000 units in the first half of 2010. The market grew by more than 3 times in one year.  That’s great growth, but we haven’t really seen a “niche” develop – especially not a home entertainment niche.

New releases via streaming
This is another partial credit because we got close, or at least closer, than we were before.  If we say that VOD is the same thing as streaming and that DirecTV is the same thing as the Internet and that 60 days after theatrical release is stall considered a “new” release, then I nailed this one.  If you don’t agree with any of those assertions, you might deduct some points from the total score.  But DirecTV pushed the issue, so there’s hope for more movement in that direction next year.

I’ll take Google FTW
Not quite.  Google didn’t gain any significant ground in home entertainment, but nobody else did either.  It was pretty much a stalemate this year when it comes to new technology in the home theater.  No wow factor, no winners and really no losers.  Sure the Logitech Revue flopped, but Google TV is still built into Sony TVs and they’re in talks with Samsung and other companies as well.  Eric Schmidt, Google’s Executive Chairman is quoted as predicting that, “By the summer of 2012, the majority of the televisions you see in stores will have Google TV embedded.”  So maybe I was just 1 year early in my prediction.

Ara’s Predictions

LCD TVs hit 600Hz refresh rate
Well this was completely incorrect. At this point in time the fastest refresh rates I can find are 480Hz. So maybe I’m a year off in this.  We are of the opinion that once you get past 120Hz it really doesn’t improve your viewing experience unless you are watching test content designed to specifically look better at 240 or 480Hz.

Automobile Based Mobile Video will become a reality
For this prediction I was counting on using data not satellite signals for the video. I got close on this one but I may be a year or two away. The following except is from MotorAutority.com:
OnStar will offer such features as cloud-based streaming of information and entertainment, rear-seat infotainment management and video chat.

While it doesn’t get into the specific configuration, the pictures make it appear as though the car itself is equipped with a 4G modem that provides Internet connectivity and services throughout. In the rear, we see two tablet computers that look hardwired directly to the car.

An LCD TV will be demonstrated that is 1mm thick or less
OK, this was a pipe dream. TV’s measuring 1mm thick are really the realm of OLED technology. A company called AOC announced a 3D 1080p LCD that was 9.6mm. So I was off by a factor of 10. For what its worth, Samsung announced a 7 inch LCD that was 1mm thick.

Google TV will Flop
As far as 2011 goes I will claim that I got this one right.  After all, Logitech lost $100 million in operating profit part of which was due to the Revue. And their chairman Guerrino De Luca is on record saying that it was a “Big Mistake”

However, with that said, the latest version of GoogleTV has some excited about the product’s future and when you consider that Google will license the software to TV manufacturers, there is life left in it. So while I’ll say it flopped in 2011 I won’t count GoogleTV out just yet. We’ll have to revisit this again in the future.

 

Download Episode #510