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This is the second of 5 daily articles we will be distributing over the course of the 2006 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), which runs from Jan. 5th - Jan. 8th. The information below is very brief and will likely be elaborated upon in a future article, or set of articles.
The Sony Playstation 3, when it arrives, will also contain Blu-Ray hardware and be fully backward compatible to previous Playstation products. In addition to the Blu-Ray and Media PC additions, Sony is also bringing to market two new consumer HD camcorders: The HDR-HD1 is currently available for approximately $2000. The HDR-FX1 is currently available for approximately $3700 and target for the "prosumer". And there is additional programming to be in HD this year: Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune.
They also announced that be the end of this year they will be providing local HD channels in "up to" 50 markets beginning with Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, and Boston ... Including Subchannels. To top it off, all of these HD Locals, and the additional stations above, will all be MPEG4. They have further committed to make all future additions to their HD lineup in MPEG4 only. There will be no further additions of HD channels in MPEG2. This means that if you want to receive these additional channels, it will require a hardware (STB) upgrade. To support his, they have released a new series of MPEG4 STB's: the ViP Series. This series of tuners does not yet have support for 1080p (more on that in a later article), but will support it in the future with a "easy" upgrade path: 211 - Single Room 222 - Multi-Room - This box will decode HD on the primary TV and SD on a second TV ... with no additional box fee (as would usually be the case) 622 - Multi-Room PVR - Same as the 222, but with PVR functionality. The first MPEG4 PVR to hit the market. The hard drive in this unit can also be "shared" among both connected TV's ... again with no additional box fee.
Posted by Shane Sturgeon, January 6, 2006 9:39 AM
Reader Commentary Nice to see that the Dish Network is (finally) moving ahead with HD delivery of local channels. It comes a little too late for me, as I left Dish in November (after being a customer for 7 years) for Comcast. The Dish over- the-air element to their HD receiver was a little clunky and I couldn't receive all the local HD channels. Returning to Dish Network will depend on the price point of the new MPEG4 receiver. As an early adopter, I had already purchased over $700 in receivers. I'm glad I resisted the temptation to drop another $500 or so on their HD PVR which now appears to be obsolete.(?) I should also note that the picture quality of their SD channels, when viewed on a HD monitor, (the local channels in particular) left much to be desired. They did look great on a SD monitor, however.... Nice to see that the Dish Network is (finally) moving ahead with HD delivery of local channels. It comes a little too late for me, as I left Dish in November (after being a customer for 7 years) for Comcast. The Dish over- the-air element to their HD receiver was a little clunky and I couldn't receive all the local HD channels. Returning to Dish Network will depend on the price point of the new MPEG4 receiver. As an early adopter, I had already purchased over $700 in receivers. I'm glad I resisted the temptation to drop another $500 or so on their HD PVR which now appears to be obsolete.(?) Charlie (Ergen) did emphasize in the press conference that they were committed to doing right by their customers who already had an investment in Dish hardware. No specifics were given, of course. - Shane... I was ready to switch back to DN. Today I was told that the new HD recorder can only do one HD channel at a time. You can not watch one HD channel while recording another HD channel.... I was ready to switch back to DN. Today I was told that the new HD recorder can only do one HD channel at a time. You can not watch one HD channel while recording another HD channel. They said exactly the opposite at the press conference. That question was asked specifically, and their answer was "Yes". So this new series of STB's apparently will be multi-tuner. - Shane... The ongoing battle (HD DVD v. Blu-Ray) that appeared first a couple years ago at CES and again last year - was shown to be still ongoing at many sites at CES. Some mfrs. were pushing HDDVD, others, B-Ray. Many mfrs. on both sides said they will have players for sale in the next few months. If I recall correctly, some of these have been on sale in Japan for over a year. I tried to find out if anyone was going to market a player/recorder. Answers were vague - maybe another year or so. I don't think anyone demonstrated an HD recorder prototype. In my mind, if you can't record your own HD DVD disks, why bother. I think when VHS and Beta first came out you could record as well as play. ...mike... Shane: another friend at the show commented on Sanyo's $799 720p camcorder. did you get a chance to look at that and compare to the Sony's you menetioned (e.g., the $2000 one). Wishing my trip didnt get cancelled, Barry... More from Shane Sturgeon
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About Shane SturgeonShane Sturgeon is the Co-Publisher and Chief Technologist of HDTV Magazine, an industry publication with HDTV roots going back to 1984, when Dale Cripps founded The HDTV Newsletter. Today, HDTV Magazine is a leading online resource for HDTV news and information and captures the eyes and imaginations of over 3 million visitors annually. Mr. Sturgeon has a background in information technology and has served in various consulting capacities for Fortune 500 companies such as J.P. Morgan Chase, Verizon Communications, Proctor & Gamble and Nationwide Insurance. He has a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Wright State University. |
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