HDTV Magazine Articles

My previous articles in this series have mentioned a few factors by which the 3D implementation effort is different from HD a decade ago, rather than similar, as some industry experts have expressed.

In this fourth installment, I analyze how consumers could embrace the 3D effort, and I provide some ideas to help them evaluate the adoption of 3D for their particular application: Either as a replacement of HDTV, or as a value added feature for 3D content, whether it is sourced from satellite, cable, or Blu-ray.

As mentioned in part 2: In addition to the DTV type of conversions, such as digital compression, resolution and frame rate, 3D will subject the signal to conversions of structures/formats to match source devices with display devices capabilities.

From the world of digital audio/video, although many mistakenly generalize that bits are bits, we know that original signal quality suffers with conversions, which is what we will discuss in this part 3 of this series.

As mentioned earlier, 3D for the home is been implemented either with...

As I mentioned in part one, many experts in the HD industry, such as Mr. Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association, compared the 3D CES movement of 2010 to when HD was introduced in 1998.

Several factors make the two efforts similar: they are both based on digital technology, use the same digital distribution channels as 2D HDTV, use similar digital displays (with upgraded features for 3D), and both are as complex regarding having multiple formats, standards, conversions, compressions, connectivity requirements, etc.

Unfortunately, due to that complexity, consumer confusion is also as high, if not higher. If local consumer electronics stores for years had difficulty learning HD right and to explain it correctly to consumers (and many have not reached that point yet even after a decade), I anticipate that 3D will be worse, and misinformation will fill consumers heads again.

One could say that standards and compatibility should help … keep reading.

The 2010 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) took place in Las Vegas between January 5 and 10 (the first two days were for the press). The show received approximately 120,000 attendees and 2500 exhibitors, according to preliminary estimates.

I visited all the exhibits relevant to audio and video, including the high-end audio exhibits at the Venetian and THE Show, and the usual non-CES high-end audio event, this year held at the Flamingo, in addition to 62 meetings I planned with companies, 90% related to 3D this year. If you wonder why, you might be the only one who did not see Avatar.

Although it was an exhausting effort, it was worth every minute of it. CES was a great opportunity to see ...

A wireless solution to get rid of the audio and video cables for a display has been a focal point for many years now. While many wireless adapters have come to market the Achilles Heal has always been that none of these solutions could fully duplicate the capability (and more importantly the performance) of a wired HDMI connection. At CES 2008 the WirelessHD group announced they were developing a new wireless standard and technology that could!

At CES 2009 there were...