HDTV News from About.com

In an effort to provide more after-purchase support for its customers, especially those that are not technically inclined, Wal-Mart has made the decision to offer a new home installation service for HDTVs, home theater systems, and home office products. Of course, another motive for Wal-Mart is to provide a competitive alternative to Best Buy's Geek Squad. For all the details, check out the reports from Reuters and TV Predictions.

Wal-Mart Jumps Into HDTV Home Installation originally appeared on About.c ...

Although Blu-ray Disc player and Disc sales have been on a steady upward pace since the end of the Blu-ray/HD-DVD format war, growth has not been as robust as the previous DVD growth timeline.

Of course, the current state of the economy doesn't help as many have postponed consumer electronics-related purchases. However, the other wrinkle is that Blu-ray Disc releases of new films have actually done very well, but sales of classic and older films that were previously released on DVD aren't. That is to be expected; since all Blu-ray Disc players can also play DVDs, many consumers don't see the need to replace their existing DVD collections.

This is where Disney comes in. Apparently, recent Blu-ray editions of previously DVD released classic films that may already be in many consumer's collections aren't doing as well as expected. However, what Disney may be failing to also see is that their Blu-ray Disc releases carry much higher price tags than releases from some of the other ...

Although Blu-ray is the dominant high definition disc format currently available, the Chinese have taken major elements of the defeated HD-DVD format and have created their own homegrown high definition disc format, CBHD (China Blue High Definition). The original intent of CBHD was to compete with Blu-ray within the Chinese market, where it has reportedly been successful. Now, British retailer GBAX is offering CBHD players to UK consumers. Will CBHD also reach U.S. shores? For more details, check out the reports from EngadgetHD (includes video) and High Def Digest.

For additional background information on CBHD, check out my previous articles:

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In a puzzling move, especially just before the Christmas and Winter Holiday shopping season, retail giant Walmart has made a decision to unclutter their end-caps by removing displays of DVDs and Blu-ray Discs (in-aisle displays will remain). For more details on this development, check out the report from Blogging Stocks.

For those that are still Blu-ray doubters, the trend is against you. Blu-ray has not only been on a continuous growth pattern despite the current lackluster economy, but may experience substantially increased growth as a result of four new developments.

First: The large number of Blu-ray Disc players introduced at the recent CEDIA EXPO from both mainstream and niche-brand manufacturers.

Second: Sony has revealed that its new Playstation 3 Slim (which has a built-in Blu-ray Disc player) has sold more than 1 million units since it was released on September 1st.

Third: Apple is finally jumping on the Blu-ray bandwagon with an announcement that it will be including a Blu-ray Disc drive in its upcoming series of iMacs.

Fourth: Best Buy has announced that it will be marketing a new line of its Insignia-brand LCD TVs that will include built-in Blu-ray Disc players; just in time for the 200 ...

Although Denon introduced their flagship $4,500 DVD-A1UDCI Blu-ray Disc player just this past January at CES, they have just announced a new "flagship quality" Blu-ray Disc player for less than half the price (which is still $1,999).

Just as with the DVD-A1UDC1, the new DBP-4010UDCI meets Profile 2.0 specifications with the required Ethernet port as well as a slot for memory expansion and audio, video, still image file playback via SD card. This player is also playback compatible with Blu-ray Discs, DVDs, CDs, but Read Story • Post First Comment

Blu-ray was heavily represented at the 2009 CEDIA EXPO, with a variety of new Blu-ray Disc players and Blu-ray-equipped Home Theater-in-a-Box Systems. For a peek at some the Blu-ray Disc player offerings at the 2009 CEDIA EXPO, check out my CEDIA Blu-ray Disc Player Photo Gallery and Report.

Also, for an overview of the entire 2009 CEDIA EXPO, check out my Best of CEDIA 2009 Photo Gallery and Report. Photo of Sony BDP-CX7000ES 400 Disc MegaChanger (c) Robert Silva - Licensed to About.com

The Pioneer BDP-320 is a Blu-ray Disc player that combines practical features with good performance. Blu-ray discs are played at full 1080p via its HDMI output. This player is also compatible with standard DVDs and most recordable DVD formats, and standard music CDs. Standard DVDs are upscaled up to 1080p via the HDMI output. Onboard decoding or undecoded bitstream output of Dolby TrueHD and ...

Although DVD is the most successful home entertainment product in history, ever since it was introduced in 1997, it lacks true high definition playback and recording capability. Two competing camps came up with a solution: Blu-ray and HD-DVD. However, only the Blu-ray format now remains. To find out the answers to questions about Blu-ray check out my latest "Question of the Week Series" on Blu-ray Basics. This week's question: How Does DVD Upscaling Compare to Blu-ray? Also, be sure to check out my complete Blu-ray FAQs.

In an anncouncement that created some brief excitement at CEDIA, JVC introduced the first Blu-ray Disc recorders available in the U.S. market at a press conference early Thursday morning. However, the excitement was very short-lived when the actual details were revealed.

The new JVC Blu-ray disc recorders cannot, I repeat, cannot record high definition television programming, either from over-the-air (there is no built-in tuner or RF input), cable, or satellite; there are no HDMI or Component video inputs for recording hi-def video, only standard definition composite and S-Video.

However, each recorder comes equipped with a ...