Welcome, Guest  •  Sign In  •  Help
AP

Alfred Poor

HDTV Professor

Alfred Poor is a well-known display industry expert, who writes the daily HDTV Almanac. He wrote for PC Magazine for more than 20 years, and now is focusing on the home entertainment and home networking markets.

1662 ColumnsRSS

Articles by Alfred Poor

Deals

HDTV Almanac - Best Buy: $10 per Inch for 50″ LCD

Best Buy is offering a 50-inch Insignia LCD HDTV at $500, a $10-per-diagonal-inch price point more commonly associated with plasma displays. The set is a standard 60Hz panel with three HDMI inputs, lacking advanced features like Internet connectivity or 3D support. Buyers seeking smart TV functionality can supplement it with a Roku or Vizio Google TV network media player for under $100, making this a cost-effective entry into large-screen HDTV ownership.

Columns
Politics & PolicyOTA HD & Antennas

HDTV Almanac - More U.S. Households Rely on TV Broadcasts

Over-the-air television reliance in the U.S. has grown to nearly 18% of TV households, with a GfK Media study showing approximately 7 million additional viewers dropping subscription services, bringing the exclusive over-the-air audience to more than 20 million. The shift is attributed to a combination of consumer cost-cutting and migration toward broadband-based streaming alternatives. Any FCC spectrum auction or reassignment must account for this substantial population that depends on free broadcast signals for access to information.

Columns
Streaming HDSmart TVs

HDTV Almanac - Google TV: Round 2

Google TV's second generation is nearing launch with Sony and Vizio releasing network media players priced at $100 to $200, and LG integrating the platform into a new LCD HDTV. The platform unifies broadcast, subscription, and streaming content through a single search interface, with Google Play already offering 100,000 television episodes and movies and further expansion planned. For consumers, these affordable add-on players offer a practical path to smart TV functionality without replacing existing hardware.

Columns
Home TheaterBlu-ray

HDTV Almanac - Sony Blu-ray Player for $40

A refurbished Sony BDP-BX18 Blu-ray player is available on eBay for $40, featuring Sony Bravia Internet video support, wired Ethernet, a front USB port, and HDMI output. The unit was originally returned to a major retailer, and the seller has moved hundreds of units at this price point. For consumers who have resisted upgrading from DVD due to cost, a near-zero price differential between formats could finally make Blu-ray a practical default choice.

Columns
OLED TVsManufacturingStandards

HDTV Almanac - Sony and Panasonic: New Entrants in OLED TV Race

Sony and Panasonic have announced a partnership to develop OLED TVs using printing-based deposition methods, targeting mass-production technology by 2013 - an ambitious timeline given the early-stage development of metal oxide backplanes and blue OLED emitters. The printing approach, if successful, could undercut the slower vacuum deposition batch process and reduce costs enough to challenge LG and Samsung on price. Both companies are under severe financial pressure, having lost ground to Korean and Chinese rivals, making this a high-stakes bet on an unproven manufacturing method.

Columns