January 26th, 2009

Simpsons switching to high definition for season 20 premiere

The Simpsons has been a staple in many homes for nearly 20 years and finally, finally, the show will be broadcast in glorious high definition. Season 20 debuts on February 15 which is when the switch will be flipped and we’ll see Homer and Co. in HD. Plus, the show is going to have a new main title for the first time in 20 seasons. Oh, and for the record, The Simpsons is going HD before the → Read More

January 21st, 2009

Sanyo announces first round of refreshes to the Xacti camcorder line [Update]

Sanyo’s compact line of Xacti Dual camcorders was refreshed this morning with five new models. The high-end DMX-HD2000 and DMX-FH11 are the only two that shoot 1080p resolution video. Like Xactis before it, these two also take still photos that are approximately 8 megapixels even when recording video. They can be interpolated up to 12 megapixels as well when not shooting video. Both have a 10x… → Read More

January 7th, 2009

Samsung pushing out five new digital camcorders

Samsung just released 6 new camcorder models the HMX-H100, HMX-H104, HMX-H105 and HMX-H106 HD cams, SMX-F34 YouTube cam and the HMX-R10 CMOS-based HD camcorder. → Read More

January 6th, 2009

Panasonic announces Blu-ray standard for 3D movies in HD

I am wondering if this news will ever be of significance but here we go: The Nikkei, Japan’s largest business newspaper, is reporting today that Panasonic has set a new standard for Blu-rays that are capable of reproducing 3D images in HD (the picture above shows an older Panasonic plasma 3D TV). → Read More

December 14th, 2008

Review: Western Digital WD TV HD Media Player

For months now, I have been trying to play .MKV and other video files on my living room front projector. At first I tried to connect a laptop directly to the TV. But this didn’t always work, the audio was crappy, and it was awkward to have a laptop connected to the projector. I started using my XBOX 360 to play video files. At first I wanted to stream the files across my network. This worked… → Read More

December 8th, 2008

Creative's Vado HD Pocket Cam now available

Creative introduced today the Vado HD, the successor to the Vado released back in May. It captures video in 720p and is the only pocket video cam to feature HDMI connectivity and an included HDMI cable that provides 1080i output to an HDTV. It also comes with 8GB of built-in memory that can hold up to two hours of HD video. The Vado HD also features a 2-inch LCD screen and a built-in USB connector… → Read More

December 5th, 2008

CrunchDeals: 26-inch 720p LCD TV for $299

  Here’s the little brother of the TV deal we posted yesterday. Yes, it’s a Dynex and yes, former Geek Squad employee Alex commented in the previous post that he found the Dynex brand of TVs to not only be “GARBAGE!!!” but also “PURE GARBAGE!!” – all caps and five total exclamation points. However, both the 42-inch TV and this 26-inch TV have gotten around 4.5 out of 5 stars by… → Read More

November 11th, 2008

Flip intros $229 high definition ‘MinoHD’ camcorder

The tiny-and-popular line of Flip Mino camcorders has a new addition with the MinoHD. It’s basically a Flip Mino that – you guessed it – records at 1280 x 720 resolution onto four gigabytes of onboard memory. The camera appears to be about the same as the regular Mino except for some updated software, the higher resolution, the 4GB of storage, and the $229.99 price tag versus the standard… → Read More

November 11th, 2008

Live! with Regis and Kelly going HD on January 5th, 2009

Just what every housewife has been asking for, Regis and Kelly is going high definition on January 5th, 2009. I doubt the world will be a better place once the forever-young Regis will be seen in all the detail that HD provides, but still, it’s great seeing staple morning shows making the switch. More and more consumers are going to purchase HDTVs with the digital switch looming and there is… → Read More

November 10th, 2008

Vudu now has over 1,100 HD movie titles, including 150 HDX titles making it the King of HD titles

Vudu’s HD catalog is officially the largest available from any service and even surpasses physical media. In the month of October Vudu added over 150 HD titles per week to reach this historical milestone. Their recently announced HDX service now has over 150 titles as well. Today, they added 35 HDX titles and 398 HD titles, which we’ve listed after the jump in alphabetical order because we… → Read More

November 4th, 2008

Sound & Vision lists the top 7 HD shows – Do you agree?

Sound & Vision has a list of what they feel are the top high definition shows this fall. CSI: Miami Pushing Daisies The Mentalist Heros True Blood The Office Dexter While I don’t disagree with first two, Dexter (best show on TV, btw) and True Blood should be higher on the list. Plus SNL, Stargate: Atlantis, and ER all better looking than The Office. Great show, but there are… → Read More

November 3rd, 2008

Roku Neflix Box getting HD streaming by end of '08

Now that a Samsung Blu-ray player, Xbox 360, and TiVo can stream Netflix, the original device by Roku is trying to make people remember that it’s still around by stating that it will be able to stream HD content by this year’s end. Some have questioned the $99 hardware’s ability to stream Netflix content but according to the companies VP of Consumer Products, it will be… → Read More

October 28th, 2008

Onkyo announces THX-certified 7.1-channel speaker system

Today, the HT-S9100THX system was announced and it has its sights set on HD theater buffs across the country. The 7.1-channel system (130W/channel) includes THX’s Loudnes Plus technology and comes with four HDMI v1.3a ports. The more HDMI ports, the better, I say. Audyssey and Faroudja handle onboard audio and video processing. Faroudja’s DCDi Edge technology bumps all component, composite… → Read More

October 16th, 2008

HD TV shows from all four major networks on iTunes

Fire up iTunes and you’ll find, for the first time, TV shows from the four major networks (ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox) in HD. It’s still $2.99 per HD episode, and that includes a standard-def version of the TV show for your iPhone or iPod. HD shows now include hits like Lost, CSI, 30 Rock and The Office. But we all know The Shield is the best show on TV now, so whatever. → Read More

October 7th, 2008

Reggie kills that pesky Wii HD in 2011 rumor

In Reggie we trust, right? Hope so, but he just killed quite the rumor in a recent interview. The president and COO of Nintendo told VentureBeat that the rumored Wii HD, “penned” for 2011, is a joke. Calling it “pure rumor and speculation,” Reggie says that Nintendo isn’t about to show developers prototype version and ask, coyly, “What do you guys think?” That’s not how… → Read More

October 2nd, 2008

Vudu officially announces full HD service, HDX

Well, look at that. We caught wind of HDX last month and today Vudu made their full high definition content service official. HDX is aimed directly at HD aficionados with 1080p screens larger than 42-inches. Pricing for HDX content won’t cost you anymore than the HD content they currently offer. A total of 65 HDX titles rolled out tonight, which include The Spiderwick Chronicles, In Bruges… → Read More

September 25th, 2008

Amazing footage from the Canon 5D Mark II

This video from Vincent Laforet.com essentially turns the value proposition of an HD video camera on its head. If a DSLR can do this amazing work, why bother picking up a camcorder? → Read More

September 23rd, 2008

Scarlet and RED Epic getting total reboot

What the hell?! I think Jim Jannard took some peyote at Photokina and brought his laptop. He’s posted on the forums saying everything’s going pineapples for Scarlet and RED Epic. We have changed everything about Scarlet because the market has changed and we have discovered a lot of things in the process. We have a new vision. Wipe you minds of the past announced Scarlet. Forget the… → Read More

September 15th, 2008

HP announces High-Def notebooks, HDX X16 and HDX X18

Building on their cavalcade of notebooks announced a few months ago, HP whipped out two entertainment-focused notebooks today. The biggest draw for both the HDX 16 and HDX18 are their 16:9 HD displays, sort of. The HDX18 boasts a full 1080p display while the HDX16 cranks out 720p. Full specs and details after the jump. → Read More

September 15th, 2008

Ikonoskop A-cam dll: tiny, uncompressed 1080p for pros

The options for shooting hi-def video are getting more and more diverse, and this thing is a good example of that. What exactly is this shape? Well, although the design might not win any awards (well, maybe — it’s quite small), the footage should look brilliant. It records 1080p up to 60fps and 12-bit color, but it outputs as an enormous series of DNG files — essentially, RAW… → Read More

September 11th, 2008

Free HD NBC episodes on iTunes

Just in case you missed the brief announcement a couple days ago, HDTV shows are now on iTunes. Yup, and NBC is back giving away an episode of its best shows. All you need is iTunes 8. Battlestar Galactica The Office Lipstick Jungle Heroes In Plain Sight Monk Psych Life Eureka 30 Rock via TUAW → Read More

September 10th, 2008

Buffalo stuffs full HD resolution into a 22-inch LCD

If you’ve researched LCD displays in the past, you’ll have likely come across the resolution gap between most 22- and 24-inch LCD monitors. Most 22-inch monitors seem to be at a pretty sweet price point right now, but the 1680×1050 resolution is short of most 24-inch monitors’ full HD (1920×1200) resolution. Well Buffalo has managed to cram full HD resolution into a 22-inch… → Read More

September 4th, 2008

Belkin FlyWire Transmitter: Transmits HD from anywhere

The FlyWire is an HD streamer that sends 1080p content to any TV, anywhere, from an HD source. Built-in IR blasters allow you to send control signals to any CE device including Blu-Ray players and receivers. It basically lets you send HD video to a TV mounted on a wall without requiring you to rewire your entire house. Belkin FlyWire™ Offers Faster, Easier, and More Installations to Custom… → Read More

September 3rd, 2008

Mitsubishi announces trio of 1080p projectors

CEDIA is set to begin tomorrow, but that doesn’t mean companies won’t be announcing products today. Mitsubishi just announced two Diamond Series 1080p projectors, HC7000U (pictured) and HC6500U, which both happen to be some of the quietest available on the market, secreting 17 dBa in low mode. The HC7000U is the flagship model and it has a 70,000:1 contrast ratio, which is attributed to the… → Read More

August 28th, 2008

Sony launches T500 Cyber-shot – HD video and more

My goodness, there has been a lot of digital cameras launched within the last few days. Nikon, Canon and now Sony. This firm’s latest sports a 10.1 megapixel paired up with a 5x optical zoom and a 3.5-inch touchscreen, but the main selling point of the T500 has to be the HD video capture mode. This mode allows for up to 10 minutes of continuous video that should fill a 4GB memory stick. Said… → Read More

August 25th, 2008

Wired finally goes all out on the RED

I have to say, the Wired I used to love would have covered the RED camera about two years ago when it was all buzz, phantom tech, and prototype sensors, and not now when it is essentially an established cinematic tool limited only by the small amount yet manufactured. At any rate, they’ve written a pretty comprehensive long-format history of the RED from birth to current success, and… → Read More

August 23rd, 2008

Vudu: 1,000 HD titles coming along with a lifetime content warranty

Vudu has big plans for their IP-based content delivery service. Big plans and we don’t mean that .99 cent rental thing.  “In a very short time we’ll have 1,000 HD titles,” says Donnigan. “That’s more than Blu-ray. We have some huge deals.” That’s a lot of high-def content. More than any service we can think of. But also, the company wants to help… → Read More

August 22nd, 2008

If you care, CNN is broadcasting the entire DNC in HD

The boob tube has been squawking lately about some big political event next week in Denver. If you plan on tuning in, Multichannel News is reporting that CNN plans on broadcasting the entire shebang in high-def. Apparently, the outfit splurged on new cameras and related gear for the event. You would think that this gathering was important or something.  Multichannel News via TVP → Read More

August 21st, 2008

Blu-ray 'Essential Holiday Collection' puts us in the Christmas spirit

Three of the best Christmas flicks, and Elf, are coming from Warner later this year to your Blu-ray player. The set includes, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, A Christmas Story, The Polar Express, and yes, unfortunately Elf. No word on price just yet, but does it really matter? A Christmas Story – in high definition. Come on! Plus, nothing brightens up the depressing Christmas… → Read More

August 20th, 2008

Review: HDS-41Rv13 4-in-1 HDMI switcher

My TV has two HDMI inputs but I have four HDMI-based entertainment devices I’d like to hook up to it. What’s a girl to do? Boy! I meant to say “boy” instead. Welcome to the exciting world of HDMI switchers! Today we’ll take a look at the HDS-41Rv13 HDMI switcher from RT COM. → Read More