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Category: hdtv

  • Downloading Will Be The Death of Blu-Ray













    Predicting the demise of Blu-ray is a popular sport – and it has just gained another fan.

    Consumer review specialist Reevoo has come out with a report saying that the high-def format is fighting a losing battle against HD download services and hard drives.

    It suggest consumers continue to favor DVD players – despite the price of Blu-ray players falling significantly in the past few months.

    But the Reevoo report says that when customers have to upgrade, they are happy to skip Blu-ray altogether and go straight to a combination of downloads and hard drives.






    According to its data and reviews, consumes favor the "convenience" of digital downloads and digital hard drive recorders.

    Whether Blu-ray’s demise will be quite as swift as Reevoo are suggesting remains to be seen.

    There’s no doubt, though, that the format really needs to start making waves soon.






    Reevoo summarises the three main factors it identifies as impeding the uptake of Blu-ray as:






    – Improved DVD players – DVD players are still outselling Blu-ray players by a factor of 10:1 according to Reevoo data. Newer high-end DVD players capable of ‘upscaling’ a standard definition image to near-HD, the gap between DVD and Blu-ray has shrunk to the point that shoppers see no reason to upgrade
     


    – Blu-ray pricing and inflated disc prices




    – Households are downloading – The window for Blu-ray to become the leading video format is closing rapidly. The format is also competing with downloads through services such as Apple’s iTunes store which offers HD content for rental or purchase at a lower price than Blu-ray discs.Hard-drive based personal video recorders (PVRs) sold twice as many units as Blu-ray in the UK over Christmas according to Reevoo data








  • BitGravity Offers 1080p HD Live Video Streaming







    BitGravity announced today that it is launching a live digital video service that will allow users to stream Flash-based HD video over the Internet.

    The BG Live HD service can stream live events in 1080p or 720p resolution and doesn’t require a viewing client to be downloaded.

    The content delivery network (CDN) provider, making the announcement at DEMO 2009, said the new service was the first affordable, true HD, online streaming service for live events in 1080p or 720p resolution.

    Perry Wu, co-founder and CEO of BitGravity, said the notion of HD live broadcasting over the Internet is not earth shattering.
    However, he said doing it in a way that enables wide adoption is.

    Perry Wu, CEO BitGravity

    "Technology is not meaningful if we only deliver four out of five requirements that customers demand," he said.

    "TV-quality 720p and 1080p HD with only a few seconds delay off live, no client download, simple set-up, scalability, and affordability are the table stakes for being a player in this space."

    Last October, BitGravity announced the release of an application programming interface (API), capable of supporting cutting-edge interactive video applications.

    Based in Burlingame, California, the company launched a standard-definition version of the live online streaming service at last year’s DEMO event.

    Since then it has live streamed events such as the Democratic and Republican national conventions and President Barack Obama’s inauguration.

    Wu said BG Live HD, provides TV-quality video with just a few seconds of delay.

    He said the service has low hardware start-up costs.

    The HD H.264 live streaming software will initially be offered at no price premium over SD H.264 delivery.

    To stream live with an HD camera and Internet connection, BitGravity requires only an Apple Mac Pro loaded with BitGravity transcoding software, a PCI expansion card, and an HDMI or HDSDI source connected to BitGravity’s network.

    The new service streams data at a rate of 1.5- 2 megabits per second, which most cable modems and DSL lines can handle.
    BG Live HD will be generally available in April.

  • I-Movix Launches SprintCam V3 Broadcast-Integrated HD Ultra Slow-Motion Solution







    I-Movix has launched the first broadcast-integrated, native HD, ultra-slow-motion solution offering frame rates of 500 to 1,000 fps with instant replay.

    The new SprintCam V3 HD produces slow-motion output equivalent to 20 to 40 times slower than normal speed, which the Belgian company says makes it the most advanced HD system available with full broadcast integration.

    I-Movix’s SprintCam system has been used extensively to provide slow-motion footage from recent major broadcasting events, including Beijing 2008.

    Laurent Renard, CEO of I-Movix, said the new SprintCam V3 HD had an unmatched combination of exceptional image quality and light sensitivity, instant replay, broadcast integration, and out-of-the-box operation with no requirement for special training.

    He said the image quality, combined with its ease-of-use, made the V3 HD ideal for slow-motion requirements in sports broadcasting, commercials production, documentaries and movies.

    The SprintCam V3 HD system comprises a high-speed HD camera, an operational control panel, a slow motion remote, and the camera control unit.

    It will be available in June 2009.

  • Celeno Technology Enables Multiple HDTV Streams Around Home


    Technology that delivers multiple HDTV streams from PCs to TVs and other electronic devices around the home could be launched by the summer.

    Israeli-based Celeno Communications is field-testing in-home WiFi networks with backing from Cisco.

    Celeno, which manufactures semiconductors for multimedia WiFi home networking applications, has created technology that upgrades the transmission portion of the WiFi network but works with existing receivers such as set-top boxes.

    The company says the product is almost ready for commercial deployment and would be built into broadband access gateways.

    Celeno’s OptimizAIR technology uses 5 GHz spectrum, not the 2.4 GHz spectrum used in current WiFi data networks.

    It uses standard PHY and MAC layers but adds proprietary algorithms that the company says can double the throughput of standard 802.11 WiFi and increase the range of the signals by as much as eight times.

    Technology additions include Spatial Channel Awareness and Beam-Forming MIMO (multiple inputs, multiple outputs).

    The company said it can stream HD video 120 feet, through four brick walls and more than three floors.

  • Mirial's Softphone Video Conferencing Software Upgraded to Full-HD


    Mirial has released version 6.2 of its video conferencing software that steps the Softphone up from 720p to 1080p.

    Cristoforo Mione, business development director at Mirial, said that with Full-HD resolution up to 1080p for both decoding and encoding, the upgraded version set the pace of the evolution in video and VoIP technology, according to voip-biz.news.

    He said that whatever the PC settings and available bandwidth, the Softphone automatically optimizes configurations to provide the best user experience and video quality, even in case of floating call conditions such as bandwidth drops/peaks.

    Mione said the Softphone was "nearly like having a top-class HD camera, an enterprise-fit MCU and a shared meeting room, all in one single piece of software to be launched everyday, anytime, from any desktop".

  • OWC Doubles Speed of Mercury Pro Blu-Ray Drives to 8X


    Other World Computing (OWC) has upgraded the speed of its Mercury Pro Blu-ray/SuperDrive just four months after launching it as the world’s first external Blu-ray drive with a quad interface.

    Now twice as fast, the Mac and PC technology company device boasts 8X Blu-ray write speeds of up to 2GB per minute, blank DVDs at 16x and writable CDs at up to 32x.

    It offers FireWire 800, FireWire 400, USB 2.0 and eSATA interfaces for Plug & Play compatibility with both Windows and Macintosh systems.

    The Mercury Pro Blu-ray External Drive is available immediately priced starting at USD $399.99.

  • Panasonic To Release Freesat PVR HDD Blu-Ray Recorder


    Panasonic has unveiled what it claims are the world’s first Blu-ray recorders with two integrated Freesat receivers and an internal hard drive.

    Freesat is a UK free-to-air digital satellite television service that is a joint venture between the BBC and ITV.

    Making the announcement at its European press launch in Amsterdam this week, Panasonic said the DMR-BS850 will feature a 500GB hard drive along with a Blu-ray player and recorder.

    The company will also be releasing a smaller version, the 250GB BS750.

    Both will offer support for Panasonic’s new Internet content delivery service, Viera Cast.

    Since the players are equipped with twin HD tuners, users will be able to record content from one channel while watching another one.

    Both machines are Freesat+ compatible, so pausing and rewinding on-demand will also be possible.

    The two models have integrated SD memory card slots and, although Panasonic didn’t confirm it, it will also be possible to record Freesat-recorded content onto a Blu-ray Disc.

    The new recorders will launch in May but no price details have been released.

  • Mobile Makers Pushing Hard for 1080p Video Content on Handsets


    The global economy may be suffering but that doesn’t mean the drive for technological advancement draws to a complete halt.

    At the recent Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, On2 Technologies’ director of marketing, Tony Hope, told hdtv-biz.news about the push to bring high-def video content to mobile devices.

    He said the demand from handset manufacturers for 1080p content was growing – and by necessity they are looking two or three years ahead.

    "Almost every handset manufacturer wants to support HD video content on their mobile devices," he said.

    "The view is that two to three years down the road, 1080p decoding will be supported on these devices – and not just decoding but encoding for video and pictures as well."

    Based in Clifton Park, NY, On2 has positioned itself at the forefront of video compression technology and during MWC announced a 1080p video encoder for battery operated devices and consumer electronics.

    The new hardware design, the Hantro 8270, supports H.264 Baseline, Main and High Profile video along with 16Mpixel JPEG still images.

    Hope said On2 could easily be described as "one of the more popular companies that people have never heard of".

    The company’s video compression technologies – including its VP6 codec – are on hundreds of millions of mobiles with Nokia among its customers.

    "We’ve been developing our own compression technology for the last 15 years," he said. "And our VP6 is one of the most popular codecs on the planet."

    With the likes of NVIDIA – with it Tegra APX 2600 chipset – and Texas Instruments – with its OMAP 3 platfrom and plans for a chip that handles 1080p – working feverishly on HD technology, the pace for 1080p certainly seems to be quickening.

  • Broadcast International and Fixstars Develop Software-based H.264 Real-time Encoder


    A PC-based H.264 software encoder that offers advanced encoding solutions has been developed by Broadcast International and Fixstars Corporation.

    The CodecSys CE-100/200 has been designed to improve the productivity of IPTV content creation in areas like Blu-ray disk authoring, digitization of video archives and large scale surveillance camera networks.

    Rod Tiede, president and CEO of Broadcast International, said the availability of the CE-100/200 is significant because it fills a "huge void" in terms of solving the global bandwidth crisis.

    "We’ve seen over and over that the biggest technology problem the world will face in the coming years with regards to video content is video compression and making more bandwidth available to accommodate the popularity and demand for more online video," he said.

    CodecSys CE-100/200 is comprised of Broadcast International’s ultra-high speed video compression software running on IBM’s BladeCenter QS21 server, powered by the Cell/B.E. processor.

    It was originally developed by IBM, Sony and Toshiba to provide the computing power for cutting-edge gaming applications.

    Tiede said the the Cell/B.E. processor on the QS21 helps CodecSys AVC set a new standard for H.264 encoders.

    He said it gave the broadcast industry the ability to handle a high volume of premium quality video and a large number of video channels.

    The CE-100/200 is available immediately.

  • Deal With Broadcom Brings Chumby's Widgets To HDTVs


    Widget company chumby’s media Internet platform is to start appearing on HDTVs, set-top-boxes and Blu-ray players thanks to a deal struck with Broadcom Corporation.

    The tie-up will see chumby’s interactive multimedia widgets integrated into Broadcom’s latest system-on-a-chip (SoC) solutions.

    For consumers, the companies say the collaboration will deliver "cost effective, high quality and personalized user experiences to Internet-connected TVs".

    Effectively, it will enable viewers to use widgets to access chumby’s vast library of Internet content, as well as its offering of Internet radio streams and podcasts.

    Users will be able to customize channels of streaming Internet and view their own digital content on devices enabled by Broadcom solutions – across multiple connected screens in the home.

    Chumby’s content currently consists of over 1,000 widgets in 30 different categories ranging from news and entertainment to videos, music, and sports.

    Media partners include CBS, MTV Networks, The New York Times, Pandora, The Weather Channel Interactive, AOL’s SHOUTcast and Scripps Networks.

    The two companies say the move is to satisfy increasing demand for Internet-based streaming video, music and other media content on household televisions.

    For consumer electronics manufacturers deploying chumby platform support on Internet-connected TVs, set-top boxes and Blu-ray Disc players shouldn’t involve additional cost, external components or expensive PC hardware, according to chumby.