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Tag: high-definition

  • Samsung launches programme to ensure compatability of HDMI-enabled products






    The Korean electronics giant has begun a pilot programme of Simplay HD testing and verification at its facilities.
    The scheme aims to ensure customers can simply “plug-and-play” any new device without the frustration of getting home and finding it isn’t compatable with existing equipment.
    The testing ensures interoperability between electronic components such as set-top boxes (STBs), high def televisions (HDTVs), digital video disk (DVD) players, cables and audio/video (AV) receivers.
    By taking the guesswork out of shopping for HDMI-enabled components it’s hoped that consumer satisfaction will be boosted and return rates reduced.
    The pilot programme of Simplay HD testing and verification will be administered by both companies.
    In what is described as the first-of-its-kind self-testing initiative, the scheme will expand Samsung’s participation in the Simplay HD Testing Program by increasing product through-put, extending the range of products tested and accelerating time to market.
    Once assessed, components bear the Simplay HD logo, which signals that they have passed a rigorous HD interoperability and performance-testing regimen and will work together.
    ChanHo Youn, assistant manager of the Customer Satisfaction Management Centre at Samsung Electronics, said the company understood the importance of delivering fully interoperable products with optimised performance to retailers and customers.
    He said the best way to ensure this was by utilising the expertise of Simplay Labs and its HD testing programme.
    “Samsung has used Simplay Labs testing extensively on a variety of consumer electronics devices and, as we expand our Simplay HD participation, the self-testing programme will help streamline the process,” he said.
    The pilot program will include on-site Simplay testing equipment installation, technician training and certification, quality control, collaborative test specification reviews and integration with product development and supply chain processes.
    Joseph Lias, president of California-based Simplay Labs, said he was thrilled to expand a longstanding relationship with Samsung by rolling out the self-testing pilot program.
    “Working closely with Samsung in defining the parameters of the Simplay HD Testing Program continues to provide consumers with the peace of mind that their HD components will work together to deliver a great HD experience,” he said.

  • Could Angelina Jolie do for Blu-ray what Keanu Reeves did for DVD?


    The idea that one movie could transform a technology from niche to mainstream may seem extreme.
    Yet that is what Craig Kornblau, president of Universal Studios home entertainment, is suggesting will be the effect of the yet-to-be released new thriller starring Angelina Jolie.
    The studio executive believes the film’s highly visual nature could be the trigger to mass sales of Blu-ray devices.
    James McAvoy plays an average guy who’s recruited by Jolie to become a contract assassin.
    Kornblau told Variety Magazine he thought Wanted, which is released in US cinemas on Friday, could do for HD disks what The Matrix did for the standard-def DVD.
    The Matrix, a sci-fi action hit starring Reeves, was an immediate success on DVD, particularly in the sell-through category.
    Previously, most DVD owners were satisfied with renting movies.
    “What The Matrix did for DVD, this could do for Blu-ray,” said Kornblau.
    Variety reported that an audience at an LA Film Festival screening of Wanted applauded the action scenes half-a-dozen times, a reaction unseen since the premiere of The Matrix.
    Kornblau, who was attending the festival, did not say when the movie would be available on Blu-ray.
    But the studio could be preparing to coincide the release with the much speculated introduction of Blu-ray players priced at under US $200.