DID YOU KNOW
According to a new Harris Poll taken between April 13 and 21, only 7% of US households currently own a Blu-ray player, although 47% of the respondents own an HDTV. 11% of households reported owning HD DVD players or HDVD Xbox drives. 43% of respondents are waiting for Blu-ray disc prices to come down before they buy more, and only 20% are replacing or duplicating their existing red laser DVD libraries with Blu-ray titles.
THE HDTV INBOX
JULY, 2009
You’ll find answers to HDTV questions from our readers here.
HDTV TUTORIALS AND FAQs
The most common questions about HDTV and DTV are answered here
Hey Kids, Time For A Game Of Musical Chairs! All DTV stations broadcast on UHF channels, right? Wrong! What’s more, on February 17, 2009, many of them will move back to VHF channels.
IPTV: What’s Behind The Acronym? Is it really possible to send HDTV programs to your home without a terrestrial DTV receiver, cable TV set-top box, or satellite dish? Not only is it possible, it may become the preferred way to watch HDTV on everything from your cell phone to your laptop.
1080p: A Year Later A year ago, I sat down and pounded out an article about all the hyperbole, buzzwords, and fallacies surrounding the push for 1080p imaging. It’s time to revisit the subject!
Read This Before Buying a Plasma or LCD TV Ifyou are like many consumers, you’re thinking about purchasing a plasma or LCD flat screen HDTV.
Square Pegs and Round Holes
Don’t Look Now, but the Interfaces to Your Projectors and Monitors are Changing…
LCD, DLP, D-ILA, and Plasma Tutorial
Is 1:1 pixel mapping possible with today's projectors and monitors? Match Me If You Can tells all.
Grayscale and Contrast inProjectors and Monitors Did you know that high contrast ratios don't make the display — grayscales do? Read Contrast, Shmontrast and you'll understand why.
Audio and Video Cable Basics
Don't get caught up in the marketing hype and spend more than you need to on audio and video cables.
Bandwidth and Its Place in the Video Signal Chain I've been working on a multi-part training program that covers, among other things, the "A to Z" of video signal interfacing and distribution.
Have all those projector and monitor acronyms got you confused? Read Seeing Is Believing to clear up the picture.
THE FRONT LINE: JULY 2009
INFOCOMM 2009 Report
Attendance was better than expected. Leads were strong. And it finally appears that the professional AV industry is ready to take the digital video plunge.
SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL SUPPLEMENT
Your Guide To Classroom Projection
• SPONSORED BY SANYO •
HDTV TECH TALK: JUNE 2009
I’ve Got The Low-Band DTV Blues…
Did DTV channel 6 disappear on your converter box or digital TV after June 12? Here’s why it may be “MIA”…and what you may be able to do about it.
PRODUCT REVIEW: JUNE 2009
Eviant T7 Card Portable Digital TV
Now that the digital TV transition has passed, the final piece of the puzzle - portable DTV reception — is being solved, thanks to manufacturers like Eviant.
PRO AND CONSUMER – PRODUCT REVIEW:
Kramer Proscale VP-729 Presentation Switcher/Scaler
Kramer’s ProScale VP-729 switcher/scaler packs a bunch of features into an affordable and practical package…and it supports HDMI, too.
HDTV FOR THE PRO — PRODUCT REVIEW:
Aurora Multimedia V-Tune Pro HD
The V-Tune Pro HD is a do-it-all set-top box for systems integrators that receives 8VSB, QAM, NTSC, and even IPTV content.
THE PRO PERSPECTIVE
Resolution Confusion
About a month ago, I received an email from a PRO AV reader that decried the divergent paths display manufacturers often take from established video standards...
THE FRONT LINE
Maybe HDTV Wasn’t
“The Next Big Thing,” After All…
In a few short weeks, “D-Day, Take II” will arrive on June 12. And that day will see the final chapter, the closing credits, the obituary finally written for over 60 years of analog television broadcasting in the United States.
PRODUCT REVIEW
Pioneer Elite BDP-09FD Blu-Ray Player
THE FRONT LINE
NAB 2009
Broadcasting becomes less important with each passing year at the NAB show. What’s taking its place?
THE FRONT LINE: APRIL 2009
Samsung’s 2009 Spring Fever Show
The third floor of the Time-Warner Center in New York showcased some cool new HDTVs from Samsung.
PRODUCT REVIEW: MARCH 2009
JVC DLA-HD350 Home Theater Projector
They’re not a big player in front projection, but JVC continues to surprise and impress with their D-ILA home theater offerings.
QUICK PICK REVIEW: MARCH 2009
DVDO Edge HD Video Processor
PRODUCT REVIEW: MARCH 2009
Pioneer Elite Pro-111FD
50-Inch Plasma HDTV
QUICK PICK REVIEW: MARCH 2009
LG BD300 Blu-Ray Player
LG’s BD300 made the news last fall for its ability to stream content from Netflix. But how does it handle the seemingly mundane task of playing back Bu-ray discs?
THE FRONT LINE: MARCH 2009
Panasonic 2009 Line Show
For those folks who think plasma technology is on the way out, Panasonic has an answer for you: NOT!
THE FRONT LINE: FEBRUARY 2009
The Ambler Theater’s
Sixth Annual Oscars® Party
After last year’s Academy Awards were cancelled due to the Writer’s Guild strike, the 2009 event was welcomed back by a packed house of cinema enthusiasts.
QUICK PICK REVIEW: FEBRUARY 2009
Three For DTV (Reception)
THE DTV TRANSITION: JANUARY 2009
Home, Home On The Fringe
HDTVexpert.com revisits a remote Vermont location over New Year’s weekend to add a pair of VHF digital TV channels to the line-up, and see how the original UHF antenna installation is working.
PRODUCT REVIEW: SEPTEMBER 2008
Five (Antennas) To Get Ready
Haven’t bought an outdoor antenna yet for watching digital TV? Here are five contenders for your consideration.
CATCH PETE AT
Cedia Expo 2009
EST311
Video Setup and Calibration – Hands On
Saturday, September 12, 2009
8:00 AM – 12:00 PM
EST405 Digital and
HD Video Distribution
Friday, September 11, 2009
8:00 AM – 9:30 AM and
Saturday, September 12, 2009
2:00 PM – 3:30 PM
Georgia World Congress Center
Atlanta, GA
THE DIGITAL TV
TRANSITION
“Hey, Where’d All My Channels Go?” –
A Follow-Up Readers discuss how their local terrestrial DTV channels show up on cable TV systems.
One Year Left To “Hey, Where’d All My Channels Go?” 365 days from now, analog (NTSC) television goes dark. Are basic cable subscribers ready for the day their analog channels disappear?
DTV Reception Out On The Fringe Live in a rural area, without cable TV service? Wish you could receive terrestrial digital TV programming? You just might be able to.
Ever wonder why you have trouble with off-air digital TV reception? It might be the weather, or it might be your antenna. It might even have nothing to do with RF at all, but rather with the digital video, audio, and program data sent by the TV station.
Spectrum analyzers should be an essential part of your toolkit! Find out why.
Indoor HDTV/DTV Reception Yes, you can receive 8VSB signals indoors with cheap antennas.
Modifying the Channel Master 3022 UHF Yagi The 3022/4308 is a good antenna for HDTV/DTV reception that can work better with some simple modifications.
Outdoor HDTV/DTV Antenna Performance I took a bunch of outdoor TV antennas and conducted a side-by-side test of analog and DTV reception with each.
Indoor HDTV/DTV Antenna Performance In this test, I rounded up a few popular indoor TV antennas and checked them out for analog and DTV reception.
ARCHIVES
WEB SITE DESIGN
HDTVEXPERT.COM:
WHO WE ARE
HDTVExpert.com is your Web resource for product reviews, news, tutorials, and frequently asked questions (FAQs) about high definition television (HDTV).
You’ll also find news about and reviews of related consumer and professional products, including LCD and plasma HDTVs, home theater projectors, DTV set-top boxes, DVD and Blu-ray players, indoor and outdoor TV antennas and accessories, and new media delivery and playback systems, including IPTV and direct downloads of TV shows and movies.
In short, if it has anything to do with HDTV, there’s a good chance you’ll read about it in these pages! We also maintain an archive of HDTVexpert.com articles that goes back to 2004 and you can find it here.
Some of the articles on HDTVExpert.com have also appeared or will appear in other trade and consumer magazines. Credit for those editions and links to each magazine’s web sites are provided where appropriate.
Every effort has been made to assure the material on this site is accurate. If you find discrepancies or technical inaccuracies, you are encouraged to contact me at pete@hdtvexpert.com with your comments and notations, as well as letters to the editor.
Thanks for reading, and don’t forget to support our loyal advertisers who make it possible to bring you HDTVexpert.com every month!
