Multimedia-PCs » HD

4K Video Comes to YouTube

Jeremy Jones — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 02:58:59 +0000

YouTube now supports 4K resolution which is 4096 x 2304 pixels. That’s more than 4 times the resolution of 1080p. While it’s cool that YouTube is doing this I’m not sure what the point is at this point in time. Not very many people have access to a screen or projector that can output that. And my Internet connection at home took forever to buffer when I switched to the original format. It’s still nice to see that YouTube is thinking ahead. You can check out the videos on the 4K resolution playlist.

Netflix Now Streaming HD to PCs and Macs

Jeremy Jones — Sun, 16 May 2010 16:48:31 +0000

Looks like Netflix has started streaming content in HD to PCs and Macs. Not really sure why it would take so long to enable this. All the connected devices have had this for awhile. Now you can enjoy that HD on your computer screen.

(via HackingNetflix)

Playstation Network Has All 6 Major Movie Networks On Board For Streaming

Jeremy Jones — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 20:55:34 +0000

The Playstation Network will soon be streaming HD movies for purchase and rental. The best part about this is that all 6 major movie networks have signed up for it. The networks are 20th Century Fox, Walt Disney Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Universal Pictures, Warner Bros. and, naturally, Sony Pictures Entertainment. I’m most surprised by Disney but Sony must have a good program in the works.

From Movie Theater to Home Theater: PlayStation(R)Network Delivers High Definition Movies From Six Major Movie Studios in the United States

PlayStation(R)3 Computer Entertainment System First to Have High Definition Movies for Purchase from All Major Studios

FOSTER CITY, Calif., March 9 /PRNewswire/ — Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) today announced that 20th Century Fox, Walt Disney Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Universal Pictures, and Warner Bros. Digital Distribution will offer high definition (HD) movies for purchase and rental on the PlayStation®Network video delivery service in the United States. PlayStation Network is the first to offer high definition movies for purchase from all of the major movie studios, further establishing PlayStation®3 (PS3®) as the preeminent home entertainment platform for this year’s most popular and critically acclaimed high definition movies.

“Securing high definition content from these studios is another significant milestone further validating PlayStation Network as a complete entertainment network in the home. PlayStation Network is the first and only service to deliver high definition home entertainment from all six major studios, directly to consumers for download,” said Peter Dille, senior vice president, marketing and PlayStation Network, SCEA. “PlayStation Network continues to offer the most comprehensive catalogue of HD movies to PlayStation Network members that realize the wide-ranging entertainment power of the PS3 system.”

The PS3 system is the most complete home entertainment solution on the market today, enabling consumers to enjoy high-definition games and movies, as well as listen to music, view photos, browse the Internet and more. Today’s announcement joins one of the industry’s strongest home entertainment brands with the major media companies that produce and distribute a substantial number of films. At launch, the content will be available in the U.S. only, with plans to launch soon in the U.K., France, Germany, and Spain.

New titles available today on PlayStation Network include:
· 20th Century Fox – “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian”, “Jennifer’s Body” and “Fantastic Mr. Fox” (on March 23)
· Walt Disney Pictures – Disney Pixar’s “Up”, Jerry Bruckheimer’s “G-Force” and Disney’s “Earth”
· Paramount Pictures – “Star Trek”, “Paranormal Activity” and “Zoolander”
· Sony Pictures – “This Is It”, “2012″, “District 9″ and “Zombieland”
· Universal – “Inglourious Basterds”, “Couples Retreat” and “Public Enemies”
· Warner Bros. Digital Distribution – “The Hangover”, “Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince” and “The Wizard of Oz”

(via SlashGear)

The New TiVo Premiere

Jeremy Jones — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 02:29:39 +0000

TiVo after many years has updated it’s TiVo to Series 4. There are going to be two version, a base and a THX XL model. The base to have 320GB hard drive and the XL to have a 1TB drive. The UI had a refresh and is now featured in HD. I won’t pretend to know a lot about TiVo as I have never really liked their offerings. Some swear by them though. Since I’m not competely familiar with TiVO I’ll leave the TiVo news to Dave Zatz of ZatzNotFunny. His review of the new Premiere unit is a great read with a lot of information.

But where’s the improved whole-home DVR experience (like Moxi), additional tuners, Blu-ray player, social media apps (like FiOS), DLNA, user personalization (like Sezmi), etc?

The new TiVo Premiere looks nice but after reading over Dave’s post I still think Moxi is your best bet.

Details about the new DirecTV H24-100

Jeremy Jones — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 15:25:31 +0000

DBSTalk has details on the new DirecTV H24-100. There are a few key features to this receiver has that their current lineup doesn’t. The receiver is only HD, not a DVR, but it has multi-room viewing capabilities. If you have HD DVRs in your house it can pull those recordings. You can read my review on multi-room viewing here. The receiver also has DECA built-in. DECA allows you to send internet over the coax line to the receiver. For houses that don’t have ethernet ran all over this is huge. In order to enjoy multi-room viewing, media streaming and apps these receivers need Internet. The last big improvement is speed. If you have used their current HD DVRs scrolling through the guide can be slow. DBSTalk says the H24 can scroll just as fast as you can click the button. That’s probably because it doesn’t have a hard drive spinning to slow down the data.

I’m not sure when launch is but it should be soon. I’ll probably have to order one to replace my bedroom SD box. The multi-room viewing is seller for me.

XStreamHD Up for Pre-Order

Jeremy Jones — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 04:07:05 +0000

The XStreamHD is up for pre-order. It only takes $25 and you have to live in the U.S. I think the XStreamHD has some cool new features and it could be useful. The problem I have is price and an additional satellite dish. It will be interesting to see some reviews when they start shipping.

(via TheDigitalLifestyle)

Netflix Streaming 1080p Later This Year

Jeremy Jones — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 01:02:45 +0000

It’s being reported that Netflix will start streaming 1080p content with 5.1 surround sound later this year. This will be good news if you have the setup to take advantage of it. The current line of Roku boxes won’t be capable of streaming at 1080p. I’m sure most Blu-ray players will be able to take advantage of it. The biggest issue will be bandwidth. Currently you need around 5MBs for streaming 720p. That’s what Netflix says. I generally test at 7MBs and the Roku boxes rarely can keep a HD stream. My Blu-ray player does a lot better job and I rarely drop quality mid show. I’m guessing that’s because the Blu-ray player has more memory for a larger buffer. So if I need 7MBs for 720p, I would need 15MBs for 1080p. That’s a lot of bandwidth that people don’t have, unless you’re running FiOS or plan on streaming while everyone is at work.

With that being said I have no idea how Netflix is going to package the content to deliver. We will have to wait until later this year to see how well it works.

Video: 18 Foot Multitouch Display

Jeremy Jones — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 02:53:34 +0000

Hard Rock Cafe in Las Vegas has a new addition with a 18 foot multitouch display. It uses 3 HD projectors and can divide the screen into 6 user controllable areas. I just wish I was going to Vegas soon to check this out in person. The video makes it look awesome but it would be so much better in person.

(via Gizmodo)

5 Reasons Why I’m Not Going Blu-Ray

Jeremy Jones — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 01:09:42 +0000

I get asked all the time if I have a Blu-Ray player. I guess with how much technology I have around it seems natural that I would have the latest Blu-Ray player on the market. But I don’t and my 5 reasons why are below.

1. Blu-Ray players are still too expensive for me. $200 for a player. And the $200 players aren’t the type I would want to buy. I would rather go for a network connected one that I can stream Netflix. That would cost me even more.

2. Blu-Ray movies cost a lot more. They are trying to replace DVD with a more expensive option Blu-Ray. So why not charge 3x as much. It’s HD after all. It would have to be the worlds best movie for me to spend $35 on a movie. And I don’t know any movie made so far that I would pay that much for.

3. Netflix now charges more for Blu-Ray. It’s only $3 a month but I would still need that $200+ player from reason 1.

4. There are lots of ways to get HD content including movies. If there is really a movie that I want to watch in HD I just rent it. $3.99 for the HD rentals, new releases are $4.99 through DirecTV. I can rent a lot of movies at $4.99 before I get close to the start up cost of going to Blu-Ray.

5. Physical media is out. I don’t want to invest in a player that spins discs anymore. The only spinning disc I want is for a hard drive and I hope in the next few years that is out.

I say this but if I could get a Blu-Ray player for $100 to $150 I might consider it. Also I have an upconvert DVD player right now but if something happens to it I will look at replacing it with Blu-Ray. I still wouldn’t purchase the movies, I would go with Netflix. Anyone else holding off? What are your reasons?

10 things to know before going High Def DVR

Jeremy Jones — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 17:38:00 +0000

gizmodo.com

10 things to consider before upgrading your DVR to high definition. I personally am waiting awhile before I need my recording in HD. Reason 1 below is why.

1) Are you cheap? This is the biggest and most important question. Admit it, you’re cheap. Hell, I’m pretty cheap too. Do you really need to spend $500 or $2000 for a system only to have to keep on paying rental or subscription fees of nearly $100 a month? Do you really want to watch that much TV? If not, then renting a HD DVR from your cable company or building your own Myth TV or XP Media Center Edition box with an over the air (OTA) HD recorder could be for you.

Multimedia-PCs » HD

4K Video Comes to YouTube

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