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This is the early adopters' nest.

HIGH DEF 1080P wins. Can 2,073,600 Pixels be wrong?

Game over.  At least for now.  Though there's no broadcast CONTENT at 1080p, you might as well start at the beginning of the next step.  720p = ABC broadcast.

Now there are a host of Hi-Def camcorders out at prices as low as $499 (street.)  We saw a TINY, card-based cam which was used for a broadcast commercial shoot!  Tiny = about half the size of a can of soda!

OLED is now, although only in one iteration... an 11inch, incredibly thin, expensive  (circa $2500) screen.  Sony's OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) TV, the XEL-1 has a 3 millimeter thin panel and offers unparalleled picture quality with amazing contrast, outstanding brightness, exceptional color reproduction, and a rapid response time, (says Sony.) Contrast ratio --- 1,000,000:1.   Yup.  OLED also creates unmatched color expression and detail and enables rapid response times for smooth and natural reproduction of fast moving images like those found in sports and action movies. The XEL-1 features the latest connectivity options including two HDMI™ inputs, a digital tuner, and a Memory Stick® media slot for viewing high-resolution photos.  The questions remaining - when will large sets arrive and what will they cost?

New HDTVs with DLP 1080p Technology

Advantages claimed:

SmoothPicture eliminates screen door effect and pixilization

No motion blur

No burn-in

No mis-convergence due to single chip design

High Contrast ratio (10,000:1 claimed on Samsung DLPs)

Liquid Crystal on Silicon

Hitachi (LCos)

Hitachi claims 60,000 hours to half brightness at 100% brightness on it's new Plasma panles. At more reasonable viewing levels, it equates to 200,000 hours, or 22 years without turning it off, ever.

First HDTV DVD?

Longer HDMI

HDTV? You ain't seen NOTHING yet!

Remember the Osborn? Or was it the Osborne? Actually, I knew it existed, but didn’t care. This thing was a personal computer. Like we’d ever need one of those? Those new electric typewriters with memory were the rage. THAT was something!

Flash forward and we are upon the reverse engineered UFO goodies. Oh, wait, no, that’s not exactly right.

It’s the dawning of the age of Aquarius, age of Aquarius, Ah QUAR EEEE USSS. Um, no, that was some time ago.

It’s the age of $3 US Gas. Not a good milestone.

The age of HDTV!!! Remember when “high definition” included the terms “stems and seeds?” You do? You rascal.

No, this is about High Definition TELEVISION. Personally, I feel the word TELEVISION is so…. Fifties. We need a new one there. So did you jump for the Plasma? Or the LCD projector? The DLP? Have you got the home theater with all the tricked out electronics?

Don’t put your ear directly on the high tech train tracks, then, because there’s another train coming, and you’ll hear it down the line.

UHDV is in the pipeline. On the track. In the lab. In the electron wind. Want to guess? Time’s up. ULTRA HIGH DEFINITION.

Remember the movie where they invent this skull cap that would capture your emotions and immediately the bad guy looped someone having how shall we say – some very intense happy times… and turned himself into peak experience broccoli? Is that where all this is headed? Not for a while, if ever. HOWEVER: UHDV is close to the detail of 35mm film. With 7680 x 4320 pixels, this isn’t far from the 4K (4,000 scan line) digital projection systems for big-screen movie theaters.

Donald Trump will be able to see how bad his hair looks like never before.

UHDV features 33 million pixels with a 60 frame-per-second (fps) progressive scan format.

NHK, the Japanese broadcasting giant who had HDTV in the 1980s… is behind the UHDV format, but reassures us it may be a long time before home theater UHDV becomes reality. That’s corporate talk for, “Don’t let the competition know how close we really are!”

With 32 times the bandwidth demands of HDTV, UHDV would be prohibitive for today’s broadcast, cable and satellite technology. NHK’s demo required a data rate of 24 Gbps. That was a few years back in Amsterdam where some people were close to hurling lunch because the moving car video hi-jinx was that real.

How real?

NHK cobbled together a custom camera of four CCD image sensors; then to show the output built a LCoS projector combining four eight-megapixel panels. Data storage, using 16 synchronized HDTV recorders, provided roughly 18 minutes of recording time, using 3.5 terabytes of total capacity and a screen about 12 feet high and 22 feet wide. NHK researchers called this “the sensation of reality saturation point,” in the hopes of providing a completely immersive experience: 100 degrees of visual field angle, viewing from a distance of three-quarters of the height of the screen (about nine feet) with at least 60 pixels required for each one degree of visual field angle.

And speakers? UHDV offers 24-channel sound, or 22.2, containing vertically arrayed surround sound speakers: nine above ear level, 10 at ear level, three below ear level and two low-frequency subwoofer channels.

The format, according to NHK, is not so much intended for home use as for museums, public spaces and theaters. You tell The Donald.

Once upon a time there was SHOWSCAN. Special effects pioneer Douglas Trumbull had his demo unit in a suburb of Dallas, behind a Chucky Cheese, if memory serves. I saw the demo. The equipment and the Showscan Film Process of producing and projecting Showscan films are justifiably proprietary and patented. Showscan’s discovery was hailed as the most significant advancement in film technology since the introduction of sound in the 1929 film “The Jazz Singer”. (Not the one with Neil Diamond.) However, it remained as little more than a technological curiosity until the company developed new camera, high speed projectors, and built special theatres to showcase the revolutionary Showscan images.

I can’t remember the specs but it was scarily real, 3-D, multi channel and way ahead of multi channel… or HDTV.

Today the company’s simulation and specialty theatres are open or under construction in 24 countries around the world, located in theme parks, motion picture multiplexes, expos, world’s fairs, resorts, shopping centers, casinos, museums, and other tourist destinations where somebody wants a rush. If NHK can even come close, well…

Enjoy your puny HDTV now while you can, citizen.

The JVC RX-D702 (B=Black, S=Silver)

What’s so good about it? I don’t know where to start. A LOT.

It’s smaller than you’ll expect. Part of the reason is it uses new digital amps which require a lot less internal space. 7 channels of Digital Hybrid Amplifiers totaling 1050 watts. You can feed it music wirelessly from your computer. (USB transmitter provided.) It has an HDMI output and two HDMI inputs. Converts Composite, S-Video or Component to HDMI with HDCP. IMPRESSIVE!

What’s that mean?

JVC boasts a slew of advanced features including one that ‘acoustically centers’ your center speaker which may be above or below the plane of your set; simulated acoustic spaces, plug and play setup (I am unable to determine if it contains user adjustable EQ per speaker, or, and perhaps more importantly, audio vs video delay to cure lip sync problems.) There is a DSP EQ on board.

Downside? Looks a little cheap

…but this might just be a tremendous value that many will love. We will watch the forums for you. I’ve seen pre-order prices as low as $599. - Might have been a typo! - One thing you can be certain of – the toys are getting more capable! And from the looks of it, this one is sized to be wife-friendly. That alone might tip the scales in its favor.

Through our special arrangement with Amazon.com, you can read more about, and even order/preorder this unit by clicking the link below.

JVC RXD702B 150-Watts per channel Audio / Video Control Receiver with HDMI Switching and Wireless PC Link

• 150 watts x 7-channel receiver

• Surround Sound modes: Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital EX, Dolby Pro Logic II & IIx, DTS, DTS-ES/DTS NEO:6, DTS 96/24

• DVD multi-channel compatible

• Virtual Surround back channels

• 3D Phonic Surround Sound

• Wireless USB Input receives audio signals from a PC (USB transmitter provided)

• Hybrid Feedback digital amplifier

• Center channel alignment

• ALL CH STEREO

• CC converter

• 3D Headphone

• Quick Speaker Setup

• Video up-conversion from Composite to Component/S-Video/HDMI

• AV COMPU LINK for one-touch playback

• DAP for 2-channel/multichannel digital sources

• DSP digital Equalizer

• Multibrand A/V remote control

• Analog Connections: 5 in, 2 out

• Digital Connections: 3 Optical in, 1 optical out, 1 coax (assignable)

• Video Connections: Component (2 in, 1 out), S-Video(4 in, 3 out), Composite(4 in, 3 out)

• Color: Black or Silver

Some will say - $$$ for THAT? And then I have to buy speakers and wires and… well, heck. HDTV can be an eye opener, but the whole home theater EXPERIENCE is supposed to be that and an EAR opener too – AN EXPERIENCE – a step up (way up) from watching TV or playing video games. But it isn’t free. I think it’s a shame that so many will drop $4000 for a new plasma screen but then fall for the cheap home theater in a box when it comes to audio. You’ll live with this for ten years or MORE. Don’t you want the whole show? In my suggested systems section, I break down what I think should be spent for each piece of the system at various price points.

Three for one.

The Boston Acoustics P400 is $1500 retail

Here is the link. See it. Buy it. Love it. You’ve always wanted a 3-way. Admit it.

Boston Acoustics P400 On-wall 3-in-1 home theater speaker

The Mythos Solo from Definitive Tech is $699 retail.

You can also find tricky ones which will create phantom rear speakers with special digital processing. You can find them here:

GreatHomeTheater's SURROUND SECTION

DVDO iScan HD+ High Resolution Video Scaling Engine $1499 retail

Here’s a breed of box that outputs all resolutions. Why would you want one? Well, good question, you are getting this home theater thing, aren't you? In the event your receiver doesn’t do the dirty work, or your display won’t, you can run everything to this box and then feed your audio receiver from it (and on to your speakers) and send one wire (along with power cable) to your display. Why this is good: will do 1080p, will delay processing so the lips match the speaking (different video versus audio processing rates can screw you up and you might need that fix.) Speaking of FIX, since you, as a 21st century bub, want the whole deep truth, try to wrap your eyes around THESE specs.

The DVDO iScan(TM) HD+ is a high resolution video scaling processor and A/V switcher that sets a new standard for up-converting, cross-converting and even down-converting all your video sources. The iScan(TM) HD+ will scale the output of your standard definition sources (480i, 480p, 576i, 576p) such as DVD player, Set-top-box and VCR, to perfectly match the optimum resolution of your display - 720p, 1080i, or any user-defined resolution up to 1080p. Furthermore, iScan(TM) HD+ is HDCP compliant and supports scaling of HD sources (720p, 1080i) over DVI. The iScan(TM) HD+ functions as your complete A/V hub, providing simultaneous audio/video switching with automatic video upconversion/processing. Motion and source adaptive video deinterlacing for NTSC (3:2 and 2:2 pulldown; video) and PAL/SECAM (2:2 pulldown; video) sources Precision Video Scaling(TM) technology by Anchor Bay Technologies Fully HDCP compliant over DVI Scaling of HD sources over DVI User defined output video resolution from 480p up to 1080p Flexible Input and Output Aspect Ratio Control Display Profiles - For multiple display configurations RightRate(TM) High-performance Framerate Conversion AutoVFR(TM) - Intelligent Component video inputs with Automatic Video Format Routing Advanced Source Transition Management provides seamless transitions between source types AutoCUE-C(TM) - Automatic Chroma Upsampling Error detection & correction 12-bit video digital-to-analog converters (DACs) Full-frame Timebase Correction High performance, 10-bit multi-standard video decoder High quality super-adaptive comb filter with 2D Y/C separation Flexible Digital Audio switching and routing - four audio inputs and two audio outputs Precision AV LipSync(TM) intelligent digital Audio Delay technology to match Audio.

Did you really READ that? Does your head hurt?

Of course you must have it, so here’s the link:

DVDO iScan HD+ High Resolution Video Scaling Engine

Note that this one has a DVI output, but the newer model, iScan VP30 has 4 HDMI inputs and does all the above and more. Considers itself the perfect A/V hub. But it’s so new it isn’t paper-trained yet. I'll link to it when available.

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