Randy Walker, Rest in Peace

I'm still shocked by the news that Randy Walker, the head football coach at my alma mater Northwestern, passed away last night from a heart attack. He was a gifted coach and classy all-around individual, and will be sorely missed. Please keep his family in your prayers this holiday weekend.

More Local HD for DIRECTV

DIRECTV has added local HD broadcast channels in nine more markets: Baltimore; Cleveland; Charlotte and Raleigh, N.C.; Denver; Hartford, Conn.; and Miami, Orlando and West Palm Beach, Fla. That brings the total to 36 with another 13 slated by the end of the year.

Food Network HD Launches This Week

Scripps Networks announced today that Food Network HD will launch this Saturday, June 30. Carriage agreements have been signed with DISH Network, Midwestern cable operators WideOpenWest and Buckeye Cable, and Kansas City cable upstarts Everest Connections and Sunflower Broadband.

HGTV HD, also owned by Scripps Networks, recently launched on DISH Network.

Here's the full release.

Less Than One Percent of TV Ads are in HD

Despite the fact that roughly 20 percent of American households have at least one high-def TV at home, less than one percent of ads shown on TV are in HD. The issue, according to some ad execs, is the increased cost of producing commercials in high-def, which they say can be as much as 20 percent higher than regular ads. However, the American Association of Advertising Agencies did a study that showed that the incremental cost increase is only $10,000 per ad. More from Mediaweek.

The ad agencies are making a big mistake by not filming more commercials in HD, even if the extra cost is as high as 20 percent. When I see an ad in high-def, I'm much more likely to watch it, particularly if it comes in the midst of a high-def program. If getting people like me to actually watch an ad instead of flipping the channel isn't worth a premium, then I don't know what is.

TDEL Looks to Dethrone Plasma and LCD

A Canadian company called iFire has developed a new flat-panel technology it refers to as TDEL (thick film dielectric electroluminescent) that produce ultra-lightweight and thin HDTVs that are also quite a bit less expensive than LCD or plasma.

Sound too good to be true? The company is currently searching for a manufacturing partner to actually commercialize the TDEL technology, although some in the industry are skeptical that companies that have invested billions in plasma or LCD plants would be receptive to TDEL.

The New York Post has more.

Europe's Largest TV Manufacturer

You're probably thinking it's Philips. But surprise, it's a little-known Turkish company called Vestel that supplies many of the major manufacturers like Hitachi and Sanyo with TVs they sell in Britain, Russia and other countries.

Business Week has the story.

Our Interview with Plasma Display Coalition Head Jim Palumbo

1080eye recently sat down with Jim Palumbo, the president of the Plasma Display Coalition, to talk about his new job, the organization he heads and his favorite technology.

Why was the Plasma Display Coalition formed, and who formed it?
The Coalition was formed by Hitachi, LG Electronics, Panasonic, Pioneer and Samsung because they felt that the plasma manufacturers needed a voice and that plasma's story needed to be told. Our objective is to educate, inform and dispel the myths about plasma technology.

What is your background?
I used to be the CEO of Aiwa as well as an executive at Sony and was also the chairman of the video board at CEA.

What kinds of strategies are you employing to tell the plasma story?
We have a Technical Advisory Group that has conducted a performance evaluation of 50-55 inch plasma displays to underscore the advantages of plasma technology as a display for the home. There's also a Marketing Committee that is working on dispelling some of the plasma myths and extolling plasma's advantages through brochures that will be distributed to retailers and the media.

What are some of the advantages of plasma?
Plasma offers an average 157.5 degree horizontal viewing angle with less than 50% brightness loss and no black level loss. The average vertical viewing angle is 22.5 degrees -- neither of these can be matched by any other display technology. Additionally, there are no brightness hotspots like with rear-projection TVs and plasma also offers a peak contrast ratio of 3000:1. Plasma provides color gamut performance equivalent to CRT and does a near-perfect job with motion. There's essentially no pixelization like with other technologies.

And the myths you're working to dispel?
First and foremost, the issue of image retention (burn-in). Of the five plasma displays we tested, there was zero image retention on three of them. One had slight ghosting and one did retain an image - but it self-corrected after 12 hours and there was no significant phosphor degradation or image sticking.

What about power consumption?
Plasma is the only display technology that offers variable power consumption and all five of the tested models are Energy Star compliant. The average 50-inch plasma consumes $4.20 to $7.27 a month worth of energy, which is less than two gallons of gas or a movie ticket.

Since most of your members also sell LCD TVs, how do you handle the LCD vs. Plasma debate?
Our objective is not to balance any debate between plasma and LCD. Our objective is simply to dispel plasma myths and tell the plasma story with accuracy.

Hitachi Rolls Out First 1080 Line 42" Plasma

Hitachi last week introduced a 1024 x 1080 resolution 42" plasma, the first of its kind to offer 1080 vertical lines of resolution. At 1.1 megapixels, it's not a 1080p model, but it should provide a picture quality improvement to viewers watching 1080i HD content on networks such as CBS or HBO.

The new 42HDS69 will retail for $2,499 while its big brother 55HDS69 will list for $4,299.

PC Magazine has more.

Sharp Displays 2006 LCD and DLP Lines

Here's Sharp's description of its LCD flat-panel displays that it showed off at this week's InfoComm 2006:

AQUOS LC-TVs
Sharp is showcasing several AQUOS TVs, including the LC-65D90U 65-inch AQUOS TV, the industry's largest available LC-TV and the state-of-the-art LC-57D90U, a new screen size in Sharp's extensive line. Sharp's AQUOS Liquid Crystal televisions range from 13 to 65 inches. The full line of Sharp LCD monitors and AQUOS LC-TVs have high image quality and ultra-reliability, making them ideal for digital signage and display applications in practically any setting. These Sharp LCD monitors and AQUOS TVs, with their high-resolution image quality and full complement of computer and video inputs, are compatible with almost any source, including HDTV and hi-resolution computer graphics. All of the Sharp direct-view TVs on display at InfoComm incorporate backlight systems with lamp life estimated at 60,000 hours. "

HDTV Presenting Problems for Cable Industry

I've noted before that one challenge facing the cable industry is the increasing bandwidth required to carry a full lineup of HD programming. USA Today's David Lieberman, a longtime cable and tech journalist, seems to agree.

Radio Shack to Begin Selling Flat Panel HDTVs

In an effort to get more traffic into its stores, Radio Shack said this week that it will begin selling flat-screen HDTVs this month. The retailer had shied away from HDTVs in the past because of lower margins than other products but has since decided that it's fallen too far behind rivals such as Best Buy and Circuit City by not carrying them.

More LCD TVs than CRTs Sold in '09: Study

Research firm iSuppli says that in 2009 LCD TVs will surpass traditional CRT tube TVs in units sold, accounting for 48% of all TVs shipped that year compared to 42% for CRT. Plasmas will account for 7% and rear-projection models 3%, according to iSuppli's analysts.

CNET has the full story.

Sony Shows Off '06 HDTVs

EETimes has a nice report on Sony's line show at last week's Home Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles. The focus was on Bravia LCDs, SXRD rear-projection and Blu-ray.

Panasonic Intros Plasma TV Support Program

Panasonic said this week that it is launching the Panasonic Plasma Concierge program -- an expanded customer support program for current and new owners of Panasonic Plasma televisions. According to the company, "the Panasonic Plasma Concierge program will provide advice and answers to users to help them get on with the experience of enjoying HDTV's benefits."

Comcast Launches ESPN2 HD for World Cup Fans

Comcast announced that ESPN2 HD is now available in several markets in time for the 2006 FIFA World Cup coverage offered on the network. The cable operator did not say which markets will get the new high-def channel, which is bound to leave unlucky fans in the other markets scrambling for DISH or DIRECTV (or their local bar) to get their World Cup fix.

ESPN HD, ABC HD and ESPN2 HD will combine to present live coverage of all 64 matches of the World Cup in high definition from Friday, June 9 through Sunday, July 9 from 12 cities in Germany. In addition, the high- definition services will feature the 2006 World Cup studio programs including the pre-match, halftime and post-match segments.

I'm happy to see Comcast rolling out a new high-def network after one of their execs complained of the lack of high-def channels in existence today.

LCD Makers Encounter Changing Market

Business Week has an interesting piece this week about how LCD producers are feeling the effects of slowing demand for LCD displays. It's not that consumer demand isn't growing -- it is -- but rather that it isn't growing fast enough to keep up with a rising supplies and declining prices.

DISH Adds Four New HD Networks

DISH Network announced today that it has added four new high-def channels, including one that is making its national debut: HGTV HD. The other three are NFL Network HD, National Geographic Channel HD and Starz HDTV.

NatGeo HD is currently only available on Verizon FiOS TV, so the DISH deal represents its first major distribution deal on a nationwide basis. My guess is that the NatGeo's programming will be very well received in high-def, similar to Discovery HD Theater or certain shows on PBS HD.

Customers who subscribe to DishHD Bronze or higher will now have access to both HGTV HD and NFL Network HD. National Geographic Channel HD is available to subscribers of DishHD Gold or higher and will be available to all DishHD customers in a free preview on Ch. 9429 until July 7, 2006. DishHD customers who subscribe to the Starz Movie Pack or DishHD Platinum will now get Starz HDTV.

DISH Network is now offering a free equipment upgrade to customers leasing its standard HD receiver. In addition, the up-front lease fee for DISH Network's HD digital video recorder satellite TV receiver has been reduced to $199.99, down from $299.99.

New customers can also save $200 if they subscribe to DishHD Bronze or higher through DISH Network's HD Bonus promotion combined with its current $100 Back offer. To take advantage of the HD Bonus promotion, new customers must submit a redemption form with their first bill to receive the benefits, which in turn provides a $20 credit on each subsequent bill for 10 months. Both the discounted lease upgrade fees and the HD Bonus will run through Jan. 31, 2007.

Falling Behind on the News...

It's been a busy election week here in San Diego, so I've fallen behind on the blogging. Time to catch up!