Today's High-Def Headlines

Sharp Plans 10th Generation LCD Plant - TWICE
Sharp will build a new plant in Sakai City, Japan for the combined production of 10th-generation LCD panels and thin-film solar cells. The new $3.2 billion plant will “incorporate relevant infrastructure and facilities, as well as attract material and production equipment manufacturers to construct plants on the same site,” Sharp said.

Time Warner to Offer In Demand’s ‘Mojo Mix’ - MCN
Time Warner Cable picked up Mojo Mix, a five-hour, HD video-on-demand programming block from In Demand Networks. Content, which will be refreshed each month, includes music videos; episodes of Mojo original HD series such as Three Sheets, King of Miami and Wall Street Warriors; various specials; and short-form content.

Small, Midsized Cable Operators Ponder HDTV - MCN
HDTV may be a bandwidth hog, but it’s a compelling product that independent cable operators need in order to compete against satellite, several cable executives said Monday. The group described bandwidth constraints as one of their top issues, especially in an era when they need to be offering more HDTV services to compete with rivals such as DirecTV, which boasts -- and is heavily advertising -- its promise to launch more than 100 HDTV services.

AT&T to Offer TV Service in N.C. - Raleigh-Durham News-Observer
AT&T will spend $350 million to offer television to North Carolina households, creating a major competitor for cable and satellite companies and a new choice for channel surfers. The phone company's investment in the state over the next several years, announced Tuesday in Raleigh, will pay for fiber-optic network upgrades needed to transmit TV signals over phone lines. AT&T wants to sell bundled packages of phone, Internet, wireless and TV service, which could help reduce prices and spur more technology.

Adelstein: Digital Transition Could Spark ‘Tsunami of Consumer Complaints’ - MCN
Federal Communications Commission member Jonathan Adelstein Tuesday called for the creation of a digital-TV-conversion task force to head off a potential “tsunami of consumer complaints” when analog TV sets are rendered useless in February 2009. Adelstein, via a recorded keynote address at The Independent Show, joined the crowd of officials who are fearfully warning that the public needs to be made aware of the implications of the move to digital-only broadcast signals come Feb. 17, 2009.

Pioneer Reports Lower Q1 Sales, Operating Income - TWICE
Home electronics sales were down 14.3 percent to $564.5 million due to the drop in plasma TV sales due to “fierce competition” in North America and Europe. Plasma sales accounted for about 34 percent of home electronics sales. Operating loss was $42.2 million, about 12 times greater a loss this year than the same time last year, again mainly due to profits lost in plasma displays.

AVerMedia Launches New HD and Analog Hybrid Express Card TV Tuner
AVerMedia(R) Technologies, Inc., the leading provider of digital multimedia and presentation technology announced today the release of the AVerTV Hybrid ExpressCard High Definition and Analog ExpressCard TV Tuner for laptops. Utilizing the latest component technologies, the new AVerTV Hybrid ExpressCard is the perfect TV Tuner solution for laptops with an Express Card interface a hybrid world-wide Analog and ATSC tuner.