Today's High-Def Headlines

After a long holiday break, I'm back. With CES kicking off this weekend, here's what's going on in the world of HD:

CES to Showcase Wireless HDTVs - NYT/AP
Flat-panel TVs look lovely on a wall -- the cords hanging from them, less so. After a few years of false starts, the industry finally seems close to tackling that problem. At least three dueling wireless technologies for high-definition TVs will be on display at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, which starts Monday. Manufacturers promise that sets incorporating these technologies will be in stores before the next holiday season.

Cable-Cutting WiHD Spec Finalized - TWICE
The WirelessHD consortium has finalized specifications for its in-room cable-replacement WirelessHD (WiHD) technology, promoted as the only cable-replacement technology that delivers uncompressed copy-protected high-definition video up to 1080p with no signal loss.At press time, it wasn’t certain whether any of the consortium’s seven founding members would demonstrate the technology. The founders are LG, Panasonic, NEC, chipmaker SiBeam, Samsung, Sony and Toshiba. Intel is also a member.

Tennis Channel Nets Spot On DirecTV’s HD Lineup - MCN
Tennis Channel rang out 2007 by spinning in its first serve into the high-definition carriage arena. Tennis Channel, which now holds telecast rights to three of the sport's four Grand Slam events, became the latest addition to DirecTV’s ever-expanding HD roster of networks on Dec. 31. The launch on the nation’s leading satellite provider's platform coincides with the network's move into a new state-of-the-art production facility in Culver City, Calif., construction of which began last May.

Fujitsu Exits Plasma TV - TWICE
Fujitsu General Ltd., whose company Fujitsu General America has distributed plasma displays in the U.S. from the technology’s outset, said here Thursday it will exit the visual display business outside of Japan by March, due to declining profitability. “During the past several years, the pricing and profitability of this segment has compressed beyond the point which our company could realize a satisfactory return on investment,” Fujitsu said in a statement.

Netflix Partners With LG to Bring Movies Straight to TV - NYT
Netflix, the DVD-by-mail company with more than seven million customers, has a new strategy that may one day make those red envelopes obsolete. The company wants to strike deals with electronics companies that will let it send movies straight to TV screens over the Internet. Its first partnership, announced Wednesday night, is with the South Korean manufacturer LG Electronics to stream movies and other programming to LG’s high-definition televisions.

Demand Brisk For DTV Converter Coupons - MCN
The federal government’s DTV converter box subsidy program got off to a brisk start this week as the Commerce Department reported that 850,000 coupons worth $40 each were requested in the first 48 hours. The federal government has $1.5 billion to subsidize converter boxes. After administrative expenses, the funding will provide for 33.5 million coupons. About 500,000 households from all 50 states applied for coupons on Tuesday and Wednesday.

CEA: Half Of U.S. Homes Have DTVs - TWICE
The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) released figures today showing that more than 50 percent of U.S. households now own a digital television (DTV). The association said consumers are adding DTVs to their homes at a record pace as completion of the digital television transition on Feb. 17, 2009 rapidly approaches.

Samsung To Show 31” OLED TV - TWICE
Samsung SDI, the display screen manufacturing unit of Samsung Electronics, plans to show a prototype 31-inch ultra-thin OLED screen at International CES, Jan. 7-10 in Las Vegas, according to a Reuters report. The announcement came as Sony began selling an 11-inch OLED-based TV in Japan.

Cable Giants Aim to Rule HD - Raleigh News & Observer
Time Warner Cable and its rivals are in the early stages of a torrid campaign to win the latest battle for America's dens: high-definition programming. With thousands of new sets installed in the past year, satellite and cable service providers are touting plans to multiply the number of HD channels they offer. Until recently, Time Warner had the edge in the Triangle. Now, armed with new satellites, DirecTV can claim the most high-definition programming.