Posts filed under ‘HDTV’
Gizmodo Hands-on with Vudu on LG
Gizmodo has gotten hands on with LG’s connected HDTV with Vudu, seems that with the few minutes that Gizmodo had with the service, it didn’t feel quite right.
It’s got nothing to do with Vudu‘s service, which is largely unchanged from the days of the Vudu set-top box. (I mean, we’re still in those days, technically, but hey, narrative! ) The interface is the same easily navigable set of panels and menus, which seem to work fine with LG’s standard remotes—no standalone clickwheel controller here.
The strange feeling I got from the movie samples, whether in SD, 720p or 1080p modes, was down to LG: The NetCast sets that’ll carry the Vudu option have LG’s 120Hz Trumotion interpolation technology, meaning that they essentially insert frames between what’s already on the source material, with the stated purpose of “smoothing” the video output. As we—and others—have complained about before, though, the effect can be strange, making motions seem unnatural, and giving a multi-hundred-million-dollar films an odd, camcorder-like aesthetic.
But despite this, Gizmodo believes that set-top boxes are on the way out to be replaced by multi-service web-connected TVs.
Korean Firms Join to Develop New Chips
Normally bitter rivals, Samsung and LG join forces to create the next generation of semiconductor chips for televisions.
Samsung, the world’s largest maker of microchips for digital gadgets and second largest mobile phone producer, will work with LG Electronics to make global digital TV receiver chips, the Ministry of Knowledge Economy said.
While SK Telecom, South Korea’s largest mobile carrier will be working on wireless chips with other chip makers.
Meanwhile SK Telecom, the country’s largest mobile carrier, will develop a wireless connectivity system-on-chip for smart phones with other chip makers, it said.
Mitsubishi and Vudu Start Joint TV Promotion
Starting today, Mitsubishi Digital Electronics America will be giving away a Vudu HD set-top box along with $50 worth of movie credits with a purchase of most Mitsubishi TVs. This promotion is set to run until August 10th. Vudu allows for streaming of anything in their library, and to get the best streaming quality, you should use MoCA.
Via Twice
Blockbuster to Deliver its OnDemand Services to Samsung TVs
Blockbuster and Samsung have signed an agreement which will enable customers to gain access to Blockbuster’s ever growing library of digital content. Consumers will be able to access Blockbuster’s OnDemand service through Samsung HDTVs , home theater systems and Blu-ray players. If you want to connect these devices to your network/the internet, you will want to use MoCA.
via PR Newswire
Sony’s Connected BRAVIA HDTVs Get Netflix
As more and more HDTV manufacturers are going the route of making connected HDTVs, being able to get a reliable connection to their device becomes that much more important. Today, Sony has announced that they have partnered with Netflix to bring Netflix’s instant watch to Sony BRAVIA HDTVs.
The world’s largest online movie rental service, today announced a partnership with Sony Electronics that will enable Netflix subscribers to instantly watch movies streamed from Netflix on Sony’s BRAVIA Internet Video-capable HDTVs and on previous BRAVIA models compatible with Sony’s BRAVIA Internet video link module.
Netflix now plays on Roku, Tivo, LG, Samsung and Sony HDTVs and Bluray players. All of these devices will stream Netflix HD much more reliably using MoCA Home Networking rather than undependable Wifi or Powerline networks.
via Engadget
ABC Shows are Cropping up on Hulu
In April ABC announced that they are going to become a full partner in Hulu. Finally, the shows are being put up on Hulu, the first shows to be up will be Grey’s Anatomy then Desperate Housewives, followed by many, many more. If you want the updates as they come in, you can check out Hulu Days of Summer or follow us on Twitter @MoCABlog.
In addition to “Grey’s Anatomy,” Hulu says it will be introducing more ABC content this week, but the site is not revealing what will be appearing just yet. Instead the site will post daily updates on its Hulu Days of Summer online calendar, and post hints leading up to new content debuts on the company’s Facebook and Twitter feeds.
This leaves CBS as the only major TV network that isn’t on Hulu. People won’t want to be confined to watching their HD television shows on their small computer monitors, they’ll want to watch it on their nice, large, HDTVs and the best way to do that is through MoCA!
via PC World
Connected HDTVs are the Future
Although LG has just launched two broadband equipped HDTVs, it is not the only company bringing connected HDTVs to consumers. Toshiba is preparing its Regza models to enter the connected HDTV space later this year. Toshiba also plans to provide its consumers ways to access content such local weather reports, sports scores, and news in addition to being able to access content from networked PC’s.
According to a study by Parks Associates, 2.5 million U.S. and Canadian households are ready to buy an Internet-connected TV. In addition, they would be willing to pay up to $100 for the feature addition.
Market analyst The Yankee Group expects 50 million connected HDTVs, 30 million connected Blu-ray players and 11 million digital-media adapters to be purchased by 2013. These are a lot of devices that need to be connected to your home network. Of the many ways to connect your TV, and other devices (i.e. Blu-ray players, digital-media adapters, etc) to your home network , MoCA would seem to be the logical solution for media streaming if you don’t already have wired Ethernet.
MoCA will enable the maximum experience from the LG and Toshiba HDTVs from watching Netflix movies/TV shows, streaming YouTube videos, and accessing content from your networked PCs.
Connected HDTVs are definitely in our future if they’re convenient and useful and offered at a reasonable price.
via Cnet
LG Integrates Netflix Streaming Into Televisions
LG is going to be the first company to begin releasing televisions that include the Netflix streaming service built right into the TV itself.
LG Electronics today extended its groundbreaking partnership with Netflix, Inc. (Nasdaq: NFLX), as the two companies announced the first broadband-enabled HDTVs with Netflix streaming software embedded directly in the TV, requiring no external device. LG’s new LCD and plasma “Broadband HDTVs” will display the growing library of movies, TV episodes and high-definition (HD) content that Netflix members can watch instantly directly on the TV with Ethernet connectivity.
This is a perfect reason to use MoCA! Using Wi-Fi you would be waiting longer for your movie to start up, as well as having to endure the inevitable downgrade to less-than-HD video quality due to network interruptions or weak signal strength. MoCA will enable you to fast forward and rewind with less buffering time than with a traditional wireless network. With MoCA you will be able to enjoy HD Netflix content all the time, without having to worry about the unpredictability of Wi-Fi.
Share your MoCA network through HDMI?
The latest HDMI specification 1.4 is out today and one of the features is an HDMI Ethernet Channel among other things:
The HDMI Ethernet Channel will allow an Internet-enabled HDMI device to share its Internet connection with other HDMI devices without the need for a separate Ethernet cable. The new feature will also provide the connection platform to allow HDMI-enabled devices to share content between devices.
It looks like this means that if your HDTV is already networked via MoCA, then you can share this connection with your Bluray or Xbox through the HDMI cable. Other features specified include audio return channel, 3D capability, improved 4K x 2K resolution support, micro HDMI connector, and automotive connection system. The spec also includes options for 5 different HDMI cables, each supporting various combinations of data speeds and features.
Twitter (and maybe Netflix) On Your TV
More news about Samsung’s new widget enabled HDTVs that are coming out later this year with an additional twist.
Coming this summer: Two “premium” video on demand apps, which we think could be Netflix (NFLX) and either Amazon (AMZN) or Blockbuster (BBI). Samsung tells us its media player is capable of handling many popular video codecs and HD video.
This is certainly to be expected especially since the new Samsung Bluray DVD players have models with Netflix already a feature. That the TVs will be able to stream HD from the net over a MoCA link or some other home networking medium seems a logical extension.
