Recently in Video Hardware & Software Category

Can you believe that so many of us Americans pirate movies off of the Internet?

Yes, indeedie, this report says that 25 million Americans have done just that -- are you one of them? Would you admit it?

(Don't forgt to pick up your Pirates of the Caribbean action figure at the Disney Store to put you in the mood ...)

Or how about buying a DVD on the street for five bucks? How many of you out there have done that?

Reminds me of the Seinfeld episode where Kramer is hired to videotape a new movie release ... you know the one?

Forget about that klunky mouse or trackball! The iCam Art Pad is one cool piece of gadgetry. Using the iCam Art Pad combined with TheArt Dabbler software the USB-based iCam Art Pad "turns your digital photos into art."

You can view your images trace image templates right on the mouse pad and edit using your mouse or the pressure-sensitive pen included with the pad. The included software lets you remove red-eye, adjust colors, etc. Of course, advanced Photoshop users can finish the job that the included software can't. You can pick up the Art Pad on Amazon for $45.

How about this for irony -- a simple hack enables Nintendo's Wii to access a computer's  media collection, with the Wii remote (you know, the one with the strap problem) then being used to view photos and browse iTunes playlists on a TV. 

Isn't this the convergence of the computer and home entertainment that the big boys (Microsoft, HP, Sony, etc.) have been battling for over the past few years.

(Makes the battles and intrigues of Lord of the Rings seem tame ... better comparison anyone?)

Get the whole story here, and please let me know if you get this to work at home ...

And as if Wii sales aren't giving Sony and Microsoft fits already?

Interesting article in today's New York Times about the lowly set-top box that brings TV into our homes today (or at least a large part of U.S. homes today) is undergoing a transformation.

(At least by what was shown by companies like Motorola at CES earlier this month.)

Now while the article goes on to describe how this box is now being looked on to do more -- record shows on an internal hard drive, etc. -- why doesn't someone think of making these things look any better?

They are usually black and ugly -- how about some color?

Or better yet, how about some enterprising company developing skins for these things? 

We've got skins for Xbox and the like so why not this piece of gadget hardware?

From sharp minds come sharp products -- and how about big, really big products.

Making its debut at CES, Sharp's Aquos 108-inch High-Definition LCD TV is the world’s largest HD set -- larger than even its plasma rivals.

The 1080p LCD TV measures 93.9 inches wide by 52.9-inches high -- that's almost 8 feet by 4.5 feet; SuperBowl ba-bee! (A "baby" Sharp 65-inch set is pictured; this one is currently available.)

The giant set features Sharp’s Advanced Super View LCD Panel, which is manufactured at Sharp’s Kameyama Plant No. 2. This is the first facility in the world to produce panels from eighth-generation glass substrates. (A little techno for you.)

Start lining up to get yours ... But if you can't wait for 108" of beauteous LCD glory, you can get your hands on some high-quality Sharp LCD monitors up to 65" today on Amazon. Click here for my comprehensive list of Sharp LCDs and user reviews. Or you can click here to see the 65" Sharp LCD, with a review and pricing info available.

It's always amazing to me to hear about new products that are expected to do certain wonderful things and then simply fail to deliver.

Now I don't what to knock Microsoft's new Vista operating system (which isn't even here yet), but just checked a report that notes that certain next generation DVDs (you know, those HD ones) might not play on Vista!

(So much for the Microsoft Media Center experience -- the heart of the home! )

The cause of the problem -- the Hollywood studios and anti-piracy devices on the software -- but, of course!

Now if the studios could just figure out a way to get their products into our hands simply and easily -- and at a price point that wouldn't make it worth our while to sit there at home making illegal copies for all of our friends. In fact, why bother, plenty of counterfeit DVDs can be found in any number of places -- do I really need to tell you where to look?

Sling Media launched SlingCatcher, a device similiar to the original Slingbox that let you rebroadcast TV video to the Internet, except now in the reverse - the SlingCatcher lets you broadcast Internet video to your TV! Sling Media Inc. just unveiled its upcoming SlingCatcher product at Consumer Electronics Show (CES).

In addition, Sling Media's Slingbox product line and its client software, SlingPlayer, will include multiple new features enabled by Windows Vista. These new features include a full screen viewing mode that takes advantage of Vista's Aero Glass by allowing SlingPlayer controls and customized TV remote controls to transparently overlay on top of the video stream from the Slingbox. The Windows Vista gadgets feature will also allow multiple versions of the SlingPlayer, each attached to a separate Slingbox, to run in the Windows Sidebar. Even cooler, these individual video streams windows can be resized by the user as interest changes from one specific video feed to many simultaneous feeds at the same time.

The new SlingPlayer for Windows Vista will work both for new and existing Slingbox customers and it will be available in Q2, 2007. In the interim period between launch of the Windows Vista OS and the release of the new SlingPlayer software, Slingbox customers can download and use Sling Media's most recent version of SlingPlayer, released in late December, on their new Windows Vista-based PCs.

The SlingCatcher will let you view clips from a video sharing site, such as YouTube, or films downloaded from an online movie service, such as MovieLink, CinemaNow or Amazon.com's Unbox. Unfortunately, there is one major drawback of this product. Users will have to control what they're watching on their TV using their computer and not the TV. So if you want to play your favorite YouTube video and your PC is in the other room, you have to start the video and then run to the other room before the YouTube video finishing buffering. Well, at least this helps counteract this product's bad influence on making you an even more sedentary couch potato.

You can also use the SlingCatcher simiilarly to the now defunct Windows Media Extender devices, such as the Linksys Media Extender that I reviewed. In conjunction with a Slingbox you will be able to wirelessly deliver your cable, digital video recorder or satellite TV content onto any other television in the home that is hooked to a SlingCatcher.

The SlingCatcher will be available in the middle of the year and is expected to be under $200. Surprisingly, I only see the Slingbox on Amazon and not the new SlingCatcher. Usually Amazon coordinates launches with the vendors.

Update: Ah ha! I found it!

Hollywood studios have approved a new DVD copy-protection technology called Qflix that they claim will remove a major obstacle consumers now face with burning movies they buy digitally over the Internet and burn onto a DVD that will play everywhere. If you recall, I wrote about this here and here

If you recall, I stated back in April - "If Hollywood makes it easy for users to download and play movies on their television, they could make a killing. Just look at what Apple iTunes did after everybody said that no one would pay for music in the "Napster age". Apple proved them wrong. Hollywood could do the same if they make the user experience as easy and simple as Apple did." Ironically, the example I gave - Apple iTunes - is now rumored will offer movie rental downloads. (with DRM embedded, but of course!)

Well, it looks like Hollywood is indeed planning on letting users download movies on the Internet, burn to a DVD, and play on a DVD player. The catch? Well, as I predicted, they plan to install DRM as part of this new Qflix system. Sonic Solutions Inc. today introduced the Qflix system for adding a standard digital lock to DVDs burned in a computer or a retail kiosk. Apparently, it's leveraging the existing “content scrambling system,” or CSS, which has already been cracked by "DVD Jon" Jon Johansen, as well as several pieces of software (DVD Decrypter, DVD Shrink, DVDFAB Decrypter, etc). However,  CSS comes standard on commercial DVDs and DVD players today already contain CSS decryption which allows for playback. Movie download services such as Movielink, CinemaNow and Amazon.com’s Unbox haven't used CSS because Hollywood fears widespread DVD burning could lead to piracy.

Some download services have experimented with proprietary protection algorithms, but this results in playback problems and usually can only be played on a PC and not a standard DVD player. Who wants to watch a movie only on their PC? With the new Qflix standard, consumers would be subject to restrictions placed by the movie service and studios. For instance, using the copy-protection technology in Microsoft's Windows Media player, a service could specify that a given movie can not be burned more than two times.

According to MSNBC:

Sonic has been working for three years to develop the technology and get studios to agree to amend the CSS license to allow a “download to burn” option."

The initial companies participating in Qflix include Verbatim Corp., which makes blank discs, the movie download service Movielink, video-on-demand provider Akimbo Systems Inc. and the Walgreen Co. chain of drug stores.

Studios must still figure out pricing schemes that appeal to consumers and protect its lucrative retail business. Some retailers, such as Wal-Mart, have talked about starting their own online downloading services or installing kiosks to burn DVDs in the store.

But here's the real catch. Consumers will need a new DVD burner that includes the latest software OR they will have to upgrade the firmware on their DVD player. Raise your hands if you know of someone who updates their DVD player firmware. I doubt mom and pop will do it. Certainly techies upgrade their DVD firmware. But do you honestly think techies are going to install a new firmware that ADDS additional CSS encryption technology? Often times the firmware upgrade fails and you're left with a dysfunctional DVD burner - it's a tricky operation - trust me, I'm bricked a few DVD burners. Anyway, according to MSNBC, Plextor, a Qflix partner, is expected to market Qflix-enabled DVD burners soon.

Of course, even with Qflix copy-protection, I wonder how long it will take before it is cracked. I'm betting less than a day. Place your bets!

Hey, how about this news about a forwarding looking company making a play to end the next-gen HD DVD format wars and also making everybody happy at the same time?

Our report today comes from the New York Times about how Warner Bros. apparently plans to announce at the CES slugfest next week a single disc that would be able to play both rival next-gen DVD formats -- Blu-ray and HD-DVD.  The new disc is reported to be called "Total HD."

(How about somebody implementing the obvious solution so we the consumer don't have to make a decision about which format to back with our wallets?)

Some background please?

Two rival tech group announced High-Definition DVD players last year -- Blu-ray, backed by Sony and others; and HD-DVD, backed by Toshiba and Microsoft.

Is this what's needed -- plus some price drops on hardware, please -- to get the HD DVD ball rolling in 2007?

What do you think?  or  ?

(Thanks to www.worldpeace.no for the image above.)

Everybody loves thin, especially in TVs, so it's really not a surprise that HP is apparently getting out of the DLP TV business.

BTW, does anyone out there know what DLP stands for?

(I'll make it easy -- see below.)

According to reports, these rear projection TVs will be going the way of the dodo into oblivion. And with HP making this move, don't be surprised to see others follow.

(All the more reason to get behind HD flat-panel displays ...)

Never really had a great affinity to the whole rear projection thing -- never seemed like the picture was that clear in the early days of this technology, but it does look pretty good now.

But too fat a box, alas ...

From the "I'll make it easy" file -- Digital Lighting Processing.