HDTV

For various reasons, everyone likes to talk about the “analog hole” problem with

DRM protection: pretty much all security falls

down in the face of a well positioned camera and mic setup in the back of a movie theater. Well not for long… the movie

industry just unveiled a system at their DVD Forum in Paris last week that would embed an audio “watermark” during the

soundtrack mixing process by slightly varying the waveforms at regular intervals. (Screwing around with the noise.)

They claim the change shouldn’t be audible to paying cinema goers, but would be easily picked up by a decoder embedded

in forthcoming HD playback systems, starting with Toshiba’s

HD-DVD players next year. This soundtrack mojo

will only be applied to the cinema release of a film, so if a player recognizes the pattern, it will know it’s not

playing a legit copy, and shut down on the double. It does seem like any audio changes would have to be rather obvious

to make it through the quality loss you’ll get with this type of piracy, and we can just imagine the legions of

audiophiles who will pick up on the patterns and run from the theater screaming and clutching their golden ears. We

also have to wonder what those MPAAers think the next step is. A large red “X” across the screen? Maybe they could

throw in some dancing elves and a strobe-like flashing effect? That would surely curb piracy. No, wait, don’t please —

we were only kidding!

SureWest Communications in Northern California is rolling out IP HDTV functionality for their fiber-optic

subscribers. They claim that they’ll be “the first broadband provider in the nation to deliver commercial HD

programming with the technology known as Internet Protocol,” which is a rather silly statement, given

Verizon’s current IP HD entry in the market, and

since Verizon does video on demand—a reflection of the future of IPTV. SureWest claims to have the goods because they

can get more mainstream programming with their more traditional technology, but right now they’re 5 channels short of

Verizon. No matter what, it’s still hard to complain about 15 HD channels delivered nice and fresh via fiber-optic

pipes. They’re starting trials Tuesday and hoping to go hog wild in November, offering this to their 80,000

subscribers.

Samsung has gone on a new monitor free-for-all today, unleashing no less than 16 new displays for the consumer and

professional markets. We’ll ignore the business-oriented models and instead concentrate on those designed for home use

and gaming, which include the following SyncMaster units: 19-inch 970P (1280 x 1024 resolution, 1000:1 contrast ratio,

$549), 19-inch 940MW (widescreen 1440 x 900, 700:1, HDTV-ready, analog TV and FM tuners, PIP and PBP, $699), 17-inch

740BF (1280 x 1024, 700:1, 4ms response time, $399) and 19-inch 940BF (1280 x 1024, 700:1, 4ms, $499), and

21-inch 214T (1600 x 1200, 900:1, $859) and 24-inch 244T (widescreen 1920 x 1200, 1000:1, $1699). All of the models

incorporate some or all of Samsung’s growing line of “Magic” color and feature-tweaking options, which now reads like a

veritable David Copperfield program guide: MagicTune, MagicStand, MagicRotation, MagicSpeed, MagicBrightII, MagicColor,

MagicContrast and MagicZone, and all are shipping immediately.

Yeah we know the $4k Denon 1080p-capable player is too

beaucoup for most of our readers so here’s the NeuNeo HVD2085. Like the Denon, this high def DVD player pumps 1080p

over HDMI. Sure, you have to update the firmware yer damn self but for a mere $245 you can afford the risk, eh?

[Via HD Beat]

Dell just keeps the good times rolling with their

television line. The latest member is the

W3706MC 37-inch LCD with a 1366 x 768 resolution and some nice HD inputs. They’re selling it for $2300 at their online

store, along with the 50-inch plasma we spied just

recently. Only an 800:1 contrast ratio, and our pals at HD Beat haven’t been too impressed with Dell displays in the

past, but we’ll wait to spot these ourselves before we pass judgment.

[Via HD Beat]

Well Sony is swinging around those new VAIO X Media

Center boxes we mentioned a bit ago. The VAIO XL1 Digital Living System includes HDMI video out, WiFi, an external

DVD changer, and a wireless keyboard with track pad. PC Magazine has the review, and they’re definite fans: they say

it’s got more inputs and outputs than any other Media Center they’ve spied,

and the 200 disc DVD changer can rip through 200 CDs automatically, or burn 200 blank DVDs without monitoring. There’s

a catch though: just one analog TV tuner. Well, that and Sony’ll take a hefty sum of money off your hands while they’re

at it — $2300 will net you the set.

[Thanks, TwoEleven]

So HD Beat has the dealio on the new n2050w 20-inch LCD TV from ViewSonic. It’s got the 1080i hook-up with an HDMI

jack, and you can view the sights with a 1000:1 contrast ratio. There’s NTSC support and picture-in-picture, but while

the size is desktop friendly, they’re probably not going to land this on our desktop with a native resolution

of 1366 x 768, but as far as TVs go you could do much worse for $549.

[Via HD Beat]

Is the Fortis.TV from display-maker Eizo Nanao the ugliest HDTV ever made? While our peeps at HD Beat may think so,

we’re not too sure — though given the relatively short history of the HD industry, it may just qualify. Regardless, we

have to admit that the sets, which come in sizes from 19 inches to 26 inches, don’t exactly make the best use of space.

By mounting the candy-colored speakers on a full-width panel under the set, Eizo takes away any options in terms of

mounting this anywhere but on its built-in stand. However, given that these are designed for diminutive Japanese homes,

Eizo may have just assumed that customers wouldn’t have the space for a big U.S.-style media console, and mounting

everything on a slim pedestal would be the best way to go. And the larger sizes do come in more muted color choices,

including black and gray.

[Via HDBeat]

So Samsung is busting out the largest purchasable

plasma display for those of you

with 150 grand burning a hole in your pocket and a really, really large wall to put this in front of. They’re targeting

artsy institutions but we just know somebody is going to be watching the super bowl on this baby come February—so feel

free to invite your friendly neighborhood Engadget staff member, okay? We really don’t need very many excuses to desire

an 80-inch plasma, (let’s think: 80-inch? Check. Plasma? Double check.) but just in case you did need some greater

purpose behind your longings, how about the fact that it does 1080 HD capability and has a 2000:1 contrast ratio? Yeah,

okay, you get back with us on that.

[Via Akihabara News]

Matching hometown rival Samsung inch-for-inch, LG is

now showing a 102-inch plasma display, which the company says offers full HD resolution at 1920 x 1080, with a contrast

ratio of 5000:1. Don’t expect to buy one anytime soon, though. It’s being displayed at the Korea Electronics Show, and

no announcements have been made about actually making this a production model.