While all newly produced televisions require a digital tuner (as of 3/1/07), manufacturers and retailers have been permitted to work through existing inventory. However, in a move to designed to “facilitate the transmission of digital broadcast” the FCC just mandated (PDF) that NTSC-only sets must display a “Consumer Alert” sticker:

This television receiver has only an analog broadcast tuner and will require a converter box after February 17, 2009,to receive over-the-air broadcasts with an antenna because of the Nation’s transition to digital broadcasting. Analog-onlyTVs should continue to work as before with cable and satellite TV services, gaming consoles, VCRs, DVD players, and similar products.

“Labeling of analog-only television sets is a good idea,” FCC Commissioner Michael Copps said in a prepared statement. “It would have been an even better idea had we adopted it fourteen months ago when Congress passed the February 2009 deadline.”

(via eWeek)

Comcast broadcast their earnings call this morning, and in addition to large profits (80% increase) they also announced 25% of their 25 million customers rent HD set-top boxes — having adding 500k+ subs this quarter. Wonder how many of those are Moto 6412 boxes that might see a TiVo upgrade later this year? Comcast’s PPV/VOD revenue is also up significantly, though my on-demand rentals are coming via Xbox 360 and Amazon Unbox on TiVo.

(via paidContent)

I’m still regularly asked, “Which format will win?” And my answer has never wavered: Blu-ray and HD DVD will co-exist. While the numbers indicate Blu-ray is gaining momentum despite a late launch, I still believe both standards will remain viable… especially with even more talk of multi-format discs and players. Am I right?

TWICE:

Blu-ray Disc Association issued a Home Media Research (HMR) report showing BD title sales have topped the 1 million sales mark

HD DVD Promotion Group proclaiming the sale of the 100,000th HD DVD player, which was said to be a first for dedicated high-definition disc players

I can’t imagine there are gazillions of people currently watching HD-DVD or Blu-ray discs via PC… But the dozen of you who both watch AND use WinDVD better upgrade before InterVideo shuts you down. Their press release blames “hackers” though InterVideo forgot to mention they left the keys unprotected.

WinDVD customers who are currently using either HD DVD or BD playback will need to download the free security update from your PC or Drive manufacturer’s websites. Please be aware that failure to apply the update will result in AACS-protected HD DVD and BD playback being disabled.

(via Engadget)

Are you aware of the 2009 deadline for transitioning everyone over to digital television? Of course you are. Which means you can now feel superior to more than 60% of Americans according to a study cited by John Lawson, President and CEO of the Association of Public Television Stations (APTS).

The Digital TV panel at the CEA Washington Forum brought together some unlikely fellows working toward a common goal of getting consumers educated about the DTV transition. While the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) and the National Cable and Telecommunications Association (NCTA) are on opposite sides of the fence on some issues (like, say, CableCARD), their CEOs, Gary Shapiro and Kyle McSlarrow, certainly agreed that DTV requires significant cooperation over the next couple of years. Shapiro went so far as to compare the transition to the move from horse and buggy to automobile. (Yeah, not sure I agree with that, but maybe true in the long term.)

Lawson meanwhile emphasized the benefits coming out of DTV, including specifically the availability of new content. Apparently public television is doing a lot more with multicasting than I knew, including adding three new 24/7 channels - a Spanish channel, a “How-To” channel and a public affairs channel.

(more…)

Looks like we’re getting close now…

PC Mag got their hands on a pre-release Dell coupled with two of those ATI CableCARD decoders I spotted at CES (and a Blu-ray drive). Though the article is extensive (we’re talking screens and screens), I didn’t see much on how CableCARD content is protected. The author was able to view HD content streamed to his Xbox 360, but no word if/how we can access the raw recordings. I’ll go out on a limb here (ha!) and say they’re locked down.

There was no mention of price, though it can’t be cheap - which brings me to…

Niveus’ imminent $1500 dual CableCARD decoder. While it’s certainly sleeker than the ATI solution (x2), I have to agree that it’s “insanely expensive” - realizing one still must buy a paired PC. Ouch. Maybe that $800 (MSRP) TiVo Series3 isn’t as expensive as we thought?

(Thanks Glenn and Kevin!)

Talk about irony… I was drafting a “How To Save Moviebeam” post, when low and behold they’re purchased by Movie Gallery. While an acquisition wasn’t on my list, an expanded retail presence (in video rental stores) won’t hurt — though Best Buy end caps and shelf space in Radio Shack hasn’t seemed to be of much help. The selling price wasn’t disclosed, though Cisco, Disney, and Intel invested $48+ million after the unit was spun off from Disney. Presumably, Movie Gallery sees this as a way to get into digital delivery of content - much like Blockbuster is eyeing Movielink.

I’ve had Moviebeam in the house for about nine or ten months now (review here, YouTube video here), but it’s been sitting under the coffee table collecting dust for at least six of them. The idea to utilize unused broadcast bandwidth to “beam” movies over-the-air seemed clever, but in practice my reception was spotty… even after taping the antenna to the window (which wasn’t so attractive). MovieBeam also requires a telephone line to periodically dial up for billing purposes (pay per movie rental), which doesn’t work so well with the early adopters who might be interested in their product. So the first tip of my original “How To Save Moviebeam” post was to introduce them to the Internet and suggest they leverage the provided Ethernet jack.

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