Games In HD

If you are like me and you watch a lot of the playoff games in HD, it is very noticeable that there are games in HD and then there are games in HD.   It is truly disappointing to see a game in 720p instead of 1080i.  I know they make the argument that the camera cannot truely capture the speed of the game in 720p but I find that argument without merit.

The quality of the pictures in 1080l is superior and I have never seen a game where a 1080i image was not able to give you a clear picture and the action going on.  I think it just a bogus excused used by television station that will not paid the extra money to get a 1080i camera.

In this day and age, and especially during the playoffs, there is no excuse not to use anything but 1080i.

Watch when the Lakers play the Celtics in the NBA finals, you will see games in Boston in 720p and games in Los Angeles in 1080l.  You till me if you can tell the difference or not.

Video TV Phone

By combining three basic technologies, you can now make video phone calls off your television set.  What are these three technologies you ask?  The Internet, Television, and Skype.

Samsung just announced that they will be adding VoIP calling services Skype as an application in their television, allowing phone calls to be made on camera right above the television.  Samsung is not the only company that will be providing this possibility.  Panasonic and LG have already made similar announcemnts.

These new television sets will go for about $1,200 to $2,000.00.

Super Bowl Ratings

Super Bowl game featuring the New Orleans Saints versus the Indianapolis Colts on February 7, 2010 was watched by more than 106 million people.  That means it was the largest watched television event on television surpassing the 1983 finale of MASH television show.

The previous Super Bowl featuring Arizona and Pittsburgh was seen by only 98.7 million people compared to the 105.97 million last night.

Fox & Time Warner Reach Deal

The threat of Time Warner customers not being able to view Fox channels ended today when the two sides reached an agreement.  The actual terms of the agreement are not know at this time.

The high-stakes game of poker between Fox and Time Warner Cable reached a peak in the last few days, with lawmakers and regulators pleading with both companies to hammer out a deal or face their wrath. While both companies publicly attacked each other, talks continued around the clock among executives hunkered down on Fox’s Century City lot.

In real terms, football fans will be able to watch their BCS football games on Time Warner without having to figure out an alternative way to get those signal with conventional anntenas.  In the long run, it will be interesting to find out how much Time Warner’s cable bills will increase as a result of this new agreement.

Fox was asking for a fee of $1 per month for each subscriber.  Time Warner was only offering $0.25 per customer per month.  We shall know soon.

Energy Efficient TV

Most power-hungry TVs will be banned from store shelves in California after state regulators adopted a first-in-the nation mandate to lower electricity demand. Given how large the California market is, the regulation could end up as a de facto national standard.

On a unanimous vote, the California Energy Commission on Wednesday required all new televisions up to 58 inches to be more energy efficient beginning in 2011. The requirement will be tougher in 2013, and only a quarter of all TVs on the market currently meet that standard.

The California Energy Commission estimates that TVs account for about 10 percent of a home’s electricity use. The concern is that the energy draw will rise by as much as 8 percent a year as consumers buy larger televisions, add more to their homes and watch them more often.

Commissioners say energy efficiency standards are the cheapest and easiest way to save electricity.

“We have every confidence this industry will be able to meet the rule and then some,” Energy Commissioner Julia Levin said. “It will save consumers money, it will help protect public health, and it will spark innovation.”

Utilities and environmental groups say the TV standards, which mirror the federal standards for TVs awarded the Energy Star label, should head off steep increases in home electricity use and rising electric bills.

“This is a really big deal, because once standards are in effect it will cut California’s power bill by $1 billion a year and avoid the need to build a large, 500 megawatt power plant,” said Noah Horowitz, senior scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council. “We hope in the long term, every TV sold in America will be just as efficient as those sold in California.”

Televisions account for about 2 % of California’s overall electricity use.  Requiring them to be more energy efficient would save enough electricity to power 864,000 single-family homes a year in California by 2023.

An energy-efficient TV would save a household roughly $30 a year per set in lowered electricity costs. If all 35 million TVs watched in the state were replaced with more efficient sets, Californians would save $8.1 billion over 10 years, according to the Energy Commission report.

The electricity savings could also help California meet the goals of its 2006 global warming law, which calls for the state to cut greenhouse gases 25 percent by 2020.

State retailers feel threatened
Some manufacturers say implementing a power standard will cripple innovation, limit consumer choice and harm California retailers because consumers could simply buy TVs out of state or order them online.

The standards would apply to all TVs up to 58 inches, allowing increasing power use for larger TVs.

For example, all new 42-inch television sets must use less than 183 watts by 2011 and less than 116 watts by 2013. That’s considerably more efficient than flat-screen TVs placed on the market in recent years.

A 42-inch Hitachi plasma TV sold in 2007 uses 313 watts while a 42-inch Sharp Liquid-crystal display, or LCD, TV draws 232 watts, according to Energy Commission research.

LCDs now account for about 90 percent of the 4 million TVs sold in California annually.

Some televisions already meet the early standards imposed under the rule approved Wednesday. About three-quarters of the TVs — more than 1,050 models — sold today comply with the 2011 California standards, and more than 300 comply with the 2013 standard, according to the Energy Commission.

Industry representatives have said the standards would force manufacturers to make televisions that have poorer picture quality and fewer features than those sold elsewhere in the U.S.

TVs larger than 58 inches would not be covered under the rule, a concession to independent retailers that sell high-end home-theater TVs. Those sets account for no more than 3 percent of the market.

Commissioners are expected to regulate them in the future.