Screen Sleuth

Legal Blow: ITC rules Samsung was bad, bans import of some LCDs

Derek — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 23:59:47 +0000

We love us some legal dirt, so witness the latest legal blow struck by Sharp in the TV wars: Samsung was found to have violated some patents, so has barred Sammy from selling LCD TVs in the US (a least importing them from here on out) until its corrected.

The US International Trade Commission already ruled in mid-June that they had violated 1 patent from Sharp, but this ruling says they actually violated 4 in total, and handed down the import ban.

Samsung has said they will comply with the ruling, but also saying there will be “no impact on our business and our ability to meet market demand., and has also said they plan no meetings to negotiate with Sharp for now, so a workaround is probably the plan for now. We’ll see how deeply this impacts Samsung’s bottom line in the long run.

Early ‘Black Friday’ Action: Wal-Mart fires first shot in HDTV war

Derek — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:44:05 +0000

On Saturday November 7th, Wal-Mart fired a huge early shot in the prequel to Black Friday with some pretty amazing HDTV deals on certain models that will definitely set a huge bar for other chains to beat, and many of them won’t be able to, to be frank.

The 1-day deals included a 42” Sharp LCD, the LC42SB45UT for $498. Its a 1080p television that offers a 2,000:1 contrast ratio and 4 HDMI inputs that’s about $200 cheaper than many online retailers such as Amazon sell it for. Or maybe a 46” Plasma from Panasonic (TC-P46U1) for $788 is more your style? With a eye-popping 30,000:1 ratio and $300 or so off the usual price, it was a huge bargain.

Let the HDTV pricing wars begin!

Same Day Service: Comcast promising more ‘Same Day as Shelf’ VOD HD releases

Derek — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:30:38 +0000

Those of you who are lucky enough (or unlucky, depending on where you are in the US) to have Comcast cable TV may find solace in their very nice On-Demand services, and now they’re promising even quicker VOD delivery to their systems, in some cases the same day as it comes out on video, which is quite a promise.

This week for example, Angels & Demons and Bruno are among their releases “same day” on their VOD system, almost making up for the $5-6 price tag for 24 hour “rentals” on their system. Their HD does look very nice admittedly, and for 99 cents we’d be all over them.

That being said, some consider the convenience worth it. Your mileage may vary.

Saturday’s Screaming HDTV Deals

Derek — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 20:48:18 +0000

We aim to please here at SS, and here are some great deals on some HDTV units:

Newegg.com – Nice deal on a good sized unit for any room of the house: the Toshiba 46RV525U 46” 1080p LCD HDTV in Piano Black for $899.99 – and free shipping? Yes, don’t thank us….it’s our job.

RadioShack.com has a nice deal on a solid, semi-name brand TV: The Envision L32W961 32” LCD HDTV for $349.99 with free shipping. The Shack is back, and posting some decent deals after a long time out of relevance in the electronics scene.

Thanks for joining us, and see you again tomorrow for more news and deals!

Wii HD: Existence Denied (Once Again)

Derek — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:51:52 +0000

It appears Nintendo wants little to do with the future of entertainment (read: HD, 1080i/1080p, etc), as their president has come out again to deny any existence or plans for a Wii HD. It’s a shame, as Nintendo continues to lose ground in terms of their game platforms to the iPhone and other avenues. People are ready for a change.

And it looks like Nintendo is not ready for one.

Rumors surfaced a week or so of a rogue Wii HD being tested secretly, but Nintendo head PR honcho Reggie Fils-Aime strongly denied any plans for a Wii HD console of any kind. Who knows if its true or not, but it certainly looks like the big N is content to sit on their current platform until they’re forced to change.

HD Update: NBC, The Winter Olympics and The Promise

Derek — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 23:10:20 +0000

Remember Torino and its inconsistency as far as the HD quality went? Well, the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver promises to be a very different animal, and this time it is completely 100% HD from the start, including the cameras. We like the sound of that.

NBC will have tons of coverage planned, along with a VOD channel devoted to update metal counts, event results, etc. Do your news checking online? NBC is back with a new version of Microsoft’s Silverlight streaming, promising even more HD footage, and you can even fast forward and do other tricks with the coverage.

We like this news, as major networks gear up to give HD coverage of a major event the royal treatment.

Opinion: Where do I get cheap Blu-Ray movies?

Derek — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 21:26:38 +0000

Now that the holidays and Black Friday is fast approaching, thoughts turn to HDTV movie entertainment, via Blu-Ray discs. But where can the deals be found, even before the holiday season is fully upon us?

Culling the comments of people from many sources, it appears Best Buy is a great place to grab BRs at a pretty cheap price, with regular 30% off sales and the like. Amazon.com is also a popular destination for BR fanatics to fill up their movie collections at a very fair price.

Blu-Ray machines themselves are poised to be as low as they’ve ever been this holiday season, so it stands to reason that discs will go down accordingly as well.

Where do you, our readers, shop for the best BR deals?

Results: Nielsen reports on DTV transition and its effects

Derek — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:37:01 +0000

Nielsen has a new report out on how many dealt with the oft-reported DTV transition that occured a few months ago. According to their numbers, many went out and just got a digital converter box, but 18% did just go ahead and get cable, and over 7% got satellite. It seems programming providers were the big winners in this transition.

Over 74% just got a plain converter box, a surprising number, but not a total shock given the fact many people that didn’t have cable already didn’t want it really, DTV changeover or not.

Also noteworthy: stations lost up to 8% of their viewership instantly after the transition, with some being hit harder than others.

Check out the chart and the full report here.

Daily 1080: More HDTV viewers using it for their everyday viewing

Derek — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 23:49:23 +0000

Analytical/stats firm Knowledge Networks has returned after stating that HD would be “game changing” in nature, with more stats to support this fact.

Viewers surveyed are now 65% more likely now than they were two years ago to seek out HD programming for their everyday TV viewing, which is is a great thing, both for HD and the future of TV.

The one sorta sad note: the number of people that always check for the HD version instead of SD rose only a little bit (from 61% to 68%) among the 510 HDTV owners asked. Now that is a bit of a shock; most satellite and cable systems make it pretty easy to find HD programming or separate it into a different area entirely.

The report itself is pretty interesting stuff; you can read the whole thing here.

HDTV Deals Jumbo Weekend Post

Derek — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 16:28:24 +0000

We haven’t had any HDTV deals in awhile, so we’ll do a jumbo sized post to catch up a bit:

dbuys.com – Want a jumbo sized HDTV? How about an LG 60PS60 60” 1080p HDTV for $1,795 with free shipping too? Yes, we love it.

BestBuy – Yes, its their brand, but what a deal: the Insignia NSLCD52HD09 52” 1080p LCD HDTV + Free Hook-Up Kit as well for $999.99 – and free shipping. Now that’s tough to turn down!

B&H Photo Video – Free shipping on this Panasonic TCL37S1 37” 1080p LCD HDTV for $574.99 takes the cake for our last deal of the day. Well reviewed and solid TV for any room of the house at a great price!

Shop to your heart’s content, and we’ll see you tomorrow at Screen Sleuth for more breaking HDTV news.