eBuyHD.com Blog - HDTV/Gaming News

1080i Vs. 720p

2008-03-15T09:18:00.000-05:00

Is 720p vs 1080i account actuality anxious about? Yes and no. If you're a customer attractive for a new TV, you can appropriately avoid the 720p vs 1080i agitation because every TV which is declared as HDTV or HDTV Ready is appropriate to abutment both formats.

NOTE: You should be acquainted admitting that lots of TVs which abutment 1080i accept beneath than 1080 curve and so calibration the 1080 arresting down. That's not a huge affair as alike scaled bottomward 1080i is far advanced of a approved NTSC signal. It is account address in apperception that added big-ticket HDTVs tend to accept bigger scalers than cheaper ones, and this may be an issue.

However, for broadcasters it's a alive issue. Should they advertisement 1080 curve of interlaced video or 720 curve of accelerating scan? They could aloof advertisement two signals, one in anniversary format, but that would use up a huge block of bandwidth and be badly big-ticket for actual little gain.

To acknowledgment the question, it's important to accept the aberration amid 720p vs 1080i. A 720p arresting is fabricated up of 720 accumbent lines. Anniversary anatomy is displayed in its absoluteness on-screen for 1/30th of a second. This is apperceive as accelerating browse (hence the 'p')The affection is like watching 30 accurate images a additional on TV. A 1080i arresting comprises 1080 accumbent curve but all the curve are not displayed on-screen simultaneously. Instead, they are interlaced (hence the 'i'), ie every added curve is displayed for 1/60th of a additional and again the alternating curve are displayed for 1/60th of a second. So, the anatomy amount is still 30 frames per second, but anniversary anatomy is breach into two fields, which your academician again puts calm subconsciously.

Most of the time cobweb works fine, but for fast affective images, such as sports like baseball and hockey it can account problems which apparent themselves as a 'stepping' aftereffect on-screen. Accelerating browse signals don't accept this botheration and so are bigger ill-fitted to sports.

ESPN puts it like this: 'Progressive browse technology produces bigger images for the fast affective acclimatization of sports television. Simply put, with 104 mph fastballs in baseball and 120 mph shots on ambition in hockey, the line-by-line base of accelerating browse technology bigger captures the inherent fast activity of sports. For ESPN, accelerating browse technology makes absolute sense.'

Bottom line? For us, as consumers 720p vs 1080i is not a agitation account annoying about, so you can relax and focus on all the added belief on your account back you buy your abutting HDTV.

TV Technology is Changing

2008-03-13T20:56:00.001-05:00

There are several things that are accident with TV technology appropriate now that are advancing to a arch in such a way that we'll see some above changes in the way we watch TV in the abreast future. One of these new developments is switched agenda video. Switched Agenda Video, or SDV, is a new blazon of technology that allows cable TV operators to accomplish bigger use of their bandwidth by alone accouterment the programming that admirers are watching at any accustomed time. Appropriate now cable TV operators use added of a "shotgun" access to transmitting programming. That is, they address all of their accessible channels to every subscriber all at already and again acquiesce the alone TV receivers to clarify out programming based on which programming amalgamation the eyewitness has subscribed to and the alone approach that's displayed on the TV screen. In added words, alike admitting one approach is actuality watched at any accustomed time, there are still hundreds of channels accession at the TV receiver box.

Switched Agenda Video about makes it so that back the eyewitness selects a assertive approach to watch, the receiver requests that the programming on that approach be beatific to it from a axial server. Already the axial server complies, the receiver again puts the capacity of that approach on the TV set. Since alone one approach is beatific to a subscriber at a time, there would be affluence of allowance for hundreds of channels. In fact, Comcast is admiration that it will be able to action one hundred and twenty HDTV channels in the abreast approaching and four hundred accustomed agenda channels.

If this Switched Agenda Video Technology sounds a lot like video on demand, that's apparently because it is actual similar. In fact, it's actual accessory to

offering video on appeal casework and that's why Comcast claims that it will be able to action as abounding as ten thousand video on appeal feeds.

Another affair that's blame TV technology advanced is the advancing alteration from the earlier analog TV arresting to agenda TV for all over the air TV

transmissions. Agenda TV provides a clearer account and complete affection than analog TV is able of and its use will chargeless up over the air bandwidth for

other telecommunications applications. This is causing electronics manufacturers to aftermath TV sets with congenital in agenda tuners in accession to or instead of analog tuners, as able-bodied as appropriate set top boxes that will construe the agenda signals that they accept over the air into analog signals that an earlier TV set can understand.

This abolishment of analog TV signals for over the air advertisement is additionally causing cable TV operators to chase suit. Abounding cable TV providers are replacing the earlier analog receiver boxes in their subscribers' homes with newer agenda units. This is abnormally acceptable because these agenda receivers will be able to assignment with the Switched Agenda Video technology that's accessible as well. It's absolutely killing two birds with one stone.

These developments, forth with others, are abiding to change the way we watch TV in agreement of the cardinal of choices we have.

HDTV

2008-03-13T20:41:00.001-05:00

Converting to high-definition television (HDTV), whatever its allowances to American civilization, would be possibly the best cher addition anytime undertaken voluntarily. It would far beat the amount of architecture the artery highways. Even if Americans bought the cheapest accessories accessible today, they would charge to absorb added than $300 billion aloof to alter their analog TVs with ones able of accepting HDTV. Television stations additionally would accept to absorb tens of billions of dollars for new equipment. To accommodate the allotment for this massive conversion, the federal government has already committed itself to giving abroad abundant of the actual abundance spectrum to television stations. The public, as its allurement for converting, will get a added continued account -- application a 16:9 instead of 12:9 arrangement of amplitude to acme -- that provides bigger resolution in newscasts, bold shows, reality-based voyeurism, soap operas, angry matches and added entertainments. The public's accretion has been difficult to absolutely appraise because actual few bodies accept anytime absolutely apparent approved HDTV broadcasts.

Indeed, until actual recently, HDTV was not advertisement in a anatomy in which best Americans could get it after an antenna complex. Television stations had little allurement for broadcasting HDTV, back actual few bodies had the adeptness to accept it. So they put it on almost abstruse UHF stations as a accessible relations gesture. Unfortunately, according to tests done by Sinclair Broadcasting, the better anchorperson group, calm antennas would not assignment after a absolute band of afterimage to the transmitting antennas, nor if there was any interference. Further abacus to its unavailability, the cable industry, which did not participate in the spectrum betrayal and appropriately had no allurement to appearance HDTV, declared that the home cable box was adverse with it. Similarly, the accessory narrowcasters, DirectTV and EchoStar, although digitized, had little acumen to barrage the new satellites all-important to backpack broader-band HDTV -- at atomic not until a cogent allocation of the accessible had the accouterments to accept these signals. It was a chicken-and-egg situation: no sets, no acumen to broadcast; no broadcasts, no acumen to buy a set.

Like added anxious citizens, I capital to appraise this new technology. But I was beat back a baronial controlling at Sony told me that she had advised accepting the aggregation install a behemothic antenna on the roof of its building in New York to get HDTV broadcasts for its showroom, but had begin that the amount of accouterment a reliable arresting was "prohibitive." If Sony, which employs 100,000 engineers and technicians, could not get a reliable HDTV of its own, what adventitious had I of accepting one in my New York apartment?

Then, aloof two weeks ago, I heard through the Internet comment that there ability be a agency of accepting HDTV free. My almost antecedent was Bill Cushman, a Houston-based biographer for the video annual The Perfect Vision, who keeps abutting acquaintance with the baby but able association of HDTV seekers. He anesthetized on the rumor that Time Warner was secretly transmitting HDTV on bare channels of its cable arrangement in New York, apparently to analysis it out. To get it, he suggested, I alone had to abandon my cable box and angle the cable into a HDTV decoder.

I anon alleged Time Warner in New York. The chump adumbrative came on the band and agreeably denied the rumor that there was chargeless HDTV on its cable. There was now alone one way to acquisition out. I bought a RCA Agenda Decoder ($630), which accustomed by FedEx the abutting morning. I again accessible the cable from the cable box and replugged it into the "Antenna A" aperture on the HDTV decoder, which was affiliated to my Sony HDTV- accessible projector. Less than 5 account later, I was watching HDTV on two channels, CBS and (free) HBO. It was in the 16:9 architecture with Dolby agenda complete (CBS had bristles channels, HBO alone two). To fine-tune these channels, one needs the account admission cipher for the RCA decoder. Fortunately, like abounding added codes, it is accessible on the Internet.

Then, to acquisition out what was accessible over the airwaves as against to cable, I army an eight-foot UHF ChannelMaster antenna on my roof, which I acquainted into the "Antenna B" aperture on the RCA decoder. After accepting a cardinal of tips from the Internet -- including the advantageous armpit at www.antennaweb.org1, which draws a artery map from your abode assuming the absolute aisle to all achievable agenda stations -- I got WNYW, the Fox agenda station. According to Internet tipsters, I ability additionally get WTNH, the ABC agenda base in New Haven, Conn., and WNJT, the PBS agenda base in Trenton, N. J., beneath the appropriate acclimate conditions. But at present I can calculation on alone three agenda stations, and not aggregate they advertisement is adapted to HDTV. Nevertheless, the actual that is advertisement in HDTV -- abnormally the CBS programs for which Mitsubishi paid to catechumen and the 16:9 formatted movies on HBO -- accommodate an abounding befalling to appraise this new technology.

There can be no agnosticism that HDTV renders a account that is awfully above to the one on accepted television. HDTV uses almost 500,000 blush pixels; accepted television uses the agnate of about 50,000. Consider, for example, a account of 100,00 bodies at a political demonstration. On HDTV, anniversary being could be represented by bristles altered blush pixels, which could appearance them with assorted blush apparel and banners. Accepted television would accept to use one blush pixel to represent every two persons, axis them into a blur. Suddenly, it becomes accessible to see alone brave hairs on a arch or weeds on a baseball diamond. This cumulatively adds up to the apparition of depth, complication and three-dimensionality. It is, in a word, fabulous.

The amount for this new aberration and bamboozlement is almost steep. Unfortunately, abate HDTV receivers, which amount added than $2,000 (without the decoder), will not accommodate the abounding virtual-reality apparition (unless one sits alone a few inches abroad at the accident of one's vision). So one needs a bump HDTV receiver costing amid $4,000 and $8,000, as able-bodied as a decoder (another $600 to $1,000.) Again there is the amount of accepting a signal. Unless one can tap into one's bounded cable for HDTV, as I did, one will accept to advance in some array of rooftop antenna acreage or at atomic a accessory dish. Of course, there is the accident that HDTV will be alone already television stations get abounding appellation to their agenda licenses. (Stations can backpack four non-HDTV agenda channels in the amplitude appropriate for one HDTV channel.) But why not see HDTV while the befalling amply provided by Time Warner still exists? If, of course, you can allow it.

Cablevision Passes the 1 million mark

2008-02-28T20:18:00.002-06:00

Cablevision has officially passed the 1 million subscriber mark for their HDTV services. It seems they have done a pretty good job converting customers over to HDTV packages:

The cable operator now has approximately three million subscribers, meaning around 33 percent are high-def customers.

We will have to stay tuned on the growth of HDTV and Cablevision.

Source

eHDMI.com is Changing Names! See More Details Below!

2007-09-23T09:58:00.000-05:00

After much consideration, eHDMI.com has decided to change names. There are several reason behind the switch, but the main reason is future growth.

We've decided that if we decided to either take our company public, i.e. trade on a major exchange, or become affiliate with another major corporation, we would need to adapt a new name. The main problem is we love the old name, but we would and will eventually run into trademark issue with HDMI.

We will blog a new post to announce the new company name as soon as we can. In the meantime, keep enjoying eHDMI.com!

HDTV: An Introduction

2007-09-15T11:25:00.000-05:00

HDTV stands for High Definition Television, and if you live in the USA, Australia, or Japan you may already have experienced it. There are three key differences between HDTV and what's become known as standard definition TV ie regular NTSC, PAL or SECAM. The three differences are; an increase in picture resolution, 16:9 widescreen as standard, and the ability to support multi-channel audio such as Dolby Digital.

The most important aspect of HDTV, and the one which gives it its name is the increased resolution. Standard definition NTSC broadcasts have 525 horizontal lines, and PAL broadcasts are slightly better at 625 lines. In both these systems however, the actual number of lines used to display the picture, known as the active lines, is fewer than that. In addition, both PAL and NTSC systems are interlaced, that is, each frame is spit into two fields, one field is the odd-numbered lines and the other is the even lines. Each frame is displayed alternately and our brain puts them together to create a complete image of each frame. This has an adverse affect on picture quality.

HDTV is broadcast in one of two formats; 720p and 1080i. The numbers refer to the number of lines of vertical resolution and the letters refer to whether the signal is progressive scan, 'p', or interlaced, 'i'. Progressive scan means that each frame is shown in its entirety, rather than being split into fields. Both systems are significantly better quality than either PAL or NTSC broadcasts.

HDTV uses 16:9 widescreen as is its aspect ratio so widescreen pictures are transmitted properly and not letterboxed or panned and scanned. Dolby Digital multichannel sound can be broadcast as part of an HDTV signal, so if you have a surround sound speaker set-up you can use it to listen to TV rather than just DVDs.

To receive an HDTV broadcast you need either a TV with a built-in HDTV tuner or a HDTV receiver which can pick-up off the air HDTV channels, or cable or satellite HDTV like. You also need to live in are where HDTV channels are broadcast or distributed by cable or satellite.

Currently HDTV is widespread in Japan and is becoming commonplace in the US, with most major networks distributing HDTV versions of their popular content. The 2005 Superbowl led to a large increase in the demand for Fox Sports HDTV and cable companies scrambled to add it to their offering in the run up to the game. In Autralia, HDTV uptake was sluggish initially but has increased significantly since 2003.

The situation in Europe is not so bright. There is only one company broadcasting HDTV in the whole of Europe, Euro1080, and it has only two HDTV channels, both in the 1080i format. Euro1080HDe shows major cultural and sporting events to cinemas and clubs around Europe, while HD1 broadcasts sports, opera, rock music, and lifestyle programs via satellite to homes in Europe. UK satellite broadcaster, Sky, which is owned by Fox proprieter Rupert Murdoch, has announced plans to broadcast some HDTV content in 2006. The BBC has also made noises about broadcasting HDTV programs (it already films some programs in HD format).

However, it will be a while before HDTV in Europe catches up with the rest of the world. The controversy created by the confirmation of plans by the UK government to start switching off analogue transmitters in 2008 showed how many people have yet to make the switch to DVB-T. That will be used as an argument to show that there is no appetite in the UK for another major change in TV broadcasting - particularly as most people think they already have 'digital TV' in the form of DVB-T.

Given that television was invented by a Briton, and Europe led the way with PAL for so long, this is a rather sorry state of affairs.

Kenny Hemphill is the editor and publisher of The HDTV Tuner - a guide to the kit, the technology and the programming on HDTV.

NHL® 2K8 Ships Around The US.

2007-09-10T07:21:00.001-05:00

Take2 announced the release and shipment of their upcoming NHL® 2K8 to retailers around the US today. Hopefully this one will continue to carry the great gameplay as the previous editions. It does come with some added features:

ProStick™ - Full 360° analog controls intuitively mapped to the right stick allow for precision puck handling ability. Hundreds of new animations give gamers a full range of movement, creating a genuine NHL gameplay experience on both offense and defense.

All-New Goaltending - Completely overhauled with instinctive AI, entirely new animations, and situation specific behaviors. Goalies will now come out and challenge, guard the post, perform spectacular butterfly saves, and much more.

Ground-breaking Face-Off System - Based on timing and strategy, and featuring tie-ups, warnings, and toss-outs, this innovative system brings an unrivaled level of depth and realism with every drop of the puck.

NHL Signature Style - Striking next gen visuals, redesigned player models highlighting the new 2007-2008 NHL uniform style, accurate equipment featuring several real-life brands, and updated player likenesses bring gamers the most realistic hockey game to date.

Deeper Franchise - Now complete with nearly every CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement) feature available including a revamped off-season mode with brand new negotiation system, improved draft, refurbished free agent signing, and an all-new player progression system.

My NHL - Gamers can customize their own style of play to create the exact hockey experience they want, and then share their Game Styles online for others to use. Using a new rating system to rank the best user Game Styles, gamers can let everyone else know how they should be playing hockey.

2K Sports Online - Featuring full online leagues and tournaments complete with trades, stat tracking, fantasy drafts, and more, gamers go head-to-head against the best players around. Players can also enter for a chance to win an all-new car in the NHL 2K8 Tournament presented by Dodge.

Being a Hockey fan, I'm looking forward to trying this one out. For more information, check out the Take2 website

Nintendo Wii Consoles - Tips For Shopping Online

2007-09-07T23:04:00.000-05:00

Nintendo Wii Consoles are available for purchase through your choice of auctions on the web. This material will explain the benefits of looking for and acquiring your Nintendo Wii Console from a web vendor. It summarizes the plan of attack that you can follow to conserve your funds on Nintendo Wii Consoles.

Why Should I Buy My Nintendo Wii Console Through an Internet Auction?

There are many reasons that you must consider the possibility of purchasing your Nintendo Wii Console by way of a web auction. For starters, auctions let you choose when you want to shop, and allow you to shop for items that exist anywhere in the world instead of just the ones that are close to home.

Crowds - you don't have to fight them. In spite of the fact that you will find in excess of 200 million fellow computer users searching for bargains on the Internet, none of them will ever infringe upon you. In fact, the buying event is a positive factor why so many people are shopping online to begin with. Once you understand the procedures to get the information you want, shopping online can be an uplifting occurrence that will leave you feeling like you accomplished something.

How Hard Is It To Get The Best Deals On Nintendo Wii Consoles?

During the most recent 30 days, 168118 people, many of them just like you, were as curious as you. A place to begin is using a browser search. You want to search for exactly what it is you want, which in this case is a Nintendo Wii Console. Satisfying your desire is directly proportional to selecting your keywords. Keywords you provide will limit the mass of information to only what you really want to see.

Describe the item as close as you can. Try and use at least three words as research has shown this will greatly enhance your ability to quickly find what you are looking for.

Search Terms - More Is Good

Search functions normally begin by reading the information in the description of every available auction in a specific category. It is critical to be aware of the fact that someone offering to sell Nintendo Wii Consoles has the option to describe the item anyway they want. As the seller lists their auction, they would not be expected to have the terms you choose to find the items you desire.

You can remedy the situation by highlighting your wishes in quotes. This assures that the terms you are searching for will appear together in obtained results from the search engine. When you use quotation marks, you request the output to remove the unwanted items that are not 100% compatible.

Taking It To The Next Level

You can narrow your search even further by including specific attributes, such as manufacturer, model, styles, colors and so on. It is best to include as much information as possible in your search. Your browsing time will be cut considerably this way.

Search engines like to treat words like 'or', 'and', and 'the' as part of the search terms. Punctuation matters as well. If punctuation is critical to distinguishing your search terms, make sure you include it in your search phrase.

What Price Can I Expect To Pay For My Nintendo Wii Console?

Over the preceding 30 days, there was an average of 372 sellers of Nintendo Wii Consoles on most days completing auctions. Prices ranged from between $0.01 and $678.99 and the median start price was $87.59. Generally, the starting price for Nintendo Wii Consoles was $0.99. The prices for these items ended between $0.01 and $1,009.00, and the median ending price was $307.29. Should you come across Nintendo Wii Consoles offered for $300.00 or less, that is the best time to make your purchase.

Is There A Difference On What Day It Sells?

While you look for a bargain on Nintendo Wii Consoles, discovering the most efficient day of the week to shop can make your bid more beneficial. The price of Nintendo Wii Consoles will rise and fall constantly. Contained here is the daily summary pertaining to Nintendo Wii Consoles over the past 30 days.

Sunday had an average sale of $11.64 with a success rate of 0.00%.

Monday had an average sale of $6,935.00 with a success rate of 314.43%.

Tuesday had an average sale of $3,633.00 with a success rate of 305.67%.

Wednesday had an average sale of $1,020.00 with a success rate of 303.23%.

Thursday had an average sale of $1,403.00 with a success rate of 297.73%.

Friday had an average sale of $211.00 with a success rate of 316.41%.

Saturday had an average sale of $2,179.00 with a success rate of 13,745.00%.

Looking at the above numbers shows that the best day suited to complete a transaction for a Nintendo Wii Console should be a listings. The time of day will also have repercussions to you. The most advantageous buying time is revenue. This is when the median selling amount of Nintendo Wii Consoles is at its lowest point. The median sale price in the time between revenue and listings was $50.00.

Seller Ratings Are Important

It is vital that you find and then review the feedback rating of all persons that have caught your interest. When it comes to feedback, you should expect the best. You are taking care to observe how happy the former customers have been with their buying experience and the products they purchased.

Anything less than 97% is a flag that there may be a reason to avoid the vendor. This is similar to an efficiency rating for appliances. Those that operate at 97% would likely be highly acceptable. The same situation applies to Internet auction services too.

Ibda Nowin

Sony PS3 vs Nintendo's Wii

2007-09-07T07:42:00.000-05:00

Of the three consoles competing for market dominance in the latest generation, the PS3 and Nintendo's Wii are the most distinct from each other. While they are certainly both powerful systems, and similarities can be easily drawn between them, they have arrived on the market through very different design philosophies, with marketing strategies to suit.

On one hand, the PS3 is pushing every technological limit it can. Using an ambitious processor architecture, top-end graphics acceleration, and large stores of memory, the PS3 is one grunty system! It also includes a range of technologies that are either still at the bleeding-edge prototype stage, untested in mass production, such as the CPU that behaves like an eight-core chip and Blu-Ray Disk drive, or are considered the high-end of two alternatives, in the case of using licensed Bluetooth in favour of generic wireless technology, and the full HDTV support, HDMI output, and full 7.1 surround sound, rather than mere 5.1. If the E3 screenshots of the announced games are anything to judge by, graphically, they will challenge even the best-looking PC titles, which is rare for console systems.

Retailing for prices upwards of US$600 significantly higher in some countries and for pre-orders the PS3 is a truly extravagant system.

Sitting in defiant contrast to PS3's whole design philosophy is the Wii. Nintendo opted not to simply load their system up with enough grunt to blow every competitor out of the water in fact, their approach was to not even try. Nintendo have opted to instead take a prudent path, by offering a well balanced system, not ridiculously overpowered, yet perhaps still on par with a medium to high-end PC gaming rig.
Like with the PS3, they have produced a system that is highly backwards-compatible with legacy games and accessories, includes Bluetooth support, which their innovative motion-sensitive controllers make use of, again like the PS3. The console has legacy memory card, Flash card, USB, and ethernet support, allowing for LAN and Internet use. It's the choice of games on offer is the first indication that this is a different sort of system. Certainly some of the same demanding titles are in the list, but it's populated more by simpler platformer and parlour games, which both attract their own significant fan-bases.

The controllers, including the Wii Remote, and Sensor Bar, have been a huge hit with E3 and TGS attendees, already well-received by the gaming press. The main indicator to distinguish the Wii from the PS3, which may well give it the edge it needs to outperform the superior system in the marketplace, is its price. It starts at a much more manageable US$250, with the highest prices outside North America only reaching $100 more. So marked is the price difference, that Microsoft and Nintendo reps quietly put the word out at 2006's E3 Expo, that people would be better served by buying both an Xbox 360, AND a Nintendo Wii, rather than a PS3. To compound The Case Against Sony as their critics may well be phrasing it supply problems have recently caused delays for the launch of PS3 outside Japan, USA, and Canada, giving the Wii launch window three or four months with only the Xbox as competition.

When it comes to PS3 vs Nintendo Wii, the Wii does not compete on any technical level. It certainly has respectable system specs, but the PS3 is simply a more powerful system that will deliver better performance. Whether this translates to more fun is clearly a choice for each individual to make, because Sony has no short of critics saying that it does not. The three biggest criticisms the PS3 has had to face are a perceived lack of innovation, an arguably outrageous launch price, and a lack of supply during the most crucial period. This all contrasts with reciprocal praise on the same points of the Wii. As it stands currently, both systems are pre-selling like hotcakes, so it will be some time before a clear leader emerges, assuming one will at all.

Andrew Lawrence

The Greatest Wii Boxer Woman Around

2007-09-06T22:19:00.000-05:00

I have to admit....something about this video made us laugh.....Not sure if it's the guy laughing, or the cat like appearance of her quick hands.

Notice her hand speed, notice the poise....a true athlete.

eHDMI.com Announces 350MHz UTP Cat5e RJ45 Network Cable

2007-09-06T19:07:00.000-05:00

eHDMI.com is pleased to announce the addition on yet another product to their discount online superstore: 350MHz UTP Cat5e RJ45 Network Cable - Pink. The new UTP Cat5e Network cable will run in lengths of 1ft, up to 100ft.

The cable will be brand new, be extremely high quality and is immediately available. Another benefit is our Contact Gold Plating 50u"(Short Body). eHDMI.com is selling cables with 50u" module plugs while most other vendors are selling cables with less than 10u" one. Higher value of (u") means higher quality.

eHDMI.com offers high quality, discounted HDTV accessories, including but not limited to HDMI cables, DVI cables, HDMI wall plates, HDMI switches, LCD, Plasma and Projector wall mounts. Also offered are iPhone, iPod and video game accessories. eHDMI.com boast a customer base of over 6,000 users over the past 1 year.

eHDMI.com has save thousands of dollars for people across America on HDTV accessories. For further information, visit http://www.eHDMI.com.

Hellgate London Release Date set - Oct, 31st

2007-09-06T07:29:00.000-05:00

EA and Namco Bandi Games Announce October 31st Release Date for Hellgate London

Finally the much anticipated release of Hellgate London has been announced by EA, set to be released on Halloween day, much like Manhunt 2.

How HDTV Works...Sort of - HowStuffWorks.com Video

2007-09-05T17:50:00.000-05:00

This video had to have been made when HDTV was first coming out. No mention of HDMI cables? Telling people to connect via composite cables!? Hopefully they are working on a new video :)

Also, see how many times you can count incorrect information...we counted at least 3.....

The 10 Ultimate Reasons To Get The Xbox 360

2007-09-04T12:37:00.000-05:00

You hear all the hype – all the time. PS3 is the best – no, forget that, it has to be the Wii, or no. no, no, it’s the Xbox guys. You know what? I’m here to lay the hype to rest. The best system is the Xbox 360 and this article will give you 10 solid reasons explaining why. Ready…

Now don’t get me wrong, gaming systems from Sony and Nintendo are good – solid titles, graphics yada yada yada. BUT, when it comes to really getting the maximum out of your gaming system than the Xbox 360 has them all beat.

In the Xbox 360, Microsoft has created a beast that just keeps getting better and better. Sure, they are problems with some of the technology, but then again, show me a piece of technology that always runs perfectly and I’ll eat my Xbox!

Whether it is titles, graphics or its brilliant ability to link to other players, LIVE, around the world in real-time, the Xbox 360 wins hands down! Here are my top 10 reasons for you to choose the 360 before any other system.

1. The Xbox360 come with awesome wireless connections which I just love. Letting you remain in control from over 30 feet away, I find this feature perfect for those long gaming sessions when you get tired of staying in the same position. It definitely helps my gaming!

2. The games list is just awesome – and keeps getting better. Not only are some of the best games ever written available on the 360, but many amazing titles are written exclusively for the Xbox 360.

3. The Xbox Live feature is truly revolutionary – you get to play multiplayer games against opponents from all over the world. You can create gamer tags for id, make avatars, create a friends list, set up a rating system, keep track of your achievements and so much more. This alone makes the Xbox 360 the best.

4. If you are thinking of upgrading from the Xbox and are worried about the games that you have already bought, worry not. Over 200 Xbox games are compatible with the Xbox 360!

5. The Xbox Live feature also lets you tap into an awesome arcades marketplace. Here you can try free games, ultra cheap games and more. The possibilities are endless.

6. Xbox 360 graphics just rock! The 360 runs three (three!) 3.2 GH processors that run with a 500MhzATI graphics processor. You want power? Need I say more?

7. Remember, the Xbox 360 is more than just gaming. It is also an all-round entertainment system so you can watch movies, download music and play your own CDs as well.

8. The Xbox 360 plugs you right into the heart of the game development world. You get the opportunity to download demos, and bonus packs from game developers. This is a great feature that lets you tap into the latest cutting-edge gaming developments.

9. The Xbox 360 keeps track of your gaming history – lets you easily recall scores, favorite games, images and so on.

10. The Headset feature lets you chat in real time to friends and fellow gamers around the world. Imagine chatting to teammates and opponents while playing? How cool is that?

11. Oh yeah – I’ll throw in one more reason as well – the Xbox 360 just looks cool. Not only that, you can easily mod it with different face plates as well. If you want your gaming gear to look good then you have no choice.

If those 10 (sorry, 11!) reasons don’t persuade you then you must be lacking some serious gaming passion. If you want to take your gaming to the next level then the Xbox 360 is the only game in town. Enjoy!

eHDMI.com Sponsors AudioVisualTalk.com

2007-09-04T08:56:00.000-05:00

eHDMI.com and AudioVisualTalk.com Announce an Advertising Partnership

Online HDTV discount retailer eHDMI.com is pleased to announce a partnership with AudioVisualTalk.com. The partnership includes the right for eHDMI.com to offer their advertising and discount HDTV accessories to the users of AudioVisualTalk.com. Terms of the agreement are not being disclosed at this time.

eHDMI.com managing partner, Keith Hudson, states "I'm pleased with the new partnership. I look forward to providing our great services and prices to the users at AudioVisualTalk.com. This opens yet another chapter for our company."

eHDMI.com offers high quality, discounted HDTV accessories, including but not limited to HDMI cables, DVI cables, HDMI wall plates, HDMI switches, LCD, Plasma and Projector wall mounts. Also offered are iPhone, iPod and video game accessories. eHDMI.com boast a customer base of over 6,000 users over the past 1 year.

AudioVisualTalk.com offers Discussion of Satellite TV and other audio visual technologies. The AudioVisualTalk.com message forums currently has over 700 members, and nearly 1 million members forum post.

###

http://www.eHDMI.com

Wii Lead Vs PS3 Falls in Japan to 3:1!

2007-09-03T10:02:00.000-05:00

New data from Enterbrain has revealed that sales of the Wii in Japan fell to a ratio of 3:1 against the PlayStation 3 in August. In July, the lead was as much as 4:1 and in June it was 7:1. In fact, back in November 2006, the sales ratio was as much as 8:1 in the Wii’s favor.

Enterbrain sales data broadly agrees with that of weekly data from Media Create and shows that a total of 245,653 Wii consoles were sold in Japan in the four weeks ending August 26th, compared to just 81,541 for the PlayStation 3 and 11,288 for the Xbox 360.

It appears that the PS3 is either finally catching on, or Nintendo is simply not building enough Wii's. It maybe difficult to draw any conclusions from these stats. If it's not a stock problem, in theory Metroid should bring the Wii numbers back up to a historically higher sales ratio vs. the Ps3.

Samsung Boosts LCD HDTV Sales Target

2007-09-03T09:59:00.000-05:00

Samsung, the world's leading LCD TV maker, is raising its global LCD sales target for 2007 from 11 million sets to 12 million.

That's according to an article by Market Watch.

Samsung is boosting its forecast due to strong sales in Europe. The company sold more than five million LCD TVs worldwide in the first half of this year, which is double its sales figures for the first half of 2006.

DisplaySearch, the research group, reported last month that Samsung was the leading revenue generator among LCD TV makers in the second quarter, capturing 18.6 percent of the global market. The company was also first in the first quarter, getting 17.4 percent of the market.

Samsung also had the top share in all TV unit sales combined with 13.1 percent of the market, an increase from 11.7 in the first quarter when it was also the category leader. LG was number two in the second quarter with 11.8 percent of all TV unit sales.

Market Watch reports that Samsung sold 2.6 million sets in the first half of this year in Europe, more than twice as much in last year's first half.

"We will place more high-end products such as 40-inch and larger TVs and full High Definition TVs in the markets, including emerging markets," said Park Jong-Woo, president of Samsung's digital media division, according to Market Watch.

Source

Is HDMI Worth the Cost?

2007-09-02T11:53:00.000-05:00

First off, what is HDMI? HDMI stands for High Definition Multimedia Interface. HDMI connects high definition video sources from DVD, Cameras, and set top boxes, to digital display devices such as plasma screens, LCD TV, video projectors, DLP and DILA video projectors, in a secure manner with an uncompressed digital video stream.

HDMI carries both audio and video signals, across a single cable with a compact 19 pin connector interface only 21mm across by 5mm high and much more robust than today's Scart. HDMI is closely related to DVI. Various DVI-HDMI and HDMI – DVI converters are already available, allowing the two standards to work seamlessly together.

Some of the more important features of HDMI include:

- HDMI technology eliminates unnecessary signal conversions.

- HDMI technology supports standard, enhanced, or high-definition video at 24 bits/pixel, 165MHz max clock frequency.

- HDMI technology supports up to 8 channel digital audio on a single cable eliminating costly A/D signal conversions.

- HDMI offers Bi-directional control signal transfer.

- HDMI offers 5 Gbps bandwidth, 55% spared for future expansion.

- HDMI offers 1 simple, user-friendly connector.

- HDMI technology is backward compatible to DVI hot plug enabled assemblies up to 5 meters in length.

- Per HDMI standard, HDTV sent as 16x9 & SDTV as 4x3 over 30 AWG 100 ohm, .5 amp, 500 VAC DWV double shielded cable.

- Long Lengths available, ATC tested up to 12M and up to 40 M when using EQ technology.
HDMI has several other benfits and features. Now, let's take a look at 2 other MAJOR benefits of HDMI.

- Instead of needing multiple HDMI cable assemblies for the video signal and multiple HDMI cables for the sound signal, HDMI integrates all video and sound signals onto a single, thin cable. It makes it very easy to connect components together.
- Instead of converting digital signals to analog (to run through the cables) and then back to digital, everything on an HDMI cable assembly remains in its original, uncompressed digital format.

When th dust settles, HDMI cables can be bought for nearly the same price as Component cables. Why spend the same amount on a bundle of cables, component cables, when you can buy a single cable, HDMI, and get digital video and audio? Our conclusion is HDMI is worth the money.

How To Download Video To Psp

2007-09-02T09:20:00.000-05:00

Your PSP is a powerhouse of different options. You will find a large selection of different videos and games to download online and some of them are even free. Once you get your new PSP home you will be able to download full DVD quality movies and videos, video clips as well as music videos. In just a few seconds you can download all kinds of great things to watch!

The trick to any PSP download is knowing how to do it. It is a good thing that these downloads are easy to do and even easier to watch. You can even download the videos and movies that you have on your computer now onto your PSP.

This is an especially handy feature as it allows you to take your video watching to a whole new level. Once you transfer them you can take them with you anywhere you go. This is a fabulous feature when you do a lot of traveling or commuting. It gives you something fun to do in any situation. Just think of how much easier it will be to be stuck in the car with the kids! They will never complain about being bored again no matter how long the ride is.

Downloading one of the millions of videos that are online is so easy you will be shocked. All you need are a couple of tools, for example you will need a PSP USB cable or compatible memory stick reader. You will also need to purchase, if you have not already, a memory card that is at least 256MB big. With these essential tools on your side you will be able to download as may films or movie clips as you want to right away.

There are all sorts of different formats that you can download to your PSP. You will be able to download all of these formats: AVI, MPEG, RM, WMV, MOV, MP4, MPEG4, XVID, DIVX, AC3, OGG, 3G. That is some serious download potential!

There is also some freeware that you can download online that will help you to download videos even easier. Here is one of the more popular file managers that you can use for free:

PSP Video Manager:

Any PSP owner can use this file manager to import PSP MPEG4 files to their PSP with ease. Not only can you import video files you can export files as well. You can then keep the original files or you can replace them with these new ones you make. This is one of the easiest file managers that you will ever use.

Here are some of the benefits of using a quality video manager to download PSP videos:

They are simple to use and make the process faster
The interfaces are straightforward and basic
In most cases several languages are supported
You will be able to see the size of the file right there on the screen
They can be used successfully by both experience PSP users and newbies.

Your PSP can do so many wonderful things all you need to do is learn how to use it. If you are not using the machine for all it is capable of then you are missing out in a big way. There are millions of titles for you to download and you can do it all in seconds. Today is the day that you decide to make a change for the better and start making use of all that you have at your fingertips.

By Joseph Tierney

Tips on Home Theater Speaker Placement

2007-09-01T08:32:00.000-05:00

Home theater speaker placement is equally important as the system itself. Even if you have the best speakers, if you do not consider the proper home theater speaker placement then your equipment will not produce the best effect.

However, there are so many things to consider in home theater speaker placement that the task can be really confusing. You have to think about the shape and the layout for a home theater as well as the placement of the furniture. You also want to think about placing the speakers and wires safely away from young children or pets. Of course, you want a home theater speaker placement that will make the room organized and pleasing. With all these variable factors, you should know that there is no single best home theater speaker placement. It will depend on your specific situation.

Then again, there are some basic guidelines that you can use to determine exactly where to put each of your speakers. First, sit in the middle of the couch, which should be directly facing your television. Place the center channel speaker straight across from where you are sitting, either right above or below the TV. Then, place the front left and right side speakers about thirty degrees from your position in the couch. Also from the same point, place the left and right surround sound speakers about 100 degrees. They should also be 2 feet above your ear level when you are seated. With the subwoofer, you would need to experiment with its placement. Putting it under a table or in a corner will produce deeper bass. One of the most basic rules of home theater speaker placement is to position all of your speakers with 1 or 2 feet distance from the walls.

A major concern in home theater speaker placement is dealing with the wires and cables. They can make your home theater look cluttered and people can trip over them. Some people use carpets to cover them up or the wires are either fixed on the wall corners and borders or hidden behind the walls. There are two solutions to this problem – first, just hire a professional to do the home theater speaker placement for you. They will of course take care of hiding the wires, too.

A better option is to go for wireless speakers. This option is not necessarily cheaper than the first one. It just eliminates the need of hiring people because you only have to think about where to place the speakers and you can easily move the speakers around yourself.

Milos Pesic

The Most Common Wii Problems

2007-08-31T16:37:00.000-05:00

The Nintendo Wii is great, but no system is perfect. Here are some of the main problems users have experienced with the gaming console since its release last year.

Light Trouble

It seems that people who got the Wii for Christmas had trouble with some kind of interference from their Christmas lights. It was reported that they console wouldn't respond to the remote control while the lights were on. Some gamers found that if they played on the other side of the room from their Christmas trees, there was no problem.

This is because the Wii's sensor bar, a part of the unit that detects changes in the position of the remote, gets thrown out of whack by bright lights. This is why playing the console too close to a bright light source messes with the remote control action.

Nintendo responded by saying that your Wii controller may not work when it's too close to a bright light source. It's not a problem with the design or technology, they said, and suggested avoiding sitting or standing near bright lights when you're playing. Also you should keep bright lights away from the TV, because they will interfere with the signal there as well.

Crashing Wii's

Another technical problem some Wii users have experienced is their games slowing down. This usually happens after 10 or more straight hours of game play. Of course, turning it off and back on again helps, but the unit should be playable for longer than 10 hours. The reason it slows down is that it is mildly overheating, so if this happens to you, make sure the warm air can escape and the fans are working properly. The Wii comes with a stand to put the console on, and it's recommended that if you use the stand, the warm air will be able to get out.

In any case, game systems do sometimes crash. The Nintendo Wii doesn't seem to crash nearly as much as XBox 360's or PS3's do, so it doesn't seem to be a major problem.

Trouble Getting Online

Some users report having trouble getting online with their Wii's. It seems like the Wii doesn't take too well to one-bar connections, and often it is slow to dial up. The Wii's online connection is wireless, so it suffers from all the other problems of wireless systems. If it's a serious problem, you can always buy an adapter from Nintendo and run a line.

Accidents And Injuries

The biggest problem with Wii is not technical, but physical. There have been a number of Nintendo Wii-related injuries. The main culprit, aside from overactive gamers, seems to be the controllers' wrist straps. The wrist straps, which keep the controller from flying out of the user's hand, apparently break easily. This is made worse by gamers' sweaty palms, which make it easy for the controllers to slip. The result is lots of broken glass, damaged TV's, smashed light fixtures, cuts, bruises and twisted ankles.

Nintendo is actually facing a lawsuit because of these strap-related injuries. They claim that it is the users' fault for failing to hold the controllers properly. Still, the complaints have prompted Nintendo to recall 3.2 million of the straps and exchange them for thicker ones.

In spite of these problems, the Nintendo Wii continues to sell well, and is being enjoyed by thousands of gaming fans.

What Is HDTV?

2007-08-31T15:35:00.001-05:00

In a lifetime there comes a innovation which brings huge benefits to the human species. The tele is such a invention. Since the TV sets invention the human species have been on the pursuit for better and better TV sets. Now alas HDTV TVs have satisfied the urges of many film buffs.

HDTV TVs or high-definition TV sets are an amazing new technological advancement to the HD TV. Ever since coming to the consumer market HDTV TVs have created a craze. Movie film lovers, sport fans, and anyone who wants the screen to be as real as real life is amazed at what HDTV TVs show on their screens.

We may enquire what is HD TV, particularly when we have not seen one of these great HDTV TVs in the past? The HDTV basics is that you watch TV at high-definition. A HD TV has extraordinary resolution and superb digital surround sound. A HD TV removes the dreadful black bars that a lot of movie formats come with. Putting it simply - a HD TV is watching wide screen how it is meant to be! Since HDTV TVs have been released, they have been in high demand. Anyone who wants the best out of a TV set wants to get a HDTV and learn about HDTV. As with all untried technologies released there is a lot to learn about all the new specifications and which HD TV to buy.

When buying a HD TV for home, you want to make sure that you are actually getting a HD TV. If you don't want to end up with a television with ordinary visual and audio, then you need to recognize the differences between analog and HDTV formats to determine if you really need an upgrade for your watching enjoyment.

::: Features of HDTV TVs :::

Technically, a HD TV give a much better and improved screen resolution. Basically meaning that your HD TV, can easily provide you with better picture quality whether you are watching a good DVD film or a documentary it doesn't matter. You simply have amazing picture quality (though the end result depends on your signal quality). The big highlight of HDTV TVs is that you can watch wide screen as it is meant to be, without having parts of the screen cropped. HDTVs simply give a unprecedented picture quality that is crisper and finer than existing TV sets.

A great thing with these new HDTV TVs is that they can easily complement other analog based video equipment, such as your camcorders, DVD players, gaming consoles. On a gaming console such as the Sony Playstation range, you can see a new level of experience with a HD TV.

Buying a HD TV can be the best buy you can make. The picture quality is simply breathtaking, and will please many whether used for playing video games on the console or watching a $100 million film, you will be pleased with a HD TV. One thing to bear in mind with HDTV TVs is that your HD TV may be great, and offer the best possible picture known to man! But if your provider of the signal (TV company, etc) can't give a good signal, it doesn't matter your picture quality will be no good. Also when you buy a new HD TV to keep in mind to get a flexible HD TV, one that has features which you may not use now, but might need in future - such as DVI or HDMI.

Kozan Huseyin

PS3 Help - HDTV For Playstation 3

2007-08-31T15:27:00.000-05:00

If you are buying a PS3, or already own one of these new high definition gaming consoles, then it could be your old television that is letting you down.

Recently TV’s have got wider and thinner, but have they got any better ?

Sure, the latest trend is HDTV (High Definition TeleVision), promising stunning picture quality, but at a much higher price than regular CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) Televisions.

Have a look online, or in the electrical stores and you will see a massive quantity of High-def televisions available. Buzz words like plasma, rear projection and LCD will roll off the salemans tongue and then you will have to choose from a variety of screen sizes, shapes and brands. It's enough to make you give up before you even start looking for the perfect compliment to your Sony PlayStation 3 videogame console.

So what exactly is HDTV then ?

Putting it simply, it's all about small dots. Any television picture is made up of dots of colour. The smaller the dots, the more vivid the images will look. That is why HDTV images look great.

Why do HDTV cost so much ?

Currently we are still paying a premium price because the technology is new and cost a lot of money to develop. The reason for this is that the colour dots that make up the picture have to be 9 times smaller on the HDTV. This makes them very expensive to build.

The PlayStation3 is similar in that it cost a huge amount of money to develop, but Sony can afford to sell the PS3 console at a gross loss, purely because Sony know that the average owner will spend an additional $100 + on very profitable games and accessories for their next-gen games machine. HDTV manufacturers do not have this option, so we pay more until the development costs are covered.

So Do I need a HDTV for my PS3 ?

If the question was ‘will my PS3 only work with a HDTV’, then the answer is no. The PlayStation 3 comes bundled with a cable that will let you use a regular television, however the picture quality is so much worse than a HDTV that is makes your PS3 games look only slightly better than PlayStation 2 games.

If you are happy with a small screen, then the alternative is to hook your PS3 up to a computer monitor. You will need a special cable, and a monitor with a digital input, but this will work fine. If your monitor doesn’t have speakers, then you will need to buy some.

If you want a screen larger than 22 inches, then definitely get a HTDV, but make sure it has at least one HDMI connector on the back and has a resolution of 1080i or 1080p and a screen refresh rate of 8ms or less.

Dominic Snadeeza

HDTV: Like Looking Out An Open Window

2007-08-31T07:45:00.000-05:00

Have you ever watched a movie on a regular TV set, and then watched the same movie on an HDTV? If so, you would have noticed a huge difference! On the HDTV viewing, you see and notice things you've never seen before, even if you've seen the same movie several times! The colors are brighter, backgrounds are clearer, and details are better defined. HDTV is like looking out an open window, whereas in comparison, standard TV is almost like looking through a glass soda bottle. Because of CRT (cathode ray tube) technology, TV is often referred to as "the tube". After watching HDTV, watching standard TV is almost like trying to view through one!

HDTV, or High Definition Television, offers precision sound, original film quality picture resolution, and a wider, better detailed panoramic view. This is made possible by the use of true digital signal which is transmitted via satellite or cable directly to your unit. You'll notice that not only does HDTV offer extraordinary picture clarity and sound, but the scope of the picture just like watching a movie on the "big screen", inside a real movie theater!

The use of digital signal is what separates HDTV from your common television set. The reason why there is such a notable difference between the two is that conventional televisions operate on analog signal. Digital signals are much faster, meaning images are is refreshed more rapidly, therefore providing superb picture resolution. Analog signals are much slower. As a result, the images produced by a television using this type of signal are of low resolution. Simply put, the picture is just not as sharp and view is restricted.

Not only do HDTV's offer superb picture quality, but HD sound is second to none. This is because Dolby Digital surround sound comes standard with HDTV. So, not only does watching an HDTV remind you of a movie theater, it also has the sound system to further enhance the experience.

Along with better quality picture and sound, HDTV's are quite easily integrated with your computer. They are able to easily communicate directly with one another through the use of a type of data compression software such as MPEG-2. Once this software is successfully installed, a whole new world of multimedia technology is literally at your fingertips! For instance, CD-R applications can be transmitted to an HDTV, as well as HDTV programs can be downloaded onto your computer. Either way, the picture resolution is top notch and the signal is stable.

Lastly, HDTV's are more affordable than one might assume. There are many different ways to buy or finance an HDTV system. Some companies offer money-saving offers both in-store and online. Some of these include rebate programs; others include special deals, extra gifts or incentive packages offering items such as hundreds of dollars in gift cards. There are both in-store and online promotions as well as savings with shipping and delivery. Bottom line, HDTV is affordable for almost any budget and well worth every penny!

by: Alan Rhinehart

Common HDMI Terms and Definitions

2007-08-30T22:14:00.000-05:00

What is HDMI? HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface)
is the first and only industry-supported,
uncompressed, all-digital audio/video interface.
By delivering crystal-clear, all-digital
audio and video via a single cable, HDMI dramatically
simplifies cabling and helps provide consumers
with the highest-quality home theater experience.
HDMI provides an interface between any audio/video
source, such as a set-top box, DVD player, or A/V
receiver and an audio and/or video monitor, such
as a digital television (DTV), over a single cable.
In this article, we will discuss some common HDMI
terms and FAQ's.

What does "Gold Plated" mean and how does that
effect performance? Gold plating refers to the
connectors. All of our HDMI cables have gold
colored, corrosion resistant connectors. The purpose
of actual gold content is to reduce corrosion that
would impede signal transfer.

What are ferrite cores? Ferrite cores are the cylindrical
fixtures placed near the connectors to reduce noise and
high frequency interference.

What is HDCP? HDCP stands for High-bandwidth Digital
Content Protection. It is a digital rights management
technology used by content providers such as movie
studios to protect their media property from being
illegally distributed.

What is the difference bewteen 28AWG HDMI cable
and 24AWG HDMI cable? The difference between the two
cables are the internal wire diameter (28AWG one is
thinner than 24AWG one), but please understand both
will satisfy your needs in terms of connection as
both are certified to support all resolutions up to
1080p.

What is AWG? AWG stands for "American Wire Gauge."
It is the thickness of the wire inside the cable. The
lower number AWG denotes thicker wiring and thicker
overall cable. Thicker cables are recommended for
longer cable runs because they offer less resistance
along the signal path.

What's the difference between HDMI and DVI? HDMI and DVI
use different types of connectors. They carry the same
type of digital video signal so HDMI is backward
compatible with DVI with the use of an adapter or
HDMI/DVI cable. DVI however, does not carry audio
signals so a separate connection will need to be
made for audio when going to or from DVI to HDMI.

What is the performance benefit of Tin and
Silver Plating? Tin and silver plating refer to actual
plating on the copper conduits. The idea behind plating
is to influence what is known as the "skin effect" of
digital signals. The Skin Effect says that higher
frequencies like those in digital tend to travel along
the surface (or skin) on the conduit. This makes the
signal more susceptible to disipation. So, plating is
suppose to trap the signal in. Tin, is more resistive
than copper, so the idea is that the signal is channeled
back into the core of the copper. Silver is less
resistive than copper so it''s suppose to help the
signal move along. The arguement is mostly subjective
and some people will have their own preferences.

What are Ferrite Cores and what do they do?
Ferrite cores are magnets on the end of cables
next to the connectors. They are the bulbs you see
just above the connector. They assist in signal
transfer and can be found on many types of electronic
cables.

What does the "(N)" refer to and what is meant by
"Net Jacket"? The (N) is an internal designator referring
to the Net Jacket in the product description.
The net jacket is a nylon mesh outer covering on
the body of the cable. It offers abrasion resistance
that protects the cable and gives the cable a nicer,
finished look.

Sony (SNE) to use product blitz to try and regain HDTV share

2007-08-30T19:15:00.001-05:00

Sony Corp. (NYSE: SNE) used to get me excited over a decade ago. The nameplate was at the top of the consumer electronics field and the Sony Playstation was one of the marquee brands of the wold. Today, Sony's brand is boring, plain and overpriced to millions of consumers, and the company's slumping sales of late signify this. Competitors Samsung and LG of Korea have mauled it a bit in the HDTV market, and upstart Vizio is killing it as well, undercutting prices in a huge way while maintaining great style and -- according to many -- similar quality. Why would anyone buy a Sony HDTV today?

An answer to that question may come this fall, when the venerable electronics giant unveils no less than 15 new flat-panel television sets in what could be seen as a desperate attempt to take shelf space from rivals in any way it can. A general rule of retail is: Whoever has the most shelf space, wins. It works for food, electronics and clothing merchandising in many cases.
Sony's clever launch in the back half of 2007 is meant to take advantage of the upcoming holiday shopping season(s) in the U.S. more than anything. Its blitzkrieg unloading of more than a dozen models should help it compete better against rival Samsung, but Sony is using an interesting marketing pitch for all these new television sets, which range from 40 inches to 70 inches: The remotes for each one don't have to be pointed directly at the television itself.

In other words, the remotes are not using infrared technology. This comes on the heels of a $100 million marketing blitz earlier in August to re-stir interest in high-definition TV sets. If a "new remote" angle is the best Sony can do here to try and recapture market share, it will fall flat on its face. That, or customers used to pointing remotes at televisions for over two decades will instantly acclimate to non-pointing remote technology. Yeah, right.

Source

TiVo takes hit from HDTV growth

2007-08-30T07:26:00.001-05:00

TiVo's failure to anticipate how quickly consumers and retailers would fall in love with HDTV products added static to a fuzzy financial picture.
The digital video recorder pioneer said late Wednesday that it took an $11.2 million write-down in the quarter ended in July for leftover standard DVRs. That drove results far below its guidance and analyst forecasts.

"We're at a turning point in the retail environment," CEO Tom Rogers told analysts. HDTV growth "progressed at a pace that surprised many in the industry, including us."

That contributed to a 145,000 drop in TiVo subscriptions, to 4.2 million. The quarter saw the first decline in its most profitable subscriptions: people who buy TiVo (TIVO) service directly from the company.

About 2.5 million customers still get TiVo through DirecTV, (DTV) which now is promoting its own DVR.

Source

Differences between LCD and Plasma HDTV's

2007-08-28T12:18:00.000-05:00

Plasma and LCD panels may look similar, but the flat screen and thin profile is where the similarities end. There are a number of significant differences between the two.

Let us understand the meaning of Plasma and LCD Televisions in order to better understand the differences between them.

LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAY TELEVISION (LCD TV).

LCD TV uses LCD technology for its visual output. Liquid Crystal Display or LCD is a thin, flat display device made up of a number of color or monochrome pixels arrayed infront of a light source or reflector. In color LCDs each individual pixel is divided into three cells or subpixels which are colored red, green and blue. Each cell or subpixel can be controlled independently to yield thousands or millions of possible colors for each pixel. LCD TVs can make for excellent High Definition TV viewing.

LCD TVs - The Good

1. Excellent Color Reproduction - LCDs can display millions of colors accurately.

2. Multi-functional - LCD TVs have a plethora of connectivity options. They typically include inputs for composite video, S-video, High Definition Multimedia Interface(HDMI) and PC In.

3. No Burn In - With LCDs there is no problem of Burn In. Some TVs that rely on phosphors such as Plasmas and CRTs can experience Burn In where ghost images are permanently burned into the screen.

4. Inherently Progressive - LCDs use millions of tiny transistors that can be individually controlled by the "brains" inside the display. So LCDs can easily handle progressive-scan sources.

5. High Resolution - LCDs can display High Definition content with resolutions of 1366x768. The highest resolution achieved in a LCD is 1920x1080. 1080p is also called Full High Definition whereas 720p is called High Definition.

LCD TVs - The Bad

1. Expensive - LCD TVs are great but they are not cheap. LCD TVs cost more per inch than plasmas.

2. Poor Reproduction of Blacks - LCD TVs tend to produce grays, not blacks.

3. Limited Viewing Angle - LCDs have typically poor viewing angle. However, there has been a drastic improvement on this front with latest LCDs achieving a wide viewing angle of 178 degrees.

4. Slow Response Time - LCDs have longer response times than Plasmas.For example, when moving the mouse too fast on an LCD, multiple cursors can sometimes be seen. This is also known as Ghosting Effect. But this problem seems to have been addressed with the latest LCD TVs with response times as low as 8ms.

5. Low Contrast Ratio - Contrast Ratio is the ratio of the intensity of the brightest bright to the darkest dark. LCDs comparitively have lower Contrast Ratios than Plasmas.

PLASMA TELEVISION

A plasma screen contains literally millions of gas-filled cells (each one acting as a single image pixel) trapped between two pieces of glass. An electrical grid zaps these cells and causes the gases to ionize (and ionized gas is plasma - hence the name). The ionized gases, in turn, cause a layer of phosphor on the viewer's side layer of glass to light up. Plasma TVs combine a thin, compact chassis with a truly large screen size. Despite their compact dimensions Plasmas are available in 42+, 50+ and even 60+ inch sizes.

Plasma TVs - The Good

1. Excellent Brightness - Plasma TVs don't rely on a light bulb shining through or reflecting off of something (as an LCD or DLP system does). Plasma brightness is even better than CRT's in some ways because the picture is evenly bright across the entire screen.

2. High Resolution - The finest plasma TVs have such high resolutions (and such smooth images) that they look life like.

3. Progressive in nature - All the pixels on the screen light up simultaneously. You can have progressive HDTV sources (such as 720p) and non-HDTV sources (such as progressive-scan DVD players) displayed to full advantage on a plasma HDTV.

4. Wide Viewing Angle - Plasmas have a wider viewing angle as compared to LCDs. Plasma displays have a good picture even when you're sitting "off axis" (not perpendicular to the screen surface). This is a huge benefit for smaller rooms, where viewers may sit relatively far off to the sides of the screen, at wider angles.

Plasma TVs - The Bad

1. Burn-In - Plasmas rely on phosphor to display video. This can cause Burn-In where ghost images are permanently burned into the screen.

2. Short Lifespan - Another phenomenon of any phosphor-based display system is that eventually the phosphors "wear out" or lose their brightness. This is a subtle and slow process, but it inevitably happens.

3. Less-than-perfect color reproduction - Although plasma displays can produce a breathtaking array of colors, a lot of sets have the unfortunate tendency to make red colors look more orange than true red.

4. Poor reproduction of black - Plasma TVs fall short in the realm of reproducing black images. Most plasmas do slightly better job than LCD TVs at black reproduction, but they fall short of CRTs and some projection systems.

Other factors such as pricing, weight, power usage, high altitude performance and transportation are other considerations that apply on a person to person basis. So I will briefly just state the overall differences in these areas.

Pricing: Plasma TVs are still significantly less expensive than LCD in sizes over 32".

Weight: LCD TVs are considerably lighter and as such easier to mount and install. So… Plasma TVs will almost likely require a professional installer.

Power Usage: LCD TVs use on average half of the power Plasma TVs use

High altitude performance: High altitudes can affect the performance of plasma TV displays because the gas held inside each pixel is stressed, and has to work harder to perform. So……LCD TVs are better at high altitude (6500 feet and above).

Transportation: LCD TVs are lighter and far less fragile than plasma displays making shipping easier and less expensive.

Because technology in both Plasma and LCD TVS is advancing rapidly we may find some of these differences (such as size) very minimal in the near future

Source: Johnny Waymire

The Original ORCHESTRAL BioShock Score!

2007-08-27T06:46:00.000-05:00

They have the entire score up for BisoShock and it's AWESOME! The download is completely free.

Composer Garry Schyman created the orchestral masterpiece that serenades you through your journey into the heart of Rapture. Today, we are releasing the 12 tracks that create the eerie string compilation in Rapture so that you can take the world of BioShock wherever you go. We have archived these 12 mp3s into a zip file for you for easy download. Grab it and take a listen -- and remember the first moment setting eyes upon the sunken city, your first battle with a Splicer, when you first battled a Big Daddy, or the time you decided to save (perhaps harvest?) a Little Sister.

If you've played the game, the scores will sound very familiar. Personally,this has turned out to be one of the best games I've ever played, and the scores are brilliant as well.

The Score Can Be Downloaded Here!

iPhone Tips and Tricks: How to Get the Most Out Of Your iPhone Experience

2007-08-26T14:14:00.000-05:00

All of us folks who are lucky enough to already have an iPhone know how much fun they can be just to play around with. Playing with my iPhone a lot myself, I have discovered some cool tips and tricks that you may find useful.

1. If you tap once at the very top of the screen when you are on the internet, it will take you back to the top of the window rather than having to scroll all the way back up. A nice time saving feature.

2. If you set the font to the smallest size, you can read more in the internet window. An advantage of this is that when you want to click a link, you can pinch (expand) that area and the link will come up very large, making it much easier to click.

3. Rather than posting the full address of internet sites in bookmarks, you can post the equivalent RSS address instead into Apple's RSS reader and save that as your bookmark. This way you can quickly see if there's anything interesting on your favorite site rather than downloading the whole homepage.

4. If you are writing something and the iPhone flags a word as misspelled that you know is not misspelled, cancel the correction 3 times and the word will be put into the dictionary. If you write a lot, this feature is quite useful!

5. The magnifying glass is a nice iPhone tool when you are typing an email or any other text. If you tap once and hold, a magnifying glass will pop up showing you a zoomed in view of your words and cursor. You can now easily place the cursor wherever you want. This makes editing your writing very easy.

6. You can move icons around, but not on the home screen. You have to go to the ipod section. Go to iPod > More > Edit. Now you can drag your icons all around. This can also be done in the phone section.

7. To reset your iphone, hold down the right button and the "home" front button for about 6 seconds. To power it back on, push the top button. This is different than a regular shutdown, which can be done easily by holding the sleep/wake button for 6 seconds.

8. If you get a lot of spam e-mail or other unwanted e-mail, pay attention to this time saving feature. Add a link to Yahoo mail in Safari bookmarks. From there you can check 'delete all' to remove all unwanted e-mails. This is much easier than deleting hundreds of spam e-mails one at a time.

I hope you found these iphone tips helpful. If you have an iPhone and have been wondering how best to fill it up with music and movies, check out Top iPhone Downloads for the latest reviews of iPhone download sites.

Source: CJ Prato

How To Set Up Your Wii

2007-08-26T09:51:00.000-05:00

Now that you have fought off the nasty crowds at the electronics store, and secured your Nintendo Wii system, got it home without incident and into your house, this is what you should do. Follow these steps to set up your Wii:

1) Remove the Wii from the box
2) Remove the AV cable and the AC adapter
3) Remove the stand plate, vertical stand, sensor bar and sensor-bar stand
4) Remove the Nunchuk and Wii Remote
5) Choose your location near the TV for your Wii and set it up vertically or horizontally
6) Connect the AV cable and the AC adapter to the Wii
7) Plug the AC adapter into a power outlet. Connect the AV cable to the input on your TV. Connect the yellow cable to the video input and the red and white cables to the audio inputs
8) Get out the remote control and put in the batteries
9) Turn on your Wii
10) The onscreen instructions will appear and you will be required to choose your language, location, time of day, etc.

How to set up your Wii Control

The Wii Remotes do not automatically bond with you Wii console. You will have to tell it to do so. The remote controls and arrives with your console is prebonded, but any additional Wii Remotes you purchase will have to be synchronized with your Wii in order to work smoothly with your console. There are two ways to accomplish this: the Standard Mode and the One Time Mode.

Standard Mode

To use the Standard Mode for connecting additional Wii Remotes to your Wii system permanently follows these steps:

1) Press the power button on your Wii console to turn it on
2) Remove the cover for the batteries on the back of the Wii Remote
3) Press the Sync button inside the cover
4) Open the door located over the SD card slot and on the Wii console
5) Press the Sync button inside that compartment
6) When the LEDs on the remote stop blinking, your synchronization is complete

One Time Mode

The One Time Mode does just that and allows your Wii Remote to work with a Wii other than the current synchronized remote. This is handy when you are at a friend's house. Follow these steps:

1) Press the Home button on the Wii Remote that is already synchronized with the Wii Remote that you intend to use
2) Select the Wii Remote Settings option
3) Select the Reconnect Option
4) Simultaneously press 1 and 2 buttons on the remote that you want to sync to the Wii console
5) When the lights stop blinking and your remote vibrates your remote has temporarily synchronized with that particular Wii console
6) The attachment of the remote should be shown on the screen as well

Thanks to James Kronefield

Nintendo Wii Brings The Gym To You With Wii Fit

2007-08-26T09:49:00.000-05:00

Nintendo has announced a new fitness game Wii Fit which is a full on exercise product set to give you more of a workout than Wii Sports, while still retaining all the fun of gaming. Wii Fit will help to keep you physically fit via a dedicated peripheral, a wireless balance board which comes with the game. There are over 40 different activities, including hula hooping, ski jumping and heading soccer balls.

The hula hooping consists of, as you’d expect, gyrating your hips with a virtual hoop onscreen and then as the game progresses, characters will throw more hoops for you to catch and rotate as many times as you can until the time runs out.

The skiing game gives you two chances to make the longest jump you can whilst keeping your balance when landing. Players can increase speed by leaning forward, the more you lean the faster you’ll go, and upon reaching the jump, you stand up straight ensuring your weight is evenly balanced for a good landing.

For the football game, you will need to balance on the board moving from side to side whilst balls are fired at you to hit back on to the field and avoiding other objects that are thrown at you at the same time.

Training falls into 4 categories: Aerobics, muscle conditioning, yoga and balance games. Players can assign their height to a profile to measure body mass index and Wii fitness age as well as monitor progress and record performance statistics.

The calorie busting fun could appeal to couch potato kids as well a non gamers, perhaps using the Nintendo Wii as a slimming tool which would be a move into the lifestyle category rather than gaming, covering the market from another angle.

Nintendo hasn't given a release date yet for Wii Fit, although its thought to hit the highstreet in early 2008.

Source: Karen Bennett

How To Find The Best Deals on HDTV's

2007-08-25T20:42:00.000-05:00

HDTV’s are hot. Technology has improved tremendously. The technology used in HDTV’s appears to be light years ahead of the technology used in older televisions.

Not only does the technology appear to be light years ahead, but so does the price. HDTV’s can get pretty expensive. In the future the price will go down like they always do, but in the mean time I will show you how to find the best deals on HDTVs.

The easiest way to get your hands on a HDTV is to visit a local mall or electronic store. But that is not always the cheapest. If you do not live in a big city, you may need to visit one. The best deals are located in big cities.

In big cities you can find large discount stores and their main business strategy is to offer better deals than the average retail store. Since there is so much competition in big cities, you can also find stores offering price match guarantees.

This means if you find a HDTV cheaper at another store, they will sell you theirs cheaper to get your business. Some stores advertise their price match guarantees. But sometimes you have to ask.

The second way to find deals on HDTV’s is by shopping online. A lot of times you can find better a better deal online because the overhead costs are lower. They can afford to sell you a HDTV for a much lower price than an offline store. But every online store will not be cheaper than offline stores. You may need to shop around at different online stores.

Try using comparison shopping sites. They will list stores who sell HDTV’s and sort the results by price. You can easily see who is offering the best price.

But don’t just use comparison shopping sites. Some smaller online stores can’t afford to use comparison shopping sites. Perform searches using search engines and just look for the best deals. Just shop around as much as possible and you will find some good deals.

Source: Jeff Mulat

A Turning Point for the 360 vs Wii?

2007-08-25T08:57:00.000-05:00

It appears that the recent price cut on the 360, or possibly the BioShock/Halo buzz maybe helping the system out.

Obviously, Google trends does not predict the number of sales a system has, but it does give a decent idea of buzz and trends. Recently, it appears the the 360 has overcome the Wii in search popularity. Remember, Google has over 80% of the search marketshare, so it does so a nice, broad selection of users.

Could this be a turning point for the 360? Is the system beginning to pick up steam? Could BioShock (which I LOVE) be giving the 360 just a small shock in the arm? Only time will tell, but we're keeping an eye on the trends.

Just in case you're wondering, we didn't bother adding the PS3 on the chart...It basically is a flatline...dead...much like the system. (so far)

P.S. Those Big Daddies are FREAKING hard to kill!

Vizio claims title of #1 HDTV seller in US

2007-08-24T07:01:00.001-05:00

It’s really an amazing thing when a newcomer can break into a market and end up dominating it within a very short time. This is especially amazing when it’s in a well-established market such as televisions. Vizio has managed to claim the #1 seat in the US in HDTV sales.

Vizio now claims 12.1% of the market share, which is a considerable lead on Samsung, who was previously the largest seller of HDTVs here in the US. Last quarter Samsung had 13.2% of the market, but with Vizio in the game this quarter, their share fell to 10.7%.

Apparently Vizio must be doing something right, hitting the right price point while still delivering high quality materials. One of my friends recently bought a Vizio, and I have to say it was quite impressive, especially for the price. Lets just hope they keep it up.

Source

eHDMI.com is starting a FREE hosting company!

2007-07-13T13:05:00.000-05:00

eHDMI.com is pleased to announce we are launching a FREE hosting company! Unlike others, we will be providing FULL features! We will announce the name and web address in a few days.

What is the free hosting plan our customers will get?

Ad-Supported free account
300 MB disk space
3 MySQL databases
5 Add-on domains
5 Sub domains
POP email accounts
2gb of bandwidth

Thanks Greg Y.

2007-07-11T22:00:00.000-05:00

This is the reason we are doing what we do! This is just one of MANY people we've helped save money, and get a great quality product at the same time!

I just wanted to let you know how happy I was with the service I received from your site, and was AMAZED at the quality of cable I got for the price. I have some experience with home theater systems, and unfortunatly bought the arguement a few years ago that MONSTER cable was really worth the price for the quality. Boy was I wrong. Your cable is the best I have ever seen, not to even mention the low! price. Your HDMI switcher price is unbeliveable. You will have my business forever and I will turn everyone I know to your site. CC and Bestbuy should really be ashamed. I know they need profit and all, but they in conjuntion with MONSTER really take advantage or people who want the best and believe the hype.

Thank you Greg! If it weren't for great customers like you, we wouldn't be here.

Most American HDTV Owners Lack High-Definition Programming

2007-07-08T22:19:00.000-05:00

Uhmm..yea this is a major issue. The good news is more content is coming VERY soon! DirecTV has just successfully launched a satellite that will boost HD channels.

The market for high-definition television sets continues to grow, according to a new study by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), but many HDTV owners haven’t yet subscribed to the higher-resolution video format.

If you want to read the article, you can find it here.

Ehdmi.com Adds Apple Iphone Skins To Their Online Store.

2007-07-03T12:42:00.000-05:00

eHDMI.com is excited to launch the addition of 5 new Apple iPhone Skins. The 5 new iPhone skins will sale for $4.40.

Each iPhone skin is brand new and the cases are a perfect skin case with armband that holds & protects your iPhone. The Skin case is made of soft silicon and protects your iPhone from scratches and bumps. The skins are washable and very easy to remove. All slots on the iPhone skins are accessible without having to remove the skin. A play-through design enables total access to all of the control buttons. Users can also connect to the dock connector without removing the skin. Now iPhone owners can add color to their iPhone and provide an ultra comfortable feeling their gripping.

eHDMI.com specializes in high quality, discounted HDTV accessories and other electronic accessories. Top selling items include, but are not limited to: Nintendo Wii Component cables, HDMI cables, HDMI wall plates, HDMI switchers and our LCD/Plasma wall mounts.

The Apple iPhone is a revolutionary new mobile phone that allows you to make a call by simply tapping a name or number in your address book, a favorites list, or a call log. It also automatically syncs all your contacts from a PC, Mac, or Internet service. And it lets you select and listen to voicemail messages in whatever order you want — just like email.

For more information, visit:
http://www.eHDMI.com

Source

Choosing Your HDTV Television

2007-07-01T09:42:00.000-05:00

To take full advantage of the great number of HDTV stations you can get with your satellite system, you will want a television with a breathtaking picture and mind blowing sound. When shopping for a television today, you have many more options than just a few years ago. From several hundred dollars, to a price similar to that of a new Corvette, you can choose the television to fit your budget and lifestyle.

If you want to watch satellite programming you will need a tv that is at least HDTV ready. Your satellite service provider will supply you with an HDTV tuner. Even if you will not be watching much HDTV programming, there is still a huge benefit to watching a digital television. All HDTV and HDTV ready tv's contain upconversion circuitry that cleans up the picture with even non HDTV signals.

If you watch a lot of movies or dvd's, you might want to purchase a widescreen television. A widescreen tv has a 16:9 aspect ratio screen, as opposed to the traditional television screen with a 4:3 aspect ratio. You can enjoy watching movies on a screen shaped like a movie theater screen, and view non digital programming in a side cropped view, or stretch the picture to varying degrees to fill the screen. All HDTV programming uses the 16:9 aspect ratio.

The least expensive option is the good old fashioned CRT (cathode ray tube) television. It has been around since 1927, and it is the least expensive option. It is built around a single picture tube, and provides excellent contrast and overall picture quality. A higher end picture tube television will actually give a smoother appearance of motion than a flat-panel tv. The primary drawbacks of tube tv's are their immense weight (compared to newer technology), and the considerable depth of the sets themselves, both severely limiting your installation choices. Also, the largest tube television available is 36", so if you need a larger picture, you might want to step up to flat-panel television.

LCD and Plasma screens are the two options available in flat-panel televisions. Both are incredibly thin and lightweight, and can be wall mounted if you choose to do so. An LCD (liquid crystal display) contains thousands of crystals sandwiched between two glass or plastic plates, which are acted upon by electrical current, creating images on the screen. A plasma screen consists of thousands of pixel cells filled with gases that excite phosphors, producing light, and thereby your picture.

The weight of an LCD and a plasma tv are comparable, with the LCD models being slightly lighter in the 40" range. As the screen size approaches 60", the weight of the LCD overtakes that of the plasma screen. The display panel tends to last longer with the LCD than with the plasma models. LCD televisions are not vulnerable to burn-in, also known as image shadowing or ghosting, like plasma screens. Burn-in is essentially burned, or worn out pixels in a plasma screen that have been damaged over a period of time and retain color information from static images like network logos, etc... Plasma tv's tend to have more accurate color reproduction than LCD models, and are currently less expensive than a comparable LCD. While the largest LCD tv at this writing is 65", that is likely to change quickly as the technology evolves with the latest innovations in the computer monitor industry. The largest plasma screen television currently produced is the Panasonic TH-103PZ600U103", which boasts a massive 103" screen, and is expected to carry a whopping retail price of about $70,000 when is hits US markets in late 2006.

Remember the old, bulky rear-projection televisions that were almost a yard deep and weighed nearly as much as a VW Bug? Todays digital big screen tv's take up much less space, and a 60" television can weigh under 100 lbs. Digital big screens are capable of brightness that is unmatched by the older CRT televisions, and do not suffer burn-in like the plasma tv's. These digital big-screens also contains a consumer replaceable lamp that restores picture quality to its original brilliance. Prices for these sets are very reasonable, usually one half to two thirds the price of a similar sized plasma or LCD television. One disadvantage of the big screen tv's is still size; even with technological advancements, these models take more room for installation than the flat screen televisions, and are not practical for wall mounting. The ideal viewing angle is only achieved straight on, and in a seated position.

For a true movie theater experience at home, a front projection tv may be a good choice. This is a two piece system consisting of a projector and a screen. They offer picture sizes up to 300", and do not include any type of tv tuner, instead displaying signals from a satellite receiver or cable box. The best viewing experience with a front projection setup requires a fairly dark environment, and is definitely not for everyone. However, for cinema lovers, there is no better way to bring your favorite film to life. Pricing for good projectors starts at just under $1000, and screen prices vary according to size, with most models falling somewhere between $300 and $1500.

Whether you watch mainly sporting events, movies, or dvd's, a modern television can give new life to your favorite programming. As technology advances at an astonishing pace, prices for larger and more sophisticated television sets continue to come down. If you do some shopping online and find that you can't quite afford the tv that you want, save money for five to six months; no matter how much or how little you are able to save, chances are you will be able to afford the set you want as prices come down. Just don't blow the money you have saved - you might need to build a new room to house the larger set you will be buying in two years.

Source

LCD HDTV Prices Could Drop 35 Percent In 2007

2007-03-14T21:47:00.000-05:00

Washington, D.C. (March 14, 2007) -- LCD HDTV prices could drop as much as 35 percent before year's end, according to iSuppli.

The research group predicted yesterday that roughly 75 million LCD sets will be sold this year, a 42 percent increase over last year. iSuppli last year had forecast that only 72.9 million sets would be sold in 2007.

However, the group said dropping prices will drive even more sales of the flat-panel TV. For instance, a $2,000 46-inch LCD HDTV could be priced as low as $1,299 by the holidays.

iSuppli also said that shipments of LCD sets will surpass 100 million units in 2008 and 171 million units by 2011.

"By that time, LCD-TVs will dominate the market, accounting for 65 percent of all television unit shipments worldwide," said Sweta Dash, director of LCD research at iSuppli.

If iSuppli's forecast is correct, LCD prices could be about the same as Plasma prices this holiday season. However, it's likely that Plasma makers will drop prices as well to keep pace.

Source

eHDMI.com Upgrades Their Website, Drops Prices, Adds Products

2007-03-01T08:56:00.000-06:00

We have officially launched our newly upgraded website. We have also done the unthinkable by dropping prices even lower, and adding thousands of new products.

eHDMI.com Home Page

eHDMI.com announces a significant upgrade to its website. The upgrade focuses on an improved shopping experience, better checkout, many more products and lower prices. Thousands of new items have been added to the webstore, including, but not limited to: Printer ink, routers, USB cables, Firewire cables and much more.

Also on the new eHDMI.com frontpage is a featured "Home Theatre" section. The "Home Theatre" section is designated for those venturing into the realm of HDTV. Customer should find evey item necessary to complete the optimal HDTV experience.

Included on the improved eHDMI.com website is also a FAQ on most items, as we all as detailed descriptions and specifications on each product.

Website Upgrade Error

2007-02-25T09:43:00.000-06:00

We apologize for the issue! We tried to upgrade our site last night and ran into an issue. We're waiting for our servers to come back up. It seems there will be a slight delay in getting the new site up until we can address the issue.

Thanks!

What's So Good About HDMI Cables?

2007-02-18T23:51:00.000-06:00

HDMI is the latest digital HDTV interconnection standard.
HDMI is a high-bandwidth digital connector whereas
S-Video/RCA are low-bandwidth analog connections. HDMI
is the de facto standard digital interface for HDTVs and
high- definition (HD) consumer electronics products.
Easier - No doubt, HDMI is easier to plug in than Component
cables and digital audio cables.

HDMI is a digital signal. HDMI is quickly becoming the
preferred method for connecting audio and video components
together. HDMI is a purely digital standard with the
capability to carry audio as well as video data.
A low-cost HDMI cable will do just as good of a job,
particularly at the distance of a few feet.

HDMI is a single-wire solution that will free you from
ugly, tangled and messy nests of audio and video
cables snaking behind your entertainment center. HDMI
is the only PURE digital Audio/Video Interface. Put
simply, HDMI is a new connection type that carries both
digital audio and digital video (at resolutions up to
1080p) in a single cable. HDMI is the state-of-the-art
connection for the highest quality digital image.

So you're saying the length of the HDMI cable doesn't
matter. Typically the maximum length for a 'standard'
HDMI cable is about 15 metres, however high performance
cables are available at much longer lengths. The more
length the signal has to cover, the more complicated it is
to restore the signal at the end of its path. A coupler may
be used to connect and extend a short length of HDMI cable
up to another five meters (16. Other length hdmi cables
also available. What IS the max length for an HDMI cable.
Digital Extender/Repeater's can extend HDMI lengths up
to 200 Feet.

HDMI is a digital signal. HDMI is rapidly emerging as
the connection standard for HDTV. HDMI is an outstanding
connectivity solution and it's no wonder its popularity is
spreading. I think HDMI is something everyone will be
hearing a lot about in the future. HDMI is clearly the
next step in digital media interfaces from DVI.

Heldheld Video Games & Cell Phones to Be Revolutionized?

2007-02-15T12:19:00.000-06:00

According to Texas Instruments, they are working on and about to release technology that will allow 720p HDTV on items as small as a mobile phone. In case you didn't already know, TI(Texas Instruments) is the company that is responsible for DLP technology.

The company yesterday demonstrated what it calls the industry's first application processor to playback 720p high-def video for mobiles at the 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona, Spain.

The new technology is expected to out in 2008. If you are not a big fan of watching HDTV on a screen as small as a cell phone, you will have option of moving the picture to items such as projecotr screens, or even larger TV's!

So, what will this technology mean to items such as the Nintendo DS? How about the Sony PSP? Will this technology finally convinced Microsoft to enter the handheld business? Video game players will soon have the ability to play each other on handheld video game systems(DS,PSP,gameboy) via bluetooth, and in HDTV!

Naturally, the uses of this technology will be far reaching, but we believe there is little doubt the handheld video game market is in for a major revolution!

Cotl7.com Signs On with BoostViews.com

2007-02-15T07:59:00.000-06:00

BoostViews.com is excited to announce that Cotl7.com has agreed to utilize the popular website traffic and backlink package.

The goal of the campaign is to boost their Alexa rank, and increase Electronic Assets & Games( Cotl7.com ) backlinks.

Electronic Assets & Games sells 3D Models, ebooks and Games in fact everything imaginable in the near future. This site has got awesome 3D Models some example models are Mc Laren or McLaren, Mc Laren or McLaren Benz SLR, Ferrari Enzo, Ferrari F50 and more to follow

BoostViews.com offers discount website traffic, search engine submission, and specializes in backlink building. Keith Hudson, Manager Partner of BoostViews.com and eHDMI.com states, "I’m pleased that Cotl7.com has given us the opportunity to promote their website. We’re looking forward to a long term relationship with them."

BoostViews.com was purchase by the popular HDTV accessories company eHDMI.com in January. eHDMI.com specializes in high quality, discounted HDTV accessories. They have quickly become one of the fastest growing HDTV destinations on the internet.

Http://www.BoostViews.com
Http://www.Cotl7.com

Neat little iPhone Site

2007-02-12T20:05:00.000-06:00

Our traffic/marketing company has signed on a website(iPhonePower.net)that we thought was worth plugging here. It's a site that allows people to post, read and vote on the latest news on the upcoming Apple iPhone.

If your looking for some information and news on the iPhone, I would encourage you to check out the site and even register.

iPhonePower.net

Study: 151 Million HDTV Homes By 2011

2007-02-11T09:16:00.000-06:00

The number being tossed around out there is a whopping 151 million HDTVs worldwide by 151 million by 2011. That number seems extrememly low to us. If that is the case, then HDTV has enourmous growth potential, especially abroad. Approximately 58% of those 151 million HDTV's have been sold in the US! Japan comes in a distant second.

So, what about the growth potential? We only 87 million HDTV's have been sold in the US. the US has over 600 million people, and typically has 2-3 TV's per home! Factor in the remainder of the world and your looking at explosive growth! All it's going to take is MORE CONTENT!

We feel that as HDTV prices continue to fall, and more HDTV content becomes more accessible, HDTV growth will continue to growth, and we plan to b right there with it.

New Site 95% Done!

2007-02-10T15:03:00.000-06:00

We have our new site about 95% done! We're not ready to set a release date, but it's coming soon! We hope to improve the entire shopping process.

We'll post more as we get it!

We need your help!

2007-02-07T13:13:00.000-06:00

We're working on a new site and need some feedback. We are upgrading the shopping cart, inventory system and more! If you are interested in providing some valued feedback, please e-mail us here

Thanks!

HDMI Cable Giveaway!

2007-01-30T21:54:00.000-06:00

We've teamed up with HDGameNews.com and are giving away a free 6ft HDMI Cable!

All you have to do is register over at their forum and make a post! Get the details below on their site.

http://www.hdgamenews.com/2007/01/premium-hdmi-cable-giveaway.html

We plan on many more events like this in the future, so stay tuned!

We hope to announce some more news shortly.

The Survey Says......

2007-01-10T07:43:00.000-06:00

Honestly, no big surprise here. According to the telephone survey of 1,028 adults conducted Nov. 24 to 27:

While 20% of Americans in the survey say they own an HDTV, only 12% say they know "a great deal" about it. Another 27% know "some" about it.
60% of those in the survey know "not too much" or "nothing at all" about HDTV.
15% say they are looking into buying an HDTV in the near future, and 15% say they plan to wait.

No huge surprise here. Alot of people are content to use the old TV, primarly due to not knowing enough about HDTV and the benefits. Also, they have a hard time dishing out a few grand to fox something that's not yet broke.

CES2007 Brings New HGTV Products and Even Lower Prices!

2007-01-07T09:42:00.000-06:00

CES2007 is around the corner and we're expecting big things to come out of this year's event. We know there will be MANY new companies this year, bringing new products with them. There are also many foreign companies attending this year, with the intention of announcing the their introduction into the US HDTV market. Here's a few headlines out already:
Norcent readies new plasmas / LCD HDTV for CES
LG demonstrates leadership in HDTV technology at CES 2007
Microtek enters LCD HDTV market with duo of 1080p sets
LG.Philips LCD Showcases Cutting-Edge Suite of LCDs at CES 2007
CES 2007: Westinghouse to show Quad HDTV
Novalux to Demo Laser-Based HDTVs at CES

What does this mean to you? More competition equals even lower prices, and newer and better products. 2007 and into 2008 should be a time where prices drop even more.

A DLP as Thin as a LCD/Plasma to Hang on the Wall?

2007-01-06T08:57:00.000-06:00

Samsung next week will unveil a rear projection DLP HDTV that's nearly as thin as a flat-panel set.

Odds are high, this will take place at CES2007. This will be a MAJOR development in the TV battle. DLP has lagged behind in sale mainly due to it's size. There's no doubt that DLP HDTV provides a good picture. The new set is going to target people that want a larger TV that can hang on the wall, but can't afford the cost. It's expected to come in the 50-60" range. It is expected they will immediately find competition from JVC, who also is announcing plans to launch a DLP that will hang on the wall.

We're not quiet sure how effective that strategy is since the cost of LCD and Plasma TV's have fallen so much. If a 47" can be bought for less than $2,000, just how cheap are the new DLP sets expected to be?

A New 1080p HDTV and it's cheap.....1080p, 47" Less Than 2k?

2007-01-05T10:40:00.000-06:00

We can personally atest to the quality of Vizio TV's. We run the 37" LCD's here at our location. We've had them for nearly 1 year, absolutely problem free.
On 1/4, Vizio announced a great deal once again, 47” Full 1080p HD LCD TV for less than $2,000! The official title of the TV is 47" GV47LF, which has already began shipping for $1,899.

Here's the full specs:

Other GV47LF features include: Full high definition native resolution and support of 1080p, 1080i, 720p, 480p and 480i video signal formats, PIP/POP, CC, V-Chip, a 3D Comb Filter, Motion Adaptive De-Interlacing, 3:2 or 2:2 Reverse Pull-down, an ATSC/QAM/NTSC tuner, selectable Color Temperatures of 6500K, 5400K and 9300K with Independent Red, Green and Blue color adjustments for user fine tuning. GV47LF inputs include Co-axial RF, two HDMI, two Component YPbPr Video, RGB PC VGA-type, S-Video, two Composite Video plus a 5.1 Audio output from DTV input on SPDIF Optical. The GV47LF also features removable speakers and stand plus a backlit universal remote control.

I've heard Vizio has moved from a #15 ranking up to a #10 ranking in HDTV sells. As more people learn about the quality vs. the price, I would expect that gap to continue to close.

Plasma prices plumment 25%, Sales Rocket

2007-01-02T19:45:00.000-06:00

It's nice to see sales of Plasma TV's making a comeback. Panasonic is really sold on the technology and pushing it hard.
The average street price for 42" plasma HDTVs dropped 25 percent in just one month.

According to Pacific Media Associates, flat panel TV's in general had a nice spike in sales, a whopping 109% increase from October to November. Panasonic also had the top selling flat panel around. The best-selling consumer model was the 42" Panasonic TH-42PX60U with a strong 11.4% unit share. Its average street price was $1,327, which was a 24% drop from its October price.

This is certainly a great trend for consumers, and it appears it will stay that way for a while.

A way to try DISH with HDTV cheap for almost a year, Save $300.

2007-01-01T08:54:00.000-06:00

Over at DISH, they have an offer going on that you can save some real $$ on! Obviously, DISH has one of the better HDTV packags out there having bought VOOM sometime back.

Here's the dirt on the offer. They will give you a $20 credit for 10 months off of your package, and you can download and mail in a coupon for $100. Taken that you will probably have a one year contact, this offer really lets you kick the tires at a minimal cost!

They don't stop there. They are also offering a free HD receiver upgrade, along with 3 free months of a premium channel, such a HBO or Showtime.

The $100 mail in coupon can be found here
Just in case you missed the link to the offer, it can be found here.

Site Upgrade Possibly Delayed

2007-01-01T08:32:00.000-06:00

We were hoping to have the new website rolled out as early as tonight, but it doesn't appear that will happen. We ran into a major hangup, that naturally is being worked on. We are very excited about the upgrade, mainly due to the easier shopping cart, easier shopping, thousands of products added and the ability to select a shipping method! We will keep you posted on the progress.

PS3 Orders Slowing Down, Retailers Shying Away

2006-12-28T19:47:00.000-06:00

If you take a look at eBay, Craigslist and the other sites out there, they are absolutely flooded with people trying to sell PS3's. There are even people trying to dump the PS3 for an EVEN swap for a Wii.(big loss)

You've seen the headlines for yourself:

PS3 not flying off the Shelves?
No Christmas cheer for stifled Sony
PS3 scalpers see profits drop - interest in PS3 waning

It appears retailers are taking a BIG notice of this. Word is that retailers are not placing orders for more PS3 systems due to such a supply of the systems on the Internet. There are also widespread reports of PS3 systems sitting for prolonged periods of time at store shelves.

The major issue for Sony is they have zero flexibility with the price. They have no room to drop the price to push more systems. If the systems don't sell, then the games will not come. Can anyone say Atari Jaguar?

Merry Christmas from eHDMI.com!

2006-12-25T08:52:00.000-06:00

We want to wish you and your family a Merry Christmas!

From the eHDMI.com Team and Families

Need a cheap Plasma TV? Well, we found you a 42" Plasma for $799!

2006-12-23T14:16:00.000-06:00

By no means are we associated with Tiger Direct, but good grief did we find a steal there! They have a 42" Vizio Plasma TV for $799! it is a refurb, but it also comes with a limited warranty.

Here's some stats on it:
Dimensions
Unit Dimensions (WxHxD)
43" x 30" x 4.3"
Unit Weight
85 lbs.
76 lbs. without stand
Dimensions With Stand
43" x 31" x 11.4"
Audio
Speakers
2
Display
Resolution
1024 x 768
Contrast Ratio
10000:1
Aspect Ratio
16:9
Pixel Pitch
0.9 mm x 0.676 mm
Display Area
42"
Input Video Signal
NTSC
ATSC
Terminals
Inputs
VGA (15-Pin D-Sub)
S-Video
Audio
Component In
HDMI In
Service
Composite Video In
Analog Audio Input (for HDMI)
RF Input
Outputs
1x Earphone
Audio
SPDIF Out

We run Vizio TV's here, although they are LCD. cNet has reviews up on this set, which off pretty darn good!

Here's the Plasma TV!

Remember, we make nothing off of this....Just a FYI on a deal!

LCD TV's Soar, Plasma Plummets..Any Surprise?

2006-12-22T21:19:00.000-06:00

No huge surprise here....LCD TV's soared in 2006 and Plasma TV's are in the tank.

TFT-LCD panel shipments from China-based LCD makers will see a 243% on-year jump in 2006 amid a fast growth in LCD monitor panel shipments from SVA-NEC Liquid Crystal Display (SVA-NEC) and BOE Optoelectronics Technology (BOE OT), according to Displaybank.

Plasma TV makers have been dropping like a rock, leaving the business one by one. Plasma sales in Japan were actually down this year 5-6%. LCD sales were up a tremendous amount. It makes one wonder how much longer plasma TV's will be around.
China-based SVA-NEC is expected to ship 7.36 million LCD monitor panels in 2006, up 254% from 2.08 million units in 2005, Displaybank said. BOE OT will see overall panel shipment totaling 5.93 million units this year, compared to 3.39 million units in 2005, the research firm said.

So, just how fast is HDTV growing?

2006-12-22T12:07:00.000-06:00

It's obvious HDTV is growing at a tremendous rate. HDTV are one of the hottest items of the holiday searson this year. Just how fast is HDTV growing?
Echostar (DISH) give us a idea on the growth with their news release today:
EchoStar Communications Corporation (Nasdaq:DISH) today announced that its DISH Network(TM) passed the 13 million customer milestone. DISH Network remains the fastest-growing pay-TV provider in the nation since 2000, having added more than 7.74 million net new customers over the past six years -- more than all other satellite TV and cable companies during the same period.
DISH is the largest provider of HD content out their. Most people going to DISH are doing so for the HD content.
Today the company offers customers more than 500 channel choices, including 30 national HD channels -- the most offered by any pay-TV provider in the country

What about year over year growth?
DISH Network reached one million subscribers in December 1997 and passed the 12 million customer milestone in December 2005.

We feed DISH here at our offices due to the HD content. Let's just hope they continue to roll out the HD content.

DISH Source

One in Four LCD TV's not made by the company that sells them, Similar for HDMI Cables

2006-12-21T10:50:00.000-06:00

A very interesting report came out today from DisplaySearch:

Nearly one in four LCD televisions shipped worldwide in the third quarter of 2006 were not manufactured by the company whose name is on the front of the set according to a recent report by DisplaySearch.

Something that most people do not realize is that HDMI cables are the same way! There are only a handful of licensed makers of HDMI cables. Why pay $150 for the same cables that can be bought for $6.99?
It certainly makes you wonder what your paying more for...

Many LCD TV brands such as Dell, Grundig, HP, Polaroid, Relysis, Vizio, ViewSonic, Westinghouse and Syntax-Brillian outsource 100% of their LCD TV set manufacturing.

It works the same everywhere...Most off brands are made by the big companies. You can save big money and basically get the same product, just a different label.

Wii Internet Channel/browsing coming in a few days!

2006-12-20T17:17:00.000-06:00

Well, here's some good news for all of you Wii fans! Word is on Friday the Wii will offer a free download of the Opera browser and you gain free access to the Internet Channel!

OK, well that's the good news, the bad: It's only free until June, then they start charging around $5 a month. Also, keep in mind that this is mearly a beta test. The full version doesn't launch until March or so.

Personally, I'm a big fan of the Opera browser, use is daily!

Lcd/Plasma Makers and Retailer Suffer and We Benefit

2006-12-20T08:46:00.000-06:00

In case you didn't see this mornings addition of the WSJ, there's a article on the front page discusses flat panel TV's this year.

Hefty Discounting of Flat-Panel TV's Pinches Retailers

According to the write up, retailers are basically selling the flat panels at BELOW retail prices! There is a price war going on this year and we all benefit from it. LCD prices have dropped, on average, 40% this year.

Any ideas on why they are selling these set's at below retail prices? They know that if they can get you into their store, odds are high you're going to but other items. It's a known fact that these TV's have never been that profitable. Like most items, the real money is made on the accessories. If you buy a 37" LCD for $799, they are banking on you also paying $150 for a set of HDMI cables, or perhaps even a wall mount.

Be smart about the shopping! It is possible to get a steal on a new HDTV flat panel this year, and still save a bundle on the HDMI cables!

HDTV Buying Guide!

2006-12-18T22:57:00.000-06:00

Well, we've tried to find a few sources on the web to help buying a HDTV a little easier. We'll post articles that will have both pro's and con's alike.

About.com - Pros and Cons: LCD and Plasma Flat Panel Televisions
Ultimate HDTV buying guide - CNet
The ExtremeTech Guide to Buying HDTV
BBC - HDTV buyers' guide
HowStuffWorks - Flat-Panel TV & HDTV Buying Guide
ABC News - Plasma, LCD, Projection: Which HDTV is Right For Me?
Motorola - HDTV Buying Guide
Ziff David - Buying Guide: HDTVs

I think you get the point! There's TONS of sites out there that try to help narrow down the search. Personally, we like the CNet buying guide.

Happy Reading! Feel free to post others in the comments

Sneek Peak of Our Upcoming 3x1 Switch!

2006-12-17T23:22:00.000-06:00

Well, you asked and shall receive! Here's a sneak peak of our upcoming 3x1 HDMI switch.

3X1 Enhanced HDMI Switch with built-in Equalizer (REV.2.1)

The HDMI Switcher allows access to multiple HDMI devices, such as DVD players and Satellite set-top boxes to one HDMI display.

It's a best choice for home theater systems and dual computer users.No more hassles of manually plugging in different HDMI connectors to view different HDMI sources.

Easy switching of multiple HDMI sources(e.g. DVD, cable/satellite receiver) using remote control or the switch button on the switcher.
Individual LED Display of video source channels.
Supports 480i, 480p, 720i, 720p, 1080i and 1080p resolution.
Maintains highest HDMI single link video resolution.
Supports DDWG standard for HDMI compliant monitors.
HDCP Compliant.- Low cost solution for home theater integration.
Plug-and-play. No software installation. Installs in seconds.

- Certified to perform at standards set by HDMI™

It is expected to arrive around Jan. 15th of next year, and price around $76.99. Naturally, things can change, especially in light of the upcoming CES 2007 show.

These Guy's Really "Dig" the XBox 360

2006-12-17T18:25:00.000-06:00

OK, we would all like to have a XBox 360 and do some HD gaming right? Well, there's a story breaking in Jacksonville, FL that's just a tad bit ridiculous..

A Jacksonville GameStop has reported that thieves burrowed through the back wall
of the video game store and stole 13 Xbox 360 game consoles.

It appears they were looking for PS3's, and had to settle for an XBox when they realized all of the PS3's were sold out. If you ask me, they are better off with the 360's, of course unless they planned on selling those on eBay.

Source

Free HDTV Network Coming?

2006-12-17T15:15:00.000-06:00

Some good news here if you live in Canada. It appears someone is looking into starting an ALL HDTV network. And best of all, it would be 100% FREE!

The man who built the Air Canada Centre in Toronto and founded the Toronto
Raptors NBA franchise now wants to create a new national television network.

We can only hope this is something that catches on.

Here's the rest of the story...

CES 2007 Show!

2006-12-17T14:04:00.000-06:00

We are attending the CES Show in Las Vegas this year! Although details can't be revealed at this time, we are expecting to make announcements regarding our trip shortly after we return.

We also will be blogging and updating this blog as we learn more details from the show, so stay posted!