Sony plays up high definition
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"We're building an entertainment experience, not just a computing experience," executive says at CES.
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Upscaling comes to old games, movies Sony is to update the PlayStation 3 system software today, rolling out a firmware tweak that allows PSOne, PS2 and DVD movies to be upscaled by the console to full 1080p HD resolution via HDMI. Well, if you've got the right kind of telly, of course...â¦
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Device can improve the image quality of standard and high-definition images.
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from LPs to compact discs and from VHS to DVD,&quot; says Jeff Joseph of the Consumer Electronics Association. &quot;High definition
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So why buy HD DVD discs then? A week after the battle with Blu-ray Disc swung further toward that rival format, Toshiba said it will promote its players on their ability to upscale standard-definition content for HDTVs.â¦
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(InfoWorld) - Sony is aggressively promoting high-definition televisions (HDTVs) to consumers and soon it will have a range of digital still cameras to match. Many of the company'sÂ new Cybershot cameras, which will hit global markets in March and April, offer an output for HDTVs. Most current digital cameras support the ability to view pictures on a television set, but this is almost always at standard definition, which is close to VGA resolution of 640 pixels by 480 pixels. More often than not, the original image is much higher quality, so a better image could be displayed on an HDTV if the camera were capable of generating such a video image. That's what Sony has enabled its new Cybershot cameras to do. "We are strongly promoting the importance of high-definition quality," said Kiyoshi Shikano, corporate senior vice president of Sony Marketing (Japan) at a Tokyo news conference Wednesday. "Here in Japan penetration of HDTV is going up every day. It's now almost at 30 percent of households so because of that we're encouraging people to watch digital still camera pictures at the level of high-definition rather than standard level." An additional cable will be required for the high-definition connection. The VMC-MHC1 cable will go on sale on March 9 in Japan for Â¥4,935 ($41) and will connect a Cybershot to a component level input on a television. It can also connect the CSS-HD1 docking unit to a television set. While in the dock the battery in the camera can also be recharged. The HDTV output is available on the DSC-T100, T20, W200, W90, W80, H7 and H9 models. The flagship model of the range is the T100, which combines a slim body with an optical 5X zoom and 8.1-megapixel class image sensor. It has a 3-inch display and will be available in Japan and the U.S. in March for about Â¥50,000 and about $400, respectively. Â
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(InfoWorld) - If you're thinking of using your PC to play high-definition Blu-ray Disc or HD DVD movies then you might have to think again. While computer drives for both blue-laser formats make PC playback a possibility, you'll need to have a high-performance PC if you want to watch the majority of movies. Even then, some movies might not playback smoothly, manufacturers of multimedia playback and burning software suites said at this week's Ceatec show in Chiba, Japan. HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc allow the use of three compression systems: MPEG2, VC1 or MPEG4 AVC. To date, most movies have used the latter but that's the hardest for PCs to process, said Noritaka Baba, a manager at CyberLink. The company produces the Power DVD software and other similar multimedia suites. CyberLink recommends that consumers have at least an Intel 3.2GHz Pentium D processor, which is one of the fastest processors that Intel makes. For laptop PCs, the company recommends at least a 2GHz Core Duo T2500 processor for playback of MPEG4 AVC encoded content. Discs using the VC1 codec can be played back with slightly less powerful hardware and MPEG2 encoded video requires the least amount of processing power, he said. In a demonstration on the HD DVD booth at Ceatec, a computer was playing the movie "Shinobi." Encoded in MPEG4 AVC at about 20Mbps it required about 70 percent of the power of the 3.2GHz Pentium D processor for playback, said Kazutaka Aiso, manager of the OEM sales group at Nero's Japan unit. He said that of all the software on the market there is one title that won't playback smoothly on a PC. The title, "Yozakura," was the first HD DVD movie on the market in Japan and consists of high-definition images of Japanese cherry blossoms. The video on the disc averages around 30Mbps and that's just too much for today's PCs to handle, he said. CyberLink and InterVideo, which produces the WinDVD software, also reported problems playing that title. The problems only apply to playback of high-definition video because processing of the video needs to be done in real time. Consumers can get away with much less powerful hardware if they want to burn HD DVD or Blu-ray Disc media -- it will simply take longer to complete the task as the processor's computing power drops, said Baba. The advice of the software makers is borne out by the first computers to feature drives for the new disc formats. Sony's Vaio L computer, which was launched earlier this week at the show and includes a Blu-ray Disc drive, runs on Core 2 Duo processors running at between 1.73GHz and 2.16GHz.Â NEC's Valuestar X, which is also based on a Blu-ray Disc drive, runs a 3.4GHz Pentium D processor. AndÂ Toshiba's HD DVD-based Qosmio G30Â has a 2.0GHz Intel Core Duo processor inside.
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(InfoWorld) - Sony announced Tuesday at the Ceatec show in Tokyo the addition of Blu-ray Disc to more PCs in its Vaio line. The Vaio Type-R master is an Intel Core 2 Duo-based machine loaded with high-definition editing and authoring software. With the new computers, Blu-ray Disc is now available in four of Sony's Vaio product lines. The systems will be available from Oct. 28 at prices between Â¥230,000 ($1,952) and Â¥550,000 ($4,664)depending on system configuration. A Blu-ray Disc drive will also be offered as a build-to-order option with Sony's Type-L computer. Sony also will launch a pair of Blu-ray Disc video recorders in Japan this December, the company said Tuesday. The machines both feature hard-disk drives for day-to-day recording and a Blu-ray Disc drive for longer term storage. The BDZ-V9 has a 500GB drive and the BDZ-V7 has a 250GB drive. There are two digital tuners in each recorder so that two high-definition programs can be recorded simultaneously. The recorders are designed to appeal to videophiles with demands for high specifications, including Linear PCM audio and 1080p (1,080 lines progressive scanning) output, which is the highest of several image levels judged to be high-definition. The recorders can also be connected to Sony's recently launched high-definition camcorders by a Firewire connection and can playback the AVCHD-format discs used in the cameras. The higher capacity BDZ-V9 will be launched on Dec. 8 and the BDZ-V7 will follow about a week later on Dec. 16. They will cost Â¥300,000 and Â¥250,000 ($2,541 and $2,118) respectively. The machines fill an important gap in Sony's high-definition strategy, which by now has HD-capable products in several parts of the consumer video market including televisions and video camcorders. These will be joined in November by the PlayStation 3 game console and then in December by the two new recorders announced Tuesday. Launching the recorders internationally is possible but nothing has been decided as of yet, Sony said.
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A new type of premium DVD player has emerged, converting a disc's images to greater resolution to take advantage of high-definition TV sets. A comparison of offerings from five makers.
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Cable operators have been fighting bandwidth limits to squeeze in more high definition content. A new system aims to assist in that fight without sacrificing quality.
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There's high-definition and then there's high-definition Review There's HD and then there's full HD. While both will give you better pictures than normal TV, the latter offers a degree of future proofing by enabling you to take advantage of 1080p, the highest HD resolution currently in use. With both Blu-ray and HD DVD supporting it, you'll need a Full HD TV such as Sharp's LC37XD1E to experience the best high definition currently has to offer.â¦
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The Pinnacle PCTV HD Pro Stick can receive high-definition video over the air or from a digital cable box.
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Sony plans to launch a new camcorder in November that can record and play back high-definition video. The device, part of the company&#39;s Handycam line, records and plays back video with a resolution of 1,440
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High definition boosts resolution to 720 lines or more and can update every line in each refresh pass: progressive scan. The latest TVs can display 1080p: progressive video at 1,080 lines of resolution. But can you really tell the difference?
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By Tamer El-Ghobashy, Daily News, New York  Dec. 17--With Christmas quickly approaching and high-definition TVs  becoming more affordable and popular, many New Yorkers' wish lists include the  latest home entertainment accessory -- high-definition DVD players.
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PARIS (CP) - The electronics giant that operates under the Thomson, RCA and Technicolor brand names said Friday it will introduce high-definition DVD players next year and support two recording formats, HD DVD and Blu-ray.
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Videophiles rejoice as Sony executive acknowledges the PS3 will soon play High Profile files.