HD-ready, or so you thought...

Ars Technica has an interesting overview of the plans that the consumer electronics industry has for phasing out analog outputs on future video players such as HD-DVD and Blu-Ray (my assumption is that it only applies to video players because the plans are tied to AACS licenses, which seem to be video-oriented). What this means if that if your TV does not have an HDCP-compatible input, you will not get high definition (HD) content to display from these players onto your TV. Instead, you'll get a watered down version that is equal or (possibly) only slightly better to what you can currently obtain from today's standard DVD player.

Numerous TVs have recently begun to support HDCP-supporting HDMI inputs, or DVI inputs which can handle HDCP. But, the now low-tech HD-ready TV that you bought 5 years ago (and paid a premium for, to ensure that it was HD-ready) will likely not show HD content from HD-DVD or Blu-Ray players. No tricks involved, though, because nobody ever said you would be able to do this with those TVs.

Another related development is the current HD-ready TVs that are capable of displaying 1080p on the display, but whose input circuitry will only accept 1080i. Again, no trickery involved because HDTV only specifies 1080i, but I think it's inevitable that HD-DVD or Blu-Ray players (and other devices such as video games systems) will eventually arrive that will deliver 1080p.. This isn't much different, though, from how many existing, older TVs could handle 480p, but are limited by their inputs to 480i.

And, finally, there's the issue of plasma and LCD TVs really not being all that good compared to CRTs, despite their high price premium. This has been my feeling, and it's why I've not bought an HDTV and probably won't for some time. You can still buy plasma TVs today that are not capable of HD resolutions. If you bought one 2 years ago, chances are that it can't support HD and any attempt to show HD content on such a display will simply downconvert the signal to something that the display can handle. Most LCDs can show one of the HD resolutions (720p), but not the highest one (1080i). And, LCD low-light performance is not that good, and their contrast ratios are still not very high. And, Consumer Reports doesn't like either technology.

LCDs and plasmas are slim and they look nice on the wall above the fireplace in a designer magazine, but who really puts them there and has a comfortable viewing experience? I've seen lots of large TVs in lots of living rooms, but I've never seen one that looks to be in a comfortable viewing position, or at a comfortable viewing distance. You still have to accommodate a 16" deep receiver for a decent home theatre experience, and most decent speakers are approximately that depth as well. A deep TV gives you a deep top surface on which to stand a good centre channel. Some smaller stereo stores are not recommending centre channels that properly match the front channels anymore because they can't be located anywhere sensible when the TV isn't deep enough. So, a large TV isn't something I've been able to justify.

My general rule of thumb is that when a TV or other mainstream consumer electronics technology has stabilized and has had its kinks resolved, you won't have to second-guess the price tag. $2000-4000 is too much for a TV. When that TV costs $800, not only will it be cheaper, but it'll also be more compatible, more reliable, and generally less trouble. Further, nobody will want to steal it from you. And until then, you'll be paying lots of money to beta test other people's vision of how the industry should proceed, and I, like many others, can't afford to do this.

Technorati: HDTV, entertainment, plasma, LCD, HD-DVD, Blu-Ray

Customer vs. consumer

"Customer" implies a mindful relationship between a business and buyer that considers the bigger picture of a transaction, and where it fits into their overall system of being.

"Consumer" implies freedom from conscience and attachment with a strong slant toward that which comes cheapest.

Most people used to be customers, but now too many are simply consumers. They're consumers because they've gladly accepted and embraced the term. I can understand why those who sell garbage want to call the garbage recipients, "consumers", but I can't understand the eagerness of someone to adopt the label to describe themselves, yet it's not uncommon to hear someone describe themselves as a consumer.

Consumers are corrupt. They're deviant and treacherous. They can't be trusted and must be led by the nose. That's the way big business sees it. And I won't try to stop you if you want to have that self-image, because if that's the case then it's probably accurate.

Technorati: customers, consumers

Marriage is never about two people

Does marriage unite two people into one, where the two people become "the marriage", or does marriage create a third person in the relationship -- "the marriage" -- which has to be looked after as well as the two individuals?

I think the answer depends on the age at which you get married.

Technorati: marriage

Low power consumption of the new iMac

InfoWorld has a short article on the improvements Apple has made with respect to power consumption in their new Intel-based iMacs. 95W at full consumption is a great figure; in contrast, my system (with CRT monitor) utilizes about 300W in a 3D game.

The testing method for the iMac wasn't specified, though, so I wonder if it was tested with the video processor under heavy load. Even if not, Apple's specifications state a maximum draw of 120W, and the additional 25W over the InfoWorld figure is all you'd expect a graphics processor under full load to contribute; 120W is still a great figure.

Other things that may add to the 95W: display content (display showing an all-white image?), and hard drive activity (seeking adds to the consumption).

Technorati: Mac, energy, PC

How old are you? 30? Then you should be able to walk by now.

A good article on "kidults", "adultescents", etc. -- people in their twenties and thirties who don't seem to be able to grow up. The size of this population seems to be increasing, and it's apparently becoming court-supported in countries such as Italy, where a father was ordered to pay child support to his 30-year-old son who was still living at home.

I'm often surprised at how teenage mischief has crept from being the domain of 15- and 16-year olds to that of 19- and 20-year olds. I haven't seen this particular trend documented anywhere, but it's related.

Anyway, the article says it much better than I can.

Technorati: teenagers, twentysomethings, society

The ethics of Valentine's Day

Here's the news: men spend an average of $128 on Valentine's Day. If you spend less than that, you're below-average, I suppose. And who wants to be below-average? Maybe you're like me and don't care. But then you're likely contributing to the lowering of the average, so the "don't care" population can't be all that big.

If you spent that $128 on roses, here's a bonus: you're contributing to an industry whose workers suffer from serious health problems related to the toxic chemicals used to grow your roses at a bargain-basement price, which probably isn't all that bargain-basement by the time the middle men get the roses to you. Even better for those wallet-flapping men is that 70% of the workers in the industry are women!

Have a nice day.

Technorati: roses, Valentine's Day, economy, ethics

Blogger's spell checker

Why on earth would a blogging tool consider "MP3" to be a spelling error?

Giving up on Media Center

I'm giving up on Media Center. I'll continue to use it until I get my return-on-investment, but I don't think it has a future in its current form. Someone will beat them to it. I'd previously counted out Apple based on their 1.0 attempt, but I think they'll beat Microsoft at this game in the long run, and they have more customer ears than Microsoft in this space. They're thinking in the right direction, too, by integrating it into displays.

One of the main reasons for my change-of-heart about Media Center is that it's supposed to be so flexible, being based on a PC, but it can't seem to respond to market changes as quickly as normal consumer electronics. Why is there no proper digital cable or satellite support? There are all kinds of reasons, but the market shouldn't care.

Another reason is that PCs, to my ears, don't produce audio of the same quality as a standalone CD player, even if my music is encoded in lossless format. This isn't an "audiophile, over latte" kind of comment. It's just what I notice. I want it to be as good, but it's not. And this is with a $300 sound card using a digital output. Everything says that it should sound as good as a CD player, but it doesn't. And if it's a matter of tweaking, then that's tough -- I shouldn't have to.

Finally, for music, I don't want to turn the TV on to access my music collection. This has been a growing problem in the home entertainment sector which seemed to start with DVD players requiring that you use the TV interface to locate your MP3 music stored on CDs. Squeezebox does it better. Maybe Microsoft's SideShow technology will help out with this, but I've given up on their ability to respond quickly to change.

So, the Media Center isn't attractive as a "center" to me. It's a PC hooked up to a TV that does an OK job of emulating a standalone PVR and hosts SlimServer so that I can use a Squeezebox for music. I can also use it to host other services. And, compared to a standalone PVR, it's power-hungry and noisy, so I regret having to place it in an area of relaxation.

The value proposition for a Media Center is terrible. For over $1000, you can have a large, noisy, power-hungry box that has mediocre audio performance and can only work gracefully with analog cable, DVB, or over-the-air HDTV. That's why the only people that take it seriously are the ones who will mess around with anything just for the fun of it.

If Microsoft can strike agreements with display manufacturers to build Media Center into displays, or use some of the products of Intel's new efficiency drive to make small set-top boxes, I think they may do OK. And, they'll have to make sure that Media Center doesn't grow linearly in terms of hardware requirements with each release of Windows. Ultimately, I think they'll have to go the Apple route and take control of the reins, branding a box themselves, in a way similar to what they've done with the XBox. Otherwise, Apple will do so, and they'll probably win; Media Center on a Mac Mini would attract a lot of attention.

Technorati: Media Center, Apple, consumer electronics