I’ve been a little remiss in updating the site this past week. The reason? I got a new toy this weekend. A new HDTV in fact. I’m working on sending it through it’s paces and also writing a review of it. For now, I’ve posted pictures of it on my flickr page. Unfortunately, I’m only home during primetime stuff one night a week. But at least it’s a Monday, so I at least get to enjoy 24, Prison Break, and CSI: Miami in HD. Oh, and NASCAR on the weekends. 
Archive for the ‘Television/HDTV’ Category
Comments: 0May 5th, 2006 by Ryan Westendorf
Comments: 0April 23rd, 2006 by Ryan Westendorf
Welcome to night four of my sign-off shifts. It’s fine and all, but seriously, why do I have to watch this crappy show twice. It’s bad enough to watch once, but two nights in a row? Wow.
Granted, the musical guests on the show aren’t that bad, but the comedy is…bad. I realize they started out as a radio show, but really… stay on the radio. At least I don’t have to watch Soul Train again. They, too, once in a while have good guests, but most of the time it blows. I won’t even get into the whole lip-syncing they do. At least I can tell Joyner’s guests are actually playing and singing.
Comments: 0April 20th, 2006 by Ryan Westendorf
According to an article on CNet’s news.com, Royal Philips Electronics has filed for a patent for a technology that would effectly prevent a user from fast forwarding or changing channels during commercials. WHAT??
That’s a seriously stupid idea. I’m going to go ahead and play the “I know a bit about what I’m talking about because I work at a TV station card” here to say I hope they don’t deploy it. First off, nothing is ever flawless. The way the technology is supposed to work is when the network or show goes to commercial, a command would be sent to the box instructing it to not allow fast forwarding or changing of the channels. Once the break is over, a command would be sent again allowing the user to change channels or fast forward and rewind to his or her heart’s content.
Now let’s fast forward (hah) to this scenario. You’re watching the latest episode of the Access Inside Hollywood Entertainment Edition Report. A commercial break starts and you get locked onto that channel. Suddenly a tornado warning is issued for your county, so the television station you’re watching breaks in with a report. Since your receiver already received the lock command, you are stuck with the report. (That’s not the problem… yet.) The weather guys do their report and get to you back to the show, but only after the break has finished and the show is already in progress. But, you want to check out what the other station in town is saying about the storm and whether you’re going to die. Guess what? Your receiver didn’t get the unlock command, so you’re stuck hearing about how Tom Cruise ate his newborn daughter’s placenta right after birth. In other words… You’re screwed!
Philips says the technology is only meant to be used for Pay Per View events, but we can be assured that if the technology is used, it’ll be used to keep you from doing the above during commercials. Wow.