hdtv

Display your computer’s video on your HDTV with this VGA to HDMI scaler/converter

1 Comment / Audio/Video, Home Theater, Gizmo of the Day / By /

hdmi to vga converterGet your computer hooked up to your TV with this VGA to HDMI scaler converter from Altona. This converter scales whatever the native resolution of your computer is to 1080p and push that over via HDMI to your HDTV. In addition, since VGA doesn’t transfer audio, you can hook up the audio cable to the audio output on your computer to get audio as well.

That’s it. Nuff said. Go get one.

Buy now!
Price: $99.99
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)

EyeTV Hybrid – TV Tuner for your PC/Mac. Pause and Record Live TV

1 Comment / Audio/Video, Home Theater, Computers, Gizmo of the Day / By /

eyeTV hybridSure, it may look like only a USB Thumb Drive, but the EyeTV Hybrid is a TV tuner stick for either PC or Mac. That means it can let you watch over-the-air TV (both analog and digital) on your computer.

It also acts as a DVR, letting you pause and record live television (including HD TV). It can also capture video from a VCR or set-top box (like cable/satellite TV boxes).

Additionally, it comes with software for editing and managing your recorded content, as well as an IR remote control and a 1-yr subscription to TV Guide.

Buy now!
Price: $134.95
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)

Netgear’s PTV1000 puts your laptop’s display on your HDTV wirelessly

Audio/Video, Home Theater, Computers, Networking & Internet / By /

netgear ptv1000Without needing a media streamer device, the Netgear PTV100 Push2TV gadget can display anything from a laptop with Intel’s Wireless Display technology.  The PTV1000 is a small lightweight box that connects to your HDTV via HDMI and connects to your laptop wirelessly via 802.11.

The PTV1000 can also connect via AV composite.

Buy now!

More info from the manufacturer
Price: $99.99
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)

Lacie’s Lacinema Black – Home Entertainment System

Audio/Video, Home Theater, Gizmo of the Day / By /

Lacinema Black

LaCie have released their new sleek multimedia entertainment system – LaCinema Black – a system that allows you to play movies, photos and music on your HDTV, play media from networked computers and generally just have a bit of fun with your multimedia. This comes in 2 versions – PLAY or RECORD. PLAY can simply play your movies whereas RECORD enables you to record, pause, rewind live TV. They both feature 1080i upscaling. The 500GB model comes in at $400 for the Play and $450 for the Record, and the 1TB comes in at $450 and $500 respectively (probably worth just buying the RECORD for the extra $50). If 1TB just isn’t going to be enough, both devices can be expanded via an external USB hard drive to give almost unlimited storage.

Buy now!
More info from the manufacturer

Price: $499.99 (1TB RECORD), $400 for 500GB RECORD
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)

Panasonic plans to be 1st to market 3D HD TV for consumers

1 Comment / Audio/Video, Home Theater, Gizmo of the Day / By /

In perhaps their biggest play at the IFA conference in Berlin, Germany, Panasonic showed off their 3D TV for the home market. Their system is a traditional stereoscopic system that needs glasses and works in conjunction with their Blu-ray DVD player that has 3D content. Panasonic aims to hit the market with multiple TV sizes in 2010.

They already have a full website that shows off their 3D technology. Some of their other announcements at IFA 2009 can be found here.

Calibrate your HD TV with this free tool

Audio/Video, Home Theater / By /

You may not know it, but there’s a good chance your high-def TV is not calibrated properly. Essentially, yellow should look like yellow on every TV, but it usually doesn’t because either you or the factory or the store tweaked the TV.

What you should do is get a calibration DVD that walks you through what you need to adjust. Normally, those cost somewhere in the $20-$50. Or you could get a Best Buy-type store to do it for you. Even more $. Move over $-solution; don’t you know we’re in a recession?! XYHD.TV has a free solution. Just head over here and download the tool.

Congress extends Digital TV switchover to June 12 2009

Audio/Video, Home Theater / By /

Now that both the US House and Senate have voted in favor of similar bills to extend the DTV cutover by 4 months, it’s just a matter of the President signing off on it (and he’s in favor of it).

The argument in favor of extending the deadline goes something along the lines of TV stations and consumers not being ready. Guess what? Come June 12, they’re not all going to be ready either.

Pull off the bandaid already. It’s gonna hurt now, or in 4 months or in 12 months. But if the frequency spectrum being used for analog TV isn’t freed up, then it can’t be used for newer, better wireless technologies. Sometimes leadership involves pulling some of your population dragging and screaming forward with you. Don’t worry, when they get there, most of the reluctants will grudgingly change their mind.

In case you don’t know about the Digital TV Transition, there’s a .gov website covering the subject.

Philips 42PFL5603D/27 42-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV

Miscellaneous / By /

The award-winning Philips ‘EcoTV’ is a 42″ stunner. This 1080p full HDTV set features a dimmable backlight and power saver mode that can push the power consumption of this set down to 75 watts, which is just a little more than a standard incandescent light bulb. It also has a standby mode that sips just .15 watts.

It includes the Philips feature HD Natural Motion that cuts down on jitter on LCD screens in moving images. This model boasts not 1 but 4 HDMI inputs as well a USB port so you can playback multimedia that’s on your thumbdrive.
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