Consumer Guide for Today's Media

The last three years has seen a huge increase in the number of HDTV's in American households. In my opinion the obvious reason is they became more affordable to the average consumer. People can buy high quality sets for around $1000. I think the difference between HDTV and standard TV is undeniable. I argue most people who look at the two displays side by side would agree. Sales suggest people do in fact believe in the difference. It's safe to say that if a person questions whether or not they should buy an HDTV the answer is unequivocally yes. More channels, more programs in HD, and lower prices make HDTV a logical choice. The unanswered question is will the Blu-Ray Disc technology catch on and revolutionize the in-home movie experience the same way DVD did at the beginning of this decade.
February 2008 was a huge month for Blu-ray. Mega retailer Wal-Mart announced it will exclusively sell Blu-ray disc instead of both Blu-ray and HD DVD. On February 19 Toshib, the main corporation backing HD DVD, announced it would stop producing HD DVD players and essentially forfeited the format war. Adding to the Blu-ray victory party, major Hollywood studios Universal and Warner Brothers both committed to releasing Blu-ray discs exclusively. Released in 2006 Blu-ray fought HD DVD in a 2 year format battle that left consumers in a dilemma. The lack of stability in the HD movie market kept both formats from making an impression. The battle ended on February 19, 2008, but the next major question remains: is Blu-ray worth it.
When Blu-ray players hit the market, they cost $1000. Thanks Sony. Not an easy price to pay after buying a $2000 1080p TV and not having very many movies to choose from. Then in November 2006 Sony released the Playstation 3 game console, which was Blu-ray compatible and "only" cost $600. No matter what anyone tells me Playstation 3 is the reason Blu-ray won the format battle. The Blu-ray function on PS3 is a bonus not a necessity. It's success depends on the quality of the games not Blu-ray compatibility. Nintendo released its Wii console the same week and to date more than doubled PS3 in sales because the games were more attractive to consumers. Nonetheless Blu-ray became an option for anyone who did buy a PS3, and at $600 (now $500) it was the cheapest Blu-ray player on the market.

So far sony sold 4.2 million PS3 units in the United States and the price of Blu-ray players dropped from $1000 to $300. PS3 drove the price of standalone players and drove the entire technology to victory over HD DVD. As of June 2007 there were 100,000 Blu-ray players sold and 1.4 million PS3s sold. HD DVD could not compete. Microsoft, which backed HD DVD, did not make its PS3 counterpart Xbox 360 HD DVD compatible. Instead Microsoft released an add on HD DVD drive for the 360. The mistake here was people had to chose to buy the HD DVD drive and consumers have shown that it's not a choice they want to make. PS3 sales are not increased by Blu-ray, Blu-ray is rather the beneficiary of PS3 ability to play the discs. This is something that the numbers clearly reflect. Blu-ray accidentally ended up in over 4 million homes while HD DVD accidentally landed in 0. Good move Sony. Blu-ray won the format battle with HD DVD, but will it win the war with the consumers? Stay tuned.

Winning the battle against HD DVD was a huge step for Blu-ray disc, and all who back the new video format, but the war is with the consumers. Will people actually shell out the extra cash to replace the movies they already own on DVD and upgrade their HD equipment to make Blu-ray worth it.
Blu-ray boasts 27 giga-bytes of storage capacity, which is more than five times the amount of a standard DVD, this makes Blu-ray capable of holding HD movies and special features. Blu-ray is also compatible with full 1080p HD resolution and the highest quality digital sound. These features make Blu-ray the best possible in-home movie experience. The problem Blu-ray backers, such as Sony and Samsung, face is in order to get the most out of a Blu-ray disc consumers must first buy a 1080p TV, a surround sound system and special cables to hook everything up. When it all adds up the entire process cost no less than $2500. According to a report by Suzanne Choney of msnbc.com 39 percent of households have HD TVs, but only a small fraction of those TV's are 1080p. 1080p resolution is the only way to truly tell the difference between HD and standard definition movies.
Another problem with Blu-ray according to Choney is stand alone players do not have internet capabilities. This is essential because companies like Sony are still improving the technology and with out being connected to the internet the Blu-ray players can not receive updates so they become outdated. It's going to be hard to convince someone who bought a $400 piece of hardware that their new toy is obsolete one year later.
The final hurdle for Blu-ray to make it over is with people buying the movies. Priced at $30 a Blu-ray movie is double the price of a DVD, so if the HD picture is not stunning most people are not going to update their collections. Plus not all Blu-ray movies turn out with the same quality. A great site for skeptical consumers, blu-ray.com rates every movie released on Blu-ray disc and evaluates the picture and sound quality. Different movies receive different reviews, and there is no consistency in which movies look great, and which movies look like standard DVDs. If I'm paying double the price I expect double the quality and not all Blu-rays can guarantee that. From a personal standpoint I have noticed movies made this decade and especially those made in the last two or three years tend to appear much sharper and crisper. Old movies that get converted into HD don't seem to impress me at all, and according to blu-ray.com they usually look "grainy." Grainy: a dirty word when describing picture quality.
The technology will improve with time, just as all new technologies do, but it may be later rather than sooner. If I had to give Blu-ray a yes or no today I would say yes with about five asterisks next to it. Yes*****
*if you have a 1080p TV
*if you have 5.1 or 7.1 Dolby Digital surround sound
*if your Blu-ray player has internet capabilities
*if you have high quality HDMI cables to hook the player to the TV
*if you like the current selection of movies available on Blu-ray.
Not the resounding YES! that Sony needs to make the HD movie revolution Blu.

With all the new technology being developed every day, TV viewing is getting better and better for the viewing public. New innovations like wireless HD receivers, 1080p capabilities, 34 mm thick TV's. Television is about to enter into uncharted territory.

Wireless HD will allow those who own a wireless HD player to get HD channels on their television without all the cables. This is huge for the Plasma and LCD TV industry. These are the TV's that are popular to mount on walls. Having wireless HD would eliminate the need to have wires hanging everywhere causing an unsightly scene behind the TV. Another advantage for the people that are neat freaks, it eliminates the need to drill wholes in the wall and it eliminates the need figure out different ways to get cable to the TV.

The next big innovation is the switch from analog to digital. This switch is going to quicken the emergence of 1080p on TV. With analog TV still in charge, 1080p hasn't been able to make its presence known. The switch to digital is opening up the possibilities of 1080p which in turn allows TV's to reach their full potential. TV manufacturers have been producing TV's with the capabilities of showing movies, video games and TV shows at 1080p but no content has been produced to be viewed at that level. With the digital era about to begin, it is opening up this possibility which in turn could lead to the television revolution. All this equals better television for the viewers.

Sharp has takent the next step in flat screen technology. Sharp's new Aquos X LCD TV is a measly 34 mm thick. This TV is skinny enough to fit just about anywhere. This TV can conveniently be placed in bedrooms with little room for a TV to a boat that needs a TV to complete it. Sharp has pushed the limits with this one and might have created something that is going to revolutionize television even more. Besides being small, this TV uses very little electricity, using only .5 watts of electricity in standby mode. It is environmentally friendly as well as small.

These technology advancements are just a few of the ideas that are being introduced this year. There are many other great ideas that are sure to be introduced soon but these are the key advancements for now.

TiVo was incorporated in 1997 and the company made its initial public offering in September of 1999. For the first part of this decade TiVo dominated the Digital Video Recorder or DVR market. What TiVo did not prepare for was the major cable companies would begin to provide DVR in their digital cable boxes. This made for a smooth transition for HD customers. Digital cable began to be the approach most HD customers took to receive the high definition signal, and the boxes came equipped with HD recording capabilities. TiVo customers were left with a box that could record programming, but only in standard definition. TiVo packages began at $12.97 per month or a one-time fee of $300, which last for life. For regular cable subscribers this was a good deal. (Personally I paid for the lifetime service in May of 2004 and I still use my TiVo on my bedroom TV, thus every month I save 12.97).
I am a special case because personally I think DVR is the greatest invention since the Internet, so needless to say I was an early adopter. The more patient consumer had the opportunity to watch the market, and realize that in order to get the best bang for the buck, the cable companies DVR box was the best deal in town. For example, Sunflower Broadband in Lawrence charges $12.95 per month for HD box rental and an extra $5 for the DVR service fee. In comparison, TiVo sells its HD DVR box for $300, and the service still costs 12.95 per month. Plus TiVo offers a reduced annual rate, but the cheapest plan costs $300 for three years. In other words DVR from Sunflower costs $60 per year and TiVo cannot costs less than $100. More importantly in order to have more than four HD channels customers must pay for digital cable so the $12.95 box rental fee still exist in addition to the TiVo charges.
The whole point of rattling of these numbers is to illustrate how impractical TiVo is in the HD world. TiVo asks customers to pay nearly double the amount for a service, which is marginally better than its counterpart. I’ll concede that TiVo is the Mac Leopard of DVR interfaces. Most people do not know this because so many more people use digital cable DVR, but the TIVo software runs smoothly and is extremely user friendly. However, people don’t want to pay the premium for a better interface when the cheaper version does an adequate job of accomplishing the primary goal: record programming in HD or standard definition.
TiVo provides things such as TiVo-To-Go, which allows users to transfer files to their computers. Also, TiVo lets users transfer pictures and music from their computers to the TiVo box. Recently TiVo announced that users could access YouTube from the TiVo box bringing the YouTube into the living room. However, none of these improvements or features will make consumers shell out the extra cash. My suggestion to TiVo would be to exit the hardware business and begin selling its superior software to cable companies, which would then distribute its boxes with TiVo built in. The digital television revolution will continue to move toward high definition and it will keep moving with or without TiVo, so they better make drastic change if they want to stay in the race.

Sunflower Broadband customers should be excited. In fact they should be euphoric. Sunflower announced that 40 addition HD channels will be available beginning June 2. Most importantly, the new lineup will include ESPNU HD, ESPNEWS HD, Golf/Versus HD, Big Ten Network HD and TBS HD. Sunflower needed ensure these channels would be included because they all broadcast live sporting events, including the Major League Baseball Playoffs (TBS) and the Stanley Cup Playoffs (Versus). People do not pay thousands of dollars for HD TVs so they can watch Grey’s Anatomy. They want HD to watch sports.
Sports make HD worth it. They show off the vivid images, and they bring the viewer into the TV like never before. As I wrote earlier, time will tell if HD movies and primetime television shows will convince the skeptics. No one can deny that watching sports in high definition is outstanding. When I watched the Masters this April on CBS HD I thought Tiger Woods protruded from the screen and stepped into my living room. The experience is irreplaceable. When I flipped to TNT HD and watched the movie Happy Gilmore, Adam Sandler was not anywhere near my living room. The point is, no substitute exists for high definition sports, but when it comes to regular TV or movies I will settle for small screens, computer screens or even iPod screen. This is why people will watch their favorite shows online, but they refuse to watch football on any screen smaller than 32 inches. People will complain to waitresses about the lack of HD during the NCAA tournament (I’ve witnessed this), but will get the news from their cell phone. The experience of watching sports in HD cannot be matched and stating in June Sunflower is going to be an industry leader in providing sports channels in HD.
Hockey fans should be the most excited. The Stanley Cup Playoffs are pretty much the only time hockey matters in realm of American TV sports. As a person who watches about 30 minutes of hockey per season I cannot deny the sports its credit: it looks great in high definition. I think HD could be the NHL’s only hope in increasing its TV ratings.
Golf fans should be equally as thrilled. The Versus Network HD is a joint venture with Golf Channel HD, so they split airtime on the same channel. This means whichever channel is airing a live event in HD then that will be the channel Sunflower customers will receive. It sounds like a rip-off, but they play golf during the day and they play playoff hockey games in primetime, so HD subscribers get two for the price of one.
In addition to extra sports channels, Sunflower will add news channels such as CNN HD and other variety networks like AMC HD. The demand for these channels in high definition may not be as great, but Sunflower’s effort to take charge in the HD market will definitely please the rising number of HD customers, help attract new customers, and help Sunflower keep pace with DirectTV and Dish Network.

This link will provide a list of Sunflower's new channel lineup
http://www.sunflowerbroadband.com/cable/channel_lineup/channel_lineup-2008-5.v1.1.pdf