Regardless of what some liberal arts students or free-love hippies may tell you, you don’t get something for nothing. Or, better yet, as the redoubtable Robert Heinlein coined, “TANSTAAFL” (There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch). This simple truth frames the cold, hard realities about to face broadcasters after the current mobile DTV [...]
Not too long ago I had some time to review the capabilities of an Insignia CECB (coupon eligible converter box) and found that it was quite capable for its intended purpose. However, it lacked a few features and I discovered a matrix that showed one converter box with the most features of any CECB [...]
This year’s NAB had a bit more energy among television broadcasters than the NAB show last year and almost all of it was around the mobile DTV plans and testing currently going on. Despite the interest in mobile DTV and the NAB claiming ~105,000 registered attendees, the North and Central halls were only mildly [...]
No “film at 11″ drama here; yes, it works and it works surprisingly well for a $60 piece of electronics ($20 after the $40 coupon is applied).
For those that don’t know, this Insignia brand NS-DXA1 DTV converter box is one of a few available devices which are part of the US government’s effort to make [...]
To be succinct, I simply don’t (and won’t) buy as much as I did before. For the past few years I didn’t think too hard about buying the week’s more popular DVD release of the latest blockbuster (or near blockbuster). This is why my DVD collection sprang to over 400 titles! I [...]
Not many people get inside Sutro Tower, so I consider myself pretty fortunate. My current employer doesn’t have transmit facilities or other interests at Sutro, so I was escorted through the gate and into the facility by a contract engineer, John Buckham, that our SF station has who also maintains a radio station [...]
It’s a new year and as of the first of the year every Sally-Shopper and Johnny-Bag-O-Donuts is eligible for their two free coupons good for $40 towards the purchase of a set-top DTV converter box. Too bad it’s $30 short of the retail price of the box when it becomes available in mid February…
Although [...]
Today I made the plunge and finally got off the HD-DVD/Blu-Ray format fence and bought a PS3 system.
There were several reasons for this; first I did NOT buy it because I love Blu-Ray. I like that it has multiple studio and vendor support as well as about 25GB storage per layer, but the hardware [...]
For the old…. err.. “seasoned” television viewer that doesn’t understand what a “Tivo” is and still tunes in to re-runs of Matlock (after adding more tin foil to the rabbit ears), a few items just popped up on my radar I thought I would forward to everyone.
First is a website discussing the digital transition [...]
For several years I have been attending the NAB convention and this year I was asked to craft a report for my current employer: ION Media Networks.
>General Observations:
The last few years I have noticed a progressive thinning of broadcast television specific technology and a steady shift toward digital media primarily focusing on its creation, storage, [...]