Blu-ray Disc player household penetration is up to 12.3 million in the US for the first quarter of 2009, a 71 per cent gain year over year, according to a survey.
Research firm Centris also found that the number of American households with an HDTV is up to 50.5 million – a gain of 33 per cent from the first quarter of 2008.
High Definition TV News
Atlona has released a new range of HDMI and DVI to HDMI cables that feature a swivel connector end which allows them to bend at 90 degrees in either direction.
This connector design enables users to nearly flush mount their HDTVs – avoiding the problems posed when connecting standard HDMI cables to rear-facing HDMI ports.
Onkyo has introduced two new 7.1-channel home theater systems that it claims deliver leading edge AV processing and surround sound reproduction for HDTV and Blu-ray.
The HT-S7200 and HT-S6200 each feature powerful AV receivers with 1080p-compatible HDMI inputs, 130 watt-per-channel amplification, processing for every major audio format on the market.
PayTV operator Sky has selected Pace’s HD technology for its set-top box deployments in Germany and Austria, which will begin rolling out in August.
Pace has been a set-top box technology partner of Sky, formerly Premiere, for a number of years.
The number of people watching video-on-demand (VOD) programming in the US surged in June – fuelled by rises in the popularity of pay-per-view content and more children taking advantage of free programming, according to Rentrak.
The increases made June the most-viewed month for video-on-demand this year, delivering more than 589 million transactions.
Universal Studios has announced plans to add a series of iPhone and iPod touch-enabled features on its upcoming Blu-ray releases.
These will enable access to exclusive interactive content through the mobile devices – starting with the Blu-ray release of the box-office smash Fast & Furious on July 28th.
Vivitek has signalled its intention to penetrate the US home-theater projector market with the unveiling of its latest FullHD 1080p home-theater projector.
The H1080FD FullHD model, which is based on Texas Instruments’ S450 chip/light-engine design, will go on sale in August for a price of USD $999.
More flesh has been added to Toshiba’s plans to bring out a Blu-ray player – it is likely to be called the BD-18 and could be available as soon as the year end.
The company, which backed the HD DVD high-definition format that eventually lost to Sony’s prevailing Blu-ray, had stubbornly maintained it would not bring out a Blu-ray player and instead focused on its XDE DVD-upscaling technology.
Pace is to provide an HD-capable set-top box to Latin America’s largest multi-service cable provider.
Brazil’s cable operator NET Serviços de Comunicação is buying the UK firms’s new HD-capable set-top unit as part of its drive to establish a fully HD, digitised customer base.
ADVERTORIAL: Product debuts and important industry topics such as ecology, lifestyle, HDTV & wireless communications the main features at IFA 2009
For the second time, and with an even more comprehensive show, the leading brands of the consumer electronics and electrical home appliances industries will be jointly represented on the Berlin Exhibition Grounds at IFA 2009.