Richard Lawler
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Richard Lawler is used to being on the bleeding edge of technology, he can usually be found with a cellphone that does everything except make or receive phone calls, an Xbox that no longer plays games, and a car that's not running, but has slightly more speakers than the indigenous North American language "Onandoga". He can usually be found extolling the virtues of the Phantom game system for any and all who will listen on the High-tech boards of Okayplayer.com that he also moderates. He's not as much of an HD addict as Kevin, but he's probably seen Sunrise Earth on Discovery HD more times than he's seen a real sunrise in the last year.
by Richard Lawler, posted Jul 24th 2008 at 2:26PM
What we're watching tonight:
- TBS (1080i) lines up The Bill Engvall Show at 9 p.m. followed by My Boys at 9:30 p.m.
- USA (1080i) brings Burn Notice at 10 p.m.
- NBC (1080i) has Fear Itself at 10 p.m.
- CBS (1080i) slides Flashpoint into its new day at 10 p.m.
- ABC (720p) has Hopkins at 10 p.m.
- TLC (1080i) tosses in American Chopper at 9 p.m. and Miami Ink at 10 p.m.
- History (1080i) has The Works at 10 p.m.
- Speed (720p) has Wrecked at 10:30 p.m.
- ESPN (720p) presents the 2008 MLS All-Star Game at 7 p.m.
- ESPN2 (720p) has Dale Jr. - Shifting Gears at 7 p.m.
by Richard Lawler, posted Jul 24th 2008 at 8:25AM
With the aim of putting making Blu-ray accessible for smaller studios, Sony Creative Software has released the BAE-VX1000 encoder for disc authoring. $55,000 buys a system capable of analyzing a film automatically and offering multiple bit rate versions to be compared later, or frame by frame encoding. The finished product comes out in either h.264 or MPEG-2 form (what, no VC-1?) and it works on varying setups from one to many PCs or servers depending on what a studio can afford. Of course, it's the perfect match for Sony's
Blu-print software (now up to version 4.3) or other authoring applications, we'll wait for prices to get a bit more affordable before cranking out the next
Behind the Scenes at CES boxed set, but for the pros it might be worth it to get the same tools Sony Pictures uses.
by Richard Lawler, posted Jul 23rd 2008 at 7:59PM
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What we're watching tonight:
- Sci Fi (1080i) has Ghost Hunters International at 9 p.m. followed by Scare Tactics at 10 & 10:30 p.m.
- History (1080i) brings MonsterQuest at 9 p.m.
- Bravo (1080i) has Shear Genius at 10 p.m.
- TBS (1080i) has Tyler Perry's House of Payne at 10 & 10:30 p.m.
by Richard Lawler, posted Jul 23rd 2008 at 5:35PM
One of the many reasons our killer
Captain EO home theater setup hasn't become a reality yet is because even with more than a few kinds of
3D HDTV equipment on shelves, there's no standard that guarantees that next
Hannah Montana Blu-ray disc will be able to take advantage of it. The
SMPTE hopes to change all of that, establishing a task force (has anyone asked the
3D@Home Consortium how they feel about it?) with the mandate of creating a standard for 3D "
content distributed via broadcast, cable, satellite, packaged media and the Internet and played-out on televisions, computer screens and other tethered displays". The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers are the fine people behind nearly every way you currently experience AV at home, so after the inaugural meeting August 19 and six months to create a report (EE Times notes actually setting a standard could take 18-30 months, so don't move the furniture yet), really all that's left is to explain our Michael Jackson infatuation.
[Via EE Times]by Richard Lawler, posted Jul 22nd 2008 at 4:50PM
What we're watching tonight:
- ABC (720p) has I Survived a Japanese Game Show at 9:01 p.m.
- TLC (1080i) lines up Say Yes to the Dress at 8 p.m. followed by Rock the Reception and Must Love Kids
- ABC Family (720p) has Secret Life of the American Teenager at 8 p.m.
- A&E (720p) brings The Cleaner at 10 p.m.
- Discovery (1080i) presents the season finale of Deadliest Catch at 9 p.m.
- Sci Fi (1080i) has ECW at 10 p.m.
- History (1080i) tosses in the season finale of Mega Disasters at 10 p.m.
- ESPN HD (720p) kicks off the 2008 World Series of Poker at 8 p.m.
by Richard Lawler, posted Jul 21st 2008 at 6:12PM
What we're watching tonight:
- NBC (1080i) has Gladiators at 8 p.m. followed by Nashville Star
- TLC (1080i) premieres Take Home Nanny at 8 p.m., followed by Jon & Kate Plus 8
- TNT (1080i) has The Closer at 9 p.m. followed by Saving Grace at 10 p.m.
- HBO (1080i) premieres Heidi Fleiss: The Would-Be Madam of Crystal at 9 p.m.
- USA (1080i) airs WWE: Raw at 9 p.m.
- ABC Family (720p) throws in The Middleman at 10 p.m.
- A&E (720p) has the season finale of Psychic Kids at 10 p.m.
- Discovery (1080i) brings Verminators at 10 p.m.
- ESPN (720p) has Brewers/Cardinals at 7 p.m.
by Richard Lawler, posted Jul 20th 2008 at 5:46PM
What we're watching tonight:
- ESPN HD (720p) has Red/Sox Angels at 6 p.m., followed by the 2008 Espys at 9 p.m.
- HBO (1080i) continues Generation Kill at 9 p.m.
- USA (1080i) lines up Law & Order: CI at 9 p.m. followed by In Plain Sight at 10 p.m.
- Sci Fi (1080i) has a new movie, Turning Point at 9 p.m.
- History (1080i) has Ice Road Truckers at 9 p.m. followed by Tougher in Alaska at 10 p.m.
- A&E (720p) drops in Gene Simmons' Family Jewels at 9:30 p.m. followed by The Two Coreys at 10 p.m.
- TLC (1080i) has The Singing Office at 10 p.m.
- ESPN2 HD (720p) has NHRA Nationals at 9 p.m.
by Richard Lawler, posted Jul 19th 2008 at 4:55PM
What we're watching tonight:
- TLC (1080i) has Flip That House at 8 p.m.
- ABC (720p) airs Freaky Friday at 8 p.m.
- Speed (720p) has NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series action @ Kentucky at 6:30 p.m.
- ESPN2 HD (720p) has NHRA Nationals Qualifying at 8 p.m followed by NASCAR Nationwide @ Gateway International Raceway at 9:30 p.m.
- Spike TV (1080i) brings UFC Fight Night at 9 p.m.
- Cinemax (1080i) premieres The Heartbreak Kid at 10 p.m.
by Richard Lawler, posted Jul 19th 2008 at 2:48PM
Making sure Phoenix-area customers have access to those
thousands of hours of
Olympics coverage,
Cox is launching USA HD, CNBC HD+, NBC Olympic Soccer Channel HD and Lifetime HD July 21. The first three should account for more than 750 hours of HD Olympics action, so check out the
schedule and get your DVR ready.
by Richard Lawler, posted Jul 19th 2008 at 10:02AM
Our friends in the Great White North can expect some great HD coverage of this summer's Olympic games, as the
CBC recently laid out its broadcast schedule, planning 282 hours of high definition coverage, while
TSN promises 150 hours of HD coverage. CBC will also throw in 400 hours of SD coverage, which, may not equal
NBC's numbers, but anyone who's viewed both can tell you without a doubt their presentation has trumped NBC's in its ability to satisfy sports fans (with the exception of their curling obsession during the Winter Olympics) with live action for many years. Online streaming of 1,500 hours of event coverage including live events will also be available, so we don't expect Canadians will miss a minute of the action from Beijing.
by Richard Lawler, posted Jul 18th 2008 at 3:14PM
What we're watching tonight:
- USA (1080i) presents the season premieres of Monk at 9 p.m. and Psych at 10 p.m.
- History (1080i) presents Shockwave at 10 p.m.
- CW (1080i) has WWE SmackDown! at 8 p.m.
- CBS (1080i) has Flashpoint at 10 p.m.
- Sci Fi (1080i) drops in Stargate Atlantis at 10 p.m.
- TLC (1080i) has What not to Wear at 9 p.m. followed by Ashley Paige: Bikini or Bust at 10 & 10:30 p.m.
- ESPN2 HD (720p) brings Friday Night Fights at 9 p.m.
by Richard Lawler, posted Jul 18th 2008 at 8:10AM
Hopefully ready to calm down recent media alerts about the deadly chemicals that might be in your TV right now RUN, RUN RUN, The Linde Group is offering a replacement for nitrogen trifluoride (NF3) currently used during the production of LCDs and solar panels. The recent news has focused on the lack of monitoring around NF3 and its possible affect on global warming, The Linde Group's process uses fluorine gas for higher effeciency and zero global warming potential. The company's fluorine generators are already in use by manufacturers like Toshiba Matsushita Display, Samsung and LG, and since 1080p can be so easily obscured by smog and rising oceans, we hope others take a look at their environmental impact very closely as well.
by Richard Lawler, posted Jul 17th 2008 at 9:05PM
A nation full of DVR subscribers with access to
DirecTV On Demand have something new to watch, now that a partnership with NBC is pushing a special Olympics package on the service in SD and HD. Consisting of athlete features, Beijing previews and other related content, there should be ten VOD titles each week, with more than 500 by the time the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games are over. It's been a couple of weeks since the service exited
beta status, are you not entertained?
by Richard Lawler, posted Jul 17th 2008 at 4:53PM
What we're watching tonight:
- TBS (1080i) has The Bill Engvall Show at 9 p.m. followed by My Boys at 9:30 p.m.
- USA (1080i) brings Burn Notice at 10 p.m.
- NBC (1080i) drops in Fear Itself at 10 p.m.
- ABC (720p) has Hopkins at 10 p.m.
- CBS (1080i) lines up Swingtown at 10 p.m.
- History (1080i) has The Works at 10 p.m.
- ESPN HD (720p) as MLS with Kansas City/Columbus at 8 p.m.
- ESPN2 HD (720p) airs the MLL All-Star Game at 10 p.m.
by Richard Lawler, posted Jul 17th 2008 at 9:51AM
A lot of things have changed
since 2006. We're not as angry, Michael Robinson is now a fullback for the 49ers, and
Scrubs has gone from the only SD holdout on NBC's Thursday night lineup (with the exception of one
surprise HD test episode) to finally joining the high definition world in its 8th season, now on ABC. Of course this means we can finally start watching again -- even with the possibility that this is the last season with star Zach Braff planning to leave and take main character J.D. with him -- does anyone know what happened after that whole "I'm pregnant" announcement?
