LATEST ADDITIONS

The most frequently asked questions I've received this year have been about the difference between 1080i and 1080p. Many people felt—or others erroneously told them—that their brand-new 1080p TVs were actually 1080i, as that was the highest resolution they could accept on any input. I did a blog post on this topic and received excellent questions, which I followed up on. It is an important enough question—and one that creates a significant amount of confusion—that I felt I should address it here, as well.

That's right. It's my birthday. Fifty years ago, I arrived. But unlike this Magnavox console which followed me into the world a few years later, I've not been abandoned curbside. At least, not yet.

Sony took official ownership of CEDIA 2006 on Day 1 when it officially announced the VPL-VW50 SXRD front projector. Sony had previously lit the world on fire with the VPL-VW100<A HREF="http://ultimateavmag.com/videoprojectors/1205sony/">"Ruby"</A>, a fully outfitted three-chip 1080p SXRD projector with a retail of $10K, which was significantly less money than the premium single-chip 720p DLPs that ruled the day when it was released in Fall 2005 (not to mention that is a full two-thirds cheaper than Sony's first SXRD front pro, the <A HREF="http://ultimateavmag.com/videoprojectors/504sony/">Qualia 004</A>).

Last night I went to a rock concert and a product launch broke out. But seriously folks, as you're all probably aware Sony's long awaited PlayStation3 game console officially went on sale at midnight last night around the country. I attended the San Francisco launch at the Sony Metreon, where fans, er consumers, were camped out and lined up around the building and down the street for the privilege of buying the consoles as they went on sale at the stroke of midnight.