Another Direct-to-TV-Sets Download Service – LG Electronics and Netflix have announced a cooperative service similar to that already offered by Apple TV and Akimbo. A new set-top box and Internet connection will be required, and movies will be delivered directly to TV sets rather than to a subscriber’s PC or Mac as Netflix has also been offering. About 6000 titles from the 90,000 title library of Netflix will be available, and users will be able to enjoy movies in the comfort of their living room or home theater rather than having to sit in front of their computer.
In-Car FM Transmitters for iPods Arouse FCC Concern – Millions of drivers are using small FM modulators to broadcast the signal from their iPods or satellite radio receivers to a frequency on their car FM tuner. That is their only option if their car unit has no aux audio input or cassette player which allows them to use a cheaper (and even worse-sounding) cassette adapter. However, some of these $50+ modulators are putting out way more signal than needed just to get from the passenger seat to the dashboard, and other drivers in traffic and at stop signs have been complaining about interference with their radio or iPod listening.
The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) published a study showing that 76% of their tested modulators were in violation of FCC standards. One was 200 times stronger than the FCC limit. The FCC then forced both XM Radio and Sirius to pull their noncompliant radios from the shelves, units which were also used in the home to send their satellite programming wirelessly to home audio systems. One result of this little secret getting out is that major manufacturers are going to be more concerned about producing law-abiding electronic gadgets for consumers, but watch out for unknown off-brands.
HDMI Problems, Cont. – More and more consumers are getting into 1080p video displays, AV receivers and preamps with 192K chips and multichannel AV sources. Both hi-def DVD formats use the new lossless Dolby and DTS multichannel audio codecs. As a result, the attractions of greatly simplifying cable hookups plus maintaining pristine quality on lengthy signal chains has brought many new users to switch to HDMI and DVI uncompressed digital AV connections. The problem is they don’t always work. One glitch seems to be the hi-def content protection scheme built into HDMI & DVI – HDCP. If you get no audio at all, a blank screen, video that goes on and off, or even snow (which we thought we solved forever in the switch to digital), you probably are dealing with the “HDCP handshake problem.” Just enter that phrase in Google and you’ll find several helpful sites that may solve your HDMI frustrations. Another glitch has to do with I2C implementation; this is a serial interface used for years by Philips, which is now a part of HDMI. The fault has to with the rise time spec. Then there are problems that crop up when users try to run too long an HDMI cable, and/or bend it too sharply. Yet another big frustration is that most of the HDMI cables are too big for the small connectors and they tend to pull out or fall out. The HDMI folks say they are “designed that way for best integrity and ease of operation.” Oh yeah?
