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OTA HD & Antennas

OTA HD & Antennas HD DVD Laser TVs

R.I.P For Home Theater Projectors?

Falling flat-screen prices are quietly threatening home theater front projection's survival. With 85-inch Ultra HD displays now matching decade-old projector prices, and 8K panels from Samsung and LG arriving faster than anyone anticipated, the case for keeping a projector and screen grows harder to justify. Micro-LED advances in commercial cinemas hint at where home displays are heading next, and the trajectory points toward a future where projectors become nostalgic relics.

Pete Putman •
Columns
HD DVD OTA HD & Antennas Laser TVs

On LED Walls Versus Projectors and Who Ultimately Wins This Battle

LED walls have quietly staged a takeover of live events, outdoor venues, and broadcast studios, pushing high-brightness projectors to the margins faster than most industry veterans anticipated. Fine-pitch tiles now deliver 4K resolution and staggering brightness levels that stacked projectors simply cannot match in practical deployments. Reliability concerns and the dominance of Chinese manufacturers navigating Western markets remain the last real obstacles standing between LED walls and total victory.

Pete Putman •
Columns
4K Ultra HD HD DVD Home Theater

HDTV and Home Theater Podcast - Podcast #627: JVC 4K UltraHD Projectors

JVC's Procision projectors, including the entry-level DLA-X500R at $5,000, use e-Shift3 technology to simulate 4K by offsetting two native 1080p D-ILA chips by half a pixel diagonally, achieving high pixel density rather than true 4K resolution. All 4K input signals are downscaled to 1080p before processing, meaning the projected image approaches but does not match a native 4K display like Sony's VPL-VW500ES at $10,000. Buyers gain impressive contrast ratios up to 150,000:1 native and strong color reproduction, making these a compelling compromise for home theater enthusiasts not yet ready to invest in true 4K.

The HT Guys •
Podcasts
HD DVD Home Theater OTA HD & Antennas

HDTV and Home Theater Podcast - Podcast #606: Best Selling Projectors

Five top-selling home theater projectors are reviewed, ranging from the $549 B-stock Epson MegaPlex MG-850HD at 2,800 lumens to the THX-certified Epson Home Cinema 5030UB at $2,599 with 3-chip LCD technology and built-in 2D-to-3D conversion. The only DLP entry, the BenQ W1070, uses Texas Instruments DarkChip 3 and delivers 1080p 3D at $999 with ISF calibration support. Buyers balancing budget against light control, 3D capability, and room flexibility will find meaningful tradeoffs across each model.

The HT Guys •
Podcasts
4K Ultra HD Buying Guides Codecs & Compression

HDTV Expert - SMPTE Fall Technology Conference: UHDTV Symposium - Pete Putman

The SMPTE Fall Technology Conference featured a one-day technical symposium on next-generation image formats, including a presentation titled 'UHDTV: The Big Picture on Bigger Pictures' examining Ultra High Definition Television technology. The symposium addressed the broader landscape of pixel density, image quality, and format advancements, separating verified technical claims from speculation. Attendees gained practical insight into where UHDTV stands relative to competing next-gen formats and what those differences mean for real-world display and broadcast applications.

Pete Putman •
Columns
HD DVD Home Theater OTA HD & Antennas

HDTV and Home Theater Podcast - Podcast #587: CE Pro Brand Analysis 2013 and Home Theater Design Tips & Mistakes

The 2013 CE Pro Brand Analysis reveals notable shifts in custom installation market share, with Epson overtaking Runco in projectors at 47% versus Runco's collapse from 46% to a tie for fourth, while Samsung held firm atop flat-panel TVs at 87%. A companion CE Pro white paper on home theater design covers practical acoustic and visual considerations, including the recommendation to use cloth over leather seating for sound absorption and to apply matte or flat dark paint to walls and ceilings to minimize light reflection that cannot be corrected through calibration. Installers and enthusiasts alike will find actionable guidance on seating distance multipliers, screen sizing, and room treatment priorities.

The HT Guys •
Podcasts
HDTV Expert - Projector Manufacturers Are Going Lamp-Free. But Is It Too Late?
OTA HD & Antennas Projection HD HD Receivers

HDTV Expert - Projector Manufacturers Are Going Lamp-Free. But Is It Too Late?

Sony's new laser-powered 3LCD projector, built on the FH31-series chassis with a claimed 20,000-hour lifespan and 4,000-lumen output, signals a broader industry shift toward lamp-free projection as manufacturers including Panasonic, Epson, and NEC race to market with laser and laser/LED hybrid models. In side-by-side testing, Sony's unit showed a visible edge in color saturation over Panasonic's PT-RZ470 single-chip DLP projector. However, AV professionals report that large LCD displays - often 70 to 90 inches - are already displacing projectors in classrooms and conference rooms due to superior brightness, lower maintenance, and dramatically reduced lamp-replacement overhead.

Pete Putman •
Columns
Blu-ray Projection HD Streaming HD

HDTV Expert - TV, Over The Air and Everywhere!

Aereo's antenna-based internet rebroadcasting service has drawn legal threats from CBS and Fox, who demand retransmission fees despite losing two court battles, while the NFL's silence on Aereo carrying its games without rights payments raises pointed questions about selective enforcement. Nielsen data shows Blu-ray disc adoption grew 14% year-over-year in 2012, yet streaming faces serious reliability problems, with Conviva's analysis of 22 billion video streams finding 60% experienced quality degradation including re-buffering, slow startup, and low bit-rate picture quality. For consumers, the choice between physical media and streaming remains a genuine trade-off between convenience and consistent playback quality.

Pete Putman •
Columns
OTA HD & Antennas Projection HD Home Theater PC (HTPC)

HDTV Expert - Lamp? What Lamp?

Lamp-free projection technology is emerging as a competitive response to large-format LCD displays, with manufacturers at Integrated Systems Europe 2013 showcasing LED and laser-based projectors ranging from 500 lumens to over 60,000 lumens for digital cinema. Sony debuted the first 3LCD laser imaging system, while Christie Digital demonstrated a 60,000-plus lumen laser DLP Cinema projector during a GI JOE: RETALIATION screening, and LED-only designs currently top out at 1,100 lumens with laser/LED hybrids bridging up to 4,000 lumens. For end users, lamp-free designs promise 15,000 to 20,000 hours of essentially maintenance-free operation with instant on/off capability, directly addressing the key advantages that large LCD panels hold over conventional projectors.

Pete Putman •
Columns
LED TVs OTA HD & Antennas HD DVD

HDTV and Home Theater Podcast - Podcast #580: Mohu Sky HDTV Antenna

The Mohu Sky HDTV Antenna, a 23 x 11 inch multi-directional outdoor antenna rated for a 60-mile range, incorporates military-derived technology alongside a 15dB integrated amplifier and Clean Peak filter for low-noise digital signal amplification. In a non-ideal temporary installation outside a bedroom window, it pulled in 31 digital channels including upper UHF band signals and stations beyond the rated 60-mile range from San Diego and Mexico. For cord-cutters seeking a compact, easy-to-install outdoor antenna without professional setup, it outperforms larger alternatives at its $170 price point.

The HT Guys •
Podcasts
HD DVD Home Theater OTA HD & Antennas

HDTV and Home Theater Podcast - Podcast #574: WD TV Play and Projector vs Large Format TV

The WD TV Play, a $70 media player with built-in Wi-Fi and Full-HD 1080p output, supports an extensive range of formats including MKV (h.264, AVC) and Dolby TrueHD audio, while offering streaming services and a notable Slingplayer app tested at 2Mbps upstream with solid results. A separate comparison weighs projector setups averaging $7,500 against large-format TVs ranging from a 70-inch Vizio at $1,700 to a 90-inch Sharp 240Hz 3D LED at $9,000. Readers evaluating home theater options will find concrete cost and size trade-offs that clarify whether a large-format TV can realistically replace a front-projection system.

The HT Guys •
Podcasts
Living with 4K - Here is the 4K Content
HD DVD Home Theater OTA HD & Antennas

Living with 4K - Here is the 4K Content

Sony's 4K demo server for projector owners is an HP-based system delivering up to 2 hours of 4K content, including the 48-minute TimeScapes nature film, connected via hi-speed HDMI with only stereo or Dolby 5.1 audio tracks via Toslink. Content is encoded at 8-bit, 4:2:0, Rec-709 color space at 24fps, the same baseline as Blu-ray, leaving the full potential of 4K unrealized in many clips. Viewers evaluating on a 130-inch Stewart Firehawk screen found that well-shot material like the Rocky Mountain Express clips delivered a convincing sense of realism, but inconsistent lighting and compression in other clips made some 4K content indistinguishable from 1080p Blu-ray.

Rodolfo La Maestra •
Articles
Home Theater LCoS TVs OTA HD & Antennas

OmniVision Launches Cost-Effective, High-Performance HD LCOS Solution for Pico Projection Systems

OmniVision's OVP7200 and OVP921 form a complete LCOS chipset targeting pico projection systems, with the OVP7200 delivering native 1280x720 resolution on a compact 0.37-inch panel using all-digital liquid crystal drive technology. The OVP921 companion chip integrates keystone correction, frame rate conversion, and support for 24-bit RGB, MIPI, and USB inputs without requiring external memory or an image processor. Together, the chipset simplifies system design for engineers building HD projection into mobile devices and automotive head-up displays.

Bulletins
3DTV HD DVD Home Theater

Epson Debuts Ultra Bright HD 2D/3D Projector Under $900

Epson's PowerLite Home Cinema 750HD is a 3LCD projector delivering 3,000 lumens of both color and white brightness at 720p resolution, with active shutter 3D support priced at $899. The projector features Bright 3D Drive Technology, RF 3D glasses with a three-minute quick charge lasting up to 40 hours, and an E-TORL lamp rated for up to 5,000 hours of life. For buyers seeking a versatile home theater solution, its broad out-of-the-box compatibility with Blu-ray players, game consoles, and cable boxes eliminates the need for a separate format converter.

Bulletins
HD DVD Home Theater OTA HD & Antennas

LG Announces Cinematic 100-inch Class Laser TV

LG's HECTO is a 100-inch class Laser TV that uses an Ultra Short Throw projection unit positioned just 22 inches from the screen, delivering Full HD 1080p resolution with a 1,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio. The laser-based illumination system is rated for up to 25,000 hours of operation, roughly five times the lifespan of conventional mercury-based lamps. For home theater enthusiasts, this combination of near-wall placement flexibility, Smart TV features including WiDi and Miracast, and a built-in digital tuner makes large-format projection far more practical than traditional ceiling-mounted systems.

Bulletins