If you'd like to enjoy high definition TV programs on your new HDTV but don't want to have to pay a monthly fee for satellite or cable, you may be in luck, depending how close you are to a major city.

All of the major networks, including NBC, ABC, CBS, PBS, Fox, and a few of the minor networks are currently broadcasting digital standard definition and high definition programs for free over the air from broadcasting towers all across the country. If you live in or near a major city, chances are pretty good you can receive high definition programs with no monthly fee and with a minimal investment in an antenna.

VIA: bigpicturebigsound.com

Sony Corp has announced it will begin the "eyeVio HD Pro" service, which enables posting and sharing of HDTV video files on its video sharing portal "eyeVio," from June 30, 2008, in Japan. Sony has run the eyeVio service since April 2007.

In addition to PCs, users can view video clips uploaded to the eyeVio HD Pro on TVs by connecting Sony's "BRX-NT1" network TV box or "PlayStation 3" stationary game console with the TV, the company said.

Posting HDTV video clips becomes available just by applying for an account to use the eyeVio HD Pro service from the Website. Members can upload HDTV video files of up to 500 Mbytes each. Moreover, members that are allowed to post HDTV video files can invite up to five family members and friends to join the eyeVio HD Pro service.

The KWorld PlusTV ATSC 340U is a USB TV tuner. It can receive both over-the-air digital signals and unencrypted QAM signals (which are delivered via cable). Either way, it's your chance to watch and record HDTV on your Windows PC. Newegg is selling the 340U for an impossibly cheap $14.99 (after a $20 mail-in rebate). Shipping will run you six bucks.

Keep in mind that this is strictly a digital tuner, meaning if you plug in a cable-TV cable, you'll receive only QAM stations. (If you're not up to speed on QAM, check the Wikipedia entry.) What's more, Windows Media Center should be able to detect the tuner if you use an antenna (a small one is included), but it definitely won't if you go the QAM route (that's a WMC limitation). Fortunately, KWorld bundles Arcsoft's surprisingly decent TotalMedia software, which provides full DVR capabilities -- and QAM support.

Kevin Miller, a contributing editor for CNET, was recently invited to Japan by Sony for a weeklong trip to show off some of the company's new HDTV technology. Among the highlights were Sony's new 4K by 2K projector, the SRX-R220, its new line of Bravia, and the XBR flat panel LCD HDTVs, a new proprietary wireless HDMI technology, called Bravia Wireless Link, and some updates on its new OLED displays.

Sony demonstrated its new Bravia XBR8 series televisions, due stateside this fall, adjacent to Samsung's LN-T4681F and Pioneer's PDP-4280HD from 2007. Kevin said that "the blacks on the new XBR8 series look to be the best of any LCD that I have seen to date by a good margin." Sony chalks up those deep blacks to its Triluminous technology, which utilizes LEDs that can be dimmed independently across the screen, instead of the standard fluorescent backlight that remains constantly turned on. Sony also exhibited what the company calls Motionflow Pro, a step up from its standard MotionFlow technology available on current models like the KDL-46W4100. We expect to review the XBR8 models as soon as they're available.

If you’re buying a new high definition TV or even a converter box for your current set, the salesman may tell you, you need to buy new cables. These cables can cost as much as $100. Do you really need to spend that for a good picture?

Noah Brauer was stunned that some cables could cost $100 or more.
"They said a 25 foot cable was gonna be upwards of 250, 300 bucks," said Brauer.

To find out if the pricey cables would really give him a better picture we went to the electronics store and purchased two popular types of TV cables: HDMI and component. A “high quality” HDMI cable listed at $99 and the component cable at $69.

HDTV News: Samsung has made its mark in the HDTV market and they most definitely delivered brilliant full 1080p HD in an energy-efficient design with the HL72A650. The Samsung HL72A650 HDTV has a 72″ DLP screen and is housed in a sleek piano key black cabinet, with a slim depth that fits where others won’t.

Samsung Cinema Smooth 120Hz light engine offers smooth, film-like images. User have an option to select game mode for advanced gaming action. Its 3D capabilities let you enjoy HD Bluray, 3D movies, and games to the fullest. Lastly, you can maximize picture and audio performance and minimize wires and cables by connecting your HD cables to satellite video components with the 3 HDMI inputs. Wiselink USB 2.0 input lets you connect your digital camera or MP3 player, for quick access to pictures and playlists from your remote control.

The company on Wednesday released further details of its laser-based high definition sets that it first introduced at the Consumer Electronics Show in January.

NEW YORK CITY (BetaNews) - Mitsubishi plans to release new models based on its new laser technology in 65" and 73" sizes, with the smaller version expected to be released in the third quarter of this year, the company said at a press event. If Mitsubishi makes that target, the 65" model would be the first commercially available laser television on the market.

Other companies have attempted to bring their own sets to the market, however none have been successful as yet. Mitsubishi claims its industry lead in the red laser market puts it at an advantage to its competitors.

Laser TV is able to produce a more crisp image as the technology can reproduce as much as 90% of the visible color spectrum. This is more than twice the capability of plasma televisions. Also, lasers shut off to produce black -- which means much higher dynamic contrast ratios, and video that looks much truer to life.

Pinnacle has announced a new USB HDTV tuner stick for the PC. The device is about the size of a flash drive and is called the Pinnacle PCTV HD Stick and a HD Pro Stick is available as well. Both devices can support HD resolutions up to 1080i and only require connection to a USB port.

The tuners utilize ClearQAM tuners to OTA HD programs. Both sticks are compatible with Windows Vista and XP MCE. The small tuners are ideal for users looking for mobile TV viewing. The HD Pro stick adds the ability to view current analog programs, has a FM tuner and can receive signals from a cable or satellite box and camcorders. The HD Stick sells for $69.99 and the HD Stick Pro sells for $99.99.

AMD has today resurrected the once highly popular All-in-Wonder lineup of hybrid solutions. The new card is simply dubbed the All-in-Wonder HD; the first ATI based graphics card ever with HD tuner support embedded.

The graphics card itself is based around the 55nm Radeon HD 3650 with 120 Stream processors, a 128-bit DDR2 memory interface, DirectX 10.1 support and a unified video decoder for HD video decoding at the hardware level.

The tuner implementation comprises support for analog TV, free-to-air HDTV and ClearQAM unencrypted cable. Furthermore, there is the added benefit of hardware MPEG-2 encoding.

As far as the I/O goes; we see the inclusion of both DVI and HDMI outputs as well as a daughter card with S-Video, stereo-in and component video connectivity; this making it an ideal partner for HTPCs. Word has it we will first see these new cards appear from partners Diamond and VisionTek by late July at an RRP of $199 US.

In case you didn't know, the absolute best picture you can possibly get for your HDTV (outside of Blu-ray) is from an off-air broadcast HD signal. In the airwaves, signals generally don't have to compete for bandwidth like they do in cable and satellite systems, where they're always compressed (sometimes excessively), which can lead to a degraded picture. So hooking up an antenna to your high-def set is a great idea, even if you have cable.

If there's any problem, it's that your sleek, modern flat panel is going to look mighty kitschy with a pair of rabbit ears on top of it. That's where RCA's Digital Flat Antennas come in. The first one in the line, the ANT1500, is basically a white square that's less than an inch thick. You can hide it underneath, beside, or behind your set, and it's wall mountable, too.