Sezmi launches innovative TV service: L.A. first, U.S. to follow

A Silicon Valley company today announced the launch of what it called “the third TV service.” The company and the service are named Sezmi. Sezmi service is slated to begin today in Los Angeles, and roll out gradually in most parts of the U.S.

Sezmi sources content from digital TV broadcasts and the Internet. It’s not just tuning in local digital broadcasts, though. The company says it has struck deals with local TV stations across the nation to use their multicasting capabilities to transmit a variety of programming normally available through cable or satellite, such as CNN, Comedy Central, and Bravo. These broadcasts will be scrambled so they can be received only through Sezmi.

Is There a Future in 3D?

In our Top Five Tech Trends for 08, we picked 3D television as one the most exciting. Laugh all you want at the funny glasses (and we've done our share of laughing too) but 3D TV is the real deal. Movie studios are ramping up production of 3D movies (George Lucas' upcoming Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated movie will be released in 3D on August 15) and TV manufacturers are introducing 3D displays to show 3D flicks. The problem, as we noted, is the lack of standards. Unless the industry agrees on a common technology, 3D sales will be flat.

Now, ars technica is reporting that the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) is ready to tackle the problem of 3D standards. SMPTE is a major force in the industry, and helped forged the engineering minutiae that is essential for modern film and television.

The newly formed 3-D Home Display Formats Task Force will look at content and displays, and applications ranging from broadcast to DVD and Blu-ray. The devil, of course, is in the details . . .

The Coming Telecom Competition

The crystal-ball gazers over at SNL Kagan are predicting that the various new telecommunications building projects in the U.S. (and around the world) will lead to intense competition among programming providers. Their research suggests that within five years, in 54 of the biggest 75 markets in the U.S., there will be four or more digital video distribution platforms all vying for your business. SNL Kagan specializes in "essential media and communications intelligence" and it's their business to keep careful track of these things.

Why should you care? Are you kidding?

Mitsubishi LaserVue Coming This Fall

Mitsubishi's LaserVue rear-projection 1080p DLP television was a knock-out at the Consumer Electronics Show last January. We were genuinely blown away by the vivid color and sharp detail of this prototype screen. But, we wondered, when would it ever see retailers' shelves? The answer, we now learn, is soon.

TVs Must Add Features to Compete. Surprised?

It's the same in every business. You have to keep adding features to keep the sales flowing. You need a new camera because the new ones do so much more than your old one. Your old cellphone worked just fine, but the new ones have so much more stuff. Your wife was just fine, but . . . wait!
That's another story.

TV marketing research has come out with an interesting report about how the TV industry will have to also add upgrades if they want to keep sales growing after an initial jump in digital TV sales due to the DTV transition.

The Big Picture (108 inches big)

Because I'm a professional journalist, and not some hack, I'll spare you the usual "size matters" cliches. However, it's my professional obligation to inform you that Sharp's HD monitor is bigger than yours.

The new Model LB-1085 measures 108 inches (actually, 107.5 inches diagonal, 52.9 inches high by 93.9 inches wide). The LB-1085 is billed as the "world's largest commercially available LCD monitor." That's probably true at least for a few days until someone else announces something even bigger. The fact that it's described as being for "commercial applications" is Sharp's way of telling us that its price will be as big as its size. However, if you can pony up the money, and tell Sharp that you own a sports bar, I'm sure they'll sell you one. The actual price, as they say, has not yet been announced, but U.S. availability is scheduled for September.

Out With the Old, In With the...Old?

While most folks are trying to figure out how to get the latest TV technology before the switch to digital, one ingenious and resourceful man in England took a unique approach to the problem.

You Can Never be TOO Thin...

According to news out of Korea, the new LG Scarlet TV is the world's thinnest TV. Well, at 45mm thick, it  is quite thin. But the thinnest model in the world? Not so fast, Ms. Scarlet. In a scene that could play out behind the scenes at the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, others are stepping forward to say that THEY are the thinnest, in particular - Hitachi's new line that's about to launch in the US. Hitachi's UltraThin 1.5 line converts to, if my math is right, 38.1mm. In a quick backstage alteration of phrasing, LG has changed their tune, rather quickly...

Kudos to KURO

If black is the new black, then Pioneer is just about the hippest manufacturer in town. While their previous models of KURO plasmas were the talk of the town, the newest models, the Elite PDP-5020FD and PDP-6020FD can produce even blacker blacks, the ultimate test for any plasma display. Pioneer has said that these new Elite screens produce blacks that are five times deeper than previous 2007 models. Smarter than the average TV, the KURO has a calibration system called Optimum Mode that adjusts both audio and video settings based on the video and ambient lighting to optimize performance of movies, sports and even news, with dialogue enhanced and background sounds downplayed. Need more details?

Is Your TV Green?

Hold on a second! Before you plug in that spiffy new TV, have you considered its carbon footprint? I don't care if you waste your life watching TV, but I do care if it's going to trash my planet. Apparently, the LCD TV Association cares too.

The good news (at least for LCD TV manufacturers) is that people are buying A LOT of LCD TVs. Busy factories globally cranked out 40 million sets in 2006, 70 million in 2007, and are on track to "easily exceed 100 million" this year. One can hardly imagine all the manufacturing refuse, non-recyclable parts, discarded packaging, toxic pieces, transportation energy, disposal costs, and just plain energy consumption involved in 100+ million TVs. So, putting on the Good Corporate Citizen hat, this trade association wants its manufacturer members to clean up their act (you can insert your own cynical remark if you want).