Q: I’ve finally decided to buy a HDTV, and I was just wondering what your input on DLNA was. Do you know of any good models out there that support this feature (that also allow access to several media servers)? Or should I wait until DLNA becomes more standard in HDTVs? — Chris, via e-mail.

A: Hi Chris. We’ve covered in detail what exactly the Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) is all about before, and reviewed several models (as mentioned below) that support the specification. As for access to several media servers–most DLNA-certified clients (including all the certified HDTVs we reviewed this year) support several media servers at once. You will have to switch between them of course, but it’s never been a issue with performance in our experience. The short answer to your other question, however, is DLNA is still in its infancy for being adopted by TV manufacturers. 2008 has been the year where it was introduced and perhaps 2009 will be the year that its more commonplace in HDTVs. As of now, you can expect to pay a hefty premium for the technology, as much as $500 above the average price of a HDTV. Then you have to consider the television’s interoperability issues.

Not all HDTVs that we’ve tested this year fully support the DLNA specification. For example, the Sony Bravia KDL-55XBR8, Sony Bravia KDL-52XBR6 and Sony KDL-46Z4100/B are all DLNA-certified. The problem is they’re only certified to stream music and photos from your PC to the television. Video is not supported.

Then you have to consider if it will work with your DLNA software. Even if a HDTV says its DLNA-certified that doesn’t mean it will work nicely with every DLNA server available (a dozen or more by our count), such as TVersity. The Samsung LN46A950 and LN46A750, which we reviewed earlier this year, are supposed to be DLNA-certified. In our testing, unfortunately, the LCDs were anything but compatible with TVersity or TwonkyMedia, and only worked with Samsung’s own proprietary software. Navigating Samsung’s byzantine website, downloading the software, and running it wasn’t–to say the least–a smooth experience. We imagine the average buyer will find it too daunting to even consider.

On the other hand, one of the most expensive HDTVs we reviewed this year, the Pioneer Kuro PDP-5020FD, also happens to include the best implementation of DLNA in our testing. It accepted and played back music, photos as well as videos, even accepting DivX (an unsupported DLNA video format) with ease. The television also happens to be an excellent performer.

Lastly, we have a category of HDTVs that are not exactly DLNA-certified but offer similar media-rich capabilities. The Panasonic Viera TH-50PZ850U is not a DLNA-certified HDTV but it does offer a number of unique interactive features. For one, you can stream YouTube videos to the set and view your Picasa photo galleries. It will cost you, however, roughly $500 more for those features. As of now, we think of the TH-50PZ850U as the guinea pig for these features; it’s not a perfect implementation, as we covered before, and doesn’t offer everything a buyer might want.

So what’s going to happen down the line with DLNA-certified HDTVs? Well, we still haven’t seen anything from LG, Sharp, or Vizio yet that is certified. Perhaps these will be introduced in 2009. But, as of now, the adoption of the specification is still maturing for HDTVs. If you do want to stream content to your HDTV from your PC, it’s best, both economically and for what’s supported, to opt for a third-party solution right now, such as the Xbox 360 or PS3.

Originally published for CNET’s Crave

The FCC sent out letters (PDF) to Comcast, Cablevision, Time Warner Cable and other major cable companies, requesting a tabular list of information, from the “number of overall subscribers in each affected cable system at the time of the analog-to-digital channel change” to “whether Company permitted subscribers affected by the analog-to-digital channel change to modify their service at no charge for 30 days after receiving notice of such change.” Verizon Communications’ FIOS network, which isn’t explicitly a cable service, is also being investigated. The investigation doesn’t affect satellite providers.

The investigation seems to have been initiated by a letter that the Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports, sent to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, according to Ars Technica.

Switching to digital is good business for cable. The New York Times reported that Time Warner Cable and Cablevision had better than expected profit this quarter. While Time Warner attributed this to phone and Internet subscriptions, it still “lost 31,000 basic video subscribers in the quarter, but added 124,000 digital video subscribers.” Cablevision also gained a significant amount of digital cable subscribers.

We’ve reported that the cable industry has taken advantage of the confusion surrounding the upcoming DTV transition, and this may be another example. HD Guru Gary Merson, as mentioned in the article, found that Time Warner Cable had reduced its analog cable offering from 74 to 13 channels in the New York City area.

The FCC also announced that it “expressed concern as several cable companies recently announced plans to raise their rates for next year,” as reported by the Columbia Tribune. The article mentions that “rising programming costs” and the high costs for preparing for the DTV transition are the reasons behind this.

While that may be true, we speculate that cable providers want to “force” consumers to an all-digital cable package because it’s cheaper for the company and provides a good excuse for a price hike, by way of rental fees for digital cable boxes and increased subscription fees. A cable provider can fit roughly 12 digital channels in the space that 1 analog channel would occupy. Most cable providers will continue to provide analog channels alongside their digital offerings after the February 17, 2009 DTV transition, but what happens after that? Subscribers, as of right now, may have to pay an additional monthly fee for a set top box to receive basic cable once their providers decide to go all-digital, meaning shutting down the channels that they offer in analog. If the FCC’s investigation is any indication, the DTV transition may be as troublesome for cable subscribers as it is predicted to be for customers who receive their channels over-the-air–in price hikes and forcing subscribers to purchase a set top box.

In the meantime, of course, anybody can get a converter box for as little as $10 or $20 after coupon, and skip out on cable.

What do you think? Is the FCC’s investigation finally a culmination of the confusion and price hikes surrounding the DTV transition for cable provider? Are you an analog cable subscriber whose provider has cut channels or forced you to switch to digital? Sound off in the comments section.

Originally published for CNET’s Crave

The bottom line: The PS3 makes for a reasonably good desktop when not performing tasks that require a lot of memory, such as word processing, instant messaging, or viewing Web browser-based video. Unfortunately, because of the lack of available memory, high-definition video playback is near impossible to watch, and even a standard-resolution video (from the hard drive) will occasionally skip.

Linux on the PS3 is not a new idea. In fact, Sony originally stated that the PS3 would come with the open-source OS preinstalled. Times have changed, and Sony christened Terra Soft Solutions’ Yellow Dog Linux as the official distribution for the console. In this post, I’ll cover the why and how’s of installing the operating system, and my personal experiences working with it for nearly two years.

First, why on earth would you want Linux on your PS3? Well, besides the geek factor, there’s a lot of additional functionality you can add to the PS3 beyond just being a game machine and Blu-ray player. The PS3 is capable of functioning much like a regular PC using your HDTV as a monitor. Here’s the shortlist of what it can bring you: A robust browser, a word processor (for example, OpenOffice), an IRC or AIM client such as Pidgin, and fully featured desktop environment using Enlightenment or KDE. It’s true that the latest firmware upgrade for the PS3, 2.50, supports Flash 9 for Web video playback, but a standard Web browser with the right plug-ins is much more capable. Not everyone will want chat or word processing on their console, but if you’re feeling adventurous and want to augment you’re PS3’s capabilities, keep on reading.

I’ve found it useful to have available a wide variety of programs that I can run out of the box or compile for Yellow Dog using yum packages–from the more complex, like an Apache server for my test Web site to a free, open source VoIP program such as Ekiga. Essentially, with some tweaking, I can run anything on my PS3 that I can on my PC–although, not perfectly as I’ll explain. That said, it’s not the same as a PC, and some may prefer sitting at a desk to work with a spreadsheet.

Now for the annoyances. It’s rather painless installing Linux nowadays (as I’ll detail below), but configuring the OS to your own liking is a different matter. First–and ironically so–don’t expect to do anything media-intensive on your PS3 while running Linux. Word processing, e-mail, Web browsing, and running a low-end Web server work fine. Even though the PS3 includes the gutsy cell processor, it doesn’t have the minimal amount of RAM or access to the graphics chip for video playback–Yellow Dog Linux, even in the latest version, 6.0, can only see half of the 512MB of RAM inside the PS3. The reason for this is simple: Sony doesn’t want third-party Linux-based games to be installed on their console and have access to the GPU, which is tied to half of the PS3’s memory.

Unfortunately, this also affects video playback. Only having 256MB of memory without a functioning GPU is just not enough horsepower for many types of video, including HD quality videos. I’ve noticed on occasion that my videos would frequently skip or stutter if I’m an hour through a movie using VLC or the default player, Titan. If you want to watch browser-based videos, such as Hulu or YouTube, the PS3 will perform well. Otherwise, avoid the hassle and go for the alternatives: Blu-ray Discs, DLNA video streaming, or purchasing videos from the Sony Video Store.

Lastly, unless you install a boot loader (a messy process in itself), the only way to switch between Yellow Dog and the GameOS (aka the Cross Media Bar), is by changing the default boot OS in the Systems Settings to Yellow Dog Linux. From there, once you reboot your machine, a command prompt will pop up. Type in ydl to start Yellow Dog or boot-game-os to start the regular PS3 interface. If that sounds cumbersome, it is. Yes, you can hold down the power button for five seconds to boot directly into Linux, but I’ve found that to be inconvenient if I’m sitting across the living room from the PS3.

Other versions of Linux have also been ported over to the PS3, although only Yellow Dog is officially supported. Ubuntu, for instance, is supported up to 7.10. The current 8.04 (Hardy Heron) release of Ubuntu is incompatible with the PS3. The installation is more complex, however, and not all of the PS3’s hardware components function properly out of the box. Furthermore, Yellow Dog is specifically designed to display properly on a HDTV; Unbutu, as I’ve experienced, can be troublesome to tinker with on some TVs.

You could try using other distributions, such as Ubuntu, but I highly suggest looking at Yellow Dog first if you’re new to this. Back in 2006, it was only available for a $50 price tag, now you can download the latest version for free. And it offers a very streamlined approach to installing the OS. One caveat though: Yellow Dog will take up about 10GB of space on your PS3’s hard drive, not including any software or files you download later on. It’s best to allot 20GB partition for reassurance, which unfortunately will exclude owners of the older 20GB PS3 version. Of course, you can always upgrade your PS3’s internal hard drive.

If you installed Linux on your PC, the instructions below will be very familiar. I won’t go into how to install a boot loader or how to tweak it beyond what is default–that’s beyond the scope of this post.

1. After downloading the 3.7GB file to your PC, use a program such as Nero or ImgBurn and burn it to a DVD. This will be your boot disc.
2. Backup, backup, backup–need I more? I had the unfortunate accident of deleting all my saved games by formatting the entire PS3 hard drive–don’t do the same stupid mistake as I did. The PS3 includes a handy backup command under systems settings that will backup any of your saved games to an external hard drive. The PS3’s own operating system is stored in flash memory, so luckily it can’t be tampered with. On the other hand, any other media files (music, video, and so on) will need to be backed up manually.
3. If you haven’t realized yet, you will need a USB keyboard and mouse and a HDTV for this to work, either connected by HDMI or component video. Also remember that only a 720p or above HDTV is supported by Yellow Dog Linux.
4. In the PS3’s default interface, go to settings, system settings, and use the format utility to format a 20GB partition for “Other OS.”
5. Reboot the PS3 and pop in the burned DVD. Go to settings, system settings, and choose install Other OS. The installation process will take about an hour to complete.
6. Once it’s complete, the PS3 will restart and go back to the default interface.
7. From here, go back to System Settings (you’ve been here enough, right?) and choose Yellow Dog Linux as the boot-up OS. Restart your PS3.
8. You’ll be presented with a command prompt. Type in ydl to start Yellow Dog or boot-game-os to start the regular PS3 interface.
9. Optionally, you can hold down the power button for 5 seconds to boot directly into Yellow Dog.
10. Once you’re inside Linux, check to see if everything is working correctly. Adjust the screen resolution if necessary (the default output is 720p), by following this step-by-step guide here.
11. If you want to go back to the default interface, choose the Start menu and select GameOS. There, you’re back into the PS3’s familiar interface.

From here, tinker around with Yellow Dog. Try out some of the programs. Get familiar with the Enlightenment interface, if you never used it before. See how much better Firefox can be on your HDTV. For more information and other tutorials, check out the Yellow Dog Linux forums.

Originally published for CNET’s Crave

To go DIY, first you will have to invest in a media-streaming device and the software. Fortunately, if you own a PS3 or a television like the Pioneer PDP-5020FD, you’re already half-way there. These devices (and many others) are DLNA-certified, an interoperable standard for sharing audio, video, and photos among such devices. We’ve covered the ins and outs of DLNA-certification for devices before, and there are other specifications available, including Windows Rally, that are used by Windows Media Extenders such as the Linksys DMA2100 and Xbox 360, but DLNA devices are still the most widely used and most flexible specification to stream content from your computer to a certified device.

Secondly, you have to consider what software to use to get your videos off your computer and onto your HDTV. Here at CNET, we’ve tested DLNA-certified devices using TVersity, TwonkyMedia, and Windows Media Player 11. Why these three? TVersity, while it can be a memory hog, allows a user to stream Web-content as well as their own personal collection of videos and audio–and it’s free. TwonkyMedia will set you back $40, but it’s lean and the fastest DLNA server we’ve tested. And finally, we chose Windows Media Player, since it’s built into Windows Vista and is available as a free download for XP. We’re considering adding PlayOn to our toolkit. It can stream content from YouTube, Hulu, and now from Netflix, but it costs $30 and currently only supports Web-based content.

Thirdly, you’ll have to rip those DVDs and Blu-ray Discs. This isn’t exactly legal, and there are some companies trying to change the old paradigm. We’re not going to explain to you how to do it–search Google for a number of solutions–but as long as you own the original copy, view it only in the personal comfort of your home, and don’t distribute it to the world, you should be fine.

Let’s break down the advantages and disadvantages of why you should consider the DIY approach for setting up your own streaming service to view your entire DVD or Blu-ray collection from the couch in your living room.

Advantages:

1. No DRM. Apple, Amazon.com, and others don’t want you to copy your content and give it out to the world. This makes sense. But DRM can also be too restrictive: Apple and Amazon also do not want you to transfer that video or MP3 to another device, and view it whenever and however you like–that is, unless you own an iPod, Apple TV, TiVo, or view your movies on your tiny 19-inch computer screen. A copy of a Blu-ray or DVD is just that– a copy without restrictions. You own it, can view it whenever and wherever you want, including compatible portable devices, and avoid running into any nasty DRM issues, such as an inability to play content you paid for.

2. Picture quality. Since videos are streamed from your computer over your home network instead of the Internet, they can offer better video quality, even HD quality. Internet-based services like Netflix, on the other hand, base their picture quality on the quality and speed of your Internet connection. If you have a connection below 3 Mbps, don’t expect a pristine picture, and even the fastest connections only allow near DVD-quality video. Yes, some services allow you to download, rather than stream, HD content, such as Vudu, but with a slow connection that can be limiting. And now with Comcast enforcing a bandwidth cap, heavy movie watchers who use services like Vudu could be at a disadvantage.

3. YouTube and other free online videos. We’ve covered Panasonic’s Viera Cast before–a high-end option to view YouTube videos on your television without a separate box. It’s a clean and easy solution, but it’s costly and not as flexible as a DLNA server like TVersity can be. Along with your large video collection, it’s also possible with a DLNA setup to populate your content list with your favorite YouTube videos, videocasts, or podcasts and access them directly from your remote–anything from Diggnation to ABC’s World News to CNET’s own Buzz Out Loud. Not all of these free video sources are available on typical streaming services.

TVersity not only streams videos and audio, but also videocasts and YouTube videos.

(Credit: CNET)

Disadvantages:

1. Setup and troubleshooting is for geeks. It takes a lot of CPU horsepower to read, process, and transcode that 4GB worth of video into a 700MB DivX file, and for many it’s just not worth the time. Videos also take up a lot of space, and while hard drive capacity is pretty cheap, there’s still the quality of the video to consider. An average DVD movie is about 4GB, which can be compressed to around 700MB for a DivX file. But if you go HD, expect your hard drive to swallow gigabytes of space for compressed video–that can add up if you have a large collection. And in a DLNA setup a lot can go wrong, but support is typically handled by you: the computer, the home network, and the device. Unless you don’t mind tinkering with your computer, it might be best to avoid the DIY approach.

2. The tech-challenged-family factor. You can hear the complaints: Why is the computer always turned on? How am I going to clean around this spaghetti mess of wires? Why can’t I get this to work? Sometimes it’s best to forgo the DIY approach and go with a paid service if your family cannot get along with your media-streaming setup–you’ll avoid the dirty looks.

3. Cost. The Netflix Player by Roku can be had for $100. Unless you have a souped-up computer with terabytes of space, expect to spend a lot more on a computer that can match the performance, selection of content, and processing power to compete with fee-based services. And if you don’t have an extensive DVD library, the price skyrockets in comparison to the near endless selection that Netflix offers for a monthly fee.

These are just some of the advantages and disadvantages of using a DLNA-certified system for your home theater. It’s important to note that we didn’t go into all the technical limitations, as that would have extended this list to be twice as long. But if we missed anything important, let us know in the comments below. In the meantime, we’ll be covering DLNA software in the future, highlighting three that we think stand out among the myriad of packages out there, and giving a hands-on look at their features and capabilities.

Originally published for CNET’s Crave

The bad: Only compatible with select Sony televisions; sluggish interface and poorly designed menus; most of the content can be freely accessed from the Internet; free content is mostly lackluster; video quality is poor in many instances; doesn’t stream media from a PC; superior alternatives available.

The bottom line: The Sony Bravia Internet Video Link (DMX-NV1) will stream Web video and Amazon Video On Demand to your Bravia HDTV, but its slow interface and limited content options will have you looking at alternatives.

• Reviewed by: Matthew Panton
• Edited by: Matthew Moskovciak
• Reviewed on: 10/02/2008
• Released on: 03/26/2008

The moment Sony’s Bravia Internet Video Link (also known as the BIVL or DMX-NV1) was announced last year, we knew the product would face an uphill battle. What could Sony’s proprietary video streamer offer that you can’t already get from Apple TV, Xbox 360, Sony PS3, Vudu, or the Netflix Player from Roku? Well, Sony’s main answer is free content. While most network media streamers focus on movie rentals or subscription services, the BIVL’s backbone is bringing content freely available on the Web–from places such as YouTube, Blip.TV, CBS, and Sports illustrated–and putting it on your HDTV. Recently Sony announced the addition of Amazon’s Video On Demand service, giving you the option of renting in addition to the free content.

That might sound good on paper, but using the device is a whole different story. First off, most of the free content is lackluster–the video quality is poor, many of the clips are short, and most of the content just isn’t compelling. Secondly, finding the content is difficult as the interface is sluggish and much of the content is haphazardly categorized and out-of-date. If the BIVL still sounds enticing, you may be disappointed to find that it only works with recent Sony Bravia LCDs–you can’t just add it to any old HDTV. That leaves a pretty small audience of people who would still be interested in BIVL. Granted, the addition of Amazon’s Video On Demand has made the product more compelling, but with superior alternatives such as the Apple TV, Netflix player, TiVo HD, and the SlingCatcher, it’s hard to recommend. If you really want to watch YouTube videos, Web video clips, and rent movies from Amazon on your new Bravia HDTV with minimal effort–and don’t mind a sluggish interface–the Bravia Internet Video Link gets the job done. But regardless of whether you have a compatible Bravia, almost any of those alternatives will be a better choice.

Design
Measuring 6.5 inches long by 1.46 inches wide and 4.13 inches high, the module is about the length and width of paperback book. It weighs less than 4 pounds and can be screwed on the back of Sony’s compliant TVs with the included mounting bracket, allowing the device to be hidden behind the TV set. The BIVL can also be fitted with the included stand if you choose to vertically stand up the device beside your other AV gear. The device is outfitted with curved, slim edges on the top and bottom and coated in Sony’s traditional, neutral color–dark gray. It has a subtle appearance, similar to a cable modem–a good thing if the device is sitting next your black, chunky AV receiver.

The included mounting bracket makes it easy to hide the BIVL out of sight, excluding all the extra cables.

Surprisingly, you need to make two connections from the BIVL to your Bravia TV: USB and HDMI

Sony includes an HDMI cable, a USB cable, AC adaptor, stand, cover, and TV mounting bracket. That’s a solid accessory pack, but curiously, the company did not include an Ethernet cable, even though the BIVL requires one–there’s no built-in Wi-Fi. You’ll need to make two connections from the BIVL to your TV: USB and HDMI. That means the BIVL will use one of the HDMI inputs on your TV, but there’s an additional HDMI input on the BIVL to replace the lost connectivity on your TV. Unfortunately for those who loathe adding more to the spaghetti of wires behind their AV system, the BIVL requires another wall outlet for its external AC adapter. This might be even more problematic for users who go the wall-mounting route.

Interface
Sony seamlessly integrates the BIVL’s content into the PS3-style XMB (Xross Media Bar) interface that is already used on Sony HDTVs. Navigating to the Web video content is logical compared with other devices we used; for example, Samsung’s interface divided its content between two menus (and two remote buttons) and had a noticeable amount of latency when browsing through the built-in Shockwave videos. Connecting the BIVL to your Sony HDTV adds two new features to the default interface: My Page by Yahoo and a list of channels under the Videos tab.

We liked how Sony integrated the BIVL into the TV’s existing XMB interface.

Browsing for videos also follows the familiar XMB layout; content is set up by channel, followed by a gridlike interface, with (but not always) categories on the left side of the screen to further distinguish videos. There is no search function, which we immediately desired after scrolling through thousands of CBS episodes. The playback interface bar for videos is also laid out logically. The up-and-down directional pad buttons zoom in and out on the picture, while right and left fast-forward and rewind the video, and holding down right enables a “super” fast-forward.

While it’s nice to be able to quickly check the weather, we would have liked more functionality from Yahoo’s My Page.

For Yahoo’s My Page, the idea is that users can sync up their Yahoo account with the device, offering customized news bulletins, weather, and traffic. While the panel does look slick and is very usable, the simple fact is not everybody is going to convert to Yahoo’s services if they are already well established with AOL, Google, or Microsoft. And as of now, you cannot access your Yahoo e-mail account or use other popular Yahoo services, such Messenger, Flickr, Answers, or Buzz. It’s possible that these might be added in the future, but as of now the service is pretty underwhelming.

You can also add your own content via a downloadable utility from Sony’s Internet-based synchronization Web site. We tried downloading the software–Sony clearly states that it’s in beta form and an unofficial feature–but we were unable to get it to work with either Internet Explorer or the outdated Firefox 2 (it currently does not support Firefox 3).

Content
As for content, Sony has assembled a list of channels that seem to mostly be targeted at the 18- to 30-year-old demographic. It’s worth noting that most of the content, excluding Amazon Video On Demand, can be accessed freely on the Web, but Sony does provide the content advertisement-free, even with the full CBS episodes. Here’s a brief overview of some of the channels Sony includes:

• YouTube: Sony provides nearly complete YouTube functionality, including the capability to log in to your account, search for videos, add tags, select the most viewed, popular, and newest playlists. The one catch–you can’t add your own comments.
• Amazon Video On Demand: Amazon’s streaming video service offers TV shows and movies to rent, and unlike the other channels, there’s plenty of good content. Most movies cost about $3 or $4 to rent and TV shows go for about $2.

• CBS: A selection of videos from CBS, presented without commercials. It’s a great idea, but the execution is off the mark. While you can watch the latest Survivor episode or the premiere of Worst Week, we couldn’t find any CSI, The Mentalist, or the latest full episode of the Late Show with David Letterman. (Editors’ note: CNET is a subsidiary of CBS.)

• Yahoo Video: a competitor to YouTube that tends to show editorially featured videos rather than user-voted submissions.
• Blip.tv: Known for its video blogging services, the company mainly focuses on episodic content instead of viral video.
• The Minisode Network: Owned by Sony Pictures Television, the channel shows condensed–sometimes down to as little as seven minutes–episodes of popular television shows, such as NewsRadio, The Facts of Life, and more.
• Sports Illustrated on Demand: The title explains it all–short episodes of your favorite sports moments.
• FEARnet: a multiplatform horror network created by Lionsgate, Comcast, and Sony, where horror fans can watch free, full-length films as well as red carpet and convention coverage, trailers, and shorts.
• Wired: Based on the geek-tastic monthly magazine, the channel has a variety of videos covering how technology affects culture, the economy, and politics.
• Style.com: Coverage of the runway for those infatuated with fashion and glamour.
• Video Detective: The most popular movie trailers are categorized as HD but do not even close to hi-def video quality.
• CBS College Sports: a hastily assemblage of CBS sports videos that are neither up-to-date nor listed chronologically.

There are certainly a lot of content partners here, but without the recent addition of Amazon’s streaming service, we’d almost completely write off the device. Many of these videos are either listed in the wrong category or are out of date. It takes enough patience just to browse through all of CBS’s content to find a particular show (more on the sluggishness in the performance section), but it’s only made worse to find it listed in the wrong category or missing altogether. In addition, no standardized resolution or aspect ratio is used for the content; some videos appear with blacks bars on all sides. Perhaps this isn’t Sony’s fault, but it doesn’t make for a consistent user experience.


The BIVL’s interface certainly doesn’t make it easy to find what you’re looking for.

It’s also important to note that, unlike the Apple TV, the BIVL isn’t capable of streaming movies and music from networked PCs. That’s a pretty big downside, especially since we found the content to be lackluster–you’re stuck with what Sony provides.

Performance

Content aside, the BIVL was a very reliable video streamer in our experience. Sure, videos took a few seconds to buffer, but once they started playing we didn’t experience any dropouts or stuttering. Of course, this all depends on your Internet connection, but it’s good to know that if your connection is solid, the BIVL will serve your content glitch-free. That being said, we did have the device hang on us a couple times, which required us to unplug the unit and restart it.

While we were impressed by the buffer-free playback of the videos themselves, it was hard to look past the sluggishness of the actual menus. Compared with services such as Apple TV, Xbox Live, and PS3 store, browsing the BIVL is slow, which is only made more frustrating when there’s so much mediocre content to scroll past. When you first select a channel, it’s not unusual for it to take more than 10 seconds to load the initial screen of choices, and then you’ll hit another delay when you want to go to the next page. It’s not pleasant.

Image quality on the videos is a mixed bag, but we found ourselves disappointed more often than not. Obviously, YouTube clips blown up on a 46-inch HDTV are going to look a little rough, but we were surprised that a lot of the other Web video was of similar quality. For example, we loaded some clips from Sports Illustrated and were shocked that the quality was YouTube like, or perhaps even worse. Of course, Sony’s job is just putting Web video on the big screen, but we can’t imagine too many people will be happy with the experience. To be fair, some of the videos actually looked pretty good. A trailer for Hancock was sharp and relatively artifact-free and Michael Moore’s Slacker Uprising (hey, it was the only free movie) via Amazon Video On Demand service was probably the best-looking video we saw, hitting at least DVD quality. But even content from CBS, such as Worst Week, was worse than standard-definition cable. If Slacker Uprising can look good, why can’t the other programs?

Originally published for CNET Reviews.

If you’ve been keeping up with us, you already know that this comes as no surprise. Except for home theater enthusiasts, most buyers are fine with the video quality (and affordability) of DVD. Factor in the floundering economy, the high cost to adopt the technology, and the number of alternatives to view video content via rental models, video-on-demand, and the Internet, and the numbers make sense.

Nielsen VideoScan’s numbers show a drop to an 8 percent of the overall market–DVDs making up the other 92 percent of the market share.

Blockbuster’s CFO, Thomas Casey, seems to agree with the adoption rate, saying his company “doesn’t think [Blu-ray] is going to be nearly like DVD replacing VHS, and in this economy people will be slow to change out their libraries,” according to an article in Home Media Magazine via TVPredictions.com

Yes, sometimes good deals can be had, including some $10 bargain discs, and at least once source predicts $10 Blu-ray titles this holiday season, but we doubt they’ll be a big factor in spurring people to go Blu. What would really help is a Blu-ray player below $100, and we don’t see that happening this year.

What do you think? While Blu-ray will probably never be adopted this year, is there still a future for it? Or is owning physical discs now passé–given rental services like Netflix or video downloads via devices like the Xbox 360, Apple TV, Vudu or Netflix Player by Roku–even if BD disc and player prices drop?

Originally published for CNET’s Crave

This failure can be blamed on numerous factors, including competing standards, Digital Rights Management issues, or manufacturers not entirely following the DLNA standard or eschewing it for their own. Confusion over what DLNA means can put buyers of media devices in a precarious situation: will my DLNA-certified Nokia N95 digital camera connect to my DLNA-certified Sony KDL-46Z4100 HDTV so I can share my photos of my trip to Maui for my family to view? In this blog I’ll unravel some of the mysteries around DLNA and try to make sense of what it actually means.

Consumer electronics, computer and mobile device manufacturers want you, the end-consumer, to live in a digitally connected world populated by their products. The Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) began in 2003 as a collection of such companies (now over 250) with the “intended goal of agreeing on an interoperability framework and guidelines,” as stated in its white paper, “denoting what media formats, delivery architecture, and network connectivity standards a device must follow to be certified.” The goal is for you to go into any electronic store, look for a DLNA-certified product and buy it, knowing for certain that the technology ingredients used in that device will be compatible and future-proof in an ever expanding ecosystem of other devices, one of which you might already own. Unfortunately, DLNA often fails to deliver on that goal.

One problem is some of the standard’s requirements are ambiguous or leave certain guidelines optional for manufacturers to implement into their devices. Here’s an example from the DLNA white paper (PDF):

DLNA does not include DivX, Xvid, FLAC or other popular formats in its guidelines. That means that one DLNA device, such as Pioneer’s “Kuro” PDP-5020FD may support H.263 but another DLNA television may not.

Another problem is DLNA does not currently support a single Digital Rights Management (DRM) standard. The consortium states that “given the complexity of interoperability” with DRM, it has instead focused on protecting content while it’s in transmission from device to device by using what it calls DLNA Link Protection. In this scenario, a user can only view content while it’s streaming, but may or may not be able to record or save it to a trusted device, which some DRM standards already allow. This can become extremely confusing and problematic if you download DRM protected material from an Internet source and are unsure if your device can save it, let alone play it back.

And lastly, DLNA has failed largely to separate itself as a prevailing standard; other major manufacturers, such Apple, have not adopted it and have forced consumers into an Apple-centric universe. As such, FairPlay (DRM) music or videos will not playback on your DLNA HDTV unless you’re utilizing Apple hardware, such as Apple TV.

Microsoft also has taken to “Apple-ization” by using its own standard, Device Profile for Web Service (DPWS), promoted by the company as Windows Rally (formerly Windows Connect Now). You might have used this to connect your Xbox 360 or Windows Media Extender to your PC by typing in a code. While it’s an easy solution to share your media collection and web videos, like Apple, it will only work with compatible devices and not with DLNA-certified software like TVserity or TwonkyMedia.

The High-Definition Audio-Video Network Alliance (HANA) also has its own, competing standard, backed by Samsung, NBC Universal, and others, which the organization claims is built from the ground-up as an interconnecting structure for connecting together your DVR, HDTV, and satellite receiver, and other home AV components, allowing the user to operate them with one remote within one unified menu system. HANA has initially focused on IEEE 1394, also known as FireWire, to interconnect such devices, isolating the video and audio stream from the Internet by not using an Ethernet connection. This is, of course, for DRM purposes, but also FireWire is an isochronous connection, meaning it doesn’t fluctuate in signal quality like a Wi-Fi connection might do, theoretically providing a higher quality HD picture as the end result. While we won’t go further into the specifics, as it’s beyond the scope of this article, suffice to say there no products on the market now (that we are aware of) that support the standard. For more information, refer to this in-depth article on the topic.

We’ll cover Microsoft Rally and DLNA software more extensively in a later article, but what do you think? Do these competing standards hurt more than help the Utopian dream of having an all-connected digital life? And which one do you think should be the established one? Sound off in the comments below.

Originally published for CNET’s Crave

The promise of the DirecTV’s HDPC-20 might further change that perception–if it’s released. The dual-tuner device has been in the making for some time now, with product photos and tidbits of information floating around blogs during the past year. Here’s what we do know, according to the product brochure:

• Allows you to record and watch DirecTV programming on your computer, and connects via USB.
• Features dual-tuners, but unsure if it can pull in high-definition programming.
• Includes an Ethernet connection, but we’re not exactly sure why. One possible reason: it’s capable of streaming to multiple Windows Media Extender devices and Xbox 360
• A fully-featured media hub to stream downloaded movies, music, and pictures (unsure if it’s DLNA compatible though)

If those features sound a bit ambiguous, so is the release date. On the Green Button Forum, they’re speculating a November release based on calls to DirectTV’s representatives, but we’re not holding our breath. We also hope this doesn’t turn out to be vaporware. There is currently no support for the device in the current Windows Media Center TV pack (code named Fiji). This could possibly mean that it won’t be released until Windows 7 arrives in 2011, according to Engadget, when the next TV pack is due. In the meantime, there are already plenty of solutions to stream media from and to your computer. Most of them, however, still don’t come close to offering an easy way to pull in high-definition television programming, integrate it with Web based video, and stream it to your HDTV.

We’ll keep tabs on this product, but what do you think of it? Would you be interested in watching DirectTV on your computer but also have the option to stream the programming to your television along with your collection of DivX videos?

(Source: Engadget)

Originally published for CNET’s Crave

An update to URC’s previous touch-screen model, the MX-3000, the MX-6000 is the company’s first wide-screen (480×272) remote. Beyond standard device control (infrared and RF control), the MX-6000 adds Wi-Fi to the mix for access to networked PC home entertainment–according to the company, cover art, artist name, and other metadata will be aggregated from your combined media libraries and displayed on the remote’s wide-screen display. It also includes built-in modules that when connected to the Internet can display personalized weather reports, stocks, and news, which can be customized within the remote’s interface. Also of interest to digital media fans is the companion PSX-1, a networked iPod dock that the MX-6000 can control–dial up iPod-based music and videos on the remote, and have the content play back on your receiver or HDTV (the PSX-1 has component video output for optimal video quality).

So what do you think: If you had unlimited funds, would you be interested in a $1,500 touch-screen remote? Or is this sort of product overkill, even for the Rolls Royce crowd?

Originally published for CNET’s Crave

Why? Perhaps Sony wants you to pony up and purchase its $300 Bravia Internet Video Link. Maybe the company doesn’t want to deal with customer service calls from users who have trouble streaming video. Whatever the reason, we’d expect the Ethernet port on the back of the TV to be good for more than just streaming still photos.

When we hooked it to the network at CNET for testing, the KDL-46Z4100 connected to TwonkyMedia and Windows Media Player 11 and displayed the server icons just fine, with a video and music tab showing up in the PS3-styled XMB interface. We could also browse our music collection by album, artist, and genre. But when we tried to play back a standard 192Kbps MP3 file from our computer–knowing full well from the instruction manual that it would impossible to do so–we were shown the expected message: File cannot be displayed.

Our folder of photographs taken by the Hubble Telescope, on the other hand, displayed on the screen without a snag. We were able to browse by album and then scroll through our collection of thumbnails, clicking on one to have it fill up the screen. Response time was quick, noticeably more so than the Pioneer PDP-5020FD. The Tools menu had the standard settings, such as rotate, begin a slide show, (with MP3 music to accompany it if a USB thumbdrive is connected), slide show style, and we appreciated having the unusual choice between emphasizing quality or speed during a slide show. We noted a perceivable difference between the settings when viewing high-resolution JPEG files. On the quality setting, our photos appeared pristine but we’re slightly sluggish in loading; on the speed setting, our photos’ resolution appeared drastically downgraded but response time was definitely zippier.

Interestingly, you can playback music and photos but not videos via a USB thumbdrive, which worked flawlessly in our tests for playing back MP3s and displaying JPEG images–the only supported file formats.

At end of our tests, we felt underwhelmed–what’s the point of having an Ethernet jack on the back of your “DLNA” television if you can’t playback all of your media types? Even if you do decide to buy the Bravia Internet Video Link, it will not turn your television into a true DLNA client. Yes, it streams music videos, YouTube content, and select free TV episodes from the Internet, if that’s what you desire, but the device is incapable of receiving the large media library that you might have sitting on your computer’s hard drive. Of course, you can always purchase a PS3, which is currently one of the best DLNA media receivers on the market and costs about $100 more than the Link itself. You won’t be walled into Sony’s media ecosystem with that choice. But it’s still unfortunate that the company has restricted a higher-end HDTV to only viewing photos and nothing more.

Originally published for CNET’s Crave