Engadget HD has gotten the latest on the highly anticipated update for Vista Media Center and it doesn't look good. The first release candidate made it into testers hands recently and they weren't happy to see that the most anticipated features -- support for a DirecTV HD tuner and native H.264 support -- got pushed to Windows 7. So head over to Engadget HD for more details (screen shots included).

Buried under predictions that 2012 will bring dominance for Blu-ray over DVD and breaking news that the PS3 just may have had a hand in winning the format war the Entertainment Merchant's Association 2008 Annual Report on the Home Entertainment Industry holds survey results showing 87% of PS3 owners reported they watch Blu-ray movies on their console. That's a stark contrast to last year's NPD survey indicating 60% of owners didn't even know it played them. We don't know what's behind the jump, be it better marketing/consumer education, or something wrong with how one the surveys were conducted. You can mull that one over during the fast money round while also peeping results that say 22% of HDTV owners think they're watching HD programming, but in fact are not -- not like we haven't heard that before.

[Via PS3 Fanboy]

Engadget HD managed to acquire one of JVC's Everio HD40 camcorders -- you know, that HD shooter with 120GB of onboard storage. If you're interested in seeing it get unboxed and manhandled (along with comparison shots with Samsung's delightful SC-HMX20C), click on over and enjoy. For those wanting some serious impressions, keep a check on this space -- we'll be forming some opinions and penning a review here shortly.

In case you didn't get the message, Sony's due sooner-rather-than-later 27-inch OLED is going to be priced for the Mark Cubans, Bill Gates' and other people not you of the world, at least for the next couple of years. Even with recent massive investments, U.S. head Stan Glasgow tells CNET OLEDs in the future could be seen as a premium alternative to LCDs, but don't expect Sony to jump on smaller screens while they wait for the technology to catch up, HDTV is the focus. As for the upcoming standard def-streaming Hancock experiment? The first of many, if things go well, while at the same time he acknowledges format war winner Blu-ray may not penetrate to the same level as DVD since "a lot of people may be happy with an upconverting DVD player" -- which would be music to Toshiba's ears.

We keep hoping that Toshiba will come to its senses and just let this whole thing die, but no. Apparently insistent on keeping the last-generation format alive for as long as it possibly can, it seems the outfit is getting ever-closer to a super-resolution DVD player that would reportedly upscale DVD content like nothing we've ever seen. The latest tidbit in this woefully depressing saga is a newly approved DVD Download DL logo, which was given the final thumbs-up by the DVD Forum Steering Committee last month. In reality, no one outside of Tosh's headquarters has any idea if this development is indeed intrinsically related, but at this point, we wouldn't be shocked one bit to find that it was. Then again, the June 11th meeting also saw specifications for CH-DVD approved, so here's to hoping Toshiba isn't jumping on that bandwagon fiery wreck.

[Via TG Daily]

Read - DVD Forum approval
Read - Discussion / rumors

If you're a lazy ass consumer (the very best kind), bent on pulling a device out of the box, plugging it into a wall, and never messing with another bit of "setup" again, you're certainly not alone. In fact, most folks never lift a finger to calibrate their displays, plug better speakers in, or place those speakers in actually advantageous spots. To that end, Mitsubishi is debuting its new LT-46149 and LT-52149 LCDs with integrated 16-speaker sound projectors. Similar to the sound bars offered up by many home audio manufacturers, the "Integrated Sound Projector" (iSP) is designed to bounce sound off walls and around the room to give the illusion of surround sound. The perk of TV integration is an easy to use room configuration on-screen tool to specify your room's dimensions, couch placement and preferred sweet spot size. At the end of the day, your sound is all coming from one spot, so directionality isn't going to quite match a for-realsie surround sound setup, and the system we listened to was a little sharp in the high end, but it's certainly a unique and appealing offering from Mitsu to the everyman TV watcher. The TV itself is CableCard ready, can support sound over HDMI and PCM inputs, and offers Mitsu's 120Hz film dejuddering -- that rather awkwardly makes your favorite films look like they were shot by a TV news crew. The 46-inch and 52-inch LCDs will sell for $3,299 and $3,699, respectively.

Look no further for the follow-up to last year's multi-region Blu-ray players, with Bluraymods.com advertising a completely region free Panasonic DMP-BD30, available in either pre-modified or DIY kit formats. That's all 6 DVD regions and three Blu-ray regions for those keeping count, and it claims to still work with any firmware updates. The good news for import lovers is a price of €499, considerably less than previous hardware, or €69 for a mod kit. We're still not sure how well this will play with future DRM updates, but taking the leap appears to be getting cheaper and more convenient.

As the release date for ZeeVee's ZvBox draws near (we're hearing July 31st), the company is out and about in an attempt to drum up demand as the run-up to its launch progresses. During CONNECTIONS 2008, ZeeVee was in attendance with a ZvBox on display, and aside from snapping a few telling photographs, the folks over at eHomeUpgrade were also able to capture a couple videos to give you an early feel of its capabilities (and limitations). We don't have to tell you where the goods are, but if you're new here, that read link down there is a good place to start.

[Via SlashGear]

Remember how your curiosity level shot through the roof when Pioneer abruptly discontinued the BDP-LX70A Blu-ray player in the UK? We're willing to bet this is why. Announced over on Pioneer's European website, we're being treated to three fresh faces -- the Profile 2.0-compliant BDP-LX91, Designer BDP-LX08 and BDP-LX71 -- along with one familiar face (the BDP-51FD). All of the new units will feature 1080p24 support, HDMI 12-Bit Deep Color support, KURO LINK, DTS-HD Master Audio / Dolby True HD compatibility and professional-quality Wolfson Digital Audio Converters (DACs). As for pricing and availability other than Europe, your guess is as good as ours, but we are told to expect the BDP-LX71 in September, the BDP-51FD / BDP-LX08 in October and the BDP-LX91 "later on in the winter." For more on Pioneer's European onslaught, head on over to Engadget HD.

If VIZIO's brand new XVT Series is a bit rich for your blood, how's about a pair of plasmas for under eight bones? Yep, the 32-inch VP322 and 42-inch VP422 -- which were announced at CES at $689 and $999, respectively -- are now available in Wal-Mart locations across America, and they're selling for even less than that. Right now, those longing to hop in the HDTV game without breaking the bank can secure the VP322 for just $599, while the VP422 will set you back just $799. Both sets possess a 30,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, 720p panel, 3 HDMI sockets (along with component / VGA) and a built-in ATSC digital tuner with ClearQAM support. Not too shabby for the price, wouldn't you agree? [Warning: PDF read link]

Well, what have we here? A trio of newcomers from "North America's fastest growing brand of flat-panel HDTVs," that's what. Kicking things off in the all new XVT Series is the 42-inch SV420XVT and 47-inch SV47XVT LCD HDTVs, both of which feature 1080p panels, VIZIO's Smooth Motion technology (120Hz), a 6,500:1 contrast ratio and the usual complement of ports including four HDMI 1.3 sockets. Next up we've got the 50-inch VP505XVT, a 1080p plasma with Silicon Optix's famed REON HQV processing engine. Furthermore, this one packs an integrated digital TV tuner (with ClearQAM support), a dynamic contrast ratio of 30,000:1 and SRS Labs' TruSurround XT audio processing technology. The new trio is all set to ship next month for $1,499.99, $1,899.99 and $1,699.99, and of course, you'll find 'em perched at Circuit City, Sears and your favorite Club retailer. [Warning: PDF read link]

We got a first glimpse of Mitsubishi's brand new rear-projection-ish laser-based TV tech, LaserVue, back at CES, but now the sets are just about primed for action, and should be hitting store shelves, as previously noted, Q3 2008. LaserVue will debut in 65-inch and 73-inch, with the 65-inch version hitting the scene first. Mitsubishi is still pretty coy about what exactly makes the technology tick -- other than the "zomg, lasers" aspect -- but is quick to point out the 200 percent color gamut that LaserVue provides, more than twice that of most traditional HDTVs. The sets also run at 120Hz, and boast 500 nits of brightness. Head to head against LCD and plasma sets we had trouble finding the differences, other than the color depth (particularly in the reds, almost too much so, though we're sure you can tweak that). Have no fear: the blacks are black, the brights are bright, and the viewing angle puts DLP to shame. That said, we're hearing price points are going to be more comparable to plasma and LCD than DLP, so Mitsubishi might have its work cut out for it in convincing consumers that these new "chubby," 10-inch thick TVs are the way to go. We're not entirely convinced ourselves, though one aspect can't be disputed: LaserVue draws under 200 watts, about half that of LCD and a third of plasma.

Sigma Designs has been dabbling in wireless HD technologies for eons, so we aren't going to get too excited until we see this here system-on-chip (SoC) actually hit some products that we care about. Still, the CoAir is a fairly sweet concept, wrapping integrated wireless, coax and gigabit Ethernet capabilities into one single chip aimed at whole home networking. Put simply (or as simply as possible), this chip is the world's first to "simultaneously deliver multiple independent streams of video and data over coax cable, Ethernet cable and wirelessly without compromising quality of service and throughput." Based on the WiMedia standard, it can reach speeds of up to 480Mbps with UWB (ultra-wideband) wireless streaming, and room-to-room linkage via UWB-over-coax can peg those same rates. What we have here is a great basis for building a whole home server on, but until said device emerges and performs flawlessly, we'll just smile and carry on.

Bargain alert! No need to liquidate every asset you own to bring home (wherever "home" would end up being) one of Sharp's 108-inch LCD HDTVs, as Westinghouse has just announced that its 56-inch D56QX1 Quad HD display will be on sale as of this month for half of that. Yeah, we've seen it (along with its 52-inch sibling) around forever, but we're thrilled to hear that a handful of affluent aficionados will finally have the pleasure of watching one in their 4,800 square foot den.

[Via TG Daily]

Heads-up, we've got another world's first coming from the labs at BenQ. The E2200HDA claims to be this planet's very first 21.5-inch 1080p Full HD LCD monitor, and given that odd panel size, we don't doubt it one bit. Just to reiterate, this one boasts a 1,920 x 1,080 resolution along with a 10,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, 300 cd/m2 brightness, 5-millisecond response time, HDMI / DVI / VGA inputs, integrated speakers and a headphone jack. BenQ's keeping quiet on pricing, but we are told to expect two additional E Series displays (including a 24-incher) later this year. As for this one, look for it to land in China and "select countries in Europe, Asia Pacific and Latin America" in Q3. Yes, North America just got snubbed -- intensely.

[Via Electronista]