Sharp, Sony Make the Best Blu-ray Players, Magazine Says
Sharp and Sony make the best Blu-ray players, PCWorld reports. Sharp’s BD-HP20U had the best detail, color quality and brightness of the players that were tested, while Sony’s PlayStation 3 had the best versatility, the magazine says. Panasonic’s DMP-BD30 had the lowest overall performance rating of the machines in the survey, PCWorld reports.
‘Godfather’ Trilogy, ‘Risky Business’ Go Blu-ray in September
Francis Ford Coppola’s “Godfather” trilogy and Tom Cruise’s star-making turn in 1983’s “Risky Business” will be released on Blu-ray in September. The trilogy, whose restoration for high definition was supervised by Mr. Coppola, will start being sold Sept. 23, Web site TVPredictions.com reports, citing Viacom’s Paramount Home Entertainment unit. On Sept. 16, Warner Home Video will release the 25th-anniversary edition of “Risky Business,” which will include commentary from Mr. Cruise, director Paul Brickman and producer Jon Avnet as well as a documentary on the making of the film.
Verizon FiOS, Time Warner Cable Adding HD Channels
Verizon’s FiOS fiber-optic television service added 15 high-definition channels in Fort Wayne, Ind., the first of what it says will be a region-by-region rollout of a broader linear-channel inventory. The new channels include HD versions of Bravo, USA, HBO and Weather Channel, the company says. Meanwhile, Time Warner Cable will add 12 HD channels for its Southern California customers, including CNN and Food Network, Web site Engadgethd.com reports. In May, the Los Angeles Times reported that Los Angeles customers of Time Warner Cable received the lowest number of HD channels of all major U.S. cities.
Panasonic HD Projector Wins Award
Panasonic this week won the award for best HD projection project from publications Rental & Staging Systems and Systems Contractor News at the InfoComm show in Las Vegas, the company says. Quality comes at a price, though, as Panasonic’s PT-DZ12000U, which will start being sold to the public next month, will retail for a tidy $69,000.
Armed Forces Network Five Years Away From HD
The Armed Forces Network won’t be able to provide high-definition broadcasts to servicemen in Europe until at least 2013, Stars & Stripes reports. AFN’s limited broadband space forces its 10 channels to be compressed to the point where HD broadcasts would be impossible for at least another five years, the newspaper says.