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The Hitachi Wooo comes with 4 tuners
Hitachi will offer four tuners and a hard drive based PVR in their upcoming plasmas and LCD TVs

For its 50th anniversary, Hitachi Ltd. Japan has announced a new line of high-definition plasma and LCD televisions with a little more than just a built-in HDTV terrestrial tuner. The Wooo 9000 line of TVs has 4 tuners, (2 digital, 2 analog) as well as an optional built-in hard drive based PVR.

A total of six models will be introduced, including two LCDs and four plasmas. A distinct feature of the 9000 series televisions is a swivel which positions the screen according to the direction of the remote control signal. Additionally, because each set has four tuners, the screen is able to display two different channels/sources on each half of the screen which improves on current technologies.

The built-in hard drive based PVR will be optional so each model will have a PVR-less counterpart for those who don't care for such functions or those who have already invested in PVRs from 3rd parties.

All models are said to be equipped with HDMI input, SD memory card slots, USB, CableCard and a 10/100 Ethernet port (probably only for the PVR-based models). Pricing on Hitachi's new HDTV plasmas and LCDs has not been officially announced, however, some sources say it will range between about $3000 and the mid $4000 range.

I, myself, am a bigger fan of DLP sets and currently a 61-inch 1080p set can be purchased for around $4000. Sometimes size does matter.  However, the additional features making the Wooo series borderline on a PC certainly is an exciting step for the industry -- maybe hacking your TV will become commonplace?

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hmm
By david99 on 4/5/2006 5:37:06 AM , Rating: 2
hmm were to begin, lets see its 2006 and this is were its at is it ?, 4 tuners and side by side tv, weres the basic PIP (picture-in-picture) for all 4 possible channels.

weres the Mpeg4 -part10-, aka AVC, aka H.264, hi def/HDTV recording , and NO Im not Impressed with old-hat Mpeg2 or the old non industry standard Mpeg4/Xvid/divX if this 4 grand TV can even do that.

will this TV even Decode H.264, if so why no mention of it in your story ?.

for the less informed a quick search shows that even in 2003 you could get H.264 decoder chips
using FPGA no less.

http://www.afterdawn.com/news/archive/3704.cfm
"Sand Video to provide a H.264 chip
13 January 2003 20:06 by Ketola

Sand Video Inc. demonstrated a high-definition (1,920 x 1,080i), real-time H.264 decoder implemented on two Xilinx Inc. field-programmable gate arrays at the Consumer Electronics Show last week. The company promised to deliver commercial samples of a silicon implementation in Q4 of 2003"

in 2004 you could get industry standard H.264 Encoding

http://www.ateme.com/products/h264.php
"ATEME delivers H.264/MPEG4-AVC technologies for end-to-end streaming solutions.
Encoders, decoders and streaming IP integrated with 3rd party DRM has been demonstrated at IBC (September 2004, Amsterdam). Our technology is available and already adopted by customers, in Broadcast, Broadband and Corporate markets, in live SD main profile encoders and in IP Set-Top Boxes for H.264 DSP decoder." "Our technology is available on PC, DSP and FPGA"

are the keys from the HDCP association included in this TV
so as to have the ability to play protected content end-to-end.

does the current firmware in this tv have any/all of these
HDCP support, AACS, PVP-OPM,HDMI and how will that effect
the longer term usability of this kit?, can it be user upgraded or can a tec come out on the at home warrantee, does it even have one?.


is any of this below in any way relevent or a concern to the potential perchasers seeing as Sky in the UK is starting HD broadcasting and its getting very popular for people wanting to buy capable TVs and 3rd party PC DTV cards to record it this might be a concern it would seem:
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060214-6177...
"
Users worried about "future-proof" purchasing options also started to think about other components in their PC arsenal. Video cards, for example, would also need to support HDCP, and so many conscientious buyers thought that buying cards with support for HDCP would mean that their cards could carry them into the future. Unfortunately, they were wrong. For while many video cards—including offerings powered by ATI and NIVIDIA GPUs—advertise themselves as having support for HDCP, they don't necessarily support the next-generation of HD content from the studios. How can this be?

FiringSquad caused quite a ruckus when earlier this week they reported that current retail cards do not and future cards will not support HDCP. The good news is that this report is only half true. With regards to shipping cards, they are correct: no matter what a box's feature list may say, no video card supports HDCP fully at this time. Why? They have not been completely programmed. Until the specifications for the access control system are completely finished, implementing prottected HD support in the video card is impossible. For those of you who have been following the technological follies of the content owners that want to usher in this new era of HD content, then you know this is nothing new: AACS, the next-gen access control scheme that will be used by both HD DVD and Blu-ray, is still not finalized. That's right: with players and products being hyped as "just around the corner," the cornerstone of the roll-out still isn't finished. Still."

that will do for know, i'd hope that anyone paying 4 grand for a tv would have any and all potential longer term (2 years min) answered by reputable tec sites such as this before they pay one cent/penny over to a company.




RE: hmm
By Cygni on 4/5/2006 5:51:11 AM , Rating: 2
Great, more H.264/HDCP bitching.

Look this is a TV with 4 tuners and a built in HD based PVR. The TVs arent for sale yet, nobody has one in their house, and who knows where H.264 and HDCP are even going at this point. They could never hit the market to begin with

Yes, its 2006, and this IS 'where its at'. Sorry. TV's spent 30 years being big heavy tubes or projectors. I dont get why people suddenly want to have to buy a new TV every 2 years. Be happy that tech in this sector NORMALLY moves at a slower pace, as it doesnt exactly need anything more.


RE: hmm
By david99 on 4/5/2006 6:23:58 AM , Rating: 2
"By Cygni on 4/5/2006 5:51:11 AM , Rating: 2

Great, more H.264/HDCP bitching."

well thats nice 8)

"Look this is a TV with 4 tuners and a built in HD based PVR. The TVs arent for sale yet, nobody has one in their house, and who knows where H.264 and HDCP are even going at this point. They could never hit the market to begin with"

well apparently your yet to realise (but thats uk) that infact H.264 IS THE STANDARD and hence why its refered to as Mpeg4 -part10- as in its the part10 of the the official Mpeg world standard.

"Yes, its 2006, and this IS 'where its at'. Sorry. TV's spent 30 years being big heavy tubes or projectors. I dont get why people suddenly want to have to buy a new TV every 2 years."

tea sure and very good for what they did for a very long time.

the reason is simple, the powers that be have stated that analog TV transmiters ARE GONING TO BE TURNED OFF very soon ao the govenments can sell off these airwaves and we as consumers most begin to migrate to this new H264 standard that they mandate, also given that the HD spec is in such a state at this time and the manufacturers are trying out new and exotic options on the buying public world wide it seems a wise proposition to try and keep your options open especially as tv's such as this are a very big investment.

Be happy that tech in this sector NORMALLY moves at a slower pace, as it doesnt exactly need anything more.

well its not like the end user has a choice with the analog
going off (it will be here before you know it).

nice chatting to you, all the best 8)


RE: hmm
By PAPutzback on 4/5/2006 8:59:36 AM , Rating: 2
Put me down for one. Assuming there is a cable card slot for both digital tuners. My cable provider charge 1.99 for the cable cards, 7.99 for a one tuner box and 13.99 for a two tuner pwr box. So if the TV could tune these channels with two cable cards @ 4 bucks. I'd save 120 bucks a year. In addition to having boxes wired up.


RE: hmm
By masher2 (blog) on 4/5/2006 9:13:08 AM , Rating: 3
quote:
"analog TV transmiters ARE GONING TO BE TURNED OFF very soon ao the govenments can sell off these airwaves and we as consumers most begin to migrate to this new H264 standard that they mandate"


Oops, another misconception. There is no H.264 or even an HDTV mandate. The mandate is simply for DIGITAL broadcasts.

Hi-def is an option for broadcasters. And, as far as I know, all the current OTA broadcasts are using Mpeg2, not H.264.


RE: hmm
By nowayout99 on 4/6/2006 8:28:42 AM , Rating: 2
I'll go you one further; the mandate is for OTA broadcasting. Cable/satellite is unaffected.


RE: hmm
By david99 on 4/8/2006 4:20:16 AM , Rating: 2
hi nowayout99:

no mis conception about the h264 or mandate, everyones using
it or will do very soon, so De-coders and En-coders in all
the electronics are required, and if the US film industry etc have their way so will end-to-end encription/decription.

well you and the other bloke dont say were you are but the facts dont show this to be the case and while OTA (Over The Air) is currently SD mpeg2 rather than HD avc right now, that will change very soon (relativly) .

as of (i think its) the 15th may 2006, sky in the uk will be
broadcasting hi-def DVB-S channels in h264/avc, BBC, world cup, discovery and many more etc.

NTL UK is late but will broadcast DVB-C h264/avc
" ntl Selects Scientific Atlanta's MPEG-4 PVR
# 21. October 2005 by Mick

Cable Forum has received an interesting news release from ntl today regarding Scientific-Atlanta’s first MPEG-4 personal video recorder (PVR) for European cable operators, which has been selected by ntl for the launch of its PVR service in the UK. The new HD PVR, introduced at IBC 2005, will enable ntl to take advantage of the bandwidth maximization and video storage benefits of MPEG-4 part 10/H.264 compression as it launches high-definition (HD) television and personal video recorder services.

Additionally, three video tuners in the set-top will allow customers to record three shows simultaneously."

and DVB-T h264 avc is or will be all over the EU and other developed countrys not to mention HD-DVD and blue-ray
are all mandate'ing h264 as the base standard, just look here for more info
http://encyclopedia.tfd.com/H.264%2FMPEG-4+AVC
"
Both of the major candidate next-generation DVD rival formats planned for product deployment in late 2005 include the H.264/AVC High Profile as a mandatory player feature — specifically:
The HD-DVD format of the DVD Forum
The Blu-ray Disc format of the Blu-Ray Disc Association (BDA)


The Digital Video Broadcast (DVB) standards body in Europe approved the use of H.264/AVC for broadcast television in Europe in late 2004.

The prime minister of France, Jean-Pierre Raffarin, announced the selection of H.264/AVC as a requirement for receivers of HDTV and pay TV channels for digital terrestrial broadcast television services (referred to as "TNT") in France in late 2004.

The Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) standards body in the United States is in final consideration work on potential use of H.264/AVC for U.S. broadcast television.

The Digital Multimedia Broadcast (DMB) service in the Republic of Korea will use H.264/AVC.

Mobile-segment terrestrial broadcast services of ISDB-T in Japan will use the H.264/AVC codec, including major broadcasters: "

any future replys that try an refute the need for h264/avc equiped tv's, PVR's and other electronic equipment are bogus
(unless you live in a country thats less privlaged)and will need to provide links and other evidence.


RE: hmm
By masher2 (blog) on 4/5/2006 9:08:36 AM , Rating: 3
> "weres the Mpeg4 -part10-, aka AVC, aka H.264, hi def/HDTV recording..."

Waiting for people who actually want to pay the money for it. It certainly won't be you, given you're bitching over a $4K price point for this model, and saying you wouldn't buy without two full years of reliability history.




RE: hmm
By david99 on 4/8/2006 4:56:02 AM , Rating: 2
"By masher2 on 4/5/2006 9:08:36 AM , Rating: 3

> "weres the Mpeg4 -part10-, aka AVC, aka H.264, hi def/HDTV recording..."

Waiting for people who actually want to pay the money for it. It certainly won't be you, given you're bitching over a $4K price point for this model, and saying you wouldn't buy without two full years of reliability history. "

your talking revisionist bullshit, first of all i NEVER said anything of the sort, i asked for a minimum of 2 years Fit-For-Perpose nothing more, nothing less than that.

FFP, as in, if (and its not yet been confirmed) this TV can infact de-code the h264 standard that people will plug into it through h264 enabled HD-DVD players, HD-PVR's and the like plus the
OTA h264 that will be here well before that 2 years is up.

second you can alredy get stand alone realtime h264 recording devices for even PSP and Ipod and the like for far less that this limited TV and i would indeed consider paying 4 grand for a device IF and ONLY IF it had the options i deem useful and better than far cheaper already available equipment.

perhaps you have a vested interest in people wasting their cash on sub-standard TV's and other electronics ,
(a salesman on comission perhaps!) id rather try and help and inform the less tec people that it might be in their interest to check out the facts and then decide based on that, you apparently apparently are here for other reasons.


hey inovation is always good.
By robert5c on 4/5/2006 2:20:42 AM , Rating: 2
its always good to see compaines trying new things...sure in some ways it means your brand new top of the line set will be outdated faster, but at the same time we get better products faster so i like it.

i think the fact that the tv can swivel to the remote is really great expecially for open living spaces like my home, and i'm guessing you can record from one tuner while watching on another.

i've been thinking about getting a htpc in my home, but its good to see that some day we may not need to.

now i'm just woundering, could the 10/100 link be used to just connect your tv to a network and allow you to view files off another pc or network storage, or even better if it could let you browse the net or check email. wouldn't be much harder cept they need more processing power then whats used just for the PVR

love to see things inprove, hope hitachi keeps it up.




RE: hey inovation is always good.
By david99 on 4/5/2006 6:04:52 AM , Rating: 1
hmm for 4 grand wouldn't you insist it have 1 gigabit networking and a top of the line wireless 11G+ 108 megabit
connection ?.

iv got good news on your assumption that you would need more
CPU power than the stated PVR, you dont, infact you can browse the net with something as basic as one of them so called NAS/wireless with HD/usb keyring HD devices.

so this TV could if they see fit to include it and deem the buyer werthy enough, would be able to as you ask and far more, it would be interesting if the reviewer were to get down and dirty and give a FULL lowdown on the chips and other techy stuff, but i think they wont.....


"Paying an extra $500 for a computer in this environment -- same piece of hardware -- paying $500 more to get a logo on it? I think that's a more challenging proposition for the average person than it used to be." -- Steve Ballmer









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