Saturday, May 16, 2009

Hardware: DisplayLink Releases LGPL USB Graphics Code

from Slashdot:


"USB graphics should be coming to Linux soon: DisplayLink has released an LGPL library that talks to one of its graphics chips over a USB connection. DisplayLink aren't one of the big guys in graphics, but it's always nice to see a hardware manufacturer go the open source route. Now, when can I get one of these touchscreen MIMOs on my Linux HTPC?"

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Good article links.

I have a video technology group on facebook I have been posting article and links in, here are some of them.

Why TV Lost
Source: news.slashdot.org

Akamai CEO: The Online-Video Tipping point is here.

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- How big of a game changer will the online video watching ultimately be for the television industry? And when will those changes really start to happen big time? According to Akamai CEO Paul Sagan, we're watching the tipping point occur right now and sweeping industry upheaval may come sooner and more dramatically then many imagine. Mr. Sagan was Keynote speaker at this week's Streaming Media East conference.

SEE VIDEO CLIP

-- my comment --
With Adobe offering TV vendors to incorporate flash for free in to New TV Sets, TV will be able to play web video clips directly from the internet without interference from Cable TV providers and without a special Set Top Box or even a PC, I expect this is really the Tipping point!

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Hologram video-calling technology could be found in homes ‘within next five years’

FROM : http://www.telegraph.co.uk/

Holograms – the mainstay of science fiction films – could become a regular fixture in our living rooms within the next five years, according to industry experts.

By Claudine Beaumont Last Updated: 6:08PM GMT 06 Feb 2009

Soon, entire houses could be designed around the idea of having a ‘viewing room’ with high-speed internet access and a display screen to allow virtual face-to-face conversations between people.

While hologram technology is nothing new, technical constraints have meant that until now, hologram appearances have had to be pre-recorded. But now, thanks to improvements in the speed and stability of broadband internet connections and video compression technology, ‘live’ holograms are able to converse with one another in real time.

“This is cutting-edge stuff,” said Ian O’Connell, director of Musion, a company that is pioneering the use of live hologram technology. “One of the main uses we envisage is celebrity cameos at big conferences or concerts,” he said. “Prince Charles famously appeared by hologram at a conference, pre-recorded. This technology would allow him to appear live, and take questions from the audience.

“And a number of musicians we’re talking to want to see this technology used to provide live cameo performances from stars at their concerts.”

Mr O’Connell also said that holograms could be used for distance learning projects, or as part of education programmes in developing nations.

However, hologram technology doesn’t come cheap. Anyone wanting to carry out live hologram broadcasts will need to be connected to a fast, next-generation broadband internet network with a minimum guaranteed constant speed of 20 megabits per second. In addition, people will also need a screening room with compatible lighting and video technology, which costs in the region of £100,000 to install, as well as a display screen for viewing the holograms on, priced at around £150,000.

Nonetheless, Mr O’Connell believes more consumer-focused versions of hologram technology will be a mainstay in homes of the future, perhaps even within the next five years. “It’s going to necessitate a change in architectural design for residential homes for it to be embraced fully,” he said. “It’s going to need a room that can accommodate the screening and delivery technology.

“But I think we’re five years away from holograms being a ubiquitous, affordable tool.”

Monday, May 11, 2009

RED Digital Cinema Update

WEVA NEWS MINUTE: From NAB 09 - Update on RED Scarlet
April 30, 2009 Las Vegas, NV - Just last winter, RED Digital Cinema declared it was rethinking the on-going design of Scarlet (photo from www.red.com). Soon after a countdown clock appeared on the RED website, ticking off the hours and days until the redesign for the camera would be unveiled, the company said. When the clock, stopped RED announced all bets were off until NAB 2009, held this month in Las Vegas, NV.

WEVA NEWS MINUTE producers Sue Lawson and Bruce Himmelblau caught up with RED's Ted Schilowtiz at the NAB show to check on Scarlet's current status, and more. Watch HERE! (Allow for QT download). For more information visit www.red.com.

3-D Real-Time Video Display System

I ran across Physical Optics Corporation they have a really interesting 3D display technology.

Holographic Display Screen http://www.poc.com/emerging_products/3d_display/default.asp

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

HD EXPO

HD EXPO is comming
http://www.hdexpo.net/june/

June 11, 2009 | Navy Pier | Chicago, IL
Hours: 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM
Online registration is FREE and includes all panels, keynotes, exhibit hall, roadshow product demos and Intensive Workshops.

Monday, April 20, 2009

Dilithium Promises Better Video Transmission

http://www.wirelessweek.com/article.aspx?id=168660

Dilithium Promises Better Video Transmission
By Monica Alleven
WirelessWeek - April 14, 2009

Dilithium is introducing the Dilithium Video Optimizer (DVO), which, the company says, reduces bandwidth for mobile video transmission by 50 percent without impeding video quality.

The DVO enables network planners to shape video traffic to accommodate more users and save on radio and core network expansions, Dilithium says. For Dilithium BlackBerryservice providers, they can use it to offer value-added services and charge customers for higher video bandwidth or make content display faster with less buffering.

Companies that offer mobile TV services, whether it be someone like MobiTV or MediaFLO, might be interested in the product, as well as wireless service providers, says Dilithium CEO Paul Zuber.

Dilithium is now focusing more on the Americas than it had previously. About 90 percent of its business comes from outside the United States, even though it’s now based in Petaluma, Calif. That’s because the company, founded in 2001, decided early on to follow 3G, and the U.S. market then wasn’t as far along as other parts of the world, he explains.

Today, the majority of Dilithium’s solutions are IP based, so they can run on any network, and with the iPhone educating users about services other than voice, demand is increasing for video and multimedia.

The company is not dependent on one product or geography, so that has helped in areas of the world that aren’t seeing high demand. In its last quarter, the company saw quarter bookings go up more than 450 percent.

While Dilithium is profitable and growing, it’s not necessarily prettying itself for sale anytime soon. “We always run the company as if we’re independent,” Zuber says. At some point down the line, the company could go public or combine with another, but for now, “we will continue to run it that way.”

In multimedia gateways, Dilithium has about 60 percent market share, with its main single competitor being Ericsson.

Free TV for cell phones and mobile devices

FROM : http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-10223478-94.html

Free TV service could soon be coming to a cell phone near you.
Broadcasters announced Today Monday April 20th, at the NAB conference that a new pilot program is launching in the Baltimore-Washington, D.C. area that will allow people to watch free mobile digital television on cell phones and other mobile devices.
Local affiliate stations for CBS, NBC, PBS, Ion, and Fox will broadcast their programs beginning in late summer for mobile devices, which includes cell phones, laptops and car entertainment systems.
Broadcasters throughout the country are switching to all-digital transmission in June as part of a government mandate. And as part of the switch, some broadcasters will also broadcast their over-the-air TV signals on a digital sub-channel for mobile devices. The standard that will be used to transmit the signal is called ATSC Mobile DTV. And the hope is that consumer electronics makers, like cell phone manufacturers, will include the technology in their products so that they can receive the signals.
The trial in the Baltimore-Washington area is expected to kick off later this summer. But it's only the first step toward offering free mobile DTV. Broadcasters in 28 markets, including New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Boston and Atlanta, said they will be broadcasting their signals in mobile DTV.
The biggest hurdle for the new mobile TV service is building a viable ecosystem of products and services around the technology. For example, right now there are no devices that even support mobile DTV. But some companies have built prototypes. LG and Samsung have already been showing off mobile DTV handsets. Dell is showing off an Inspiron Mini10 Netbook PC with a built-in Mobile TV tuner at the NAB show. And other consumer electronics products have also been shown off at the Consumer Electronics Show and CTIA, both of which took place earlier this year.
But devices won't likely get into the hands of consumers, unless U.S. carriers subsidize and sell them. And that might be harder to achieve than actually building the devices. In the U.S., wireless operators control the cell phone market. They subsidize handsets and determine which features are available on which devices.
Today, three of the four major wireless operators already offer their own mobile TV services. AT&T, Sprint Nextel, and Verizon Wireless each sell TV packages for around $10 to $15 per month. These services include a mix of live TV as well as on-demand programming and specialized mobile-only content.
MobiTV, which supplies the back-end for many of these mobile TV services, says a hybrid approach is needed to get operators on board.
"The biggest problem with Mobile DTV is getting the ecosystem in place," said Kay Johansson, CTO of MobiTV. "Right now the service bypasses the carrier. And if there is nothing in it for them, there isn't an incentive for them to offer it."
On Monday, MobiTV announced that it's partnering with Sinclair and PBS to create a hybrid mobile TV service it is calling, MixTV. The MixTV business model combines free mobile DTV with a subscription based seven-day window of on-demand programming. MobiTV is demonstrating how this service would look at the NAB conference this week. The company is also showing off how a hybrid approach could allow broadcasters, mobile operators, and content providers more interactive and personal ways to advertise to consumers.
While MobiTV has grown its mobile TV viewership by at least 100 percent in the last year, the number of people subscribing to such services is still relatively small. At the end of 2008, MobiTV had about 6 million subscribers. But analysts predict that mobile TV market could grow to 50 million users in the next few years. Johansson believes that a hybrid service that offers free local TV shows with premium cable programming, on-demand programming, and made for mobile content will grow the market the fastest.
"I don't think you could reach the 50 million subscriber mark with free-to-air mobile TV alone," he said. "I think you could with a subscription service. But the MixTV model combined with personalized and interactive advertising could accelerate adoption."

International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality (ISMAR)

http://www.ismar09.org/

http://www.ismar-conf.org/


Sponsored by the IEEE and ACM.

(ISMAR) International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality.


Orlando Florida from October 19-23, 2009 for ISMAR 2009. Contribute, volunteer or become a sponsor to help mount the most comprehensive program for Mixed and Augmented Reality ever created.

Join the ISMAR 2009 LinkedIn Group http://www.linkedin.com/groups?about=&gid=1809289 to join in on the discussions about the conference

Linksys IP cam hacking

from Hack a day:

Linksys IP cam hacking

posted Apr 20th 2009 12:34pm by Caleb Kraft
filed under: digital cameras hacks, wireless hacks

admin_password_extraction_2-300x216

GNUCITIZEN has posted information on linksys wireless IP camera hacking. It turns out that some models send the administrator user name and password to the computer when the setup wizard requests a connection. In theory, someone could send the request and harvest your passwords wirelessly. This seems like a pretty careless oversight. We would think that linksys will probably remedy this before too long.

Flash TV

TV is dead, long live TV.

Youtube is the new Television. It's been long overdue, it makes no sense to use a PVR since it's mostly record content being broadcast it's just a colossal waste of bandwidth at this point.
There is no reason why we can't see all programs any time we want, without pre-planning ahead to record and making sure we are home when it's being broadcast.

I have been pitching this for years with a variety of STB solutions to investors and no one get's it!
Well it seems Adobe will have completely re-invented themselves from a postscript printing company to the next media power house.
Flash video slipped in stealthily under Microsoft and Real video's radar and has completely dominated the streaming video market since there announcement several years ago.

Now it seems that they aren't going to wait for Set top Boxes to make the next step but just IP enabled TV's with Flash that can allow a TV viewer to surf youtube and other flash video networks!

Best of all they are avoiding the whole content and copyright issues.
With Hulu, Youtube, Google Video, yahoo video and every one else jumping on the content side all using Adobe's flash technology soon broadcast TV (and all the fuss of the DTV switchover) and CATV will all become irrelivant as streaming flash video will take it all over.

The rest of the players will just be data carriers or content providers.

Press Release: Adobe Extends Flash Platform to Digital Home


From Slashdot
"In a move that should make cable companies nervous, Adobe announces they are going to push a Flash that runs directly on TVs. 'Adobe Systems, which owns the technology and sells the tools to create and distribute it, wants to extend Flash's reach even further. On Monday, Adobe's chief executive, Shantanu Narayen, will announce at the annual National Association of Broadcasters convention in Las Vegas that Adobe is extending Flash to the television screen. He expects TVs and set-top boxes that support the Flash format to start selling later this year.' With the ability to run Hulu, YouTube and others, the question of dropping your cable becomes a little bit more reasonable."

High speed book scanner from trash

High speed book scanner from trash

book_scanner
[Daniel] sent us his entry to the Epilog laser cutter challenge on instructables. He made a book scanner, mainly out of found parts. The bulk of the project was salvaged from dumpsters, though if you’re not comfortable with that, the free section of craigslist might be able to do the job. The cameras are loaded with CHDK, using StereoData maker, and custom software to compile the images into PDFs. They did a fantastic job of documenting every step of the construction, including helpful tips for some of the more complicated parts. There are several videos in the instructable, so be sure to check them out. We’re particularly amused by the extra step of making the photo captions visually interesting. At 79 steps, it’s a long read, but well worth it.

NAB is this week

I plan to be there Wednesday, if anyone want's to meet up with me give me a call 916-704-7676.

Panasonic To Develop Professional 3D Full HD Production System

http://www.weva.com/cgi-bin/newsreader.pl?op=render&type=i&storyid=4079




Panasonic To Develop Professional 3D Full HD Production System
April 19, 2009 Las Vegas, NV - Panasonic Corporation today announced it will start developing a professional 3D Full HD production system. The system, expected to be the first of its kind in the industry, consists of a twin-lens P2 professional camera recorder and a 3D-compatible High Definition Plasma display. Panasonic will display concept models of the 3D system starting tomorrow at NAB 2009.

With Hollywood studios moving towards creation of more 3D entertainment content, Panasonic debuted the world's first 3D Full HD Plasma Home Theater System based on Plasma display and Blu-ray Disc technologies at the CEATEC trade show in Japan in September 2008. More recently, Panasonic established the Advanced Authoring Center within Panasonic Hollywood Laboratory in February 2009 to support Hollywood studios in developing 3D Full HD Blu-ray Disc titles.

Production of 3D movies requires a great deal of time and effort, However, with the new 3D production system, which can enable an easier and more efficient 3D production process and environment, Panasonic will contribute to accelerating the realization of easier high-quality 3D content production.

At present, 3D content producers have to hand-build their own 3D production systems by physically connecting multiple 2D production devices. Panasonic is now starting to work on developing a twin-lens, 3D camera system. Also, Panasonic’s Plasma displays have been used in many post-production facilities in Hollywood, thanks to their high-quality imaging performance, which has been endorsed by leading Hollywood professionals.

Technologies and expertise obtained from their use in post-production has enabled Panasonic to further develop high-quality 3D viewing performance in its Plasma technologies. As a result of this process, Panasonic’s 3D Plasma display system will help 3D content producers to quickly and easily evaluate the image quality of 3D content.

Each component of Panasonic’s innovative 3D Full HD production system has unique features. The twin-lens P2 camera recorder enables the capturing of natural and high-quality live 3D images. Thanks to the non-mechanical solid-state construction of the P2 system, the camera recorder will be compact enough to allow more flexible 3D shooting, thereby maximizing the creativity of the filmmakers by eliminating the stress factor from the use of the equipment.

3D Full HD recording using Panasonic’s proprietary P2 system also enables recording of two channels of Full HD images on the P2 card. P2’s non-mechanical construction and compactness will also be incorporated into the company’s 3D image recording and editing equipment to make production in the field highly flexible and efficient.

Panasonic’s 3D Drive System enables the display of Full HD moving pictures for the left and the right eyes, so large screen 3D viewing will become possible. The excellent moving picture performance and accurate color reproduction characteristics achieved by Plasma’s self-illuminating technology enables the realization of high-quality 3D image evaluation capabilities required in the professional content production field.

“Panasonic is continuing its efforts to enable consumers to enjoy 3D movies in the comfort of their own living rooms with its 3D Full HD Plasma Home Theater System, which incorporates a Plasma HDTV and a Blu-ray Disc player,” said Dr. Paul Liao, Chief Technology Officer of Panasonic Corporation of North America. “The professional 3D Full HD image production system we are going to develop will improve the 3D production environment and accelerate creation of 3D titles.” For more information visit www.panasonic.com

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Flash streaming

Joshua: Hey John!
Sent at 3:47 PM on Tuesday
me: hi
Sent at 3:54 PM on Tuesday
Joshua: you going to go revolutionize the video streaming business and get rich? :)
Sent at 4:01 PM on Tuesday
me: It's a nice thought, but since flash and youtube are now doing almost everything that I had in 1996 there is probably little chance of that.
I am working on a Head Mounted display
Something like http://www.lumusvision.com/
Joshua: nice!
me: Not sure how far it will get, still in research phase
I also had an incredible idea for super caps as in the end of battery technology as we know it
Joshua: dang!
Sent at 4:05 PM on Tuesday
Joshua: That would be amazing too. I still think you can improve on the CDN side of video streaming though.
Sent at 4:06 PM on Tuesday
me: I am sure I can by using P2P or cooperation from the prodiders I had a live p2p streaming system at one point up for demo's a long long time ago.
Sent at 4:09 PM on Tuesday
Joshua: could a site like youtube use something like that?
Sent at 4:12 PM on Tuesday
me: They are limited to what Adobe's macromedia flash platform can operate with
I was thinking of selling a flash server since adobe want's $4000 for one that only works on windows server but for recorded video a web server is fine
Joshua: what can a flash server do that a normal one can't?
me: So this would be for live flash video streaming encode and stream at the same time it's like web server, but the file never ends. so a normal web server can't do it the livecam server can already do this.
Sent at 4:17 PM on Tuesday
Joshua: whats the difference between your server and the livecam one?
me: Mine is the livecam one
I wrote it
Joshua: lol. thats really cool.
me: Sorry I thought you knew this.
Joshua: nope. it's really impressive though.
me: we made a web server version of it called afterburner, it's on sourceforge
Joshua: would it be able to save a company like google money?
Sent at 4:21 PM on Tuesday
me: Well they are already using litehttp similar to afterburner from what I can tell, haven't read the source code yet.
and no one is doing live flash streaming but 2 small web sites
Joshua: you said that most content is recorded though.
me: ustream.tv and justin.tv but any web server will work for recorded because it just serving up large files some throttling would help them not waste bandwidth by not serving more of the file then the viewer is going to need right now someone on a fast connection will download the who video as fast as they can even if they will just flip to another video and not watch , so there is a lot of data sent that it just tossed out later and never used. Increasing bandwidth costs.
Sent at 4:26 PM on Tuesday
Joshua: Great point. Hey John, I gotta jet. It's always good talking to you and I'll catch up with you later. Have a great one!
Sent at 4:29 PM on Tuesday
me: ok l8r
Sent at 4:31 PM on Tuesday

NAB Coming and pirate HDTV Station.

NAB 2009 is coming up next week.
NABShow
April 17–23, 2009 • Las Vegas, Nev.
www.nabshow.com



Lumantek
of South Korea 2009 NAB Show, Booth: C2243
Makes the VENTUS a new DTV/Mobile TV modulator based on small USB 2.0 platform have ability to stream an MPEG stream from hard disk and output an industry-standard 50-870MHz (VHF + UHF) RF signal and S/L band.
The on-board synthesizer can generate a stable and accurate symbol clock and tuning frequency. The Transport Stream can be supplied via an external USB2.0 interface, and full customer-selectable modulation.

Basically it's a pirate HDTV Station. You can broadcast your own HDVT ATSC signals, and with amplifiers have a fully functioning TV station!





Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Kulabyte - Live HD H.264 Flash Adobe Streaming







IMMEDIATE RELEASE

KULABYTE RELEASES XSTREAM LIVE VERSION 2.0

Live HD H.264 Flash Adobe Streaming Now Available!

SAN MARCOS, TX, March 16, 2009 - Kulabyte Corporation of San Marcos, TX, a leading provider of advanced video processing technologies, announced today the shipment of its newest live HD encoding software, XStream Live 2.0. This HD and SD capable Adobe Flash encoder uses the H.264 codec to deliver broadcast quality HD video over the internet.

With this new product, event producers and broadcasters will be able to encode and stream the highest quality live Adobe Flash H.264 at up to 720p while using less than 2 Mbps of bandwidth. XStream Live 2.0 incorporates improved bit rate control and is designed for lower latency applications. Compatible with Adobe FMS 3.0 and FMS 3.5, XStream Live 2.0 comes standard with all Kulabyte products and services, including its full line of turn-key encoders, software encoders, Live Event Services and Media Management Services (MMS).

XStream Live 2.0’s easy-to-use interface makes encoding and publishing content a breeze and is fully compliant with Limelight, Akamai, CDNetworks, Internap and most other major Content Delivery Networks that have either Adobe or Wowza servers deployed. Major new features of XStream Live 2.0 may be viewed at www.kulabyte.com, or you can request a quote or more information at sales@kulabyte.com

About Kulabyte Corporation
Based in San Marcos, Texas, Kulabyte’s engineering and management team is focused on delivering the highest quality HD video encoding and streaming solutions in the industry. Kulabyte’s revolutionary new products and services exceed the industry standards and expectations for performance, quality and value while delivering solutions that save bandwidth, time, money and production assets. Kulabyte’s clients include the Department of Defense, ITV Europe, MTV, Rackspace, CTV and Myspace.


For sales information, please contact Terry Gottschalk at (512) 795-4228 or email sales@kulabyte.com

Friday, February 06, 2009

CNN streams P2P video for inauguration.

LCD's : there are some side effects

Source: hardware.slashdot.or...

Thursday, February 05, 2009

MetaSolv - operations support system (OSS) for next-generation communications service providers.

http://www.ossnewsreview.com/telecom-oss/category/metasolv/
http://www.oracle.com/metasolv/index.html

In plain english MetaSolv makes telco billing and tracking software. They are using for Cable TV too and Video On Demand.

MetaSolv, Inc. (NASDAQ: MSLV), a global leader in service fulfillment operations support system (OSS) solutions for next-generation communications service providers, has announced that Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ: ORCL) has agreed to acquire MetaSolv through a cash merger for $4.10 per share, or approximately $219.2 million. The agreement is subject to stockholder and regulatory approval and is expected to close in late 2006 or early 2007.

Oracle has acquired MetaSolv, recognized leader in service fulfillment operations support system (OSS) solutions for next-generation communications service providers.

The acquisition further extends Oracle's leadership in the communications industry and creates an end-to-end packaged software suite for key communications industry processes, including Business Support Systems (BSS), Operational Support Systems (OSS), Service Delivery Platform (SDP) and enterprise applications.


Telenet Deploys MetaSolv for Digital TV Activation

8:47 pm - May 16th, 2006

MetaSolv Software, Inc., a leader in comprehensive operations support system solutions for next-generation communications service providers, today announced that Telenet has successfully deployed MetaSolv ™s convergent service activation platform for Digital TV services. Telenet is the largest provider of broadband cable services in Belgium “ including cable television, high speed internet and telephony services “ with over 1.8 million subscribers.

Telenet ™s converged services require a converged cross-domain activation platform - a single order of complex services can trigger activation and configuration requirements in multiple domains, including POTS, VoIP, Digital TV, and DSL-Broadband, all of which are supported by MetaSolv ™s activation solution. (more…)


Monday, February 02, 2009

Azzurro Systems Integration Wins Time Warner Cable Buffalo Contract for Advanced Studio Automation


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Azzurro Systems Integration Wins Time Warner Cable Buffalo Contract for Advanced Studio Automation

New York, NY, February 2, 2009 – Azzurro Systems Integration, a unit of Azzurro HD, announced today that Time Warner Cable Buffalo has awarded it a contract for development of an automated television production facility creating a new paradigm in local TV news. Known for pushing the boundaries of technology, Time Warner Cable will debut in early 2009 a new 24-hour local news channel made possible by advances in studio automation never before available in a market of this size.
The television production facility will be equipped with a one-camera studio capable of hosting two talent positions, plus a newsroom area for six reporters, two producers and two Final Cut Pro edit workstations. The reporter stations will be capable of P2 ingest and desktop editing using the Dalet Editing application. The master control room will feature a large 65” LCD monitor fed from an Evertz VIP processor.
Steve Paulus, Regional Vice President of Time Warner Cable’s News Division, stated "We are very excited to bring local news to the Buffalo area by creating a new paradigm in news production. We spent considerable time researching vendors and partners for this new opportunity and we are confident that the channel will be well received. ASI has helped us define the requirements and has been very instrumental in providing the intellectual property required when putting together a project like this in a record breaking time."
About Azzurro Systems Integration
Azzurro Systems Integration (ASI) is a full service systems design and integration company that is a unit of Azzurro HD, . ASI addresses the technical needs of the television industry and offers comprehensive solutions, including consulting, engineering, design, documentation, project management, equipment procurement, custom fabrication, system integration, project commissioning, training, and after-installation support.
Azzurro HD operates the Meet Me Point for Digital: the first all-digital, HD-enabled aggregation and switching facility for television content in the USA. Located at the AT&T Building at 32 Avenue of the Americas in New York City, the Azzurro HD facility provides all-digital transport and switching using state-of-the-art equipment, with a clear forward path to serve the growing need for uncompressed HDTV transport. The company also provisions fiber for first-mile and last-mile connections, satellite uplinks for program distribution and both software and storage for secure digital archiving of tape libraries.

ASI is headquartered at 100 Stonehurst Ct., Northvale, NJ 07647. For more information, visit www.azzurrohd.com or contact Bill Cordo, Senior Sales Director, at 201-767-0850 or bcordo@azzurrohd.com.

SILICON IMAGE JOINS MoCA

San Ramon, Calif., February 3, 2009 - Silicon Image, Inc. (NASDAQ: SIMG), a leader in semiconductors and intellectual property for the secure distribution, presentation and storage of high-definition content, has joined MoCA (R) as a Contributor level member.

Contributor members participate in the development of the specification, have voting rights and are encouraged to participate in the various work groups and committees.

"We are very pleased to join MoCA and are looking forward to working with the alliance to promote high-definition (HD) and high-fidelity media streaming on multiple screens throughout the home," said Rob Tobias, director of product marketing at Silicon Image, Inc. "MoCA is very complementary to Silicon Image's recently introduced LiquidHD suite of protocols as it supports whole home entertainment networking."

"Silicon Image's focus has been on connecting high definition devices and their creative accomplishments have inspired the industry," said Charles Cerino, president of MoCA. "We are very pleased to have them join and we know that their contribution will be invaluable and vital to MoCA's march toward worldwide adoption."

Contact:
Rob Gelphman
Chair, MWG,
MoCA
408/838-7458
robgelphman@mocalliance.org robgelphman@mocalliance.org>

About Silicon Image, Inc.
Silicon Image, Inc. is a leading provider of semiconductor and intellectual property products for the secure distribution, presentation and storage of high-definition content. With a rich history of technology innovation that includes creating industry standards such as DVI and HDMI, the company's solutions facilitate the use of digital content amongst consumer electronics, personal computer (PC) and storage devices, with the goal to securely deliver digital content anytime, anywhere and on any device. Founded in 1995, the company is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, with regional engineering and sales offices in China, Germany, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and the United Kingdom. For more information, please visit www.siliconimage.com <http://www.siliconimage.com/>
.

About MoCA
The Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA (R) is an open, industry driven initiative promoting distribution of digital video and entertainment through existing coaxial cable in the home. MoCA technology provides the backbone for whole home entertainment networks of multiple wired and wireless products. Visit www.mocalliance.org for more information. MoCA's new video-based web site addressing consumers is http://www.connectmystuff.org.


Silicon Image and LiquidHD are trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of Silicon Image, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. HDMI is a trademark or registered trademark of HDMI Licensing, LLC in the United States and/or other countries. MoCA is a registered trademark of the Multimedia over Coax Alliance. All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners in the Unites States and/or other countries.


Thank you,
R. Silverstein
MoCA
408.416.6501
robertas@mocalliance.org

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Remember the Osprey high end Video Capture Boards.



These were all the rage back in the late 90's. They are made by ViewCast

I had totally forgotten about them, and when I went to try to find http://www.radioparadise.com/
I accidentally went to
http://www.paradise.com/

Turns out to be a reseller of the Osprey Video Capture boards.


I much prefer dealing with Lazlow Zoltan of computer modules down in San Diego. Great guy.
He also sells the Osprey board.

http://www.compumodules.com/professional-video/viewcast-osprey-windows-media-streaming.shtml


I did a project with the SDI-Master board, from him a few years ago.

Well at least back then they were just Brooktree BT848/BT878 Capture boards.
I was able to get an almost identical capture board (lower quality) for $15 from lifeview in Milpitas. But I think they are long gone now, this was back in 1999 when I was doing this work.
The Brooktree was aquired and is now Conexant.
The chips became the Fusion 878 chip.
To this days it's still one of my favorite capture chips. Much simpler then the Techwell parts.

The GeoVision and Kodicom CCTV DVR capture boards also use this same chip.
My livecam product was also built around it.

Monday, January 26, 2009

Quantum Camera On a Silicon Chip

From: Slashdot

"Physicists in Switzerland and California have developed a new type of camera capable of imaging quantum correlations between pairs of photons. The details are presented in the current issue of the open-access publication New Journal of Physics. Unlike a conventional camera with a CCD imager, this camera is composed of Single Photon Avalanche Diode (SPAD) pixels implemented on a high-performance CMOS chip. One of the authors has provided more background for the non-physicist. Apparently, it could be used to verify the existence of Bose-Einstein condensates that are now starting to be produced in new ways."

TEMPEST: A Signal Problem

from: Hackaday

TEMPEST is the covername used by the NSA and other agencies to talk about emissions from computing machinery that can divulge what the equipment is processing. We’ve covered a few projects in the past that specifically intercept EM radiation. TEMPEST for Eliza can transmit via AM using a CRT monitor, and just last Fall a group showed how to monitor USB keyboards remotely. Through the Freedom of Information Act, an interesting article from 1972 has been released. TEMPEST: A Signal Problem (PDF) covers the early history of how this phenomenon was discovered. Uncovered by Bell Labs in WWII, it affected a piece of encryption gear they were supplying to the military. The plaintext could be read over that air and also by monitoring spikes on the powerlines. Their new, heavily shielded and line filtered version of the device was rejected by the military who simply told commanders to monitor a 100 feet around their post to prevent eavesdropping. It’s an interesting read and also covers acoustic monitoring. This is just the US history of TEMPEST though, but from the anecdotes it sounds like their enemies were not just keeping pace but were also better informed.

Delay in analog TV shutdown presents challenges

From : http://news.wired.com

WASHINGTON (AP) -- With the clock ticking toward the Feb. 17 deadline for TV broadcasters to shut off their analog signals and go entirely digital, analysts say more than 6.5 million households are not ready. Now Congress appears poised to postpone the transition to June - but a delay could bring its own problems.

To avoid blacking out TV sets in unprepared homes next month, the Obama administration is seeking the delay to give the government more time to fix a subsidy program that has run out of money for coupons that help consumers pay for digital converter boxes for older TVs.

See link for rest.


Sunday, January 25, 2009

Bye Bye Zune.


Microsoft To Exit the Zune Business?

According to Microsoft's quarterly filings to the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Zune platform experienced a revenue drop of 54 percent, or $100 million. This compares to relatively healthy sales of the iPod, which were up 3 percent in the same period (though revenue did drop by 16 percent). Obviously, with the recent job cuts at Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices Division, pundits are wondering how soon until the Zune also gets the chop. As one pundit wrote: 'Microsoft, by now, should be realizing that it's never going to be as "cool" as Apple, so why waste its time with the Zune where it has no competitive advantage?'"

Friday, January 23, 2009

Cox Blocked

I downloaded a movie using Bit Torrent off of Isohunt. But this movie was really a trojan of a new flavor. Turns out the wmv video file was set up to have the video codec to call back home for DRM activation over the net. So when you try to play this file, Cox Cable uses this to shut down the Internet connection. For a few hours there was no way to get back on. It seemed completely dead.
Fortunately there was an easy fix. Eventually you will get a page about DMCA violations with a link to restore the connection.

Every web site you try to access come back with this page.


That link is http://anydomain.com/?action=reactivate The second time this happened, I already knew this and was able to reactivate instantly.

HDMI / HDCP with 2560 x 1600 Support?


http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=759929

Answer:
The Dell 3007WFP and Hewlett Packard LP3065 30" LCD monitors require a
graphics card with a dual-link DVI port to drive the ultra high native
resolution of 2560x1600 which these monitors support. With the current
family of NVIDIA Geforce 8 & 7 series HDCP capable GPU's, playback of
HDCP content is limited to single-link DVI connection only. HDCP is
disabled over a dual-link DVI connection. The highest resolution the
Dell 30" 3007WFP supports in single-link DVI mode is 1280x800 and
therefore this is the highest resolution which HDCP playback is
supported in single-link DVI mode on current Geforce 8 &7 series HDCP
capable GPU's. On other 3rd party displays with a native resolutions
of 1920x1200 and below, the graphics card interfaces with the monitor
over a single-link DVI connection. In this case, playback of content
protected Blu-Ray and HD-DVD movies is possible on HDCP capable
Geforce 8& 7 series GPU's.

There is some hope though: dv411(dot)com is selling converters which
may provide the adaptation necessary for the giant monitors coming our
way. The $450 price tag is steep, IMHO, but that doesn't mean there
isn't already competition in the converter arena of that prices won't
plummet once the converging technologies and trends gain momentum.

Nervous System Manipulation by electromagnetic fields from Monitors

Nervous System Manipulation by electromagnetic fields from Monitors
Patent 6,506,148

I don't think this will work on LCD's. Maybe Plasma?







Subliminal Learning Demonstrated In Human Brain

{image: New research uses sophisticated perceptual masking,
computational modeling, and neuroimaging to show that instrumental
learning can occur in the human brain without conscious processing of
contextual cues. (Credit: iStockphoto/Kiyoshi Takahase Segundo)}

ScienceDaily (Aug. 28, 2008) — Although the idea that instrumental
learning can occur subconsciously has been around for nearly a
century, it had not been unequivocally demonstrated. Now, a new study
published by Cell Press in the August 28 issue of the journal Neuron
used sophisticated perceptual masking, computational modeling, and
neuroimaging to show that instrumental learning can occur in the human
brain without conscious processing of contextual cues.

"Humans frequently invoke an argument that their intuition can result
in a better decision than conscious reasoning," says lead author Dr.
Mathias Pessiglione from the Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging at
the University College London. "Such assertions may rely on
subconscious associative learning between subliminal signals present
in a given situation and choice outcomes." For instance, a seasoned
poker player may play more successfully because of a learned
association between monetary outcomes and subliminal behavioral
manifestations of their opponents.

To investigate this phenomenon, Dr. Pessiglione and colleagues created
visual cues from scrambled, novel, abstract symbols. Visual awareness
was assessed by displaying two of the masked cues and asking subjects
if they perceived any difference. "We reasoned that if subjects were
unable to correctly perceive any difference between the masked cues,
then they were also unable to build conscious representations of
cue-outcome associations," explains Dr. Pessiglione.

In the next set of experiments, subjects performed a subliminal
conditioning task that employed the same masking procedure, but the
cues were now paired with monetary outcomes. Using this methodology,
the researchers observed that pairing rewards and punishments guided
behavioral responses and even conditioned preferences for abstract
cues that subjects could not consciously see.

The researchers collected scans of the brain, using functional
magnetic resonance imaging, to investigate the specific brain
circuitry that is linked to subliminal instrumental conditioning. "The
ventral striatum responded to subliminal cues and to visible outcomes
in a manner that closely approximates our computational algorithm,
expressing reward expected values and prediction errors," says Dr.
Pessiglione. "We conclude that, even without conscious processing of
contextual cues, our brain can learn their reward value and use them
to provide a bias on decision making."

The researchers include Mathias Pessiglione, University College
London, London, UK, INSERM U610, Universite´ Pierre et Marie Curie,
Paris, France; Predrag Petrovic, University College London, London, UK
Jean Daunizeau, University College London, London, UK; Stefano
Palminteri, INSERM U610, Universite´ Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris,
France; Raymond J. Dolan, University College London, London, UKand
Chris D. Frith, University College London, London, UK.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Journal reference:

Mathias Pessiglione, Predrag Petrovic, Jean Daunizeau, Stefano
Palminteri, Raymond J. Dolan, and Chris D. Frith. Subliminal
Instrumental Conditioning Demonstrated in the Human Brain. Neuron,
2008; 59: 561-567 [link]
Adapted from materials provided by Cell Press, via EurekAlert!, a
service of AAAS.
Need to cite this story in your essay, paper, or report? Use one of
the following formats:
APA

MLA
Cell Press (2008, August 28). Subliminal Learning Demonstrated In
Human Brain. ScienceDaily. Retrieved August 28, 2008, from
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/08/080827163810.htm

Friday, January 16, 2009

If You Get HDTV, Get An Eye Exam, Says Totally Unbiased Study

from : TechDirt

A new study says that people who are getting high-definition TV gear need to get an eye exam, too, so they can be certain they're getting the maximum benefit out of their new equipment. The recommendation comes from a study commissioned by -- wait for it -- a chain of opticians, which in no way calls into question the veracity of their argument. A spokesman for the chain says that even a tiny bit of shortsightedness can effect the quality of the picture a person sees. That's probably true, but won't the HD picture still look much better than the SD image regardless?

Thursday, January 15, 2009

The Digital TV switchover

It really looks like the change over to Digital is not going to go well.

One of the things people are failing to realize is the Digital "all or nothing" problem.

By this I mean, when you have a clean signal both Analog and Digital work great, Digital is much better image quality.

But with a weak signal, if Digital get's too many errors, you see black or jumbled up images.

Where with Analog, it degrades gracefully. The video just gets fuzzy and snow, but you can still have a viewable image long past the point where digital will stop working!

For people with Cable TV this is a non-issue, but for people that can't afford it, and live in outlying areas, they may not get any TV soon.

-----------------------

Conflict of Interest May Taint DTV Delay Proposal

Anonymous writes "Ars Technica has discovered that one of the Obama transition team members advising on the digital TV transition has a conflict of interest that would benefit WiMAX carrier Clearwire over Verizon. 'Barack Obama's call to delay the DTV transition would affect not only millions of analog TV viewers, but also powerful companies with a vested interest in the changeover date — including at least one with an executive on Obama's transition team.'"

-----------------------

DTV Coupon Program Out of Money

Thelasko writes "It appears that the US Government's digital converter box program is running out of money. If you sign up after the program runs out of money, you will receive your voucher if the program receives more funding. Older analog televisions will no longer work without a converter box after February 17."

-----------------------

Best Buy, Wal-Mart, Others Fined Over Digital TV Notices
On April 12th, 2008

Ian Lamont writes "The FCC has fined 11 retailers and television manufacturers for violating rules relating to the 2009 digital TV transition. Best Buy, Circuit City, Target, Sears, Kmart, and Wal-Mart supposedly failed to place notices near analog-only TV sets warning customers that the sets did not have digital tuners. In part, the required notice reads: 'This television receiver has only an analog broadcast tuner and will require a converter box after February 17, 2009, to receive over-the-air broadcasts with an antenna because of the Nation's transition to digital broadcasting. Analog-only TVs should continue to work as before with cable and satellite TV services, gaming consoles, VCRs, DVD players, and similar products.' The fines total $6.6 million."

-----------------------

The Digital TV switchover
by Matt Haughey January 13, 2009

I'm going to go out on a not-so-far limb and say the scheduled Digital TV switchover away from analog scheduled to take place next month on February 17 is going to be delayed again. Originally planned to take place several years ago but pushed to 2009, the early tests in various markets sounded problematic and I can't imagine what will happen on a national scale.

Obama's transition team has already recommended a delay, I bet one of his first actions as president will be to push it back to 2010-2012. The only weird bit is that Hawaii is scheduled to change over in two days, so if Obama does move it back another year or two, will Hawaii stay digital-only?

-----------------------

From John Sokol

Related Reading:

FCC: DTV REPORT ON COFDM AND 8-VSB PERFORMANCE September 30, 1999

FCC's Digital Television (DTV) Regulatory Information

http://www.dtv.gov, for the FCC's consumer-oriented DTV website.



Vizio HDTVs with Amazon and Netflix

http://www.pvrblog.com/pvr/2009/01/vizio-hdtvs-with-amazon-and-netflix.html

by Matt Haughey January 14, 2009
I looked around at a lot of CES wrapups and to be honest didn't see too many impressive things. Nothing really stood out as an all-new aha! kind of gadget like I've seen in years past. The theme of this year seemed to be mostly just refinement of existing technologies.

Vizionetflix Towards that theme, I'd have to say the best thing I've seen so far is this line of Vizio HDTVs with built-in 802.11n allowing for Netflix and Amazon streaming movies, Rhapsody music, and flickr photo integration. It's nice to see more opportunities for Netflix streaming to show up in the wild (I love the feature on my TiVo) and it's also nice to see it from a company like Vizio, who I associate with being an affordable brand at big box stores like Costco.
I suppose the tanking economy took the wind out of the sails of most CES news this week, but I'm still a bit surprised there weren't any wild breakthrough products unveiled.


YouTube Coming Soon to a TV Near You

http://lifehacker.com/5132509/youtube-coming-soon-to-a-tv-near-you

Video streaming web site YouTube announced a new beta service today called YouTube for TV (if you want to try it in your regular browser, here's how). To begin with, the service is available on Sony PS3s and Nintendo Wiis, offering a "10-foot television viewing experience through a streamlined interface that enables you to discover, watch, and share YouTube videos on any TV screen with just a few quick clicks of your remote control." Sounds good so far, but if you've got a Wii or PS3, let's hear what you think in the comments.

http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/lifehacker/2009/01/yt-wii.png