I Wish I Was At CES

Between the reading tweets and news coverage I’ve become disappointed I’m not at CES, the Consumer Electronics Show. Las Vegas is nearby. CES has all the toys.

Technology is constantly changing. The big deal at this show is how much processing power can be put in how small a space, like Intel’s Edison Development Board.

It’s the same size as an SD card, commonly used in point and shoot cameras. It has a two core processor, with WiFi and Bluetooth already integrated.

Intel says, wear Edison. Here’s their suggestion for a baby monitor.

Start with a computer that really is the size of an SD card.
Attach it to a regular onesie and sensors that monitor the baby’s temperature, breathing, and motion.
Then, set the Intel Edison board to trigger actions on other connected devices, like this automatic bottle warmer or this coffee cup.
Each one of these has the Intel Edison board inside, communicating with the others to deliver amazing solutions to age-old problems.

Helicopter parents, your prayers have been answered.

This baby surveillance system is just a demo. It’s a taste of what the device can do so other developers create more products using it.

There’s lot of talk of 4k video at CES. It’s a new, higher standard for video. 4k video is sharper and more lifelike than HDTV.

I’ve seen 4k. Spectacular. The improvement is immediately noticeable.

Unfortunately, in 2014 having 4k capability is like having a car that can do 160 mph. So? Where can you use it?

Cable, satellite and Internet delivered video are all compressed mercilessly before we see it at home. Modern TVs are capable of much better images than what we see. I’d rather get less compressed HDTV (and hold onto my current hardware) than compressed 4k.

Marissa Mayer of Yahoo! spoke today. Her arrival has been widely applauded among the Technorati. Whether Yahoo! becomes a bigger player, as they once were, is another story. Their stock’s doing well.

1,700 were at the Hilton to see her. Katie Couric talked about her involvement with Yahoo News. David Pogue’s Yahoo! tech site was shown off.

It’s still more smoke than substance. They seem to be moving in the right direction. It’s a company full of smart people who should be able to figure things out.

This is the nerd prom. I need to attend. Maybe next year?

Do-It-Yourself DVR

Working on computers is a lot simpler than it sounds. Cards only plug in where they’re supposed to plug in. I’ve yet to fry one!

You know the guys who used to have cars up on blocks customizing and tweaking them until they performed exactly as the tinkerer wished? I’m that tinkerer, except with computers. That probably explains why last night when Helaine went to bed I went to work on an old PC–my DVR.

A few months ago I started recording my shows on the Comcast DVR we rent. The homebrew DVR was powered down. What I discovered was viewing video on the laptop while I’m doing other things is much more satisfying. That’s what brought this rebuild.

First an admission. Working on computers is a lot simpler than it sounds. Cards only plug in where they’re supposed to plug in. I’ve yet to fry one!

This computer was state-of-the-art years ago. It’s a P4 with 512mb RAM and a 150 gb hard drive. Even if you don’t recognize the stats, just think slow.

Luckily as a DVR it’s just fine. The secret here is the video capture cards which themselves contain a small computer specifically made to manipulate video. They do most of the heavy lifting. My two PVR-150s are the only pieces bought especially for a DVR. Together they cost around $100.

The standard program for this type of thing is MythTV. It’s an free open source program which runs on Linux. I chose to install Mythbuntu which combines MythTV and Ubuntu Linux in one distribution. I downloaded an iso file and burned it to a CD.

Surprisingly the installation went very slowly–over two hours. Then came the real tough part, configuring.

MythTV is meant to run on many different types of hardware so it needs to be custom configured. Unfortunately, as a free project put together by volunteers the documentation is a little lacking and the program’s interface non-intuitive. It took a while to understand exactly what was needed.

By 4:00 AM the box was built and everything was working. I downloaded the next fourteen days of TV listings into a MySQL database and selected a few shows to record.

This version of MythTV has some rudimentary streaming, but mostly I watch the video on my other computers using MythTV Player, another freeware program. Perfect!

What is tantalizing now is the thought of streaming my DVR to my iPhone. There are a few ways written but they all seem too complex. I’ll keep looking.

I’m also thinking of buying one more TV tuner card. This would be an ATSC, QAM card for recording HDTV digital cable (only the few unscrambled channels, unfortunately).

Like the guys with the cars on blocks this job will never be done.

Changing TV’s Shape

With few exceptions every graphic we use on the air today will be unusable in a few weeks. Everything has to be re-rendered.

Take a look at your TV. What shape is it? Sort of (but not quite) squarish? Maybe it’s much longer than it’s wide? We live in a TV world that’s in transition from 4:3 to 16:9. That second ratio, 16:9, is where TV is headed.

Alas, headed is an indefinite word. Until a few months ago TVs made in the late 1940s were functionally fine. Even now an old Philco or DuMont will do just fine with a converter between it and the on-air signal TV stations transmit.

We are headed to 16:9 but we’ve got to keep 4:3 working too!

I’ve been thinking about this a lot because I’ve begun the arduous job of converting our 4:3 weather graphics to 16:9 for HDTV. With few exceptions every graphic we use on the air today will be unusable in a few weeks. Everything has to be re-rendered.

Wait–there’s more. (It’s about TV. I can use that line). Because some folks will still be using the old nearly square tubes we’ll have to safely concentrate the most important stuff in a 4:3 box cut out of the 16:9 box.

There’s a lot of work because there are lots of different graphics to produce. Many are frameworks or scenes which are populated with live data when called on-air. A satellite or temperature map are good examples.

Did I mention we’re changing the peripheral graphics that frame my maps and charts too! Oh yeah, new size, new shape, new look. Even the font is changing.

While I’m working on weather other people are working on other pieces of the overall pie. We’ve all got to block out the same ‘safe’ spaces so graphics from different places will all fit with each other.

The work started this afternoon. It will be my main chore for the week.

If you hear me scream you’ll know why.

Def TV Jam

It makes no sense. You would think the cable company would want me to always see the HDTV signal (when available) so I’d perceive the cable service as better and worth more.

Over the past few months the biggest source of tension between Helaine and me usually begins with, “Can I have the remote, please?”

We’ll be watching something in low def when it’s also available in high def. Helaine couldn’t care less. Stef too.

I change the channel anyway as they both give me dirty looks.

With low def (really standard def) the edges of the screen are black and the picture is OK. With high def the full screen is filled with sharper and clearer video&#185.

As stated, Helaine and Stef are unimpressed.

The real question is why do we get standard definition channels at all? Our TV and cable box are connected by means of an HDMI cable.

HDMI supports, on a single cable, any TV or PC video format, including standard, enhanced, and high-definition video; up to 8 channels of digital audio; and a Consumer Electronics Control (CEC) connection. The CEC allows HDMI devices to control each other when necessary and allows the user to operate multiple devices with one remote control handset. – Wikipedia

Through the CEC the cable box understands my TV is HDTV capable. It knows I have no use for standard definition signals except as a conflict starter.

It makes no sense. You would think the cable company would want me to always see the HDTV signal (when available) so I’d perceive the cable service as better and worth more. What possible reason would I have for this particular TV getting ESPN News and ESPN News HD or any other standard/HD combo?

I don’t have all the specs on my cable box but I’ll bet there’s a lot more it would do if only my cable company would ask it.

&#185 – I often see compression artifacts during HDTV programming. It’s a sign Comcast is compressing the crap out of it to fit more channels in less bandwidth.

Is Hockey Now Watchable?

That wider image brings much more of the ice into view. You can see plays develop. You can see the action off the puck. Even in wider shots you can see the puck clearly!

I’m probably late to this story, but I tuned across NBC’s HD coverage of the NHL and was pleased at what I saw. The rub on hockey is it’s too fast and the puck is too small for television. That just isn’t so with HDTV where there’s more resolution and clarity.

As important, maybe more important, is the 16×9 screen dimensions. That wider image brings much more of the ice into view. You can see plays develop. You can see the action off the puck. Even in wider shots you can see the puck clearly!

The NHL isn’t without other problems. I know few players, recognize few names. There are teams I don’t recognize either. The season is interminably long with too many teams in the playoffs.

When I’ve got more time I’ll give the NHL another chance, but only in HD.

From Your Christmas Doofus

The weather here is awful. We’ve been warming for 15 or 16 hours, it’s raining and there’s slushy snow everywhere. Rain de-fluffs snow!

santa-hat.jpgI follow “PhotoJeff” on Twitter. Jeff, whom I don’t know, is with Microsoft. He just wrote:

“PhotoJeff: …here’s a holiday fashion tip for men. Stop wearing the Santa hats! They look cute on girls and women, but make you look like a doofus…”

Great–like I’m not already guilt ridden. I’m wearing the hat on TV today anyway. Jeff lives in Seattle. He won’t see it.

I used to wince “tracking Santa” with the NORAD animations. Who knows why, but a few years ago it started seeming like more fun and I’ve embraced it. So tonight, in my doofus hat, I’ll be tracking Santa.

I’ve had parents tell me how their kids enjoy the Santa tracking, but the happiest of all are our producers who are working with a skeleton staff and happy to get a full serving of “Newscast Helper!”

The weather here is awful. We’ve been warming for 15 or 16 hours, it’s raining and there’s slushy snow everywhere. Rain de-fluffs snow!

On top of that, last night’s performance from Darlene Love was a disappointment. It wasn’t Darlene as much as it was HDTV! What always seemed like a huge and glittery production on Letterman looked more like a high school pageant on the wider and more highly resolved LCD screen. The studio looked old and worn. Then the show ran long, meaning my recordings (yeah–two) were snipped at the very end.

I’m sure my mood will brighten later. The folks who work Christmas are always in a good mood. Honest. I’m not sure how that works, but they are.

Merry Christmas. Happy Chanukah.

New TV For The Bedroom

Circuit City offers a service where, for a fee, they’ll come to your home and set the TV up. Does anyone really need this? It was out of the box with the base screwed into place in two minutes.

element-lcd-tv.jpgWe went out today to buy a new TV for the bedroom. This is a set used by me when I wake up and by Helaine before she goes to bed.

Is it possible nowadays to not feel guilty when spending money? I definitely felt guilty. Isn’t that attitude going to take us farther into recession?

We decided we’d like something similarly sized to what we already have. Our old set is 27″, but it’s 4:3. All TVs today at 16:9. Have no fear there are websites that will calculate and compare. A 32″ TV is within 6% of a 27″ “old school” monitor in area with lots of extra real estate when the content is HDTV.

This was definitely a price based decision. We went with a Circuit City “Element” brand 32″ LCD TV at $399. It is a no-nonsense model with a single HDMI input, VGA and the other standard methods of moving video and audio.

Circuit City offers a service where, for a fee, they’ll come to your home and set the TV up. Does anyone really need this? It was out of the box with the base screwed into place in two minutes. I couldn’t believe there was a Phillips head screwdriver included!

I attached the coax and power cable turned it on and went to the menu to scan for channels. A few minutes later I was ready to go.

The analog channels are what I was expecting. The digital channels are a mish mash of repeats and weird channels with few things of interest. At least two digital channels don’t seem to be on my Comcast provided digital tuner in the family room. That’s some sort of screw up on Comcast’s part.

The digital companions to our local on-air stations are at their on-channel positions. So, though WCTX is usually Cable 9, WCTX-DT is on Channel 59. WTIC, the local Fox affiliate, is 61-1 squeezed between CNN Headline on 61 and CNN on 62. Now Homer Simpson is in the middle of a cluster of news outlets.

As I tuned I began to notice a lot of channels running HD programming on their SD channels but formatted 16:9 so it doesn’t fill the entire screen. What you get is a 16:9 picture on a 16:9 set but with loads of unused black on all four sides. I could hit a button an expand it, but it’s a manual job on each channel and the video will be pixelated as it’s stretched.

The tuner on this set reminds me of the tuner in an LG set at work. It probably is the same tuner. I assume there are mix and match modules used to build modern televisions. Companies like “Element” are more marketing than manufacturing.

The picture is bright and sharp and it’s an improvement over the old set. I’m looking forward to watching it.

Comcast Giveth–Comcast Taketh Away

Jose Candelario who I work with said he’d heard from friends this was typical and they’d disappear over the weekend. They did, just after midnight Sunday.

I didn’t want to write about this sooner because… well, I didn’t want Comcast to know what was on my new DVR/cable box. Remember the card from Monopoly: “Bank Error In Your Favor.” After we got our new HDTV DVR from Comcast it got ALL the premium movie channels.

“Wow, this is cool,” I thought.

Jose Candelario who I work with said he’d heard from friends this was typical and they’d disappear over the weekend. They did, just after midnight Sunday.

A few brief observations from my moment of free-pay-TV:

I enjoyed seeing Bill Maher. Pre-HBO we ran Politically Incorrect on the TV station until Bill became too politically incorrect.

Helaine and Stef have tried to get me hooked on Entourage. Now I am. I’ll probably continue to watch it via DVD.

I like Bruce Willis action movies.

Is it possible to find nubile young actresses willing to take their clothes off who can act? If so, Cinemax has not yet found them. These are a lot more explicit than I remember.

There are a lot of movies being played I’ve never heard of. Is there that much direct-to-cable?

Right now, for me, there’s not enough to make me want to subscribe. I already have enough channels with nothing worth watching.

Watching The New TV

In the past I’ve heard of people watching HDTV shows just because they’re in HD. I better understand now.

The DVR is set up. The TV is connected. The DVD is connected too. I moved it all onto the new TV table. Wow, it was so easy. I even programmed the universal cable remote for the TV and DVD player.

I need to read more about HDMI to find exactly what it is, but that’s the connection between the cable box and TV set. The picture looks amazing–bright and sharp on HDTV.

In the past I’ve heard of people watching HDTV shows just because they’re in HD. I better understand now. I got caught up in some Discovery Channel undersea adventure because the pictures were pretty. I switched off when I realized I wasn’t paying attention to what was being said.

The HD DVR Pick-up

Sweet. This is a brand new DVR model which has gotten reasonably good reviews from the on-line “gotta have it” community.

My “Secret Location in the Valley” friend from California thinks I’m crazy.

“You’re going to Comcast?” he asked. “Why?”

He’s correct. Comcast will come to me DVR in hand and make the swap moving me to HDTV. It’s what they do. It’s how my friend works. It’s how most people work–waiting for the cable guy.

I’m a hands on geek. I want to screw the N-connector hooked to the coax cable and string the HDMI cable between the DVR and my set. This is my fun. No one’s taking that from me.

I headed to Comcast on the way to work. They have a New Haven office a few minutes from the TV station.

The line was long. Only two of the four windows were open.

Standing in line at the cable company isn’t always pleasant. People are there to pay past due bills and get their service restored. Some are angry. Many are perplexed. Few people are there for routine customer service. The place is not built for privacy. You hear everything.

The long line moved surprisingly quickly. I put my old DVR in a large drawer which delivered it to the agent across the glass from me. She went to a cabinet, looked, stopped, moved farther down the cabinet and came back with a Cisco RNG200 HDTV DVR.

Sweet. This is a brand new DVR model which has gotten reasonably good reviews from the on-line “gotta have it” community.

The back is loaded with plugs and sockets. There’s a USB 2.0 connector. Why? I want to know. Same for the Firewire (aka IEEE 1394) port. What can I do with it? There’s HDMI to provide highest quality video to the HDTV. It looks like there’s a port for an external SATA hard drive.

As far as I can tell, there’s no instruction manual online. None came with the box.

Tonight I start the final phase of the switch-over. The new TV table gets moved into position and the DVR, DVD and possible VCR go underneath. Then the TV gets lifted into position.

Helaine can reclaim the family room.

The New HDTV Makes Work

Meanwhile, what about all the saved stuff? You know the shows you just want to keep over time.

Imagine a home with just Stef and me–no Helaine. That’s what the family room looks like now! It’s is ripped apart and randomly strewn. Welcome to HDTV.

It started innocently enough with the old TV going kerflooey. Finding and buying a new set was its own adventure (does anyone really know?). We’ve now got a 47″ Vizio which seems very nice.

Today I built the TV stand, a low, black two shelved table chosen to fit in our old school 4:3 ratio space. My electric screwdriver wasn’t charged so I brought it down and plugged it in, but never needed it. Actually, the TV table is very nice and went together easily. The instructions seemed to be in the original English. All the parts were neatly sealed in plastic–present and accounted for, sir.

We have a Comcast issue SD DVR. That’s gotta go. I stopped in at the New Haven Comcast office yesterday and was told “no extra charge” to go from SD DVR to HD DVR. We’ll see.&#185

Meanwhile, what about all the saved stuff? You know the shows you just want to keep over time. That sent me upstairs to a combo VCR/DVD-R in the bedroom. It’s now inserted in the chain between the DVR and HDTV. Sheesh!

Unfortunately, you dub in realtime. A 60 minute show takes 60 minutes.

By tonight the copying will be done. The VCR/DVD-R will go back upstairs. The DVR will head back to Comcast for a swap. The HDTV will go on its new table. The wires will be tucked away. We’ll be back to normal.

In the meantime it looks like a bomb went off.

&#185 – Over the weekend I mentioned that at&t’s u-verse looked like a good alternative to Comcast. One of my blog readers who works for at&t in Connecticut was nice enough to check out its potential availability for me. Not a good result.

“I hate to tell you, or any any potential customer, that according to the schedule she has, it will be a while before it is deployed at your location. Basically, Stef may be in graduate school…or worse…married by the time it is deployed there.”

The New TV Seems Like The Beginning

Yeah–this TV is going to cost us more money. As soon as I watched a little HDTV, SD (old school analog television) looked shabby.

IMG_2172-1.JPGA few weeks ago our family room TV died a horrific death during a thunderstorm. You can still see the picture, but the blue gun no longer lines up with the other two. It’s not a linear error either. Straight lines from the offset blue channel now form an arc. Everything appears on the TV twice… on the TV twice.

I did a little shopping and some online searching before deciding on a 47″ Vizio SV470XVT1A, which we bought this afternoon. Our old projection model was a hassle getting home. This LCD model fit nicely in the back of the SUV and Helaine and I were easily able to carry it in.

vizio-tv.jpgYeah–this TV is going to cost us more money. As soon as I watched a little HDTV, SD (old school analog television) looked shabby. We’ll need HDTV service and our SD DVR will need to become an HD DVR.

Actually, this whole episode sent me looking at AT&T’s U-Verse service. The website says it’s not available on my street. I suspect it is, because it’s available one street over and I’ve seen AT&T’s boxes in the neighborhood.

If you work for AT&T or know someone who does, will you help? Drop me a line.

The U-Verse package (including moving my home phone and Internet access over) looks like a good deal. Plus, AT&T’s DVR is in the midst of becoming a real media center, feeding any TV in the house from one location. It looks like they offer more than Comcast for less money. Gotta pay for the TV somehow.

Back to the TV for a second. It set up easily and has a very sharp picture. Right now it’s on the floor, but we’ve got a stand on order. This set was bought as much for its ability to fill a ‘built-in’ physical space as much as anything else.

Huge Changes In Television

If you have a working 1950 DuMont TV, you can still use it today! Let’s see how much software your five year old computer will run!

DumontTV.jpgA huge change in television is about a year away on February 19, 2009. Most likely, you will not be affected.

The analog TV channels, some of which have carried broadcasts for 60 (or more) years will be shut down. Television will move to new digital channels, all of which are already broadcasting in parallel today.

The reason you won’t care about this change is, cable TV and satellite providers will convert the digital signal for you. An overwhelming majority of Americans get their TV signal from a provider, not off-the-air. Your old set will still work fine, unless you’re using an antenna on your roof or rabbit ears.

This will be a sad moment, because it eliminates a system which allows any TV ever made to still be used! Amazingly, every change to TV over the years has been accomplished without making old sets obsolete. Those days are over.

When color TV first came on the scene, it was called compatible color, because the TV signal was altered in such a way that black and white sets would still work just fine. The same was the case when stereo sound was introduced.

If you have a working 1950 DuMont TV at home, you can still use it today! Let’s see how much software your five year old computer will run… or where you can play your 8-track tapes!

For TV stations, this is a huge burden coming at the very same time their profitability is threatened by new media. Building a transmission facility for digital broadcasting is a huge financial undertaking, especially when you remember nearly no one watches over-the-air.

On top of that, at some point local stations will also have to begin originating HDTV. Right now, most just pass through what the networks provide. Local programming like news and syndicated show are still sent in the old school standard definition, with its four by three format.

All these capital expenses will be undertaken without a real understanding of potential ongoing demand. Do you really want to see me that clearly?

As the off switches are thrown across the country next February, new operators will be standing by with new services. The FCC is in the middle of auctioning off these TV frequencies which will be abandoned.

The original station operators got them for free! We were much more innocent back then. Now they’ll bring tens of billions of dollars and come with many strings attached.

I don’t know where TV will be five or ten years from now. Computers are becoming more adept at delivering video content. Maybe that’s the logical platform?

Will there be enough bandwidth if everyone decides to watch online? Some experts are saying no… but no one really knows.

I don’t see anyone predicting where TV will be a decade from now.

High Def At My Desk

I’m at my desk this Sunday evening and not away at dinner because of strong wind and rain moving through Connecticut.

Say what you will about my job, there are some benefits. While the radar loops in a monitor to my right, I’m watching the Sunday night football game on NBC in HDTV. That’s right, somehow I’ve been blessed with an HDTV set at my desk! It’s an LG 20LS7D, which I assume means it’s a 20″ screen.

Football in HD is amazing, but not 100% what I expected. There are lots of compression artifacts whenever there is motion. You can especially see it where there is high contrast.

By compression artifacts, I mean slight video distortion where an approximation of the actual picture replaces the full fledged version. If you play with JPG images, you’ve probably seen something similar.

It’s possible this degradation of the picture isn’t the TVs fault or the fault of HDTV in general. I’m getting this via an unencrypted feed on Comcast. I wouldn’t be surprised if they were taking what they get from the local broadcaster and compressing it a little more to save on precious bandwidth.

Whatever it is, HDTV ends up as M(edium)DTV.

That being said, the picture seems sharp because of the astounding contrast. The blacks are blacker and whites whiter than what I’m used to seeing on TV. That brilliance makes the picture jump out at you.

To your eye, high contrast implies high resolution, even when high resolution isn’t there. Programs like Photoshop create this effect with a filter called ‘unsharp mask.’

I’ve been surprised to see the programming on our local PBS station. They seem to be running a full HDTV feed (still with artifacts) which differs from the PBS programs being run on their standard definition channel.

I spent a good 45 minutes watching this PBS feed a few evenings ago, staring at penguins and seals on South Georgia Island, not far from Antarctica.

Someone who walked by my desk said he’d pretty much watch anything in HD. I think I understand.

I’m not ready to bite the bullet and go HD at home. A set large enough for our family room is still prohibitively expensive for the amount of use it would get.

After seeing this presentation, I’m glad to say we’re not in HD at work yet. I’m not sure my trowel-like application of makeup would serve me well. The world is a better place with a slightly fuzzy Geoff.

Am I Ready For Some Football?

I was out of bed at 11:00 this morning. That’s especially early for a Sunday start.

Helaine had long since left the bedroom. She was downstairs, doing everything she could to be ready for today’s important business – football!

Though New Orleans got clocked by Baltimore (I know – live with it) Thursday night, the season really starts today. The Eagles will be playing at Lambeau Field in Green Bay. And, of course, we live and die by the Eagles.

Two hours before game time, as she sat and intently listened to the ESPN coverage, Helaine turned to me and jokingly said, “I am every man’s fantasy. A woman who loves football.”

She is.

When we were married, it was her subscription to Sports Illustrated that came to our Buffalo apartment. She’s enough of a fan to root against teams, because my enemies enemy is my friend.

Oh, speaking of ESPN, five commentators on the set makes for one of the most unwieldy camera shots ever. Five guys in a row is just too wide. Maybe it’s better on HDTV with its stretched screen.

The real deal begins in about a half hour. A competitive team will make for a fun fall. Wish us luck.