the HD Guy

In no particular order…

1 - Warner goes Blu-ray
The announcement that Warner is moving exclusively to the Blu-ray side was one of the major event during CES. It even led the HD-DVD group to cancel their CES press conference.

Warner Bros. Entertainment press release

2 - Sony XEL-1 11 inch OLED screen
This is the first commercially available OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) screen and is available on Sonystyle for $2500.
Yes this is thin!
Sony XEL-1 on SonyStyle
Also on display was Samsung’s impressive 31 inch OLED TV.

3 - Canon Vixia HF10 HD Camcorder
Amazing full HD camcorder with 16GB of on-board flash.
Canon Vixia HF10

4 - Panasonic 150 inch plasma TV
World’s largest plasma hdtv with a resoltion of 4096x2160 pixels. Yes, that’s more that 9 47′ inches…
Panasonic anouncement
See Panasonic CES web site under Technology Showcase.

5 - Blu-ray / HD-DVD combo players
Several dual format high definition DVD players were seen at the show such as the Samsung BD-UP5000 & BD-UP5500 or the LG BH200. The main problem with those dual format players is still the price.

6 - Nokia N810 Internet tablet
Announced a few months ago, it was nice to be able to play with the device. (still waiting for the Wimax version though)
Nokia N810
N810 Specifications

7 - Myvu Crystal
The new VGA version of the well known glasses make them much more interesting.
Myvu web site

8 - Mitsubishi Laser TV
Twice the color range, more energy efficient, 3d experience… when can I get one?
Mitsubishi Laser TV on Engadget

9 - iRobot Looj
After the vacuum cleaner, the gutter cleaning robot. You gotta have one.
iRobot Looj

10 - Everything else
Lot of flat screen TVs, GPS, media players, cell phones… bill Gates’ last keynote.

Warner Bros. Entertainment has just announced they will release high definition DVD exclusively in the Blu-ray format… This sounds like very bad news for the other side, the HD-DVD in the high def format war.

The HD-DVD group even cancelled their CES press conference because of this announcement.

Some rumours talk about a large money incentive to explain Warner’s switch. Others talk about Microsoft supporting the HD-DVD side, only to maintain the war, and eventually push high def downloads and streaming… Even more rumours talk about the other current “HD-DVD” backers, turning to Blu-ray as well.

But what does it really mean for the end user?
Of course one format is better than two. But the player cost is also important. Several HD-DVD players can be found for less than $200 but no Blu-ray players at this point.

It’s also interesting to mention that at CES 2008, several dual format high def players have been released from companies such as LG or Samsung. (even though for a price)

Another important factor to consider before declaring Blu-ray the winner, is the fact that the porn industry seems to have chosen the HD-DVD side…

We will probably see more changes and announcements in the next few weeks, that will help the big high def picture to become clearer.