The right size, the right price, the right controls.

Video experts and video reviewers can be a cantankerous bunch. We’re always engaged in a tug of war with manufacturers about what we’d like to see in new HDTVs. We aren’t often successful, not necessarily because the manufacturers are stubborn (OK, sometimes they are), but because they’re more concerned than we are about the realities of the wider marketplace. We couldn’t care less about floodlight-worthy light output, a remote that will also start your car, or a little jig the TV plays when you turn it on or off. But we’re sticklers for good blacks, natural-looking detail, and accurate color.

Coming off the holiday weekend, we needed a break from the hard-hitting news figures we usually interview for this weekly column. Most unfortunately, we chose Doug Robarchek as our diversion. Also known as the “OutFront Guy” and “Doug-Bob,” Robarchek wrote the most irreverent, crosses-the-line column the Observer ever dared to publish. Mercifully, he retired in 2005, after 43 years in the business. Not a man to play by the rules, Robarchek has written his own intro, questions and answers. Staff writer Jennifer Rothacker opted to leave it in its entirety, despite her better judgment.

Monday, July 07, 2008: Panasonic has extended its Plasma Concierge free customer support programme to both Panasonic Plasma and LCD HDTV owners and has renamed it Panasonic VIERA Concierge. Previously only available for Panasonic HD Plasma owners, the service, which includes a toll-free customer support line, provides Panasonic HDTV owners with quick access to technical experts via phone, web or in-home service for answers to a broad range of questions. One privilege is access to Panasonic’s HDTV loaner programme, which makes HDTV loaners available at no charge to customers who have a Plasma or LCD undergoing repair.

It turns out HDTVs are a bit hazardous to our health, well eventually. Actually, it turns out, all flat-panel displays aren’t so great.

LCD panels actually use a deadly gas called Nitrogen Trifluoride when in production. When inhaled the gas is extremely harmful to your kidneys and liver.

When it starts being released into the environment is about 17,200 times worse than carbon dioxide. Which means it will end up trapping heat into our atmosphere over a hundred year period. Hopefully they will fix this issue so I can have an HDTV at least mostly guilt free.

VIA: crunchgear.com

If consumer electronics manufacturers want to keep up HDTV sales, it must quickly add new features now found only on very high-end models, new research has found.

DisplaySearch, a consumer electronics research firm, said built-in Internet access, 1080p resolution, PVR capabilities and upgraded HDMI connection standards need to become standard fare by 2009.

Calvin Hsieh, the director of research at DisplaySearch, told the “New York Times” current research shows that market growth will peak between 2009 and 2011. After that, growth will be limited without the availability of new features.

Not bad eh? These tiny 35 x 25 x 20-mm remote controlled cars fit inside your choice of sport-themed balls which double as the controller. You can even dangle your ball from a lanyard... perfect for all you athletic supporters. While no real technical details are provided regarding battery life or RC range, for $13 you can afford the surprise.

VIA: www.engadget.com

The Digital TV (DTV) Transition coming up February 19th, 2009 can be a bit confusing. People are unsure if their television sets will be ready for the transition or if they’ll have to upgrade their systems. Unfortunately, for some consumers, they’ll have to buy a digital converter box beforehand, so that they can continue to enjoy free over-the-air broadcast TV. In this article I’ll examine digital converter boxes, what you need to consider before buying one, and which devices people are suggesting.

Before running to your nearest Walmart and buying the first converter box you find, it’s important to figure out whether you actually need one or not. Digital TV Facts provides a great Q&A for answering questions about understanding the digital transition and about digital converter boxes.

Okay, so we apologize for putting the cart before the horse here, but after checking out responses from a poll posted up late last month, this question came to mind. Do any of you out there actually own an HTPC? Do you plan to? With devices like the ZvBox gearing up to transfer your PC's desktop onto your HDTV, even the notion of a bedroom-based media center PC seems entirely feasible. So, what's your take on the home theater PC issue -- you buying in?

VIA: engadgethd.com

Despite some initial concerns I had, ultimately the original Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Vegas turned out to be one of the most fun FPS titles of this console generation. Anyone who experienced that game’s cliffhanger ending (or saw the sales charts) knew there would eventually be a sequel, and that sequel has now arrived. While there have been some solid improvements to the series’ always popular online modes, unfortunately the single-player experience isn’t quite as solid this time around.

In Vegas 2 the player takes control of Bishop, who leads his team in the fight against the overall terrorist threat that the player started fighting in the original Vegas. Naturally this involves more running around Sin City while chasing down the bad guys (albeit with more “normal” environments this time around and fewer casinos and such), with the requisite storyline twists moments and a huge betrayal that leads to a moral decision for the player at the end of the game. Although the storyline is largely irrelevant in the FPS genre for the most part, I actually found Vegas 2’s storyline to be a little more believable than the first game’s…for whatever that’s worth.

Receiving the DTV and HDTV signals over-the-air requires an antenna and a new DTV receiver that can decode the digital signals. In general, an antenna that provides quality reception of over-the-air analog TV signals will work for DTV reception.

If you are a cable or satellite customer, you may need a set-top box to receive DTV signals and convert them into the format of your current analog television, even after the DTV transition is complete. A DTV set-top box also may receive multicast channels and high definition programming and display them in analog picture quality.