Engadget HD Podcast 164 - 11.17.2009

Another surprisingly epic podcast this week stats off with a bit of TiVo vs. Media center comparison held over from last week, plus a look at the latest from Moxi before pondering what HD DVD Managed Copy might have been like. Next a mini-review of the Spears & Munsil Blu-ray calibration disc spurs a live contest for our UStream audience (congratulations to the winner, wrinklefree, check for his entries after the break,) plus a chance to win for the rest of you listeners. We discuss why the NFL might be right when it says Sunday Ticket is best as-is, and some contemplation over what the FCC could do about OTA television. If that's not mind blowing enough, new TV startups Sezmi and ZillionTV get their moment of discussion, plus new video delivery solutions in the form of Blockbuster kiosks and Comcast's TV Everywhere. Closing thing's out is our weekly poll concerning the importance of surround sound -- the results may surprise you.

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Hosts: Ben Drawbaugh, Richard Lawler

Producer: Trent Wolbe

Program
00:00:57 - Comments from Engadget HD Podcast 163
00:13:33 - Moxi Fall update comes with a lower price and a new 3 tuner model
00:22:08 - HD DVD's Managed Copy was never necessarily free, was always Mandatory
00:26:32 - Spears & Munsil High Definition Benchmark Blu-ray mini-review
00:34:04 - DirecTV exclusive Sunday Ticket is "in the consumers' best interest"
00:40:25 - Ask Engadget HD: Should the FCC kill DTV for better technology?
01:01:45 - ZillionTV signs the final remaining major studio
01:03:20 - Sezmi's low cost cable / satellite premium TV alternative launches in L.A.
01:05:45 - Blockbuster kiosks to offer movies on SD cards, you some candy as you checkout
01:14:54 - Comcast TV Everywhere launch details: December, free for existing subs, really goes anywhere
01:19:45 - Poll: How important is surround sound to you?

LISTEN (MP3)
LISTEN (AAC)
LISTEN (OGG)

Winning UStream commenter responses (we couldn't choose just one)
[7:07pm] wrinklefree: I like seeing sunburned people on my TV
[7:08pm] wrinklefree: My living room looks like a best buy, so torch mode is best
[7:09pm] wrinklefree: my heater broke and torch mode is great

[S4Rs Posted Nov 17th 2009 5:23PM]

I wonder how long it will take for those blockbuster kiosks to turn into infected worm and virus terminals like those digital camera printing kiosks.

[Garst Posted Nov 18th 2009 1:51AM]

Probably a while. Someone hase to use one first.

[Brian Posted Nov 18th 2009 10:48AM]

You know my biggest reasons why I changed from Tivo back to Media Center is multiroom viewing, no monthly payments, and the way Media Center handles conflicts.

My biggest gripe about Tivo is that when you have conflicts on a show and not enough tuners, Tivo won’t record the next showing of the show that didn’t record where as Media Center will pick it up on the next showing. My Media Center has 2 CableCARD tuners and 2 QAM tuners. Sometimes I have 3 shows set to record that need a CableCARD tuners at the same time. Media Center will record the 1 show that didn’t record due to the conflict. This works even better with my wife as now she can’t complain that one of her shows didn’t record due to 2 of my shows, and that her show won’t just automatically record next time it is on.

And I think maybe this is just a personal preference with the guide on Tivo and Media Center. I don’t use any of the filters in Media Center, or the mini guides, etc… I just the basic grid guide both on Media Center and Tivo. That’s what I am talking about looks the same to me. I never really played with anything else besides the basic guide and I hate using the filters as I’d rather see everything show up. Just a personal preference.

There is a limit about resolution about the guide. You still have that 6 foot interface and at some point you won’t be able to read the screen anymore or you just have to use more pixles for text, which makes no diffrence then using higher res.

[Hilltop Posted Nov 18th 2009 2:34PM]

I'd like to enter a friend into the contest

"Why did you give me a calibration DVD? I have a Blu-ray player."

Maybe he likes to be able to close his eyes at night, and still see what he watched on tv from the day before.

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 18th 2009 4:28PM]

Ben,
Is this where I enter the calibration DVD give-away?

The reason I haven't calibrated my tv is:
Due to the poor economic conditions I can not afford the forensic tests to determine the culprit in the case of the missing remote control. Was it the wife, one of my many kids, or the dog.

As soon as congress approves the replace the remote tax incentive, I'll be good to go.

Thanks.

[Edward351 Posted Nov 18th 2009 5:27PM]

I haven't calibrated my TV because torch mode lights the room nicely, and its easier to turn off one TV instead of two lamps.

[mmaestro Posted Nov 18th 2009 6:50PM]

I haven't calibrated my TV because... I don't actually own an HDTV. But I will. Around Christmas or shortly thereafter. Don't you want to ensure I'll have the optimum viewing experience for my new TV?

Actually, I have a podcast related question, but the main Engadget podcast. It might be worth addressing on your show, though. Last week, Josh, Nilay and Paul were talking about Dell's new Zino HD - HTPC in a box, and it does sort of look that way if you add a tuner. But wow, the specs are pretty lame. What are the bare minimum specs for an HTPC? Is an Athlon 1.6Ghz (the base configuration) really going to cut it? Or what if you built yourself with an Atom processor & Ion? What's the least you can spend? Thanks.

[blackacex222 Posted Nov 18th 2009 10:08PM]

I haven't calibrated my TV because I just go on AVS forums and see what people who use the discs come up with for my particular TV model. I'd love to compare my own results from a calibration disc to what others came up with and maybe do an article write up on why you need to do your own calibration instead of using someone's results from the internets.

No matter what I do with my panny plasma though, I'm pretty sure the color green will always be a bit off.

[ant129 Posted Nov 19th 2009 5:35PM]

I haven't calibrated my TV because, at the time, I was unaware that it needed to be done. Since then I have been educated by you guys but I have become complacent with its current settings. Show me what I have been missing for the past two years.

[Principia Posted Nov 20th 2009 11:40AM]

None of the links to the show work from here (keep getting 404s), and the Podcasts tab only links to the main Engadget podcast, not yours. Help!

[dslate Posted Nov 20th 2009 1:59PM]

The Podcast has taken a nose dive in content quality. The flow is all screwed up with Ben quoting jmallory 50 times a podcast.
If someone in the chat room has an insightful followup question by all means work it in. But this constant reading everything posted in the chat room completely sucks. In fact the questions at the end of the podcasts so some of us can tune out that don't want the blow by blow of the chat room would be appreciated. And 25 less Media Center comments on weeks there is no news about it would be nice too. Sorry for the rant but I am a long time listener that misses the actual HD news.

[BenD Posted Nov 20th 2009 2:00PM]

@dslate
Thanks for your feedback and I agree, the balance is off, we need to find a way to recognize without disrupting the flow.

Thanks
Ben

[FabDex Posted Nov 20th 2009 7:55PM]

@Ben

You know what guys: when there's little content like in the past few weeks, my suggestion is to just cover what's there instead of going on and on about how much you hate tivo and canadians, how many tuners Ben has in his media center and pointless movie criticism since it's quite clear that neither of you guys actually know that much about movies.

It's ok to have a tight show that's under an hour, you know !

I can't wait until you go to CES: last year's coverage was great AND full of actual HD news.

[attilag78 Posted Nov 20th 2009 3:11PM]

Great podcast as always and here my entry for the calibration disc:

I don't have a calibrated TV because when I bought it (Mid 2006) I had no idea that it must have been calibrated. I know now but my TV is about 4000 miles away...

[john Posted Nov 23rd 2009 1:18PM]

Listening to the podcast has made me want to build my own media center box. Can someone post some links to some "getting started" sites? Ideally, I'd like to put together the best possible setup, but will look at all configurations. Will it be possible to put 2 Ceton 4-tuner cards in one box?

Anyways, just getting started with it, need some direction.

[Brendan H Posted Nov 23rd 2009 9:22PM]

Hey, I couldn't download the show on iTunes. Also, when I click on the "podcasts" link at the top of the page, the resulting page doesn't even have episode 164 listed. The most recent one is 162 (it's the same with Firefox or IE). I had to google search for 'engadget hd podcast 164 download' in order to get to this page to download the show and see the comments. Don't know if this is a result of the new site design.

[Brendan H Posted Nov 23rd 2009 9:25PM]

Just checked, I can't download the mp3, aac or ogg file from here either. What's going on?

[TheCommentator Posted Nov 26th 2009 3:57PM]

I haven't calibrated my TV because i can't afford to go to the tanning machines, so i tan in front off my LCD.
This week i got asked to join the NAACP. I think i need that disk now...