For the coach cabin, the price appeared to be $6.00 to watch a movie on the screens. The LCD screens were built into the backs of the seats in front of you, were (roughly) 5″ across the diagonal, and had a resolution appeared to be around 640×480-ish, and in an “almost” widescreen display (I think all of the content was encoded for 4×3, so I mostly had black bars on the sides).

Overall? Not bad. I had a decent set of circumaural headphones with me, so I didn’t have to worry about other people around me being too loud. As long as it’s a decent movie where you can suspend disbelief and get caught in the moment, then even a 5″ screen can be satisfactory.

It is also noteworthy that the first-class cabin got all of the content for free. If you can upgrade for cheap on a long flight, it might be worth it just for all of the content you get, as well

What all content is there? There’s a decent selection of movies that appeared to been out on DVD for a month or two (10,000 B.C., Cloverfield, and Vantage Point were the most popular around me), the first episodes of several HBO shows (Sex and the City, Flight of the Conchords, Rome, etc.), and what appeared to be live channels from Dish network for many popular networks, including Sci-fi.

If your battery won’t make it, you forgot your DVD collection, or just don’t want to hassle with all of that, I’d recommend getting a movie through it. I mean, you paid $300 for the ticket, so what’s another $6? It’s about the same price as a small beer on the plane, and will last a lot longer.

Post from: EveryJoe

In-Flight Movies

“We are well ahead of them now on both counts — national and local HD — and with the successful launch of our new HD satellite Wednesday, will be in more than 100 markets by year end.”

-Robert Mercer, DirecTV Spokesman.

Dish Network is still planning on having 100 national HD channels and also 100 local markets broadcasting in HD by the end of the year. I personally hope they reach their goal so there is more competition, because we can’t have too much competition when it comes to television. Except for maybe those darn format wars that are now over…

Multichannel

Post from: EveryJoe

DirecTV to Dish Network: Still Better Than You

EngadgetHD all day has posted a bunch of galleries of their experiences at CEDIA, the trade show for companies to show off their new HD gadgets off to the world. To say the least, they really spent a lot of time touring and taking pics of all the new shiny TVs, DVRs, and other HD components that could be found on the showroom floor. Here is a round-up of all the links to their tours going from the first to most recent:

• FUZE Media System
• Sony
• LG
• Sharp
• Toshiba
• Philips
• JVC
• Mitsubishi
• Hitachi
• Epson
• Fujitsu
• Panasonic

Hold on, need a breath… And here we go…

• Moxi
• Sanyo
• Dish Network
• DirecTV
• Logitech
• Samsung
• Yamaha
• Gefen
• Monster Cables
• Denon
• Klipsch
• Alienware
• And finally, HD-DVD

Phew… Glad that’s over. Although chances are there may be more to come. Stay tuned for more shiny fun!

Post from: EveryJoe

Roundup of CEDIA Tours (So Far)

To complement the release of a new software version for their ViP622 that was released just a few days ago, Dish Network has released a new receiver for those with all black components in their home theater. The innards of the component apparently aren’t that different from its older brother, but still has a 500GB hard drive which can record 55 hours of HD content, 350 hours of SD content, or a mix of each.  New customers can get the receiver free while existing customer pricing has not been released.

Via [EngadgetHD]

Read [DBSTalk]

Post from: EveryJoe

Dish Network Releases ViP722 HD DVR

For those of you out there with Dish Network’s ViP622 HD DVRs, you have a little surprise waiting for you, albeit with a catch. Dish Network has sent out a software update to your receivers that has enabled the Ethernet port as well as the USB 2.0 port. While the Ethernet port has no use as of right now, video-on-demand is rumored to be coming soon for it. The USB port on the other hand has a use right now. You are able to connect an external hard drive to it and back the content up to the disc, although with DRM on there so you won’t be able to transfer/watch it on your computer, which chances are is being cracked as we speak. The only catch is that you have to pay a one-time $39.99 “activation fee,” but it includes all the HD receivers in your house/account reportedly.

Via [EngadgetHD]

Read [ZatzNotFunny]

Post from: EveryJoe

Dish Network Enables USB, Ethernet on DVRs