In resolution and detail that is -- there has been a lot of fuss about the iPhone 4's new so called retina display and now that we've had some time to check it out ourselves we have to say, there hasn't been enough fuss about it. As videophiles we understand that resolution isn't everything, but boy is it a lot. Now we realize that all the talking in the world can't convey how awesome the screen displays text and video, so instead we crunched a few numbers to put things into perspective. The advertised pixels per inch (PPI) of the iPhone's display is 336, but what does that really mean? Well the calculated PPI of our 1080p 60-inch Kuro: it's a meager 36 -- luckily we don't sit 12 inches away from it. In fact a 1080p TV could only be 7-inches if it wanted to match that PPI. A 60-inch HDTV would have to have a resolution of 16815x9500 to match it -- gasp -- which is four times the horizontal resolution of 4k! Speaking of which, a 4K display could only be 14-inches. But the iPhone isn't like an HDTV; its main purpose is to display text, not video. So what about a 20-inch PC display, how many pixels would it need to match the PPI of the iPhone? Try 5600x3500, which is about double the horizontal resolution of WQXGA at 2560x1600.

But like we said at the start, resolution isn't everything and a Blu-ray Disc on our 60-inch HDTV is still more enjoyable than watching video on a phone no matter what the resolution. This is mostly due to the size of the display, but also because of the distance we sit from it. And in addition to the small size there is the lower contrast, and the lack of surround sound. But that doesn't change the fact that once you spend some time using the iPhone 4, all of a sudden everything else does seem to lack detail and other screens we used to love, like the older iPhone and the Zune HD, look down right fuzzy -- can you tell which image above is the Zune HD and which is the iPhone 4? Sadly the iPhone isn't the perfect HD fanatic's companion though, because it still requires us to convert our 1080p content to 720p, and although the video looks great on the display, there's no way to get HD on to our bigger screen -- we're keeping an eye out for a HDMI to iPhone dock. One thing is for sure though, when it comes to detail and flat out resolution per inch, the iPhone is the new boss.

The iPhone's display blows every other display we've ever seen originally appeared on Engadget HD on Sat, 26 Jun 2010 19:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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While looking for some nice gadgets at this year’s IFA, Biz-New.com came across Vestel’s LCD TV with integrated iPhone/iPod docking station. Baris Altinkay, Product Manager for Vestel gave us a demonstration on the product as well as a short introduction to the company.

Akamai Technologies has launched the Akamai HD Network, its next generation video delivery offering and the first platform to deliver HD video online to viewers using Adobe Flash technology, Microsoft Silverlight, and to the iPhone, at broadcast-level audience scale.

The new HD Network combines Akamai’s patented HD EdgePlatform, adaptive bitrate streaming and DVR technology. It supports live and on-demand HD streaming.

Filed under: Media streamers, Remotes, Apple

It is only a matter of time before every single company in the world makes some kind of iPhone/iPod Touch app and if you make home theater gear that mean it is a remote. Remotescape for the Kaleidescape is the latest addition and from the looks of the Youtube video embedded after the break, it is a pretty slick mix of gestures and cover art goodness. The bad news of course is that the graphics in the interface are on par with the rest of Kaleidescape's products and the price tag is $69 -- but if you dropped the $50k on the Kaleidescape media server, then you probably think that is cheap for a iPhone app.

Continue reading Kaleidescape joins the iPhone as a remote party

Kaleidescape joins the iPhone as a remote party originally appeared on Engadget HD on Thu, 10 Sep 2009 10:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Universal Studios has announced plans to add a series of iPhone and iPod touch-enabled features on its upcoming Blu-ray releases.
These will enable access to exclusive interactive content through the mobile devices - starting with the Blu-ray release of the box-office smash Fast & Furious on July 28th.

Vuzix has announced the first wearable display glasses compatible with the new iPhone 3GS.
The iWear AV310 gives users the virtual equivalent of a 52”, 16:9 widescreen display as if viewed from a distance of nine feet.

Filed under: Receivers, Pioneer

Much to the unofficial surprise of owners who have been using Pioneer's new receiver models since early this month, they're now officially available. If you've been holding out for seamless integration between the receiver and your iPod/iPhone devices (you do have more than one, right?), you'll take some comfort in the "Works with iPhone" and "Made for iPod" labeling on Pioneer's VSX-819H, VSX-919AH and VSX-1019AH (pictured) models that come in at $299, $399 and $499, respectively. In a nod to lifestyle convenience, Pioneer's press release skips over the HT specs for these receivers and plays up the Advanced Sound Retriever and Auto Level Control features that promise to put some life back into your lossy encoded music. We're a little sad to see the HT side of things didn't get more ink -- these units offer good complements of features, especially at their respective price points; if you've been playing with one of these, let us know what you think below.

Pioneer's VSX-819H, VSX-819AH and VSX-1019AH officially available originally appeared on Engadget HD on Wed, 27 May 2009 07:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HD movies are now available for purchase from Apple's iTunes for playing on Macs and PCs. Until now, high def movies had only been available to Apple TV owners.
HD Movies will be sold for USD $19.99, while HD rentals will be priced at USD $4.99. Both are in H.264 compressed 720p quality and will come with an HD file and an iPod/iPhone SD file.

Filed under: Industry, Other hardware, Remotes

The iPhone has plenty of great applications but for whatever reason whenever one comes out -- like the new TiVoRemote pictured above -- that will help us control our home theater it looks as bad as you can imagine. Sure function is more important than form, but most of these are ridiculous. It's bad enough that the developers think you want to use a touch screen to control something like a directional pad -- imagine looking up to see the menu on the screen and then down to look at the remote 25 times -- but at least they could make it look cool. It's not that we hate all of 'em as the Apple Remote for the Apple TV and iTunes is really slick, but with all the possibilities when it comes to gestures and the iPhone's accelerometer, we'd think there'd be a decent solution by now.

Why are most iPhone remote apps so janky? originally appeared on Engadget HD on Fri, 16 Jan 2009 14:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Imagination Technologies has announced a new graphics processor IP core - the PowerVR SGX543.
The UK-based company is the designer of the PowerVR MBX hardware used in the iPhone and iPod Touch.
Its new four-pipeline SGX543 is expected to be able to support HD resolution video and graphics output.

BY 2015 nobody will refer to “high definition” TV because HD will be the standard form of free television everywhere.
But the HD broadcast offering in Europe will largely remain patchy during the intervening transition period, according to a report by Screen Digest.
The study says HDTV will mainly develop as a pay TV product in Europe over the next five years - and mostly as a satellite product.

A new application is to go on sale in July that turns the iPhone into an all-purpose remote control capable of operating everything from your HDTV to audio, video and lighting.
While the iPhone is popular as an interface for home-control systems such as home automation (HAI, Savant), multiroom audio (SpeakerCraft) and media servers (Sooloos), so far there hasn’t been a low-cost solution for using the iPhone (or iPod Touch) as an ordinary universal remote control.
Now London-based integrator, Steve Moore, has launched the AirRemote application which he modestly describes as “the greatest little TV remote you’ve ever used”.

Apple has released HD footage of a demonstration of the upcoming iPhone fantasy game Krull created by Barcelona-based Digital Legends Entertainment.
The 3D mobile game uses a combination of touch-based controls and accelerometer mechanics.
Dynamic shadows and other handheld-level effects are also on display in the footage received by Shacknews.
Xavier Carillo Costa, CEO of Digital Legends, said his team only got the iPhone SDK two weeks before the demo, and that the port itself took just four days to create.
Krull is expected to be available available from the upcoming iPhone App Store in September, following the July launch of                                                                                                                the new iPhone 2.0