definition

Even makeup has entered the age of high definition. To our surprise, Samsung recently teamed with makeup-services provider Make Up For Ever to present a workshop that paired makeup with HDTVs.

The rationale? The new demands of digital technology, where high definition tends to amplify details up to six times more than standard definition. This basically translates to talc-based makeup now accentuating, instead of hiding, those pimples, pigmentation, eyebags, enlarged pores and, horror of horrors, wrinkles when viewed on high-def TV.

This can be brutal not just for professional actors and actresses, but also for brides obsessed with their appearance … Read more

Looks like it wasn't the HD DVD/Blu-ray battle that was keeping potential customers away from high-definition video players after all.

The NPD Group released some of its retail sales tracking data Wednesday that showed sales of Blu-ray standalone players (not a PlayStation 3, combo player, or PC with Blu-ray drive) had mostly decreased since the beginning of the year.

Standalone Blu-ray player unit sales in the U.S. decreased 40 percent from January to February and saw a very slight increase (2 percent) between February and March, according to NPD.

HD DVD players fared even worse--player unit sales … Read more

If you're among the majority of Americans, you probably aren't watching high-definition on your television yet. But come Monday, you may start to see HD commercials on your PC.

San Francisco-based BrightRoll is offering advertisers the ability to run large-format, high-quality video ads across its network of Web site publishers.

The ads initially appear as banner ads on the page. When a user click on one, a large separate window opens up on top of the Web page.

There are trade-offs for serving up high-definition video in terms of time it takes for them to load, but these … Read more

It's becoming clear that early adopters of the HD DVD video format will find fewer and fewer products that will play their discs.

Samsung will halt its plans to release the combination HD DVD/Blu-ray player, the BD-UP5500, introduced in January at the Consumer Electronics Show. Samsung issued a statement late Wednesday, saying that though the product "remains a practical solution...the window of opportunity is smaller than it was before. In light of recent announcements, Samsung will not introduce the BD-UP5500 Duo HD Player."

The announcement doesn't come as much of a shock. Even at … Read more

SAN FRANCISCO--Though times may be tough for other TV manufacturers, Sony says it isn't feeling a thing yet in its electronics division here in the U.S.

At a press briefing with reporters here Wednesday evening, Sony Electronics President Stan Glasgow said that despite indications of a weakening U.S. economy, all is well with the Japanese electronics giant.

"I don't think consumers buying consumer electronics yet feel that," Glasgow said. "Sony did particularly well during the holidays. It was the best in the history of Sony Electronics in the U.S."

A boon … Read more

Patience, HD video fans. Those of you hoping that the defeat of HD DVD would usher in a new era of lower-priced Blu-ray players will have to wait at least until the next calendar year.

In comments made to reporters at a New York press gathering Wednesday morning, Sony Electronics President Stan Glasgow said, "I don't think $200 is going to happen this year. Next year $200 could happen. We'll be at a $300 rate this year; $299 will happen this year," according to Gizmodo.

There's been quite a bit of media discussion over whether or not Sony and other Blu-ray supporters … Read more

For those who came in late, Blu-ray has won the format war.

On Wednesday, online retailer Amazon.com became the latest to declare its support for the victorious high-definition technology, announcing that it "will more prominently promote Blu-ray hardware and software products on its Web site." The company will not, however, discontinue its sales of HD DVD products.

"The high-definition landscape is rapidly changing, and consumers are looking for guidance on how to make the best high-definition buying decisions," Peter Faricy, Amazon's vice president of movies and music, said in a statement from the company. &… Read more

There's been a lot of progress in the world of high definition in the last few days. HD DVD has fallen, and just yesterday, video host Dailymotion rolled out its new HD player. While every visitor of the site with a fast broadband connection has access to the new HD player, only two types of content providers can actually upload HD content to it. The first are the official content providers like movie studios and TV networks. The second, are motionmakers--Dailymotion's equivalent of YouTube's director program. Anyone can become a motionmaker; they just need to state … Read more

Well, that's it. Toshiba appears to be pulling the plug on HD DVD. Toshiba has not commented publicly, but a report on Japan's NHK says Toshiba has made the decision to withdraw from next generation high-definition DVD production.

This news certainly doesn't come as surprise to anyone remotely following HD DVD's format war with rival Blu-ray. HD DVD had suffered a string of defections, with Warner, Netflix, Best Buy, and Wal-Mart all recently pledging their alliance to Blu-ray.

The NHK report says existing HD DVD products will remain on the market for a while, but Toshiba … Read more