South Park Goes Hi Def

As a Cablevision customer, I'm always looking for more hi def to watch.  Recently, they added Comedy Central HD to their lineup.  When I surfed on over to channel 768, I noticed that they apparently had absolutely no HD content on the channel.  Great, yet another useless HD addition to the lineup!

Apparently, I was a little hasty with that accusation.  Fans of South Park, the irreverent cartoon which knows no bounds, will be pleased to learn that the upcoming season, starting in March, will be debuting entirely in hi def.  The better news for Blu-ray junkies is that the entire twelfth season will be coming out on Blu-ray.

"South Park: The Complete Uncensored Twelfth Season"  is reportedly available for preorder on the Comedy Central site.  True to Blu-ray, it will include mini commentary, and several featurettes.

Blu-ray In the Box

Blu-ray goes with HDTV like peanut butter and jelly go together, in other words, hand in hand.  So Sharp has created a product for the Japanese market that integrates the Blu-ray player right into the television set.  While these sets have been available in Japan for the last several months, we can expect to see them stateside soon.  they come in both 32 inch and 42 inch sizes.  So, for those that are too lazy to hook up some cables want some cool integration of Blu-ray into your new TV, your time has come.  Pricing is not available quite yet.

I personally am not a fan of such a design.  I want the control to choose the best TV set, and the best Blu-ray player, for my needs and price point.  Also, when one part of the device dies, now you still end up keeping it, because the other half works.  Finally, maybe it will eliminate those deals of "Buy this TV, and get a blu-ray player for free!"

A&E Home Video Goes Blu-ray

Want to see A&E Home Video in high def goodness?  One option is if your cable provider carries the channel in HD.  My provider (Optimum) doesn't, so it's on to plan"B" as in Blu-ray.  A&E Home Video is planning on offering their videos in the Blu-ray format in the very near future.

The first video is Paul McCartney: The Space Within Us, a look at the 2005 concert tour.  It features backstage footage on the entire US tour, and tons of bonus features.  It will be priced at $34.95.

Their second Blu-ray offering is The Universe.  This thirteen part series is sure to keep any science junkie busy for days of viewing which covers everything under the sun (literally), including the big bang.  It will set you back $79.95.

Both are expected to debut on November 18th, in time for the holiday shopping season.

Beyond HD...3DTV

One of the holy grails of television has always been 3D.  Sure, you can put on those silly looking 3D glasses with the red and the blue, and while it does add some depth to the image, it is hardly three dimensional.  I thought things might have been better with the new HDTV's, but when the same 1950's glasses came in my TV Guide last month, I will admit that I did tune in to that silly Hannah Montana special for a few minutes to confirm that it was no better than the last time I tried this decades ago.  In the end, despite the cardboard glasses, it just isn't 3D, and looks more like "pseudo 3D."

However, it still could be done better.  Philips is developing a standard, and apparently Blu-ray will deliver the three dimensional visual goods.  Over at Tom's Hardware:

The next big thing Hollywood is hoping to bring to your living room is 3D television and the medium of choice looks to be Blu-ray. According to Xbitlabs, an undisclosed senior executive for a large consumer electronics company has said “The first real stereo 3D for the home will be via Blu-ray and for that you need a standard format. If everything goes perfectly this could happen in 2010 or 2011, but it never goes like that. Hopefully there will not be a format war."

While it sounds promising, here's hoping to no more format wars for a while.  After all, it set hi def discs back for too long, and we don't need that scenario yet again.

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