HD is here!

Woo hoo!  DirecTV officially added 21 new high definition channels this morning. Here they are:

A&E HD (channel 265)
Animal Planet HD (channel 282)
Big Ten Network HD (channel 220)
CNN HD (channel 202)
Discovery Channel HD (channel 278)
The History Channel (channel 269)
The Learning Channel (channel 280)
The Movie Channel (channel 544)
NFL Network HD (channel 212)
The Science Channel HD (channel 284)
Showtime Too HD (channel 538)
Showtime West HD (channel 540)
Smithsonian Channel HD (channel 267)
Starz Comedy HD (channel 519)
Starz Edge HD (channel 522)
Starz HD East (channel 520)
Starz HD West (channel 521)
Starz Kids (channel 518)
TBS HD (channel 247)
The Weather Channel HD (channel 362)
Versus/Golf Channel (channel 604)

Time to be a full time couch potato.

More TV in high definition

I have DirecTV and a 42″ plasma HDTV.  I’ll watch crap programming just because it’s in high definition.  With an antenna I have in my attic, I get WJTV, WAPT, and WLBT in high def…although JTV comes in the best.  The wife was smart enough to leave me alone with my TV when The Masters golf tournament in HD was on.

I’m pretty pumped. DirecTV might start broadcasting a lot more channels in high def beginning this weekend.  Here’s the list I’ve seen:

A&E HD
Big Ten Network HD
Cartoon Network
Cinemax HD East
Cinemax HD West
CNN HD
ESPNews HD
Food Network HD
FSN New York HD
HBO HD West
HGTV-HD
The History Channel HD
Madison Square Garden HD
NFL Network HD
National Geographic Channel HD
Showtime HD West
Smithsonian Channel HD
Starz Comedy HD
Starz Edge HD
Starz Kids & Family HD
Starz HD East
Starz HD West
TBS in HD
The Movie Channel HD
Versus HD / Golf Channel HD
The Weather Channel HD

In October, DirecTV is supposed to be adding:  

Animal Planet HD
Bravo HD
Comcast SportsNet Chicago HD
Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic HD
Discovery Channel HD
Fox Business Channel HD
FSN Detroit HD
FSN Prime Ticket HD
FSN Southwest HD
FSN West HD
Fuel TV HD
FX HD
The Learning Channel HD
MGM HD
NBA TV HD
New England Sports Network HD
The Science Channel HD
Sci-Fi Network HD
Speed Channel HD
SportsNet New York HD
USA Network HD
Yankees Entertainment & Sports HD

 Yes, there is still a lot of crappy channels in there…but at least it’s more channels!!

Camcorder hell

My latest project has been trying to convert footage from my Sony hard drive camcorder onto my Imac for editing.  I didn’t do enough homework when I bought the bottom-of-the-line Sony.  If I had, I would have found that the camcorder doesn’t import files to the Apple as a drag and drop like it does on my Windows PC.  It also doesn’t have a Firewire output.

After fiddling about long enough, I was able to get video onto the Mac. Woo hoo! But…there was no audio.  Nowhere. Gone.  Silent video.

After scouring the bulletin boards for help into the wee hours of the morning, I did find a post where someone gave the steps on how to import for audio and video from this particular Sony model.  By 7am this morning, all 15 gigs of raw camcorder footage had been copied to the Mac desktop.  Now I have to import every single file (330 of them) into a free downloaded program called Streamclip, which will convert the files into several different formats.  I’m converting mine to Quicktime. But, you have to spent extra money to buy the MPEG2 upgrade in order for the audio to be imported and play back correctly. THEN, I can import these QT files into Imovie or Final Cut for editing.  Bring on the Red Bull!

But hey, on my Windows PC, drag and drop and everything plays fine.  How sad is it when Windows works more smoothly than Mac?  Ouch.

All of this investigating has me looking at a replacement camcorder.  Should I go to miniDV tape, since  it’s not compressed MPEG2, ergo it is better video quality than HDD and mini-DVD?  But isn’t DV tape a dying format? Do I upgrade to high def?  3 CCDs vs. 1 CCD?  Viewfinder or no viewfinder?  New or Ebay?  Do I find a Sony that plays with Mac, or switch to a Panasonic or Canon model?

I guess it will boil down to what my wife tells me we can afford…which may be to shut the hell up and like my Sony because we aren’t buying another one.