Digitivity » TV

Will Conan O’Brien Move to the Web After Getting Dumped by NBC?

Digitivity — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 15:26:56 +0000

So who needs a time slot?

After being pushed out by NBC to make room for Jay Leno, what will Conan O’Brian do next?

How about a radical move of going web-only?

That’s what the New York Times Bits Blog surmises.

With the $40 million dollar settlement, I think it’s certainly a possibility. (OK, much of that money is for his show’s staff, but he still has enough so that he doesn’t have to work.) He has enough money to pursue ventures that may or may not immediately pay off. And YouTube offers revenue sharing.

And for those who say people don’t want to watch TV on a small screen. Ahem. That’s mostly old people who say that. Anybody born after the IBM PC seems to be just fine with watching YouTube clips on a 320×480 cellphone screen.

If Conan does go to a web-only format, I think that could do a lot to change the way entertainment is sent to viewers anymore.

LPDs to Replace LCDs and LEDs?

Digitivity — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 18:17:25 +0000

There’s a new display technology from a company called Prysm which is being portrayed as an alternative to LCDs and LED LCDs.

The company, which has been doing research and development for the past five years, is calling the technology LPD for laser-powered phosphor display. A laser is used to excite a phosphorous coating, thus resulting in an image. Unlike LCDs, there is no constantly-on backlight, which Prysm claims results in electricity savings of 75%.

The lack of a constant backlight also means black levels are higher with LPDs. Prysm also claims LPD panels are more environmentally sound and recyclable than LCDs (“ecovative” in their words).

Large Prysm LPD

LPDs have some similarity to the old CRTs (cathode-ray tubes), but the difference is that, in LPDs, the ray is a light beam and not an electron beam.

LPD feature rundown

Lower power consumption
Lower heat dissipation
Recyclable
Higher brightness
Blacker blacks
Any size or shape of displays possible
No backlight to fail

Will LPDs replace LCDs for TVs?

But I don’t know if LPDs are going to replace LCDs anytime soon. The literature on Prysm’s web site talks about airport, cinema, government, and other large institutional use, and nothing about consumer applications. It seems the company is targeting large customers first to finance the technology’s development, and it’ll likely be a while before we see LPDs in the local TV shop.

Sites covering the Prysm LPD story include The New York Times’ Gadgetwise Blog, Slashdot, and Xconomy.

Google Is Teaming Up with TiVo to Track DVR Ad-Watching Data

Digitivity — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 17:13:02 +0000

Another chapter in the Google Is Evil Chronicles. The LA Times is reporting that Google has an agreement with TiVo to track your TV watching habits, and specifically ad-watching habits. Not only that, but it’ll track viewers second-by-second.

Also reporting the story are Boy Genius Report, Engadget and Slashdot.