Personal HD Camcorder

Looks like there may be a low- to mid-level HD digital camcorder in my near future. Kodak will be releasing their new Zi8 on the market, which comes in Black, Aqua and Raspberry. I am opting for a conservative Black, although I'm not adverse to the other hues. We are talking 1080p at 30fps.

My main objective will be capturing my many motorcycle excursions in video. Especially the mountain twisties. We shall see how well Kodak's electronic image stabilization works. At this price level I won't hold my breath (since it is still difficult to achieve rock steadiness even with the expensive consumer camcorders). But, the buzz is that it should be better than most.

Or I can always try my hand at porn.

Digital Delay

I'm pretty much fed up. We truly live in a nation of idiots (for lack of a better term). The buzz in the Obama administration is to push back the February 17th deadline for analog-to-digital TV conversion so that the lolligaggers will have a chance to catch up. Helllllooo? There was plenty of advance notice that this was coming (what was it, a year of advertising?). People. People who ignore taking any action until the very last minute. Homework given a week in advance that are completed the night before it's due. CA passes a hands-free-cellphone-while-driving law in January 2007 with the condition that it will not go into effect until 1.5 years later, in the summer of 2008, to allow ample time for drivers to purchase the proper devices to comply. Yet, the 6 months that followed still resulted in 46,000 citations issued for violation of that law. Oh, and how about a state budget that is chronically late year after year?

I think an appropriate motto for America as we near the end of the first decade in the new millennium is this: "why do today what you can put off until tomorrow?".

KOVR 13 - Sacramento, CA

This is our local CBS affiliate TV station. Many of the shows I watch happen to be on the CBS network, so this gives me the opportunity to be a guinea pig for KOVR's efforts to get up-to-speed on their digital transmissions. Whether I like it or not.

I have been receiving over-the-air (OTA) digital TV transmissions since January 2007, and KOVR happens to be one of the last local stations to completely convert. Hey, the equipment is expensive, so I understand. However, all too often I have witnessed problems with the quality of the KOVR transmissions. I ended up watching another TV program (or shutting off the TV) many nights over this past week due to the signal breaking up... badly. Video and audio are affected. Worse yet, it sometimes locks up my digital receiver, causing fine (green) vertical stridations and a high-pitched whistle. Talk about one powerful feedback! And if it is difficult to believe that this can be caused by a transmitted signal, I had the same thing happen on a different brand of digital receiver.

I would really like to know if anyone else has experienced similar problems tuning in to KOVR, or if a forum exists which tracks this. If for no other reason but to have a bit of company for my misery.

Digicams

Last night I was surfing the web gathering information on the current crop of digital cameras. I've been using a Canon clamshell compact that's gotten long in the tooth (technologically), but it still does a damn good job. It's spec'd at 4.0 megapixels with 3x optical zoom.

The compacts and ultracompacts have advanced dramatically. Image stabilization and higher rez come to mind. Then there's the pro-sumer models which bridge the gap between pocketable cams and professional-class digital SLRs (DSLR). These generally have a non-interchangeable high-zoom lens and use a lot of plastic. Lastly are the professional (or near-pro) cameras that offer interchangeable lenses, metal bodies, better image sensors and other specs that push the techno envelope.

However, it would be rather hard for me to justify a replacement at this point since I haven't been doing a lot of snapping. Gotta make the effort and stop procrastinating.

Technology is nice, but creativity begins with the heart and mind.

Digital Teething

Last Friday I seemed to have been unable to pull in the local CBS affiliate station's (KOVR-13) HD broadcast. I called the station and asked how long they anticipate getting back on the air. The voice on the other end of the line sounded puzzled, since he was unaware that the station was experiencing any transmission problems. He also went on to state that I had contacted their news department. That was that.

I decided to conduct a new scan to locate the digital broadcast signals in my area, and lo and behold, I discovered that KOVR had changed its channel number from 13-1 to 25-1. Only a few nights later and 25-1 also disappeared. Another rescan and guess what? Our local station can be found again at 13-1, but the call letters changed from KOVR-DT to CBS13-H.

The FCC has decreed that all TV broadcasts will switch from analog to digital by the year 2009, so everyone is scrambling. The first to make the bold move in my area was the NBC affiliate station at KCRA on Channel 3, nearly a year ago.

In CBS13's effort to push toward digital totality, perhaps they can provide a bit of PR to alert viewers of their intentions (as KCRA had done). At the very least inform your own news staff! I mean, what kind of confidence can you instill in your viewers looking for news, when your news staff are clueless about what's happening inside their own quarters?

Not much, if any.

HDTVs

What I noticed about the Black Friday newspaper ads is that the flat-panel HDTV prices are dropping drastically. Nevermind that the prices are slashed to kick off the holiday shopping season; this (IMHO) is a sign of what's to come. We are looking at modestly sized sets (measuring about 32") selling for around $450, while sets as large as 50" can be had for under a grand... and the technology is not sitting still.

Purchasing one is inevitable, as we prepare for the FCC ruling to convert all broadcasting to digital by 2009.