DirecTV customers woke up to gray screens on Tuesday after an automatic update crippled HD DVRs.
You didn’t need a tweet from DirecTV to learn about an an automatic update that crippled HD DVRs overnight.
By morning, frantic customers and loved ones were already doing what they could to reboot the boxes, or were calling their custom electronics (CE) pros with tales of woe.
“My wife called as I was on the way to work this morning. Kids were up and couldn’t watch Curious George,” wrote FINS on remotecentral.com.
On the same site, edizzle reported: “It is the update for 3D. all 5 of my boxes were frozen and i have already fielded dozens of calls. most were fine after one RBR (red button reset), some required two. 3D on 6/11 channel 106. get your goggles ready.”
Indeed, DirecTV subscribers are waiting in anticipation of 3D World Cup soccer action that kicks off on June 11 on ESPN 3D.
Added this from a CE pro with the user name Fiasco: “I’m going out to a house tomorrow afternoon to fix their DTV boxes (they have 7).” We’ve certainly seen our share of such widespread HD DVR installations for individual homes here at Electronic House.
DirecTV posted this message on Twitter earlier this morning:
HDDVR customers: If your HDDVR will NOT power on, unplug the unit from the wall, wait 15sec, then replug, & repeat 1x to restore service.
That seemed to do the trick, except for remotecentral reader SignatureSV, who got a “gray screen of death lol” even after four RBRs and two unplugs.
by Julie Jacobson
Custom Installation Services, LLC – Charlotte and Boone NC’s Source For Quality Home Theater Surround Receivers/Electronics From Onkyo & Marantz!
With a Panasonic 3D Blu-ray player, 3D DLP owners can get their 3D Blu-ray going without any adapters.
Mitsubishi and Samsung ‘3D capable’ DLP owners can enjoy 3D Blu-ray without an adapter thanks to the Panasonic BDT300 and BDT350’s checkerboard output.
Owners of Mitsubishi “3D capable” DLP displays have been getting antsy waiting for the upcoming 3DC-1000 adapter to allow 3D Blu-ray playback on their TVs. Samsung 3D DLP owners are even more upset since the announcement that said adapter will not work with their displays. Wouldn’t it be great for both if they could enjoy some 3D Blu-Ray goodness with no more waiting?
Thanks to some digging done by the industrious folks over at AVS Forum, along with a helpful Magnolia employee, it was recently discovered that the Panasonic BDT300 (and likely the near-identical BDT350) contains a checkerboard format 3D output that jives with the Samsung and Mitsubishi displays. The process is as easy as 1, 2, 3, 4:
1.) Enable 3D Mode on the Panasonic Blu-ray player.
2.) Select the “Checkerboard” output option.
3.) Enable 3D Mode on the Mitsubishi or Samsung DLP.
4.) Select “Reverse” in the 3D Viewing options.
Step 4 was apparently the key to a clear, sharp picture. The glasses used in the test were OEM Samsung glasses with their IR emitter connected to the Mitsubishi DLP’s VESA accessory port. Since these glasses are no longer available at retail you’ll have to hit up eBay or check out DLP-Link glasses (no IR emitter required) by Xpand or Viewsonic.
While this is great news for current “3D Capable” DLP owners, it only applies to 3D Blu-ray from these Panasonic Blu-ray players. It won’t help you with 3D broadcast material like that coming soon from DirecTV, Comcast, Verizon FIOS and other providers.
Custom Installation Services, LLC – Charlotte and Boone NC’s Source For Samsung, Panasonic & Sharp 3D HDTV Sales, Support & Installation! Let C.I.S. design your next Media Room or Home Theater!
C.I.S.: Home Automation Services in Charlotte, Boone, Davidson, Mooresville, Lake Norman
Details from the I/O Google TV announcement.
Rumors, whispers, and snippets of info regarding Google TV have been floating around for a few months now.
But Thursday at Google I/O 2010, the company made the big announcement of Google TV, while Sony and Logitech followed suit with the first Google TV products. Dish Network also said it will offer a Google TV-powered DVR recording feature on set-top boxes.
Devices for Google TV will be sold at Best Buy.
Google TV
Roughly two out of three people watch TV. So it’s no surprise Google wants a piece of that pie. “Video should be consumed on the biggest, best, and brightest screen in your house, and that’s the TV,” says Google.
So how do they plan to bring the web to the TV without compromising video or content? A search-driven experience centered around discovery and customization. Media aggregation helps as well, with Hulu logos being thrown around like candy, which might be the most intriguing aspect of the whole ordeal.
All of this is going to be based on Intel’s CE4100 Atom processor running a version of the Android OS, Chrome browser, and Flash 10.1. Devices will have a WiFi network connection, HDMI, and QWERTY input option along with standard remote controls.
DirecTV customers woke up to gray screens on Tuesday after an automatic update crippled HD DVRs.
