Month: May 2006

the combined display

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at CES 2006, michael dell reminded the audience that computer users have had high resolution displays above and beyond any high definition consumer box. a HD signal of 1280 x 720 could easily fit on a SXGA 1280 x 1024 and a UXGA 1600 x 1200 panel. higher resolution panels include the WUXGA 1920 x 1200 and a WQXGA 2560 x 1600 fit a highest HD signal of 1920 x 1080. the dell 3007WFP panel lives up to the WQXGA format, but for the first time including a DVI-HDCP input, allowing the use of future protected content from a blu-ray or HD DVD consumer player.

it always seemed foolish that after spending $1000 or even $2000 on a display, you could not hook up a ATSC HD tuner. with DVI-HDCP the tables turn, and any valid DVI signal will be decoded, if it originates from a NVIDIA or ATI card or a next generation disc player. i would suspect that both mac OS X leopard and windows vista will support HDCP for computer playback of protected content.

the big gobble the small

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over the last 90 days, the storage world has shifted hands. small innovative companies have been acquired by other competitors, reducing consumer choice. for those asleep at the wheel, here is a quick summary of what’s been going on:

2 may 2006
quantum corporation acquires Advanced Digital Information Corporation (ADIC)

ADIC is the basis for apple mac OS X xsan technology using stornext FX. quantum a few years ago aquired the tape business of seagate technology called certance.

8 march 2006
micron technology buys lexar media
micron, a leader in DRAM, want to be a leader in NAND flash memory.

28 february 2006
avid aquired medea corporation, an innovator in PATA/SATA RAID storage.

21 december 2006
seagate technology buys maxtor

consumers have seagate technology, hitachi global storage technologies, and western digital.