The added markets include: Fort Wayne, Ind.; Des Moines-Ames, Iowa; El Paso, Texas; La Crosse-Eau Claire, Wis.; Peoria-Bloomington, Ill. and Rockford, Ill. DirecTV most recently added local HD in the Boise, Idaho area.

Will they surpass their expectations with the remaining month and a half of 2008 left? Or will they just make it to the 121. We’ll have to wait and see what their next announcement is.

DirecTV customers must have an H20 or H21 HD receiver or an HR20 or HR21 DIRECTV Plus HD DVR and a Ka/Ku band dish in order to recieve local HD channels.

Wall-E (Three-Disc Special Edition + Digital Copy and BD Live) (2008)
Disney/Pixar release from this year that takes you to planet earth after humans have left because it has been overrun with garbage. This version of the Blu-ray release includes a digital copy for you iPod or other portable device.

Tropic Thunder (Unrated Director’s Cut) (2008)
This comedy stars Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr. who are out to film the next Rambo movie but get caught up in a real battle with drug smugglers. Gets 4-1/2 stars from Amazon customer reviews.

The Island (2005)
Directed by Michael Bay this THX 1138 “clone” is fairly exciting but visually striking and worth seeing in high-definition. Stars Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson who also make the film worth watching.

The Universe: The Complete Season 1 (2008)
From A&E Home Video HISTORY presents 13 episodes from the THE UNIVERSE: THE COMPLETE SEASON ONE on 3 separate Blu-ray Discs. This disc set is a must-have in high-definition.

Foo Fighters - Live At Wembley Stadium (2008)
From their two sold out Wembley Stadium shows on June 6 and 7 of 2008 the Foo Fighters perform 18 songs including “Times Like These,” “Learn To Fly” and “Best Of You.”

Lucky Number Slevin (2006)
Great cast includes Josh Hartnett, Ben Kingsley, Morgan Freeman, Lucy Liu, Bruce Willis in this Tarantino-esque thriller/shoot-em-up that could be compared with “The Usual Suspects” although not as memorable.

Awake (2008)
Hayden Christensen, Jessica Alba and Terence Howard star in this mystery thriller that keeps you guessing. Gets an average customer review of 3 out of 5 stars but features Jessica Alba in hi-def. Need I say more?

The Goonies (1985)
Come on now…how can you pass it up? Written by none other than Steven Spielberg, Sean Astin and Josh Brolin find a treasure map and go on a search for some buried gold.

Here is the full list of all the Blu-ray releases for this week.

A recent test was done by NPR (National Public Radio) for its “All Tech Considered” program. They tested a Pioneer Elite 50-inch plasma HDTV and it consumed a whopping 390 watts at full brightness. If left on for 5 hours a day, that television would consume more than a common refrigerator.

Even when the plasma TV was set to its energy-saving mode, which most HDTVs have, it consumed 300 watts. What does that mean for the environment? According to the study, it means half a ton of carbon dioxide emissions per year if the television is left on 5 hours a day.

To compare, NPR also tested a 32-inch LCD which at its brightest setting emitted about 115 watts — that’s much less than the plasma TV not only because of its smaller size but because LCDs are more energy efficient.

So what can you do to help conserve energy?
The first thing you can do is to make sure you shut off the factory settings when you purchase a flat screen. The factory settings, or store settings, are set to display the best picture which unfortunately is the most power hungry. Ask your retailer or call the manufacturer to learn how to switch of the factory settings.

Once you turn off the factory settings, you can set your flat screen to energy-saving mode. This usually dims the brightness of the television by different degrees, but you’ll get used to it after a while. Also keep in mind that at night, when there is no ambient light from outside, you don’t really need the TV to be at its brightest setting to enjoy great picture quality.

Other things you can to do save energy and the environment are turning off your TV, receivers, DVD players and gaming consoles when you are not using them. Unfortunately, TIVO and other DVR units need to be on to record scheduled programs. But, if you are not using your gaming console, DVD or Blu-ray player you should just turn them off. A typical gaming console will consume about 100 watts which may cost you $100 a year if left continuously on. Hey, that’s about the price of two premium games!

Lastly, you may want to consider purchasing an LCD flat screen. While plasmas do have a fantastic image quality, when compared side-by-side with LCDs they do consume more energy. There have been some new developments in producing plasmas that use less energy, but at this point in time most LCDs are more energy efficient.

Here are the official press release details:

EUROPE ONLY: Lara Croft returns in another blockbuster bundle from Xbox 360

Lara Croft is back in action in Tomb Raider: Underworld, and from Friday 21st November, Microsoft will offer everyone’s favourite leading lady’s latest adventure in a great value bundle pack.

Designed specifically to take advantage of the latest technologies, Tomb Raider: Underworld represents a new advancement in exploration-based gameplay. As fearless adventurer Lara Croft explore exotic locations around the world, each designed with an incredible attention to detail resulting in breathtaking high-definition visual fidelity that creates a truly believable world and delivers a new level of challenge and choice. Available in the UK, France and Germany, the game will be on sale bundled with the 60GB hard-drive Xbox 360 Pro console at an estimated retail price of €269.99.

EUROPE ONLY: New bundle for Call of Duty: World at World with Xbox 360

On Friday 21st November, Microsoft will offer the widely anticipated blockbuster game, Call of Duty®: World at War in an exciting new bundle pack.

The latest instalment of Call of Duty completely changes the rules of engagement by redefining WWII gaming and thrusting players into the final tension-filled, unforgiving battles against a new ferocious enemy in the most dangerous and suspenseful action ever seen in WWII. Available in Spain, Italy, the Nordics, the Netherlands, Hungary, Switzerland, Russia, Greece, Czech Republic, Poland, Portugal and Ireland, the game will be on sale bundled with the 60GB hard-drive Xbox 360 Pro console at an estimated retail price of €269.99.

EUROPE ONLY: Be a star with Xbox 360 this Christmas

For all shower singers, wanna-be rappers, living room superstars and bedroom belters, Lips, the highly anticipated singing party game will be hitting stores from 21st November in a great value bundle from launch.

Xbox 360 takes to a whole new stage with Lips, an all-new music franchise exclusively for the console. Start channelling your favourite pop star because it’s you, your friends, and your music that makes this the ultimate party experience this holiday. Lips is the only music video game that comes with two wireless motion-sensitive microphones, allowing you the freedom to put your own spin on a song as you free-wheel across your living room. This great value entertainment bundle will be available in Spain, Italy, the Nordics, the Netherlands, Austria, Hungary, Switzerland, Russia, South Africa, Belgium, Greece, Czech Republic, Portugal and Ireland, offering the game and 60GB hard-drive Xbox 360 Pro console at an estimated retail price of €209.99.

The lower resolution movies can be put on standard DVDs which are much cheaper than Blu-ray Discs, enabling the black market to produce better than standard resolution discs that customers may not be able to notice are not 1080p. Whether or not the discs are 720p or 720i was not mentioned in the article.

A raid in China last month found 800 of the counterfeit Blu-ray discs which included authentic looking Blu-ray cases and even holographic labels. Online auction company eBay warned customers about possible Blu-ray Disc counterfeits.

The MPA (Motion Picture Association) says the fake Blu-ray discs could account for 10% of the $224 million that its members lose to piracy in China. While an authentic Blu-ray Disc retails for $25-$30, a bootleg can sell for $7 and this makes them desirable to consumers.

The double layer of rights protection on Blu-ray discs hasn’t stopped pirates from cracking the high-resolution discs. Even the BD+ protection layer developed by the Blu-ray Disc Association has been cracked. That layer in particular was built to make sure Blu-ray discs are not being played illegally.

The environmentally friendly package for the DVD contains no plastic and is made from 100-percent recyclable cardboard. The Blu-ray version of the package is 30% smaller than the standard DVD package, although it is not clear from the press release whether it will be made of cardboard or plastic — most likely the standard plastic Blu-ray packaging.

Disney/Pixar are releasing both a 2-disc and 3-disc Blu-ray version of the movie. The 2-disc version ($35.99) comes with BD Live, a behind the scenes documentary and twenty three minutes of deleted scenes among other features.

The Wall•E Three-Disc Special Edition ($40.99) contains the same features and deleted scenes footage but also includes a digital version of the movie which you can transfer to your iPod, iPhone or other compatible device.

Both high-definition discs and the standard DVD versions are available for pre-order. Currently, both the 2-disc and 3-disc are being offered for $24.99 through Amazon.

The Flip MinoHD has enough memory (4GB) for up to 60 minutes of video, and the rechargeable battery lasts approximately 2 hours. For connectivity, the USB arm plugs directly into your PC and uses the FlipShare software for viewing, editing and sharing.

The camera’s video format is 16:9 widescreen 720p (1280 x 720) at 30 frames per second. It records video in H.264 format and saves as MP4 to work with iTunes, iMovie, and iPhoto. The video bitrate is on average 8.8Mbps (Megabits Per Second).

The MinoHD is available in several different designs including the ability to use your own image, use a pattern generator to create a custom design, pick from a gallery, or go with the standard black design.

“Effective December 15, 2008, we will no longer carry HD DVDs. At that time, we will automatically replace any HD DVD titles in your Queue with standard DVDs when available,” said part of the email from Netflix.

It would be interesting to see how many HD DVD rentals actually go out, considering the format still breathes some life among HD DVD user groups and hi-def bargain hunters who can now get some HD DVDs at Amazon for only $7.99.

However there must not be enough rentals to keep the format available for Netflix customers. For those movies from Universal that are still unavailable on Blu-ray you’ll have to settle for the standard DVD format.

The Panasonic HDTV model is the Viera TH-46PZ800U 46-Inch 1080p plasma. This plasma normally sells for $2499 but is being discounted down to $1799. The HDTV has 1920 x 1080 resolution and an amazing 1000000:1 contrast ratio. It also boasts 4096 shades of gradation for better color reproduction.

The Panasonic Blu-ray player is the DMP-BD35K. It is native 1080p resolution and equipped with BD Live, VIERA Link (remote control) and SD card slot. For audio it supports Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital Plus and DTSTM-HD Master Audio Essential. Also upconverts standard-def DVDs. Normally retails for $299.

The MGM library consists of around 4,100 classic and contemporary films, all ready to broadcast at 1080i. MGM HD is Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s first fully owned cable channel in the United States.

MGM already has agreements with major television service providers including DirecTV, Dish Network, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Verizon and Bright House Networks.

The story in Call of Duty: World at War focuses on the final WWII battles in the Pacific and Eastern parts of Europe. The battles are based on actual historical battles including the Makin Island raid, the Battle of Peleliu, and the Battle of Berlin.

“World at War” was two years in the making and features a more mature theme than previous installments. Swimming is introduced as well as flamethrowers (originally brought into play in Call of Duty: United Offensive) which will affect flammable environments.

The FiOS VOD library offers titles encompassing a broad range of interests including kids, music, pop culture, Spanish language, and home and leisure. The VOD library offers more than 11,000 titles per month, of which 8,500 are free of charge.

“Consumers continue to get the ultimate HD experience from Verizon, with more HD choices than cable from our growing list of HD channels and our industry-leading VOD library,” said Terry Denson, vice president - FiOS TV content and programming.

Verizon also added 53 HD channels in Richmond, VA — that brings that number of high-definition channels in the area to 100. 35 of those channels however are available only with premium movie packages. The others are available with the Verizon Essentials or Extreme HD packages.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars (+ Digital Copy) [Blu-ray]
From Warner Home Video and Lucasfilm Animation comes the latest in the Star Wars universe. Join Obi-Wan, Annakin and new Jedi padawan Ahsoka as they trace the disappearance of Jabba the Hutt’s son Rotta. I imagine many SW fans skipped the theater on this one and are anxious to pick up the Blu-ray or DVD. (2008)
Specs: Widescreen Ratio: 2.35:1; Run Time: 98 minutes; Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1 EX, Dolby TrueHD 5.1.

Band of Brothers [Blu-ray]
Band of Brothers takes you back to World War II and follows Easy Company, the company of airborne infantry from their beginnings in boot camp until the end of the war. This 6-disc set lasts 705 minutes and worth every penny in high-definition.
Specs: Widescreen Ratio: 1.78:1; Run Time: 705 minutes; Audio: DTS Surround Sound, Original recording remastered.

Hellboy II: The Golden Army [Blu-ray]
The second cinematic release from the Dark Horse graphic novel, Hellboy II: The Golden Army was directed by Guillermo del Toro who seems to tie the complicated sequel nicely together into a film that will gain new fans as well as please old. (2008)
Specs: Widescreen Ratio: 1.78:1; Run Time: 665 minutes; Audio: Dolby, DTS Surround Sound.

Firefly: The Complete Series [Blu-ray]
This show comes from Fox and is sort of sci-fi meets old west. Excellent special effects rendering and great scripts make this a show worth having in high-definition. If you’ve seen Serenity you’ll also want this set. (2002)
Specs: Widescreen Ratio: 1.78:1; Run Time: 665 minutes; Audio: Dolby, DTS Surround Sound.

Other Blu-ray releases to mention:

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Piano Concerto No.25 / Piano Sonatas - Acoustic Reality Experience [Blu-ray] (2008)

JFK [Blu-ray](1991)

Sukiyaki Western Django [Blu-ray] (2007)

Soundstage: Sheryl Crow Live [Blu-ray] (2008)

See you next week with some top picks from the Blu-ray releases on Nov. 18.

The Vudu set-box sells for $299, and requires 4-mbps broadband internet connection for instant playback of high-definition content. Movies from the Vudu library are available from .99 to $3.99. Or, you can download-to-own from $9.99 to $19.99. A more expensive model, the VUDU XL, sells for $999 and is designed for use in high-end home theaters.

The entire Vudu library consists of close to 10,000 standard-definition films as well as the 1,100 high-definition films. Vudu hopes this large addition of hi-def films will invite more hi-def enthusiasts to try their product. Currently, Vudu is far beyond Apple TV sales, but the product does have a buzz happening.

Television ads purchased by Digital Entertainment Group will feature clips from The Dark Knight, Hellboy II: The Golden Army, Wall-E, and Hancock to showcase the quality of films and wide range of studios contributing titles to the Blu-ray format.

Blu-ray’s challenge these days is the economy, but analysts are optimistic the tough times won’t affect consumer’s decisions to buy into the Blu-ray. In the Adweek article, Megan Pollock, a rep for the Consumer Electronics Association said, “Consumers don’t look at this as much as a luxury item as in the past. They’re not cutting it out as much as, say, vacations.”

Products like the Access HD 1030U Digital To Analog (pictured right) may look like they were built specifically for high-definition because of the “HD” in the product name, but really all digital-to-analog converters work the same. HD quality, in an over-the-air situation, will depend on the quality of your reception and not the converter box.

Could there be such a thing as an HD converter box? Sure, there are all kinds of converter boxes to convert various video and audio signals. And, it depends on whether you are talking about converting up to HD or converting down from HD. For example, there are converters that will take your HD signal and convert down to SDI or composite, although I’m not sure why anyone would have a use for that except maybe in commercial applications.

Then there are upconverting DVD and Blu-ray players which could be called “HD converters.” They take a lower grade resolution and upscale to a hi-definition resolution. Toshiba hails its XD-E500 Upscaling DVD Player as getting near high-definition quality from standard definition DVDs.

I hope this article helps with any confusion. Remember, digital comes first. Digital television signals are how HD signals are transmitted. If you don’t have an HDTV, no worries, television stations will continue to broadcast standard definition alongside HD for years to come.

With these new additions, DirecTV has reached 109 cities where local HD channels are provided. The company is on target to reach 121 cities by the end of 2008.

DirecTV customers must have an H20 or H21 HD receiver or an HR20 or HR21 DIRECTV Plus HD DVR and a Ka/Ku band dish in order to recieve local HD channels.

The WD TV HD Media Player was designed for use with WD’s My Passport drives, but will also work with WD My Book drives and most well known USB drives. It will also work as an interface from your video camera, digital camera, or portable media player.

The player provides full HD playback at 1080p via HDMI output to your HDTV. It supports up to two USB drives as input devices. The provided software, ArcSoft MediaConverter converts all file types to optimize for the WD TV HD Media Player.

Software allows movie control, photo slide-shows, and navigation options like view by thumbnail, list by type, or list by name.

The Election Mix will replace the News Mix on DIRECTV channels 102 and 352 and will be available in both standard-definition and HD (High Definition).

The coverage will begin Nov. 4 at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT and continue on until the next day at 6 a.m. ET/3 a.m. PT.

Blu-ray Disc prices have also been going down, although not as consistently and dramatically as Blu-ray hardware. The average price of a Blu-ray Disc on Amazon.com is $23. That isn’t too far away from the average cost of a new release DVD. Blu-ray disc prices generally range from about $14.99 to $34.99 depending on the movie.

So when is the right time to buy?
Some experts say Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving) is when you will see $150 Blu-ray players. I would expect those players will not be top brand names like Sony and Samsung. But with any luck an entry level Sony Blu-ray player will break $200. Industry analysts also say there will be deep discounts in LCD and plasma flat-screens this holiday. The best advice may be to wait until Thanksgiving, or wait until after the holiday when retailers will be looking to move out some stock from 2008.

How popular is Blu-ray?
Although widely embraced already by home theater enthusiasts and those of us who live for new technology, Blu-ray still hasn’t been embraced by the mainstream. According to Nielsen VideoScan, only 4% of U.S. movie disc sales are Blu-ray Disc.

Many DVD collectors seem to be satisfied with the quality of their DVDs. And, new up-scaling DVD players (which can convert a standard-definition DVD to high-definition 720p, 1080i, or 1080p) are getting better and better in performance. I once calculated what it would cost to replace my DVD collection with Blu-ray and it was around $5k. Needless to say, many of those films will just never be upgraded to 1080p.