TVSquad

Wired has news that tomorrow the South Park episode "Good Times with Weapons" will be made available exclusively in HD on XBox Live Marketplace. "Good Times with Weapons" is the episode from season eight in which the boys purchase ninja weapons and are transformed through the power of their own imagination into anime warriors. Unfortunately for Butters/Professor Chaos, reality starts to seep in when he takes a throwing star in the eye. In true form, the boys don't try too hard to help Butters, though they do dress him as a dog so at least he can receive veterinarian care. Hey, it's better than nothing.

Also, if you buy an XBox 360 between March 20 and April 3, you'll get a free DVD copy of this HD episode. And don't forget that season eleven kicks off Wednesday night with the episode "With Apologies to Jesse Jackson."

More information can be found here on one of our sister sites. Thanks, Tucker.

On March 18 at 8 p.m., the National Geographic Channel will air a three-hour documentary on Galapagos, thirteen islands off the southern coast of South America that were central to Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. Put together from over 300 hours of footage shot over a three-year period, Galapagos is being lauded by National Geographic as the most in-depth look at the islands in over two decades.

The documentary will be presented in high def and will not only explore the various forms of wildlife, but also the surrounding ocean and the volcanoes that first gave form to the islands. If I sound like a commercial for the program, that's only because I live for any series having to do with the natural world. Galapagos is even more interesting because it's not only a remarkable ecosystem, but also the center of a time-tested theory about our origin that changed the way we see ourselves and the world around us.

TV Newser reports that NBC News will begin shooting in HD beginning sometime next year, and that NBC Nightly News will be going high def starting next month. The other major networks, including NBC, also offer select shows in the HD format, and some local news affiliates also broadcast in HD.

I don't consider myself a technophobe, but all this talk of high definition ties my head in knots. I actually found a decent primer for HD virgins like myself on CNET, which is worth checking out if you're interested in making the jump to HD, which involves a lot more than simply purchasing an HD or plasma television set.

I also know a lot of our readers rock the HD, so share your wisdom in the comments for those of us who aren't quite so hip to this crazy new technology.

[via Lost Remote]

Bigger isn't always better.

Josh Levin has a piece up at Slate about how he's going to watch the Super Bowl tomorrow on a 134-inch TV. OK, so it's not really a TV, but a digital projector that puts a large screen image on your wall. I don't pretend to fully understand the technology involved here (it sounds like a 21st century slide show projector to me), but I wonder when too much is, well, too much. I mean, seriously, 100 inches? 103 inches? 134 inches? Where will it end? Isn't there a point where a television is so many inches that it's no longer "television" but "a movie theater?" What size room do you need for a pic like this to even be watchable? I have a 60 inch Sony and my living room is just barely the right size for it. If I moved the couch any closer I'd feel like I was inside the TV.

So you love CNN but you wish you could get a better look at every wrinkle, crevice and circuit board in Larry King's face? Well, don't slit your wrists just yet, because CNN is going high def this fall. CNN-HD has already been picked up by DIRECTV, which will be launching one hundred new high def channels, most of them in the third quarter of 2007.

I don't own a high def TV set, but I have to ask if high def TV news is really what people want. I can understand wanting to watch movies in high def, and I'm sure nature programs and some animation probably look amazing with this technology, but does anyone really care what the news looks like? I've often wondered the same thing about Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy!, both of which are also now in high def. Unless they start adding explosions and lasers to those game shows, I'm content with watching them on my old TV.

Ah, technology. No longer will you have to go outside to appreciate the wonders of nature. Instead, the Discovery Channel is going to bring you the wonders of the natural world in glorious high definition starting March 25 with an eleven-part series, Planet Earth.

The program, created by the same people behind Blue Planet, is the result of 70 camera operators working for 2,000 days in 2000 locations using advanced techniques and technology. Discovery will also air behind-the-scenes footage after each episode and will provide extra content online. I'm guessing that after seeing the world in high definition your only recourse will be to track down Mother Nature and spit in her face in disgust.

My TV set is dying.

I noticed it Thursday morning when I turned it on and Martha Stewart had two heads. She was also all blue/green and white and red. At first I thought it was some sort of Christmas-themed show, but this wasn't a "good thing," and when I changed the channel I saw that Rachael Ray looked the same, and so did the anchors on CNN.

I have a 52 inch Toshiba, and checking the instruction manual (which I had to dig out of storage - who the hell has trouble with their TVs this day and age?) I found out that the problem was the "Touch Focus." That sounds a lot like the title of a softcore porn movie, but it actually has to do with how the red/green/blue lines up in the spectrum. Following the instructions, I tried to fix it manually, but the Toshiba customer service rep on the phone says that's because it's too much out of line and I have to have a repairman come to the house. Either that or just get a new set, which is probably what we'll do.

TV Predictions has a regular column where they discuss High-Def. Not just the positive aspects of HD, but also a list of what looks good and what looks bad in HD.

I've noticed this too. Back in the old days of television (and by "old days" I mean two years ago) you would see attractive people on television and not give it a second thought. Or maybe even not so attractive people and not give it a second thought. But now with HD, you see everything oh so clearly, and it's not always a good thing. Guys who had some wrinkles are now revealed to have Grand Canyon-like crevices in their face. Women who you'd look at and say "hmm, she might have had plastic surgery" now leave no doubt that they have. Even soap opera stars, who are almost all uniformly beautiful and/or studly are revealed to be either craggly or wearing so much makeup they look like a wax figure.

Progess isn't all it's cracked up to be. I think Dave said that on NewsRadio once.

Our regular roundup of what's on our sister blog, HD Beat.

• Hey, how would you like to guest host the HD Beat podcast?
• HD DVD releases are outselling catalog releases.
• Blu-ray vs. HD DVD: fact and fiction.
• Now you can see Emeril cooking food in HD.
• What do Bruce Lee and The Dukes of Hazzard have in common?

• What's the only show on MTV that really needs to be in HD?
• Turn your Mac Mini into a Media Center.
• HD-DVD has arrived.
• HD shortages aren't just a problem in Europe.
• Take DISH Network for a test drive!
• What the heck is HD Radio?