Posted by Kevin Huffman
Tech
Thursday, March 25th, 2010
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The Lord of the Ring Blu-ray discs will be released on April 6, but a few lucky nerds already have access to it. And they don’t like what they see. Take a look at this first image posted by AVS Forum user eric.exe. It’s from the 23Mbps VC1 Blu-ray encoding. Good, right? Well check out the 17Mbps MPEG-2 version below and compare the sharpness, not the color as the user notes that it was probably skewed in the broadcasting. Notice anything different? Load both in seperate tabs and compare the two. Gandalf’s face should look a bit more smooth, almost plasticy in the Blu-ray version. The same goes for the wooden door frame. It looks blurry in the Blu-ray release where the HD broadcast version has a lot more detail. But the difference can clearly be seen in Gandalf’s beard with the Blu-ray version showing a lot of extra noise. There are about a dozen more examples posted on AVS Forum if you need more proof. Sure, these are the things that only nerds with advanced A/V setups will see and care about, but god bless them. Without their watchful eyes, who knows what type of crap movie studios would release. [via The Blu-ray Blog ]
Posted by Kevin Huffman
Tech
Wednesday, March 24th, 2010
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Dear friend, I hope the letter carriers get this utmost urgent note to you on time. If so, there’s still a good chance that you’ll be able to acquire a brand new Toshiba Blu-ray player for only $99. Think of your children. They need a Blu-ray player but not at the expense of other things. But this one from Newegg is so inexpensive that I hope you’ll be able to forgo a few speakeasy trips this month to cover it. You must, friend, you must. But hurry! T he deal is only good until 1:00pm PDT .
Posted by Kevin Huffman
Tech
Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010
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Here’s a candidate for the Canadian parent of the year award. Police in Richmond B.C. are looking for a couple that used their kids to load up on over $3000 worth of Blu-ray and DVD discs from Future Shop. The estimate is that the couple took between 80 to 100 movies. The parents took the children into the store, and then allowed them to walk around picking the movies that the wanted to watch, and then loaded them into the stroller. The couple then left the store without paying for the merchandise. Of course in the US, they would have been harassed and then let go, only to find that all the cases were filled with rocks. Police are currently looking for help in identifying the couple and the children.
Posted by Kevin Huffman
Tech
Monday, March 22nd, 2010
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Sony ’s full steam ahead with making sure that this year’s World Cup comes to us in glorious 3D . “Glorious” may be a stretch, but if I can see things like this goal and this goal in 3D, well, horray for everything. Not that I have a 3D TV or anything, but maybe I’ll find me a nice sugar daddy before the tournament kicks off. One can dream! So yeah, Sony is working closely with FIFA and its TV partners to make sure this 3D World Cup goes off without a hitch. To that end, Sony’s experimenting with new, less expensive cameras that I’ve never heard of, like the P1. The sport itself is causing some headaches. FIFA mandates that soccer fields, known as “pitches,” be at least 100 meters long by 64 meters wide—so, around 6,400 square meters. 3D cameras, as they exist today, aren’t so great at zooming in. So Sony has to figure out how to film such a giant field in a compelling way. If you don’t have a 3D TV in time for the tournament, Sony will produce a Blu-ray movie, in 3D, about it. I recall seeing a movie/documentary about the 2006 World Cup, and it was top-notch, probably just as good as that Zidane documentary . Probably more interesting to the average person, too. It’s all falling into place: Sony tricking out the pitches with the proper cameras, 3D networks about to be launched… all we need now is someone like DirecTV or Comcast to say, “Yes, we will have ESPN 3D in time for the World Cup.” Note to Comcast: that would be such a coup for you guys. Do you know how much “good publicity” you’d get if you were among the first providers to offer 3D ESPN? Well worth it, I think.
Posted by Kevin Huffman
Tech
Tuesday, March 16th, 2010
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The InFocus SP8602 is a big, bad home theater projector. It’s hanging from my ceiling , hooked up to a Harmon Kardon Blu-ray player and a TiVo HD. Needless to say, life is good at the Burns homestead. Click through for my initial impressions of this $5,000 1080p projector. Pros Great color saturation Good – but not great – black levels Lots of detail Enough inputs It looks like a $5K projector Good remote Cons Horrible film smoothing Manual lens controls are hidden under a panel – look nice, but hard to fine tune when you have to snap the panel back into place Stay tuned for the full review. Any suggestions for test material?
Posted by Kevin Huffman
Tech
Tuesday, March 16th, 2010
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Everyone’s favorite Dances With Wolves remake, Avatar, is coming soon to Blu-ray and DVD. Just don’t expect many extras. Or 3-D. As reported by the great TheDigitalBits.com , 20th Century Fox will shortly announce a 4/22 release date for Avatar on Blu-ray and DVD. But be aware that if you want some bonus features, or 3D , you might have to double or even triple dip. According to the article: “Don’t expect any extras, however, because you won’t get any – just a menu…that’s being done to maximize the video and audio quality by devoting all the available disc space to it. Here’s the thing though: The studio obviously already knows its going to be double-dipping on the title later this year with a more elaborate multi-disc special edition…which shouldn’t come as any surprise to you. But neither this round, nor the November version, will be 3D. That’ll likely come in a third dip a year or two from now. You see, in order to sell more than a few dozen copies in 3D, Fox needs the market for 3D on Blu-ray (meaning capable players and displays) to… well, frankly EXIST… first. So for now, it’s movie-only versions on Earth Day, more elaborate versions in November and no 3D this year.” Personally, I’m hoping for a Kevin Costner audio commentary. He’s not too busy these days, and I think he’d probably do it for a hot sandwich at this point. Image from here, but I don’t know what it is.
Posted by Kevin Huffman
Tech
Monday, March 15th, 2010
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I could have sworn “piracy” was killing the movie industry. Apparently not, when you actually look at the data ! The year 2009 was the single best year in Hollywood history as far as “money” is concerned—if you can find a single decent movie produced by Hollywood last year I’d love to see it—where it made $29.9 billion in ticket sales alone. (Never mind how much Blu-ray and DVD sales will bring in.) So again: if piracy is killing the industry, how do you explain these numbers? Well, we’ll try to explain them. Last year was the year of Avatar — Avatar is 3D, to be exact. A ticket to a 3D showing cost quite a premium, something like $14-$15 (or more!) depending on your location instead of the usual $10ish. That’s pretty much the only explanation. Avatar was to Hollywood what the Wii was to Nintendo for a while there—simply a money-printing machine. Perhaps it speaks to an earlier thesis: you cannot “pirate” the 3D “experience,” so Hollywood should be flying high for a little while.
Posted by Kevin Huffman
Tech
Friday, March 12th, 2010
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There was an interesting debate on today’s Ron and Fez that speaks to a subject we’ve been whinging about for some time now: digital delivery of content, specifically of music. Pink Floyd has won a court ruling that will put an end to places like iTunes selling its songs individually. The band feels that their music can only truly be appreciated in the album format, from start to finish, and it never liked people being able to pick and choose what songs they wanted to download. I will say this right now: I’m not a Pink Floyd fan. I have nothing against them, but when kids were starting to get into bands like Pink Floyd, say around age 13 or 14, I was busy playing Final Fantasy . It’s a case of not being exposed to their music, and at this point, I’m not going to bother. My loss, I suppose. But don’t cry for me, because that’s makes me especially suited to write this story—I have no emotional attachment to the band in question. The gist of the ruling—The High Court in the UK, to be exact—is that EMI, the band’s record label, won’t be allowed to sell individual songs from its catalog online. That means, from now on, you’ll only be able to buy The Wall as a full album online, and not merely “In The Flesh?” and “The Thin Ice.” Yes, I had to Wiki that. Again, I wouldn’t know a Pink Floyd song if [insert cliché here]. That’s the debate: should consumers be allowed to buy whatever song they want without having to buy an entire album? One side says, “Yes, consumers should be able to pick and choose whatever song they want without worrying about what any band says. Just because a band ’says’ its music can only be appreciated in album form doesn’t make it so. Is There Will Be Blood any less valuable when you’re watching the Blu-ray on your 60-inch plasma instead of at an actual movie theater?” (I’d say no, it’s not any less valuable, especially since I can control the viewing environment when I’m watching the Blu-ray—no having to worry about loud idiots texting back and forth with their mates.) The other side says, “Well, Pink Floyd made the music, and only they know how it can be appreciated. If they intended for the songs to be listened to as an album, we as consumers should appreciate their artistic wishes.” While I side with the first opinion, the fact is I really don’t care too passionately one way or the other. The band wants you to buy albums? Fine, whatever. But surely Pink Floyd understands how music is consumed in the year 2010: people put their iPhone or iPod or Zune HD or whatever on shuffle mode, run on the treadmill at the gym for 20 minutes, and hear “ Poker Face ,” “ Run This Town ,” and “ Lay in a Shimmer ” all in a row. Young people ask, “What’s an album? I only listen to my Spotify playlist when I’m writing about what I did on my summer vacation.” Don’t expect to see this trend—going back to album-based music sales—continue beyond Pink Floyd. The music industry knows people are already used to buying this or that song from iTunes, and it’s in no position to say, “Actually, we want album sales now. Sorry.” It’s grateful that people are buying music at all, let alone expecting people to buy entire albums. This is where I throw it to y’all: is Pink Floyd in the right here? Should a band be allowed to dictate how its fans listen its music? Or is this a giant “who cares?” debate?
Posted by Kevin Huffman
Tech
Wednesday, March 10th, 2010
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Samsung will soon have a bit of competition in Best Buy’s 3D TV department. A $2,899 Panasonic VT20 plasma, Blu-ray player and 3D glasses bundle will go on sale tomorrow expect not all Best Buy stores. It’s a Magnolia exclusive. What’s strange is that the $3,299 55-inch Samsung 3D is in stock most Best Buy locations, including the none-Magnolia stores. It’s not clear whether Best Buy or Panasonic decided that the product should be an exclusive. Perhaps the model will roll out to the entire chain, but that’s not been announced as of yet. VT20 plasma, however, is just Best Buy exclusive model and is the same thing as the VT25 that will be available in other retail outlets in the same bundle package and separate.
Posted by Kevin Huffman
Tech
Wednesday, March 10th, 2010
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You might want to take a different approach when shopping for a 3D TV than a standard HDTV. Instead of just looking at the picture quality, you should also take a serious look at the brand’s 3D glasses. Some show some clear advantages to purchase that brand’s 3D TV and until there’s a standard format for 3D glasses, each brand requires its own unique glasses, thereby locking you into that manufacturer’s products. Yeah, it’s a bit messy right now. Click through for details on all of them. Samsung There are three different models currently available. $150 gets you the SSG-2100AB with a user-replaceable battery, while the $200 set is rechargeable. (SSG-2200AR) There is a rechargeable pair for children priced at $180. ( SSG-2200KR ) Samsung 3D TVs come bundled with two glasses and a 3D Blu-ray movie. Sony Sony hasn’t official announced its US 3D TV accessories, but it’s probably safe to say that the Japanese-market versions will be available here, too. The standard size TDG-BR100 gray model, along with the smaller blue and pink TDG-BR50 glasses will sell for 12,000 yen in Japan. That translates to $132 USD. The glasses also require the TMR-BR100 IR emitter, too. (5,000 yen, $55 USD) Only the LX900, which retails for 290,000 yen or $3,204 USD, comes with glasses — two, in fact. Panasonic The Panasonic TY-EW3D10U glasses clearly win the “most radical” award. Each Panasonic 3D TV comes with a set and they retail for $149.99. Nvidia 3D content can also be seen on computers with the right gear from Nvidia. The $199 Nvidia 3D Vision kit includes one pair of glasses, IR emitter, and connection cables. Additional glasses can be purchased for $149 each. Keep in mind, though, that a 3D-ready monitor/projector, GPU, and operating system like Vista or Win7 is also required.