Feb 02 2008

Televisions of the Future

Posted by Mr Butterscotch as HDTV, Hardware and Gadget Features, LCD, Tech News, Television

The CES show was host to some rather amazing gadgets and gizmos this year - in fact arguably one of the best years for some time. Things really seem to be getter better - but not only that, they seem to be getting bigger as well. What I mean by that is of course that televisions are the next (and current) big thing! As a first at CES, the world's first laser television was displayed. This was debuted by Mitsubishi who state that it is a 'new category' of display to offer alongside the likes of LCD and plasma technology. The reason for the development of this type of screen is that it offers (apparently) ...

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Oct 04 2007

The Pleasure (and Pain) of Not Having a TV

Posted by Mr Butterscotch as Furniture, Television

One of the things I've experienced recently is the real issue of not having a television. This is at least in part due to my moving house - my old set is a great Samsung widescreen, which is neither plasma nor LCD. This CRT beast has remained at the home of my parents, simply because I've never managed to have the energy or the will to go and collect it. One of the good points about this is that I've not been kept up far too late watching rubbish on television in my bedroom. Don't get me wrong, I still have a television to watch, but it's in the living room. I still tend to catch good ...

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Oct 02 2007

Sony to release OLED TVs in December

Posted by Rogue as Security, Tech News, Television

With the HD war heating up, the battle between LCD and Plasma is reaching fever pitch. Just like HD DVD and Blu-ray, each camp has its avid supporters who extol the virtues of each technology. But Sony is about to stir things up with the announcement that it will finally release the first OLED TV this December. OLED is widely seen as the best among the three technologies because it is more energy efficient and it allows for the production of extremely thin and ultralight displays. It is also a great technology for showing very vivid pictures that can render fast moving images -- this makes it perfect for action movies or sports. Of ...

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Sep 17 2007

Upscaling DVD players breathe life to DVD

Posted by Rogue as HDTV, Television

With the raging High Definition war between Blu-Ray and HD-DVD, the future of the DVD is becoming bleak. Most a growing number of consumers are slowly throwing their hats into this HD war and picking which among the two competitors will win in the end. But DVDs are really not about to meet its demise. It actually still has a lot of legs and with new technology will still remain a viable format for the foreseeable future. The key to DVDs increased longevity will be in the area of upscaling. A number of new DVD players in the market right now offer upscaling features. What this feature does is to bump up the native resolution of DVDs to HD ...

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Sep 17 2007

Remembering MacGyver the Uber-Geek

Posted by Jaren as Cool Stuff, Gadzooki News, Random Thoughts, TV, Television

Ahh Yes...MacGyver the uber geek...the idol of engineers, the basis of geeks, cool but techie, resourceful in a very, Renaissance man -like manner and fashion, he uses his knowledge of science, technology and outdoorsmanship to resolve what are often life or death crises. With nothing but a Swiss Army Knife and a roll of duct tape commonly known, to some degree, as "MacGyver-tape". Since the MacGyver is the basis of everything tech-related I had to post it here too. MacGyver according to Wikipedia Angus MacGyver is a highly intelligent, optimistic action hero who prefers non-violent conflict resolution wherever possible. He refuses to carry or use a gun due to a childhood accident with a ...

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Sep 03 2007

The myth of expensive HDMI cables

Posted by Rogue as Accessories, TV, Television

There has been a great debate regarding the use of generic cables and branded cables. Look at any online forum on speakers or audiophiles and you will always find long forum threads that just deals with this subject. The contention about this topic is simple. There is a camp that says quality cables or wires produce better results. For example, better video quality (if you use video cables) or sonic characteristics (if for example, the topic are speaker wires). The opposing camp, on the other hand, contends that there really is no significant difference. A wire is a wire and all the talk about difference sonic characteristics or better overall quality when using very expensive cables ...

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Mar 03 2007

TV vs Games

Posted by Mr Butterscotch as Apple, Cool Stuff, Gadgets, TV, Television

There's a large number of high quality programmes now available on tv. Shows including Heroes, The Sopranos and The Office all provide fantastic (if edgy) entertainment. So, how do they stand up to games - the other pastime where you're in front of the box? Well let's look at a few areas of comparison: Storyline Games have traditionally had a very simple, very poor Aristotealean (and basic) narrative. TV on the other hand seems to be in a bit of a renaissance at the momement with layered, deep storylines offering much to the audience. Games such as Psychonauts, Half Life 2 and Neverwinter Nights 2 are giving more to the player of late, offering a better sense ...

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Jan 13 2007

IPTV Will Change Everything

Posted by Geezer as Event Coverage, Gadgets, IPTV, Television

In my view, this year's CES is all about enabling pervasive content distribution. And the key to everyone's strategy here, whether Microsoft (via XBox 360) or Apple (via Apple TV), is IPTV. Let's be clear. IPTV is disruptive technology. Seriously. There is no better example of what a disruptive technology would look like. This is VoIP multiplied by a million. So what exactly is the big deal? Simply put: IPTV shakes video distribution to its core. It takes control away from the big cable companies. It makes entry into cable distribution much easier, increasing competition. It puts choice in the hands of consumers. It explodes constraints: limitless channels anyone? At a ...

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Jan 11 2007

In Defence of HD

Posted by Mr Butterscotch as DLP, Gadgets, HDTV, Hardware, LCD, Plasma Screens, Television

Fairly recently there's been a huge boom in the television market. In particular, this has been in relation to flat screen technology such as DLP, Plasma and LCD. This boom has been driven by a consumer need for technology that offers better clarity, sound and image quality. The rise of DVD's has also fuelled the purchase of home cinema systems. So where does HD fit in? Well according to Sky UK I will be "wowed by the difference" when watching HD. Well, is this in fact the truth? Lets put this in some sort of personal perspective. About a year and ...

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Dec 03 2006

Buying an HDTV: My Crazy Adventure & What I Learned

Posted by Geezer as DLP, Gadgets, HDTV, LCD, Television

So my wife and I promised each other not to go out on Black Friday. We didn't. But we did go out Black Saturday (errr... the day after Black Friday). Lately, I've been compulsive about getting a big screen TV. Actually, what I've been really compulsive about is getting a Wii. But since I couldn't find a damned Wii anywhere, I opted for the big screen HDTV that I'd eventually play my Wii on. So, on Saturday morning, we got our morning Ads (where we live, the newspaper delivers ads separate from the paper...wierd, I know). Those ads told me that I could finance my big screen TV at 0% interest for 18 months. That sounded tasty. Uh? Sounded tasty? You get the point. Back when I first started my HDTV pursuit, I was committed to getting a 50 incher or better. This, in turn, convinced me that I would be getting a DLP. But to be honest, I just haven't been very impressed with the DLP picture. Looks too grainy to me, even on the 1080p models. Plus, quick motion (the sort of motion I expect my Wii to have), didn't look to hot.

Next, I got stuck on LCD because of a beautiful 40 inch Samsung 1080p I saw at BestBuy. Just absolutely shocking. Stunning. Aesthetic perfection. It was with this model in mind that we went out to compare prices around the various big box retailers. Suffice it to say, they were all sold out. December 5th the earliest delivery date. But that didn't work. You see, my wife and I had spent the last 3 hours carefully picking our favorite, most cost effective TV. We were ready to spend the cash. But no. We were supposed to go home empty? Not us! My wife and I are fairly compulsive buyers. And we were determined to come home with an HDTV. So next, we decided on a 42 inch Samsung Plasma. Plasmas really do have the best picture and they are the best for video games. But they are also ultra sensitive and ultra heavy. We didn't know that. So when we went to check out, they asked us if we wanted to pay the $85 delivery charge. Of course not. We wanted to go straight home and watch this sucker. Well, then they told us that Plasmas can't lay down on their sides. Too bad, because the 42 inch model wouldn't fit into our SUV standing upright. Blah! This really sucked. We were getting depressed and were about to call it quits, when we decided, once again, to go the LCD route. Well, we opted for a downgrade from the 40 inch 1080p Samsung to a 40 inch 720p Samsung. This time it was in stock. So we bought it. Here are some things I learned in this crazy process:

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