November 2008 Archives
November 26, 2008 2:28 PM
What's that you say? You wanted a 32" LCD display? And you wanted one with precisely 2073600 pixels on the screen? How fortunate then, that I have just reviewed and talked about the 32", 1080p Toshiba 32XV505D!
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0 commentsNovember 24, 2008 6:49 PM
Mr David joins the AVForums team
I completely forgot to mention that as of a week or two ago, I write hardware reviews exclusively for AVForums.com. Which means that if you want to read the latest HDTV or BD Player review on this site, then you are out of luck. Instead, you will have to click a LINK to the review over at AVForums.com. Kind of like you had to do already, in fact, but at a different site. Yes, yes, it's much simpler to put it that way.
If you don't know AVForums already, then chances are that you're either not in Europe, or you're not into home theatre (home cinema?) stuff. AVF is the busiest home cinema discussion site in Europe, and has a large number of knowledgeable members who post regularly. More people read AVF than read any other UK "hi-fi" magazine (which is just as well).
You see, this is why I was in London at JVC House last week, attending ISF Training and Hands-on classes (which were great, by the way - always nice to chat with other video geeks face to face and also to fill in some knowledge gaps). Everyone was really nice, and it was great talking to Stephen (hi Stephen, don't think you're reading this though) and give him feedback for future products directly. JVC also have a very nice home theatre setup which uses an anamorphic lens, 2.35:1 screen, and JVC's de-fucking-lightful DLA-HD750 projector, which would probably have driven me into a frothingly jealous rage if they weren't all such smashing chaps. (Covert pictures above).
The whole AVForums doo-dah (can't think of a better word than "doo-dah", sorry) also means that I'll be producing video reviews of everything I review, and you'll probably hear me on the AVForums Podcast every so often (I've been on it before many years ago, but I was pimping HD DVD, didn't that turn out well?)
There is an uber-special review coming up very soon, but I have a pile of boxed-up HDTVs to review and shift, so adios for now!
November 18, 2008 10:07 PM
Here I am in a London Premier Inn, getting ready for tomorrow's Imaging Science Foundation fun over at JVC's UK headquarters.
Just to complicate things, I decided that now is the best time to learn the DVD Video Specifications. This is completely unrelated to what's going on tomorrow, I just had the urge to do it now. So I'm sitting here reading about PGCs, PTTs, VTSs, VMG, Cells and Navpacks, so I can forget it all tomorrow when we're talking about Greyscale, CIE charts and how to stop televisions from looking like an electronic mess.
You can't jump to another VTS from inside a VTS, you have to go up to a dummy PGC in the VMG. Because a command saying "Play this video file when this button is pressed" would just be too simple.
Does anyone know why there is a bible in my hotel room? The DVD Video Specification is more coherent than this. If I was here with the Imaging SUPERSTITION Foundation then this might be more appropriate, but I guess if you're into Imaging Superstition, you leave your TV in the out of the box settings and pretend you're seeing what the director wanted.
9 to 5 tomorrow. Adios!
November 10, 2008 2:01 PM
I have a MacBook Pro, I like it
Because I needed to run an OS X program (sorry, application) and wanted to get a laptop, it made sense for me to get a MacBook Pro. One of the old MacBook Pros in fact, because I'll be damned if I'm going to pay a premium for a mirror-screen, touch pad I don't like, and be without still-essential Firewire and DVI ports.
So, I got a really good deal on a barely used, mint condition MacBook Pro (15" 2.4ghz Core 2 version). And I am a very happy boy indeed, which is surprising considering that I thought I'd be spending more time running Windows on the thing, what with me and my anti-Mac sentiment and all. But after a few days with the thing, I can honestly say that, on the laptop at least, I prefer Mac OS. OK, so there's still one or two useful little Windows utilities that I'd like to have on OS X, but the consistency, visual appeal, and simplicity of the Appley way of doing things is exactly what I need from a portable. I don't want constant Windows Updates or alerts, and I want to be able to quickly and easily connect to wireless networks. I DO want beautifully-designed, well behaved applications (I don't think I've come across a single one which doesn't look and feel excellent).
As for the hardware itself, I'm astonished at the quality of the keyboard - I actually prefer it to that of my desktop machine, despite the missing numeric keypad. The keys press wonderfully and are just great to type on. I even like the track-pad, for crying out loud! It controls at exactly the right speed by default, and the Multi-touch thing is genius - hard to believe that this is from the company that took so long to embrace mice with scroll-wheels.
Don't get me wrong, I love Windows as well, but I just don't see much need to have it on my MacBook Pro. Back in 2005 when I bought and returned one of the last G5 iMacs, I was irritated by the sluggishness, instability, lack of software, and from my perspective, poor value for money. Back then, the Mac platform still reminded me slightly of those annoying, dumb-feeling Motorola-based machines I used to have to use at school. How things have changed. Apple's machines may still be pricey (although I got one hell of a deal on this machine), but most of those aren't issues anymore. Speed, in particular, most certainly is not a problem.
Yeah, OK Apple, you got me. This is what I wanted 4 years ago. Any company that can make a laptop that doesn't make me want to poke my eye out with a spork gets the thumbs-up from me. Next portable device to buy: new Sony Network Walkman which supports drag and drop. (Don't anybody push it and suggest i buy one of those other players).
November 8, 2008 3:04 PM
MSN Tech and Gadgets rank Blu-ray players
The word "Gadgets" in the title should be a warning sign, but even I was surprised at the lack of objectivity shown by this article. It ranks 6 Blu-ray Disc players and makes passing comments on differences in image quality between them (frankly, I'd be surprised).
According to MSN, Pioneer's BDP-95FD produces pictures that are "occasionally too dark", a Samsung player is "consistently too bright", and Panasonic's DMP-BD30 is "too bright and washed out". The Playstation 3 ranks second, but we're warned that images "often lack the depth and sharpness of other players" (bullshit from my perspective, unless the "depth and sharpness" from other players is coming from additional video processing altering the video on the disc). The only two players to pass by with no comment made on picture quality are from Philips and Sharp.
It's clear that these "observations" have been made without any sort of control, application of standards, or objectivity. But people out there will use this article as a serious shopping list this Christmas, and that is truly worrying.
November 6, 2008 12:08 AM
"Dizzy Rascal" says Obama won thanks to hip-hop
I have a TV on my desk that's constantly on right now, thanks to the US elections (and also thanks to the fact that I have to review the damn thing). It's been tuned to BBC News 24 lately, because that's the most balanced news channel available on free TV (the alternative is Sky News). Throughout the day, BBC have been showing opinions of intelligent people, both black and white, asking them for their thoughts on this morning's/last night's amazing victory.
Then, tonight, this happened. (Forgive distorted clip):
Dizzy Rascal, who's some sort of musician who I've never heard of before, is invited onto the show, where he explains how hip-hop music made Barack Obama win, and how he's going to run for Prime Minister. You know what, although the guy comes across as a bit of a jackass, at least his attitude is better than the average mopey Brit. Nevertheless, you have to wonder why the guy is on the show. It's almost as if BBC grabbed the first (apparently) semi-famous black person they could find and gave him some air time.
November 5, 2008 3:58 AM
November 3, 2008 4:46 PM
...then make sure you go out tomorrow and vote for a presidential candidate who doesn't make jokes about bombing Iran, doesn't want to pass laws preventing people from getting married (WTF?), and doesn't hold close ties with a woman who enjoys killing animals for fun. That doesn't seem like rocket science to the rest of the world, but apparently that is not the case over there. Hell, somehow the current jackass got voted in not once, but TWICE, so I guess pigs might still fly.
I'll be totally honest, the rest of the world is sick of American insularity. We can't vote in the US elections, but they affect everyone. So if you're reading this in the US, then please weigh up your options in a responsible manner.
Oh yeah, I couldn't quickly find an interesting royalty free image of a US flag, so I drew one.
Edit, never mind, forget it. Movable Type crashes with an Internal Server Error when I try to upload the picture. (Sigh), what the fuck was wrong with the old version, can someone please write some blog management software that just works?
