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Acer Debuts 3D Projector[teaser]Acer’s new projector handles 3D, but not much else. [/teaser] All the new 3D gadgets are starting to roll out, and even the most stalwart 3D hater can’t help but be a little excited at the prospect of new gear. Acer’s newest projector, the S5200, is one of the first home and office projectors built with 3D in mind, but it’s a bit light in its other aspects. And speaking of aspects, this $1,000 projector sports a 4:3 aspect ratio. It doesn’t get any more impressive as it goes on. The projector’s native resolution is a mere 1024 x 768. It seems a bit odd to launch a projector with 3D capabilities that offers little else to go with it. Acer’s S5200 boasts compliance with Crestron’s home automation system, a six color wheel and features to improve lamp life and lamp performance. Without an HD resolution though, it all seems a bit pointless. Source: AcerPosted Tue Feb 16, 2010 at 11:00 AM PST by: -
HD Advisor and a .45Editor's Note: Each Friday, High-Def Digest's own HD Advisor will answer a new round of questions from our readers. If you have home theater questions you need answered, send an email to [email protected]. If you've already sent a question and don't see it answered yet, please be patient as we work our way through them. To browse through previously answered questions, visit the main HD Advisor page. Answers by Joshua Zyber Foreign Blu-rays and Region Coding Q: I am looking at the possibility of picking up a couple of international Blu-ray discs. I know your site lists whether a movie is Region A or Region Free, but you only cover North American releases, right? Do you know of a place where I can look up international releases? Second, the movie in particular I was looking at was listed on Amazon.co.uk as being in PAL. I know that the PS3 will not play 1080i material at 25 or 50 frames per second, but I thought the Blu-ray format only allowed 1080P at 24 frames / sec. So I am not sure what the PAL label means in this case, unless they are referring to the bonus materials. I guess I could always order, strip the region coding off, and play on the PC. But I would just really like to know what to look for in buying international movies so that I can play them in my US PS3. A: As you noted, High-Def Digest is a North American web site. Although we may review the occasional import disc, by and large, our reviews are titles meant for the Region A market. When buying imports, there are two factors to consider. The first is region coding. North America falls into Region A. The second factor is whether the disc has any content encoded with a 50 Hz frame rate. Most American Blu-ray players are not compatible with 50 Hz content, regardless of region coding. Keep in mind that many retailers simply copy the specs from their DVD listings when creating a new Blu-ray listing. As a result, those specs are often unreliable, especially in European countries where the DVD edition will be in PAL format and coded for Region 2. To verify region coding, I recommend first checking this web site. If the title you're interested in isn't listed there, you can also search for international disc reviews at DVD Basen. Even if a foreign title is coded for Region A compatibility, it may have 50 Hz content that will make the disc (or portions of the disc) unplayable on most American Blu-ray players. Sometimes, all this means is that the standard-def bonus features are authored in PAL format. If that's the case, you still may be able to play the movie otherwise. The majority of movies on Blu-ray are authored at 1080p resolution and a 24 fps rate, which will be compatible worldwide. Unfortunately, a smaller minority of movies may be authored at 1080i resolution and a 50 Hz frame rate. There may even be cases where the movie is 1080p24 but the disc menus allowing access to that movie are 1080i50, which will effectively prevent you from starting playback. In regard to the specific disc you were looking at, the 'Harry Potter' movies are distributed worldwide by Warner Home Video. Warner's Blu-ray discs are almost all region-free. The studio also almost never uses PAL or 50Hz content on Blu-ray. That particular disc should be safe to import. Movies with Older CGI Visual Effects Q: It has been said that with the success of the recent remastering of 'Star Trek: The Original Series' to High Definition, Paramount may give 'Star Trek: The Next Generation' the same treatment. However this will be a different challenge in that though it was shot on film, the special effects were rendered for 480i video, and they would all have to be recreated for 1080p. In this vein, should we now have similar problems transferring to Blu-ray older movies that were shot on film but that used early digital effects? The ending of 'Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade' (1989) had a CGI shot of the bad guy getting extremely old. 'Jurassic Park' (1993) is full of computer dinosaurs. Even 'Tron' (1982) used digital animation for a few scenes. At what resolution were all of these effects rendered and how will they make it to Blu-ray? A: You're correct about the issues with 'Star Trek: The Next Generation'. I wrote about that in an earlier column. This should not be an issue with movies, however. Remember, feature films are made with the intention of being projected onto large theatrical screens. CG visual effects have to be rendered at a high enough resolution to hold up to scrutiny at that size. Obviously, some CG effects are better than others. Even so, in the days before Digital Intermediates, computer graphics were output onto film during post-production. The completed archive master of the movie exists on film, not just as a data file. That film can always be transferred to high-definition video. Even if the specific visual effect shots look dated and dodgy, the movie as a whole can receive a high-def transfer. This stands in contrast to TV shows like 'Star Trek: TNG', which were immediately transferred to standard-def video after filming, had all post-production performed entirely in the standard-def realm, and were output to a final master on standard-def video. 'Star Trek: TNG' was only ever intended for standard-definition broadcast, and only exists as a standard-definition product. Blu-rays that Don't Default to the Lossless Audio Track Q: I was under the impression that a Blu-ray player would pick the best audio track available when it played a Blu-ray disc. However, when I play 'The Matrix', I have to switch the audio to the Dolby TrueHD track. Am I doing something wrong? A: You're not doing anything wrong. It's not the Blu-ray player that chooses which audio track the disc will default to. That's a decision made by the studio that authored the disc. Unfortunately, it took Warner Home Video a long time to figure out that it's in everyone's best interest for Blu-ray discs to default a lossless audio track. Viewers with hardware compatible with lossless audio will of course always want to choose that option. And for those whose hardware isn't compatible with lossless audio, the disc player is smart enough to fall back on the standard lossy option automatically. There was never any need for Warner to author its discs to default to lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 when a lossless track was also available. Unfortunately, until recently, that's how they did it anyway. As a result, you must manually select the Dolby TrueHD option every time you play 'The Matrix'. Rubbing salt in this wound is the fact that most Warner titles begin playback of the movie automatically without a main menu screen. So you'll need to make that audio change on-the-fly after the movie has already started. I find that infuriating, personally. Reader Feedback It seems that our recent coverage of 3-D is still on a lot of readers' minds. Last week, I posted a feedback email that mentioned a new film-based 3-D format being developed by Technicolor. I expressed some skepticism about it being an effective alternative to digital 3-D. This week, another reader sets me straight. More on 3-D Feedback: I recently saw a demo of Technicolor's new film-based over/under 3-D projection. First of all, I think what the person who initially wrote you was trying to get across was that while the images are only 2 perfs high, that because all film is masked (virtually no one shoots anamorphic 2.35:1) that there is actually very little image resolution lost. Even a standard 1.85:1 movie is less than three perfs high. A Super 35 movie is even less. Yes, the image is slightly smaller. But it is not as drastic as it seems. It is not four perfs cut down to 2 perfs. I believe that is the point he was trying to make.Posted Fri Feb 12, 2010 at 12:00 PM PST by: -
PS3 Getting 3D Update This Summer[teaser]Sony’s giving you yet another reason not to buy a standalone Blu-ray player. [/teaser] Still using your PS3 as a Blu-ray player? Well this summer you’ll have even more reason not to pick up a standalone device as Sony will be upgrading the firmware to add 3D support. John Koller, director of hardware marketing at Sony Computer Entertainment of America, spoke up about the PS3’s 3D capabilities in an interview this week. “3D is a major part of our initiatives in 2010,” said Koller. “We’re currently developing 3D stereoscopic games to come in conjunction with the launch of Sony's 3D compatible BRAVIA LCD TV in summer 2010.” In addition to the 3D games that will be launching, he talked a bit about a firmware update that should be hitting at right around the same time. No matter what model of Playstation 3 you own, you’ll be getting 3D content. Koller added, “All PS3 units that exist in homes and markets will be able to play 3D stereoscopic games as well as 3D BD movies through separate firmware upgrades.” Koller also pointed out the flexibility of the Playstation platform, in that you could easily upgrade your 40GB unit to a full 1TB unit with a simple hard drive swap. He was a bit quieter on the subject of cloud storage, simply saying “We plan to continue providing PS3 users with options so… they’ll have the storage space to accommodate the way they want to use their system.” Source: Pocket-LintPosted Fri Feb 12, 2010 at 11:30 AM PST by: -
Toshiba’s StorE TV Media Centers Revealed[teaser]Media streamers are so 2009. Toshiba’s moved on to full blown Media Centers, with storage capacities starting at 1TB and moving up from there. [/teaser] Toshiba’s StorE TV is still in the early stages, but their media center is looking very promising. It’s got built in WiFi, and will play audio and video from your UPnP storage devices. You can also attach USB storage devices, external optical drives, and it even accepts SD cards. StorE TV units will be available with either 1TB, 1.5TB or 2TB of storage, though it seems a bit pointless to shell out for a media center if you’re not going to spend a few extra bucks on a memory upgrade. It’ll handle 1080p video of course, and it’s safe to assume that the StorE TV will upconvert lesser files. There’s no word on what internet services will be available with the box, but we wouldn’t be surprised if it had Toshiba’s full streaming package. StorE TV is set to release this fall in the UK, but we’re still waiting to hear about pricing and a US release date. Source: Electric PigPosted Fri Feb 12, 2010 at 10:00 AM PST by: -
TiVo is Planning Something Big[teaser]On March 2nd, TiVo is holding an event in New York City. According to the email “Inventing the DVR was just a warmup.” [/teaser] When companies bring out new products, they tend to do so in a way that pays respect to everything that came before. When the iPad was announced, for example, Steve Jobs didn’t come out and say that the iPhone was a start, but the iPad is where it’s really at. TiVo’s taken a different tact though. According to their recent event invitation “Inventing the DVR was just a warmup.” With a statement like that, it takes a strong will not to be intrigued. TiVo has had a very quiet year, and while there have been a few new products out, and some deals made, there’s been nothing revolutionary. A revolution is what they may need to get the TiVo name back to where it was only a few years ago. We’ll find out more on March 2nd, just under a month from today.Posted Fri Feb 12, 2010 at 07:00 AM PST by: -
Panasonic Responds to Black Level Issues with Plasmas[teaser]There’s been a recent stream of complaints about Panasonic TVs with suddenly increasing black levels. Panasonic has responded, but hasn’t cleared things up. [/teaser] One of the main selling points of plasma TVs is the incredibly deep black levels they’re capable of. Recently though, older Panasonic sets have been seeing sharply changing black levels, and not for the better. Panasonic responded to the complaints in an effort to explain the perceived effect, but the response left people wanting more. “Panasonic Viera plasma HDTVs incorporate an automatic control which adjusts an internal driving voltage at predetermined intervals of operational hours,” stated Panasonic. “As a result of this automatic voltage adjustment, background brightness will increase from its initial value.” Customers are reporting dramatically different pictures, and black levels increasing two-fold or more. Pasonics response to the continued outrage was less than helpful. “Since the TVs work as designed, there's nothing to fix.” Panasonic also said that without an industry standard for judging black levels, comparing two sets was difficult. The problem with the sets, and the response from Panasonic may lead some people to reconsider their purchases in the future. Sources: AVS Forum and CNetPosted Thu Feb 11, 2010 at 11:00 AM PST by: -
HD Sets in Hotels Finally Getting HD Sources[teaser]Marriott, InterContinental and Hilton Hotels are all adding HD services this year. [/teaser] A few years back the Excalibur hotel in Las Vegas completely made-over their rooms. They got new paintjobs, new carpet, new beds, and nice new 40” LCD sets. I stayed in one such room during CES ’09 and I was disappointed to find out that those HD sets were still restrained to standard definition cable. Not only that, but the TVs were set to stretch the picture out, making it unbearable to watch anything. Most hotels see these large televisions as “nice-looking pieces of furniture,” according to Marc Ginsberg of DirecTV. They purchase the TVs so they can say they have HDTVs and so that their rooms look up to date, but don’t understand a high def signal needs to accompany it. Three of the world’s largest hotel chains - Marriott, InterContinental and Hilton – are finally fixing the problem by bringing HD service to hotels with HDTVs. In most cases, there will be fourteen HD channels available out of the forty to fifty channels at each hotel. It’s a start. Maybe not an impressive start, but it’s a lot better than none. Source: USA TodayPosted Thu Feb 11, 2010 at 09:00 AM PST by: -
Sony Releasing $200 3D Ready Blu-ray Player in February[teaser]It’s not 3D capable out of the box, but when it gets a firmware update this spring, the BDP-S470 may be the cheapest player on the market. [/teaser] Whenever a new technology is announced, people tend to assume it’s going to cost a lot of money. And they’re right, usually. When HDTV launched, most people couldn’t justify the cost. The same is true about Blu-ray players. 3D is different though. Sony’s announcement of the BDP-S470, which will go on sale this month for a surprisingly reasonable $200, shows that while 3D is new, it doesn’t have to cost a fortune. The problem with the announcement of the BDP-S470 (and its $250 big brother, the BDP-S570) is that there’s no mention of what HDMI specification being used. Since you can’t view 3D content right out of the box, it seems a bit like an HDMI 1.3 unit. In that case, Sony’s announcement seems a bit off. The PS3 has been confirmed as getting a 3D Blu-ray firmware update, which means that Sony’s had a 3D ready Blu-ray player on the market for some time. Of course, the BDP-S470 would be the first 3D ready standalone Blu-ray player, for what that’s worth. Source: SonyPosted Thu Feb 11, 2010 at 07:00 AM PST by: -
Vizio Connected TVs Ship Monday[teaser]Vizio is constantly stepping of the value of their sets, and the new XVT series is a strong indicator of the quality upgrade. [/teaser] It’s been an impressive couple of years for Vizio, a company that has stepped up its game significantly since it first came on the scene in 2002. The latest TV coming out of Vizio is easily comparable to some of the top sets in terms of features. These are full 1080p sets that sport LED backlighting. In the case of the 55” big boy of the bunch that means six hundred and forty LEDs divided into eighty individual control blocks. Vizio says that the utilization of their LEDs and Smart Dimming feature makes it possible to achieve a contrast ratio of 2,000,000:1. It’s networking that really makes this set shine though. To start with, you’ve got built-in Wireless N WiFi. That means no dongles and no messing around with cords. Once connected, you can jump on to any of Vizio’s content apps which include Netflix, Amazon VoD, VUDU, blip.tv and Revision3. The 55” VF552XVT runs $1,999 and is the largest set in the line. The next model down is the SV472XVT at 47” and $1,549. The cheapest set in the line is the 42” SV422XVT which runs $949. You lose a bit of size for the price, as well as the LED backlighting. Vizio’s new XVT line of televisions is available for preorder directly through Vizio as well as through Amazon with free shipping. Source: AmazonPosted Wed Feb 10, 2010 at 11:00 AM PST by: -
Panasonic Plasmas Get the 3D Treatment[teaser]The new 3D plasma TVs from Panasonic are set to release overseas. [/teaser] It’s been just over a month since we got to see Panasonic’s new plasmas for the first time and they’ve already got an announced release date. These sharp looking sets are slated for an April 23rd release in Japan, with a US release to follow. Panasonic’s 50” 3D plasma model is called the TH-P50VT2 and appears to be the same as the upcoming TC-P50VT25 in the US. Its main feature, aside from the 3D of course, is the deep blacks and high contrast ratio. Panasonic states that the contrast on the new plasmas is an impressive 5,000,000:1. The TH-P50VT2 sports four HDMI inputs and a range of SD inputs. Anything that goes in standard definition can be processed by the set and displayed in HD. You’ve got upscaling built right in. The 50” TH-P50VT2 is set to sell for around $4,800 in Japan while the next step up, a 54” set, will be running $6,000. Source: Panasonic (via Google Translate)Posted Wed Feb 10, 2010 at 09:00 AM PST by:
