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The Big Picture
NAB 2012: Christie High Frame Rate 3D Demo
Scott Wilkinson  |  Apr 20, 2012
By far the most important demo at NAB was presented by Christie, one of the foremost makers of digital-cinema projectors for commercial theaters. It was a comparison of the effect of shooting and displaying 3D movies at different frame rates—24, 48, and 60 frames per second. The entire demo was created and narrated by James Cameron, who started by pointing out that digital cinema cameras and projectors are fully capable of shooting and displaying higher frame rates, which greatly reduces or eliminates the motion blur and stuttering endemic to 24fps.
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The Big Picture
NAB 2012: Planar 4K Flat Panel
Scott Wilkinson  |  Apr 20, 2012
Outside the Red Digital Cinema demo theater, I saw this 60-inch quad-HD (3840x2160) flat panel made by Planar. No one could tell me much about it—the Planar rep wasn't around at that moment—except that it's an LED-illuminated LCD, probably edgelit. It did look mighty crisp and sharp.
The Big Picture
NAB 2012: Dolby 3D
Scott Wilkinson  |  Apr 20, 2012
Dolby was showing several items in its booth, including an update to Dolby Digital Plus for mobile devices as well as its LED-backlit LCD professional reference monitor with local-dimming control of each LED rather than larger zones—very cool, but very expensive. What interested me the most was Dolby 3D, a new technology developed in collaboration with Philips Research and introduced at NAB.
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The Big Picture
NAB 2012: NICT 200-inch Autostereoscopic Display
Scott Wilkinson  |  Apr 20, 2012
And now for something completely over the top—an autostereoscopic (glasses-free) 16:9 rear-projection display measuring 200 inches diagonally! This behemoth was developed by Japan's National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) and consists of 200 small DLP projectors behind a special diffuser screen and Fresnel lens. Amazingly, you can walk around and see objects from different angles and even behind them, much like a true hologram. There was some obvious vertical banding in the 1920x1080 image, but I found no one who could explain why.
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The Big Picture
NAB 2012: Epson Moverio Wearable Display
Scott Wilkinson  |  Apr 20, 2012
Epson had a small booth way in the back of the South Hall, and along with some commercial projectors was the Moverio wearable display. Inside the temple pieces of these glasses are tiny LCD microprojectors with a resolution of 960x540, and the image is directed through special diffusers to appear in front of each eye. The glasses are transparent, so you can see the surrounding environment with the video image superimposed over it.
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The Big Picture
NAB 2012: The Future of TV Panel Discussion
Scott Wilkinson  |  Apr 20, 2012
Each year at NAB, NewTek, maker of the TriCaster video switcher, hosts a panel discussion about the future of television called Broadcast Minds. This year, the panel was moderated by Leo Laporte, head of the TWiT network that produces my Home Theater Geeks podcast among many others. Seen here in the center, he is joined by (left to right) Jeff Hawley, Director of Customer Experience for Yamaha; Bill Chapman, VP of Creative and Engineering Technology for Turner Broadcasting; Jeff Jacobs, Senior VP of Production Strategies for MTV; and Kevin Pollack, comedian, actor, and host of a popular podcast called Kevin Pollack's Chat Show.
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Track One
Professional Disc Hunter
Mike Mettler  |  Apr 20, 2012

If you know anything about me, you know how much I love going to record stores, and that I especially love taking my time sifting through everything they have in stock.

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Out Of The Blu
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (1979), The Innkeepers, Titanic (Miniseries)
Chris Chiarella  |  Apr 20, 2012
This year's Oscars no doubt hastened the Blu-ray release of the exceptional original Tinker, while ABC's centennial-timed Titanic approaches the familiar tale from a fresh perspective. And who doesn't love an inspired horror movie?
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Projector Reviews3D Projector Reviews
Epson PowerLite Home Cinema 5010e 3D LCD Projector
Kris Deering  |  Apr 20, 2012
2D Performance
3D Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value
Price: $3,299 At A Glance: Bright 3D picture • Dynamic iris needs work • Easy install and calibration

Last year, we started seeing the first 3D projectors hitting the market, and most of these were reserved for the mid- to high-end customer. This year, we’re seeing a trickle-down effect from the high-end manufacturers, plus a lot of the more value-oriented brands that are stepping into the 3D arena. Epson is at the forefront of the latter with a few new options in its PowerLite Home Cinema lineup. For this review, I got the chance to spend some time with its new PowerLite Home Cinema 5010e, a 1080p- resolution LCD projector that brings 3D capability to the Epson line for the first time.

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Music Reviews
The S+V Interview: Talking Tech and More with Singer Julie Feeney
Ken Richardson  |  Apr 20, 2012

Some fellas look at the eyes
Some fellas look at the nose
Some fellas look at the size
Some fellas look at the clothes . . .

First I look at the purse.

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