LATEST ADDITIONS

The Big Picture
Samsung/RealD Active/Passive 3D Flat Panels
Scott Wilkinson  |  May 19, 2011
This week, the Society for Information Display (SID) is holding its annual DisplayWeek confab at the Los Angeles Convention Center, where the future of display technology is front and center. Among the biggest announcements at the show was a partnership between Samsung and RealD to develop a new type of 3D flat panel that uses passive glasses but does not cut the vertical resolution in half like other passive-3D flat-panel technologies.
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Audio Video News
Samsung makes good on 3D glasses promotion
Michael Berk  |  May 19, 2011

We'd mentioned last month Samsung's plan to distribute two pairs of 3D glasses free with each 3D TV sold after April 24; turns out there were some glitches in the process of getting consumers their glasses, so if you feel you missed out, go ahead and Continue Reading »

Audio Video News
Netflix: I'm the King of the World
Mark Fleischmann  |  May 19, 2011
It's official: Netflix is now king of the internet, eclipsing all other forms of net traffic, bringing an abrupt end to the nation's use of other video streaming operations, web browsing, email, and naughty bits.

Oh all right, that's an exaggeration. But not by much. a recent study by Sandvine, a network analytics firm, reveals that Netflix is indeed the biggest bandwidth consumer on the net.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
The Mechanic—Columbia Pictures
Kris Deering  |  May 18, 2011
Video: 4.5/5
Audio: 4.5/5
Extras: 2/5
Arthur Bishop is a 'mechanic' - an elite assassin with a strict code and unique talent for cleanly eliminating targets. It's a job that requires professional perfection and total detachment, and Bishop is the best in the business. But when his mentor and close friend Harry is murdered, Bishop is anything but detached. His next assignment is self-imposed - he wants those responsible dead. His mission grows complicated when Harry's son Steve approaches him with the same vengeful goal and a determination to learn Bishop's trade. Bishop has always acted alone but he can't turn his back on Harry's son. A methodical hit man takes an impulsive student deep into his world and a deadly partnership is born. But while in pursuit of their ultimate mark, deceptions threaten to surface and those hired to fix problems become problems themselves.
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3D Tech
A Passive 3D Approach
Thomas J. Norton  |  May 18, 2011
Another Road to 3D

Up to the present, all 3D HDTVs have used active shutter glasses, and most still do. The two separate 3D images—one for each eye and each of them full 1920-by-1080 resolution—flash on the screen in sequence. Active shutter glasses are triggered by an IR signal generated by the 3DTV (or a separate transmitter attached to it). To isolate the 3D images to their respective eyes, the glasses alternately open and close each eyepiece. The alternating is rapid enough that even though the two pictures are displaced in time, the brain fuses them together and sees them as a single 3D image.

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Ask S&V
First Flat Panel, VHS Upscaling, Panasonic Layoffs
Scott Wilkinson  |  May 18, 2011
Which non-matte flat panel should I get? Which TV does the best upscaling of VHS? What do the upcoming Panasonic layoffs mean for the future of plasma?
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CD Review: Sarah Jarosz, Sierra Hull
Billy Altman  |  May 18, 2011

Given the ubiquity these days of performers whose acts seem to rely as much (or more) on technology as on talent, fans of genres like Americana can be forgiven for fretting that fretboards could soon wind up on the endangered species list.

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Ask S&V
TV Skype
Scott Wilkinson  |  May 18, 2011
I purchased a Panasonic TC-P58VT25 TV from Best Buy in early January. When I asked about the Panasonic webcam to use with Skype, the price was too high. I asked if any USB webcam would work, and I was told that it probably would.

Later, I got a good deal on a Logitech 1080p HD webcam—not cheap, but about half the price of the Panasonic. However, it does not work; the TV doesn't recognize it. A little research leads me to believe that the Best Buy folks gave me bad info, and the Panasonic webcam is the only one that will work.

Can you shed any light on this? Do you know of a workaround so I can use a less expensive webcam for Skype calls on my new Panasonic TV? I really think others should be warned of this problem.

Jerry Gifford

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Home Theater Geeks Podcast
Podcast 66: Barb Gonzalez
Scott Wilkinson  |  May 18, 2011
Barb Gonzalez, aka The Simple Tech Guru, updates her impression of Roku as well as other media-streaming devices and services such as Vudu, Google TV, Apple TV, and the Sony SMP-N100, which has the best picture quality of all, though not the widest selection of content. She also talks about how content providers present different user interfaces and content to different devices, and she explains a new service called Zediva, which streams the playback of actual, physical DVDs to get a jump on the release of streaming movies. Plus answers to chat room questions and more.

Run Time: 56:07

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Game Review: L.A. Noire
Geoffrey Morrison  |  May 18, 2011

You pretty much know what you're getting into with this game just from the title. A good, old fashioned, film noir crime drama based in Los Angeles. Think Chinatown or The Big Sleep, except you're controlling one of the guys from Mad Men. No, not that one...this one.

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