Don't know who to support in the format war between Blu-ray and HD DVD? Those who have firmly decided not to decide got another option Friday as Samsung announced the long-rumored BD-UP5000 combi player. That makes Samsung the second manufacturer to market a high-def combi, following LG.
Despite my, and others', repeated assurances that you don't need 1080p on a 42-inch display, that seems to be what people keep concentrating on. Such resolution is wasted on a small screen (unless you're sitting on it). But, in this "mine has more resolution than yours" world, I guess such competitive behavior is inevitable. So, what about the displays that can take advantage of 1080p? Sure, depending on where you're sitting, an RPTV can do so. But, with all the concessions to price, brightness, and market competition, you still won't be getting everything out of the signal. There are a few flat panels that would work. In a size that would let you see 1080p from any distance, though, you'd be looking at the price of a good Mercedes. So, that leaves front projection.
Late last week stories began to circulate that Samsung will introduce a dual format Blu-ray/HD DVD later this year. The BD-UP5000, dubbed the "Duo HD," will be in stores in time for the holidays and it's been reported that the player will support the full suite of interactivity functionality used on both formats.
HDMI 1.0 was introduced to the market in 2002. As a means of carrying both digital audio and video between the source and the display, it offered several advantages over competing technologies, the most prominent being IEEE 1393, commonly known as FireWire. HDMI carried both audio and video, and also offered alluring security advantages that appealed, in particular, to Hollywood.
Most popular AV receivers come from companies based in Japan, Korea, and China. Most of these are huge companies with the resources to develop products quickly and promote them widely.
Bond is back, and he's a bad man. Yes, 007 has blond hair and blue eyes for the first time, but it's his character that takes on much darker tones here. His license to kill is his primary occupation, not a smart-ass tagline and Daniel Craig is almost feral under the cool veneer of James Bond. This remarkable and gritty new entry takes the series out of the realm of gadgets (no Q anywhere to be found) and special effects, and back into the realm of hard, breathtaking physical stunts, which is something director Martin Campbell, of <I>Mask of Zorro</I> fame, excels at. Even the theme song is grungy, being sung by former Soundgarden front man Chris Cornell. And it's exhilirating from the opening foot chase to the finale. Not only is Bond back, I can't wait for him to return!
What a fun surprise this turned out to be! <I>Night at the Museum</I> stars Ben Stiller as Larry, a wannabe entreprenuer who just can't make it happen for himself. His ex-wife is remarried, and Larry's son Nick now wants to be a straight business man like his step-Dad. Seeking to impress Nick that he's a reliable Dad, Larry grabs a job as the night watchman at the Museum of Natural History. There's something immediately off about the orientation given to Larry by the outgoing trio of watchmen (led by Dick Van Dyke in an inspired turn), not to mention the oddly thick packet of hand written job instructions they hand him.
According to Comcast, the SATA port on the back of my Motorola DTC3416 set-top box/DVR isn't yet active and there are no promises on when, or even if it will be activated. I have to admit I'm halfway considering testing this out for myself to make sure the info I got from Comcast is correct. I had a 500GB drive with a sleek case picked out already, and the entire rig would only cost about $170.