I am not sure I could recommend a non-1080p display device in this day and age. Saying that, I am not truly convinced of the incremental value 1080p brings over 720p. Its just, that I am addicted. The PLV-Z5 gets pretty good review from Audioholics. Coming it at under $2,000, the specs are 1100 ANSI lumens, 10,000:1 contrast ratio, 720p […]
Read moreThere is a lot of strong opinions about HTIB. Most people around these parts would highly recommend against them. As with everything in life, I find most things have a purpose. I would envision an attractively priced system such as the SD-SP10 as a bedroom setup. It would take up a bit less room, and you might not be so […]
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It didn't take me long to realize the HC-5000 should be on most people's short list when shopping for projectors. Right of the bat, the first spec that hit my eye was support for 1080p/24fps. Continuing that with a price tage below $5,000 it is sure to be a winner. However, it did produce some artifacts with the dynamic iris. […]
Read moreSorry for the lack of The Daily Button today. I got tied up with some other site related stuff tonight. We were hard at work testing out some new navigaional stuff for the site and I plum forgot. In the mean time, go ahead and read our recent guides. Dan's Dremel Guide: Mike's Vista Commercial Skip I am sure a […]
Read moreThe Distributed DVR part of the announcement which enables sharing in a home network of PVRs seems a little more realisic and I hope makes it to market. The P2P announcement which enables sharing of content with other subscribers seems a little ambitous for this lawyer happy world. However, it may slide by if commercials are kept in place, and […]
Read moreI am always skeptical of DRM cracked claims until verfied more then a few times. Given all the fluff about Vista DRM over the last few weeks, its interesting to see it get another shot in the ole family jewels. The hack in question bypasses the PMP, which is designed to degrade the quality of playback without the proper hardware. From […]
Read more[H]ard Console has an interview up today featuring the member of the Xbox Console and Consumer Software team. It gives pretty interesting detail on HD DVD add-on. Just as a reminder, the Xbox 360 add-on player can be used with PCs. For less then two hundred dollars, you can enable your HTPC to be a high def DVD player. From […]
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For those of you unaware, ever since XP Media Center 2005, there has been this fantastic application called "DVRMS Toolbox," which had a bunch of tools to analyze DVRMS files recorded by Media Center and cut/edit/compress/etc. The only feature I use but found difficult to live without is the Commercial Skip Feature. This does exactly what it suggests, it analyzes […]
Read moreJust the beginning in what I'm sure's a bunch of developers updating their software to work with the slick new Vista plugin interface. Here we've got the following now working in Vista: System Monitor for Vista MediaCenter: This HTML Addin collects and displays data from SpeedFan (including System/CPU Temperature info) and displays it in TV + Remote friendly format. RocketBoom […]
Read moreJVC's got some new LCD's coming out with a rather nice feature set. Contrast ratio's not available, but I'm sure we'll learn more by the time these are ever released. All models feature a 1366 x 768 pixel resolution, 500cd/m2 brightness, built-in terrestrial digital tuner, and a range of input/output terminals including 1x HDMI, 3x composite, 1x RGB, 2x Firewire, […]
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