pictures

It's been awhile since we reviewed a Sharp TV. The last big-screen model was the company's LC-52D64U from more than a year ago. At the time we liked most aspects of the TV's performance, but there was one big problem we noticed in that TV and in models we reviewed in previous years:

The bad: Uneven uniformity manifests as irregular bands across screen.

Judging from the new 52-inch LC-52D65U we reviewed, Sharp has finally beaten the bands. We noticed no untoward uniformity issues with our review sample, and its picture quality was all-around decent given its entry-level place in the big-screen LCD totem pole. This Energy Star 3.0-compliant set is also one of the most efficient we've tested, thanks in part to a new power saving mode.

Read the full review of the Sharp LC-52D65U.

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PicSay's stated purpose is to e-mail or text annotated photo messages to friends, but there's nothing stopping you from using the free program as a makeshift photo editor.

PicSay is a simple application made especially for Google Android, but it's nevertheless the most customization-focused application I've reviewed today. You start by choosing a picture from your photo album or the image you most recently viewed (this won't work if your Android phone is in mass storage mode.) Then press the Menu key to start adding in the special effects: word balloons, colorful headings, cartoony images, … Read more

Ipevo CEO Royce Hong and I have something in common: we hate digital photo frames.

In his words, digital photo frames so far have been expensive, with poor design, a difficult user interface, and poor image resolution. I have to agree. But the Ipevo Kaleido R7, which his company created, tries to tackle these concerns.

First, there's no need for an SD card. The device uses Wi-Fi to get photos directly from your PC's hard drive, or from a photo-sharing service like Picasa or Flickr. Or, with the 512MB of memory included in the frame, up to 5,000 photos can be stored on it. The Kaleido also comes with a remote control and software that allows you to organize your photos into channels or playlists, and then schedule what pictures are rotated through the display, and when. … Read more

A majority of digital picture frames purchased are given as gifts. (Honestly, I'm not sure if this is a factual statistic or if it's just what I think is true.) There is something very cold and impersonal about digital picture frames, however. That's where GiveaDigitalFrame.com comes in.

For $129, you pick an occasion, write a personal message, and upload up to 30MB of JPEG images to the site and the company sends out a gift-wrapped 7-inch digital frame along with a 1GB SD card loaded with the images you uploaded. Shipping's included, too, so all … Read more

Inside Marilyn Patel's courtroom on Tuesday, it was obvious the federal judge was concerned by some of the things she heard about RealDVD.

The $30 software enables people to copy DVDs and store their contents on a computer's hard drive. Lawyers for the movie industry told the judge at a hearing in San Francisco that by selling the technology to consumers, RealNetworks violated copyright law and that the software could cost the studios billions in lost DVD sales.

"She was clearly concerned about the possibility the software could lead to copyright theft," said Fred von Lohmann, … Read more

In the contest for "best LCD," the main combatants for the last couple of years have been Sony and Samsung. We reviewed Samsung's LN52A650 earlier this year and liked what we saw enough to award it our Editors' Choice. Sony's latest contender for that award is the subject of our latest HDTV review, the KDL-52XBR6.

First things first: this Sony ain't cheap. But its ability to produce a deep shade of black is unmatched in our experience by any non-LED-based LCD or non-Kuro plasma, and many other aspects of its performance, especially its video processing, were definitely impressive. On the other hand, for that much cash we expected better color accuracy and screen uniformity.

Those picture quality issues swayed our decision making enough to keep the EC award in Samsung's camp for this round, although both scored the same overall and the argument can definitely be made that the Sony has the better overall picture, price notwithstanding. If black levels are your bag and you don't want a plasma, you can't do better than the XBR6 without shelling out gobs more money for an LED model.

Read the full review of the Sony Bravia KDL-52XBR6.… Read more

(I took a closer look at the "Napster judge" presiding over the case in this story.)

SAN FRANCISCO--RealNetworks on Tuesday failed to convince a district judge to lift a restraining order and allow the company to start selling RealDVD again until she learns from experts, including the court's, how the software functions.

That means RealDVD, which enables users to copy a DVD and store it on their hard drive, is unlikely to reappear in the marketplace for at least another month and perhaps longer. U.S. District Judge Marilyn Patel indicated she wouldn't be available for … Read more

A judge has ordered RealNetworks to suspend the sale of RealDVD, the controversial software that hands users the ability to copy and store films to a hard drive, according to a report published by NewTeeVee.com, a technology-news blog.

The film industry sought to prevent sales of RealDVD last week when it filed a lawsuit against RealNetworks. The Motion Picture Association of America accused Real of violating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and breach of contract.

According the story on NewTeeVee, the court wants sales to cease until Tuesday, when it has reviewed all the papers involved in the case. … Read more

A group of the biggest Hollywood studios said Wednesday that they will invest more than $1 billion to upgrade 20,000 North American movie theaters to digital projector systems.

According to Reuters, Disney, Paramount Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox, Universal Pictures, and Lions Gate Entertainment have reached a pact with investors, including Blackstone Group and JPMorgan Chase. The work would begin in 2009 and could take as much as 3 and 1/2 years to complete.

For some time, the studios have wanted to embark on the upgrade project, Reuters wrote, but have been unable to nail down the financing. But … Read more