Not all HD is the same. For that matter, just because you have an HDTV, that doesn't mean you're actually watching high-definition video. A variety of factors could be conspiring to create an image that's not nearly as good as what your TV is capable of.
Make sure you're getting the most from your TV with this guide.… Read more
Red Wine Audio makes some of my all-time favorite headphone amplifiers, but they're pretty expensive. The Isabellina HPA LFP-V Edition, for example, runs $2,500; it was designed and built in Vinnie Rossi's small factory in Durham, Conn. The Isabellina is more than just a headphone amp, it features a spectacularly good digital-to-analog converter and a hybrid transistor/vacuum tube audio amplifier. While the amp can be run off an AC power outlet, it sounds best powered by its built-in 25.6 volt Lithium Iron Phosphate battery pack. The battery can play for up to 10 hours, and … Read more
The latest iPad and its "resolutionary" display have made ever-smaller pixels all the rage, but here's a sculpture that boldly and beautifully goes in the opposite direction.
"Patterned by Nature" (see video below) is made up of 3,600 tiles of LCD glass -- each roughly the size of a laptop screen -- and is 90 feet long and 10 feet wide. The giant sculpture hangs in the several-story atrium of the just-opened Nature Research Center in North Carolina, a new wing of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences.
Each LCD can display various levels of blue-gray transparency, from clear all the way to opaque. And the matrix as a whole is used as a giant screen of sorts to show 20 different animations of different natural phenomena -- a flock of geese swooping through the atrium, say, or the pattern of rain splashing into a pond.… Read more
The other day I wrote an article titled "When should I upgrade my HDTV?" The general thought was that TV performance, while not exactly hitting a plateau, had slowed enough that TVs even a few years old perform pretty close to the new models.
In the world of front projection, though, it's an entirely different story. The level of performance you can get for very little money is incredible. What were once considered "budget level" projectors now easily outperform $10,000+ models from just a few years ago.
Time to upgrade? Perhaps.… Read more
Let's say you've had your HDTV for a few years now. Let's say you can't stop reading new TV reviews. Let's say you find excuses to stop at Best Buy to stare at the wall.
OK, you want a new TV. No problem. But do you need a new TV? Are the current models really that much better than what you have?
Let's take a look.… Read more
As is the case with an increasing number of health- and fitness-related gadgetry, Philips' new monitor that aims to improve posture will be a welcome advance to some and a niggling reminder to others.
The 24-inch desktop LCD ErgoSensor monitor employs a built-in CMOS sensor that tracks the distance between one's pupils and the monitor, as well as the angle of one's neck to the screen, and alerts the user via a Webcam-like display when either measurement indicates bad posture.… Read more
The display business is a tough one. And now, Samsung has made a move to shake it from the books.
Samsung Display Co. has officially been spun off from Samsung Electronics and has become new corporation, the technology giant announced today. Samsung Display plans to start operating as an independent entity later this week after it completes its incorporation.
It didn't take long for Samsung Display to set a record. In a statement today, the company said that its 20,000 employees and five production facilities worldwide make it the world's largest display manufacturer. And its $20 billion … Read more
Smallish laptops are great for travel, but when you're sitting at your desk all day, you'll almost certainly find yourself longing for a larger screen.
Indeed, I can handle my HP dm1z's 11.6-inch display for an hour or two in a coach seat or coffee shop, but for everyday home-office duties, it's way too cramped.
That's why I keep a nice, big monitor on my desk. Sound good? Then check this out: TigerDirect has the Acer G245HQ 24-inch LCD monitor for $129.99, plus $9.87 for shipping.
As you'd expect from an … Read more
Big week, or at least big gadgets and gear, on the CNET Labscast. Forget about tiny 13-inch ultrabooks, now these slim laptops are moving into 14- and 15-inch territory, and we've got a couple of examples to pass around the room. Then Ty talks up his latest acquisition, a massive 80-inch Sharp LCD TV. It's awesome for sports (or "sport" as Ty puts it), but you can't make an 80-inch LCD for $5,000 without cutting a few corners.
But before all that, we've got the new iPad 3 (yes, that's what we're calling it), and a very eye-opening comparison of text blown up on both that and the iPad 2--be warned, it's the kind of thing you can't un-see.
With all the incessant hoopla about the new iPad, the one comparison that keeps popping up is that its 2,048x1,536-pixel resolution is "greater than an HDTV!" or "1 million more pixels than your TV!"
Not only is this irrelevant and a senseless comparison, but it has no bearing on the future of HDTVs, as some have implied.
Here's why.… Read more
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