blu-ray

If you've done any research into TVs, Blu-ray players, or Blu-ray in general, you've likely seen the alphanumeric 1080p24 (or 1080p/24).

Understanding what it is, and keeping a lookout for products that can take advantage of it, can result in smoother, more natural-looking movie and TV show playback. I'm not talking about the artificially hypersmooth look of the Soap Opera Effect, but instead the correct cadence of motion at which the film or TV show was shot.

All the judder reducing -- and causing -- awesomeness after the jump.… Read more

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Weird Al Yankovic says next album will be his last.

- Australian scientists uncover "God's bathtub."

- These Blu-ray discs will last 1,000 years.

- You guys, Xanga is about to shut down unless we give them $60k.

- This teenager would rather go to jail than play his Xbox 360.… Read more

Hang onto your wallets, cheeps, because I've got five -- count 'em, five -- deals lined up for your Friday.

Why the glut? Same as always: I found lots of really good items and couldn't decide which one to spotlight. Check 'em out:

1. One big TV. When it comes to bang for your TV buck, I think Vizio leads the pack. Especially when Vizio resellers serve up deals like this one: Dell Home has the Vizio E552VLE 55-inch smart LCD HDTV for $649.99 shipped (plus sales tax in some states). Although CNET had some nits to pick … Read more

Still renting, buying, and/or owning movies on shiny silver discs? Believe it or not, I suspect most people are doing at least one of those.

And shiny silver discs require a shiny-silver-disc player, hence today's deal. Until the clock strikes midnight (ET), and while supplies last, Daily Steals has the refurbished Samsung BD-E5400 Blu-ray player for $45 shipped. It sells new for $99.99.

Update: Looks like it's sold out.

Like any good Blu-ray player, this one features built-in Wi-Fi, and can stream from a handful of services: CinemaNow (is that still a thing?), Netflix, Pandora, and … Read more

Don't let its archaic name fool you; Cyberlink PowerDVD may sound like a name that's rooted in history, but it's actually an innovative media player and library manager that goes beyond just standard disc playback. In fact, PowerDVD 13 aims to distinguish itself from the premium media player crowd with features like "TrueTheater" enhancements, presentable media browsing, and customizable playback tools. To wrap it all up, PowerDVD also aims to rope all your media devices into one connected experience.

The installation process is standard: Cyberlink takes about 360MB of space and leaves a light footprint. … Read more

Working with different types of movie files and disc formats, including Blu-ray, can be a challenge using native Mac programs. Aurora Blu-ray Player for Mac allows users to play movie files, DVDs, and Blu-rays from one application with good quality.

Available as a free trial version that places a watermark on Blu-ray playback, the full, unrestricted version costs $39.95. The trial version allows unrestricted use of movie files and DVDs. While the program only took up approximately 30MB of space, the download and installation took approximately 30 minutes, despite the high-speed Internet connection used. Once this completed, the actual … Read more

If your laptop shopping list includes a touch screen, SSD storage, or even NFC, finding a new system shouldn't be hard. But if you're still tied to your optical discs and need a DVD or Blu-ray drive, that's another story. This once-ubiquitous feature is hard to find in new Windows 8 laptops, largely restricted to older models that have had Win 8 slapped onto them and to a handful of larger desktop replacements.

As laptops continue to get thinner, a charge led by ultrabooks and the MacBook Air (and the MacBook Pro with Retina Display), I suspect we'll see fewer and fewer optical drives.

Slot-loading drives are easier to fit into a small chassis than tray-loading ones, but like Ethernet ports, optical drives may become an added cost that PC makers feel most shoppers can live without, thanks to online gaming, music, and movie services, and the growth of cloud computing.

Since the launch of Windows 8, we've reviewed only a handful of laptops that include optical drives. The list below gives our favorites, and a few that weren't quite as warmly received.… Read more

If you have a Blu-ray player and don't want to or can't use a native Mac media player app, Mac Blu-ray Player can be used to view Blu-rays in addition to DVDs, but some may find the price tag for the full version too high.

The installation and setup of a free trial version of Mac Blu-ray Player for Mac went smoothly. The initial menus are intuitive and well-designed. The trial version will only function a limited number of times, however, before the user must buy the full version at $59.95. Technical support is available, and the … Read more

It sounds ideal. Take all those DVDs and Blu-rays you own and, from the comfort of your own home, effortlessly gain digital copies for a low price. That's the promise of Vudu's new "In-Home Disc to Digital" service. Vudu delivers on that promise in some cases but disappoints in other ways.

Last year, Walmart-owned Vudu launched its Disc to Digital service that required people to go into Walmart stores for the conversion. Who wants to do that? This is where the "In-Home" version of Disc to Digital comes … Read more