cinema

People who want to convert their physical DVDs to an online digital format can now do so via Best Buy, and without leaving home.

Now available as a beta program, Best Buy's CinemaNow service promises to convert your discs into an UltraViolet format that you can store and watch online. UltraViolet is a system that lets you house your movies and TV shows in the cloud and then access them from an Internet-enabled device.

To use Best Buy's CinemaNow service, you have to create an account and then download the CinemaNow Player for your PC or Mac. Choosing … Read more

If you'd like an alternative to Windows Media Player that plays just about every kind of audio and video file and is widely customizable and flexible enough to serve many roles, including DVD and Blu-Ray player, you really only have a few choices, and one of them is Media Player Classic, aka MPC. Actually, several others might be MPC too since this open-source freeware serves as the basis of more than one media player for Windows. The latest version is Media Player Classic-Home Cinema. MPC-HC is available in separate downloads for 32-bit and 64-bit Windows. We tried the 64-bit … Read more

If you love being on the edge of your seat in a movie, get down to the Dominican Republic.

A theater in Santo Domingo is the world's first venue with Tremor FX movie seats, which apparently supply your posterior with "a more immersive theater experience," according to makers Red Seat Entertainment and Seating Concepts.

The Tremor FX system was shown off earlier this year at CinemaCon in Las Vegas. It has three vibrating actuators -- two in the back and one in the bottom -- that shake in response to sounds from the movie. … Read more

Canon plans to release a notable firmware update to its high-end EOS 5D Mark III in April that will let videographers use the SLR to record uncompressed HDMI video.

As the successor to the 5D Mark II that jump-started the video SLR revolution four years ago, the 22-megapixel 5D3 has big shoes to fill. The new update surely will help professionals who need better quality, even if ordinary folks need not care much. Here's what Canon had to say about the news:

When shooting video, HDMI Output makes possible the recording of high-definition uncompressed video data (YCbCr 4:2:… Read more

Media Player Classic Home Cinema is a free utility that provides video playback. Since there are a lot of video players on the market, this is a tough area for apps to really stand out from the competition. With a few performance issues and some operational quirks, Media Player Classic Home Cinema didn't come out at the top of the long list of similar programs.

The installation process is simple enough, although there's about a half dozen screens to step through. Once installed, Media Player Classic Home Cinema launches quickly, although there's no modification to the pop-up … Read more

It might not be easy to use an iPhone to record and edit a Hollywood-style short, but it's possible.

Anna Elizabeth James and Michael Koerbel, the duo behind Majek Pictures, have a history of seeing how well the latest Apple devices handle cinema production values, not just point-and-shoot video, and this time around they've used an iPhone 5 to create "All Up To You," an amusing 96-second mini-musical about running out of gas in the desert with only Siri to help.

Creating the short was a scramble to find dancers, to print app icons on boxes, … Read more

When I'm in a theater in the midst of a gripping, dramatic film and I see the telltale glow of someone's cell phone, I feel like rising up out of my seat, tiptoeing silently through the aisles, and using my mad ninja skills to silence the offender.

The Prince Charles Cinema in London is way ahead of me. Movie patrons who can't shut up or can't resist the temptation of a text message will get a visit from a black body suit-wearing volunteer ninja.

There are no nunchucks or ninja stars, but the face-hiding suits should strike enough terror in the violators' hearts to get them back in line. … Read more

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Nintendo turns on TVii for Wii U.

- The closest thing we've got to a Nintendo Wii U launch list.

- Nintendo Wii U arrives November 18 starting at $299.

- Is the iPhone 5 worth cutting off your penis?

- London theater employing volunteer ninjas to confront rude moviegoers.

- Enter CNET's Best Seats in the House Sweepstakes for a chance to win a home theater set!

- Bathroom break video: Hop! The Suitcase That Follows You… Read more

There have been a few video camera announcements coming out of NAB 2012, but this one from Blackmagic Design is a surprise.

Called the Blackmagic Cinema Camera, it promises to put professional feature-film-quality results in reach of those on a tighter budget. However, at $2,995, it's by no means inexpensive.

This camera's got a lot going for it, though, including a superwide dynamic range, a large high-resolution 2.5K sensor, and full compatibility with Canon EF and Zeiss ZF mount lenses. The 5-inch touch screen on back can be used for direct metadata entry as well as … Read more