The Best of the Current Blu-Ray Players

May 16, 2008 – 11:13 am, posted by draiken78

Hi everybody! The last 2 weeks I've told you about what I thought the best budget LCD HDTV and the best of the 40"-50" HDTV's were. This week, I'm going to take a break from HDTV reviews and tell you what I feel the best Blu-Ray players are. To date, Blu-Ray players are a real hit or miss proposition. That doesn't sit very well with me, since you can expect to pay in excess of $400 for a player. I'm a huge fan of high definition, and I want you all to avoid any negative experiences that may sour you on the new Blu-Ray format. Currently, there are 2 players I feel confident recommending to you. They stand leaps and bounds above the rest of the competition, not only in quality, but features as well. Playstation 3 This should come as no surprise to anybody. This is the player that nearly single-handedly defeated the ...

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Would You Pay $3 to Watch a TV Episode From iTunes?

May 15, 2008 – 1:41 pm, posted by draiken78

Hi everybody! Earlier this week, HBO and iTunes announced that episodes of HBO shows would debut for download for $2.99. iTunes already had many TV shows available for download at the price of $1.99 per episode. Is it really worth it though? Personally, there is no way I would spend my money on a download for a TV episode on to my iPod. For 1 thing, even $1.99 is way to expensive. For instance, if you want to watch an entire season of a show, and it is the average 20 episode per sean, then you are spending about $40 for the whole season. Now, if you buy the whole season on DVD, you can expect to pay anywhere from $30-$60 for a full season of the show (depending if it is on sale or not). That's not a very big price difference for something you are going to watch on a ...

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A New LCD HDTV With a Built-in Web Browser?

May 14, 2008 – 11:58 am, posted by draiken78

Hi everybody! This week Sharp has announced 2 new LCD HDTV's with a built in web browser. The new TV's are aimed at commercial use (and priced for it as well), but it could lead to promising new and cheaper versions intended for the home consumer in the future. In fact, if these LCD HDTV's were near the cost similarly sized sets I would certainly be looking in to getting one myself. I can envision plenty of uses for a HDTV like this one with its web browser. The first thing that comes to mind would be doing my online school work without needing to go into my office. This is important for me, because it would free me up from the limitation of working on my school work only after my son takes his afternoon nap. He's not allowed in the office because there is too much he could get ...

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What to Look For in a Home Theater Receiver

May 13, 2008 – 12:09 pm, posted by draiken78

Hi everybody! Yesterday, I talked about some of the benefits of owning a home theater receiver. If you missed the article, it can be found at: Why Should I Own a Home Theater Receiver? So you already know that a home theater receiver provides: Switching for all of your home theater system's audio and video components Surround sound decoding Signal processing for simulated sound fields and bass management Amplifies the audio signals to drive the loudspeakers and controls the playback volume Serves as an AM/FM radio tuner Today, I'm going to talk about how to go about looking for a receiver for your entertainment center that will fit your needs. As always, this is a beginner's guide so I will try to stick to the things the average consumer should care about. However, this is a little more complicated, because what you want or need depends on what kind of components you have (i.e.: DVD player, Blu-Ray player, etc). If ...

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Why You Should Own a Home Theater Receiver

May 12, 2008 – 12:27 pm, posted by draiken78

Hi everybody! Today I thought I would talk about the benefits of a good home theater receiver. These days, companies are focusing more on all in one media hubs for your home. Some of the best examples are the current video game consoles. Both the Xbox 360, and the Playstation 3 are great examples of machines that can stream music and videos from your PC, play video games, and play movies all on your TV. A home theater receiver is the heart of any decent quality home theater surround sound audio system. Home theater receivers perform many important duties as the central hub of your home theater. Once properly connected to the rest of your audio/video home theater components and home theater speakers, an AV receiver makes it convenient to switch between your audio and video input sources at the mere push of a button or turn of a knob. The receiver ...

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Toshiba Launching HDTV and Laptop with Playstation 3 Technology

May 11, 2008 – 10:54 pm, posted by Shannon

Toshiba has some interesting new plans that will be of particular interest to people that enjoy playing videogames. Apparently, Toshiba will be launching two new products that involve the same technology being used in the Playstation 3. According to reports, Toshiba will be introducing a new HDTV that will incorporate the cell processor used in the Playstation 3. With the help of this cell processor, the HDTV will be able to use some high-end features that are not usually found with consumer television sets. For example, the television will have the ability to perform “real time upscaling of SD signals into HD resolution.” The television will also be able to play and record several different television shows at one time. In addition to its HDTV, Toshiba plans to use the cell processor to create a new notebook. This notebook will utilize the SpursEngine graphics ...

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Sony to Unveil New Televisions in June

May 11, 2008 – 10:54 pm, posted by Shannon

This June, you can start looking for a new series of LCD TVs from Sony. This new series will be included within the Bravia series, though they will be referred to as the Bravia V4500 series of televisions. The new televisions that will be introduced in June include a 37 inch model, a 32 inch model, and a 26 inch model. Each of these models will offer a number of features. These include having both an analogue and a digital tuner as well as an MPEG-4 AVC HC tuner that is used for high-resolution television signals. The new Bravia televisions also feature a slim design and have the ability to hook up to three different pieces of equipment at a time, including Blu-ray players, HDD / DVD records, and Handcams. With the 24p True Cinema technology, Blu-ray discs can be viewed in their 24 frames / ...

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Aigo Will Soon Offer a New MP5 Player

May 11, 2008 – 10:53 pm, posted by Shannon

A new MP5 player called the Patriot MV5920 will soon be launched by Aigo. This new device allows for HDTV playback at 720p resolution while also providing mobile TV support and Wi-Fi capabilities. In addition, it has a 160GB hard drive capacity. In addition, it includes a 4.2 inch color display with a 16:9 aspect ratio as well as a 2.0 megapixel camera. In addition to its HDTV capabilities and its large storage capacity, it is also capable of supporting a variety of different digital music formats. It also has an integrated DVR recording function. Yet, it is still quite small and measures only 6.14 x 3.23 x 0.78 inches. Although the new toy isn’t yet on the market, it is expected to cost about $429. var feedbutton_id = 14730; var fb_formtype = "long"; var fb_bordercolor = "#3399FF"; var fb_bgcolor = "#FFFFFF"; SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Aigo ...

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Pioneer Offers New KURO Televisions

May 11, 2008 – 10:53 pm, posted by Shannon

Pioneer has announced that will be introducing new televisions to the market. These include new 50 inch and 60 inch 1080p models as a part of the KURO plasma HDTV line of televisions. Pioneer claims that these televisions are capable of producing black levels that are five times deeper than the black levels achieved on their previous televisions. The black levels of the KURO televisions are the main selling features of the models and is precisely what the company is focusing on with the line. In fact, the word “Kuro” is Japanese for “absolute black.” The fact that Pioneer is continuing to unveil new televisions should lay to rest the rumors that the company was completely getting out of the plasma television business. Although they are no longer manufacturing their panels, they are purchasing them from Matshushita and then adding their own electronics and video processing ...

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Casino Planning to Use Interactive HDTV Technology

May 11, 2008 – 10:52 pm, posted by Shannon

MGM Grand at Foxwoods, which is located in Connecticut, is set to be the first advertiser to utilize a new technology that involves combining HDTV with the Internet. The casino will be using this new technology at its Grand Opening in order to start business off with a bang. The product, which was developed by Backchannelmedia, is being referred to as a sort of portal that allows for “TV-to-Internet click-through” capabilities. Apparently, users can click on an item on the television that is of interest to them and they can then get more information about that particular item or topic on their home computer. The project is going to be launched through a partnership between Horizon Media, Backchannelmedia, and WCVB-DT, which offers a digital signal for ABC. Horizon Media will be running a special cross-market media campaign that will involve multiple channels in order to help support ...

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