Blu-ray Review: Lie to Me Season One
October 25, 2009
‘Lie to Me’ season one was my first look at a high definition television series on Blu-ray. I didn’t watch the first season as it aired but I was curious to see what TV on DVD Blu-ray had to offer. Given the success of other television series on DVD and the popularity of network HD broadcasts, combined with the storage capacity of Blu-ray; the medium really should shine with television series. An entire season in one case (on three discs) makes for a lot fewer disc loads to boot.
Plot: Ah, the plot, well I started with the pilot episode of course and within just a few minutes the premise (Murder She Wrote with a dude who reads faces) was already growing tiresome. Someone twitches their face a certain way so it must mean they’re hiding something. Of course this is a real ability and I’m sure it happens every day, but I suspect that it doesn’t happen as easily or quickly as its depicted in ‘Lie to me’.
At the risk of passing early judgment on the series and realizing the face-reading bit was merely window dressing on a story driven plot, I trudged forward through several more episodes. Once the shows gimmicks subsided a bit I was able to get into some of the storylines, at least on a minor level. Don’t get me wrong, Lie to Me isn’t a bad show, the problem is there are better shows, plenty of them to be honest.
Posted by B.Greenway | Filed Under Blu-ray | Leave a Comment
CEDIA 2009 Wrap-Up
September 16, 2009
This years CEDIA EXPO was a blast, not necessarily because of all the cool new products on the show-floor but because it was held about 30 miles from my house. All kidding aside, given the overall downsizing of this years show I’m glad I didn’t have to shell out for airfare and a hotel. To give you an idea how much smaller this year’s show was I can break it down into time spent before feeling like I’d seen it all. In years past, it took at least until midway or late into the second day before I felt like I’d seen it all. This year I was satisfied and on my way back home well before the show ended on my first day.
That said, there were still plenty of cool things to see at this year’s show, even if they didn’t take up as much square footage as years prior. As I suspected 3D and digital downloads/distribution were both well represented, but the latter more so than I ever expected. Stepping into the main hall you immediately notice the gargantuan Crestron banner hovering over their massive booth. I know Crestron has always had large booths but given the fact that many others were downsizing, Crestron’s booth just seemed all the more massive.
To be honest; I really haven’t paid a lot of attention to Crestron in the last 24 months or so. They seemed to be in revision and refinement mode along with introducing a few distributed audio products but this year they were back with a vengeance. What’s this, a Crestron (ADC-200BR) 200 disc Blu-ray changer? Very cool, even if it is just a re-badged Sony. It shows they’re thinking about the entire chain. The piece of gear sitting next to that 200 disc changer was the real attraction however. The ADMS-BR (Intermedia Delivery System) was a knockout. We’re talking about a content delivery and management system with built-in Blu-ray/DVD player, support for multiple changers, CDs, MP3s, iTunes, Windows Media, Netflix, Amazon.com, YouTube, and I quote “virtually any other online source you desire”. The system does way more than I have time to delve into here. Be sure to check out some of the other specs on this “kitchen sink” via Crestron’s site.
Posted by B.Greenway | Filed Under Trade Shows | Leave a Comment
CEDIA 2009 Wrap-Up (Continued)
I made a point of walking between a few of the flat-panel manufacturers booths to try and gauge who (if anyone) was ready to step up to the bar Pioneer set with the Kuro’s. Here’s the funny thing about that little exercise, to some degree it looked like everyone was. First, I took a look at Toshiba’s LED powered LCD’s, then I took a quick walk over to Samsung’s booth, switched back across the aisle to Sharp, and then ended up at LG’s booth.
It seemed as if LED back-lighting was some sort of great equalizer among all these brands. I can’t recall a year when they all “looked” so similar to one another. Now, this could be due to many things, calibration, eye tweaking, background colors, or just the fact that they are truly closing in on one another, but it was almost eerie.
That said there were two manufacturers that caught my eye, even if by a slight amount. The Samsung LED’s looked really good, the sharpness was there and the colors looked great, oh and I loved the Twitter widgets. The second was LG, they seemed to have an ever so slight advantage in black-level and I have to admit those frame-less case designs on the SL80 series were very slick.
Stopping by Sony’s booth afforded me a chance to check out their new 200 disc Blu-ray changer (I know all my custom A/V friends have been waiting on this one). I like how Sony’s trying to streamline all their user interfaces to look and operate like the PS3, good move on their part. I also took a second to pop into the VPL-VW85 demo. It looked really nice, but unfortunately the scenes on display (at least while I was in the booth) were a bit monochromatic. I’m looking forward to seeing it again with a broader range of source material.
After a few more minutes of wondering around aimlessly, I found myself at the Control4 booth. Among the notables there were the Kwikset door locks that are C4 controllable, the 2.0 user interface that allows for more customization, and their little networked video player that can handle H.264. They also mentioned opening an app-store similar to the iPhone’s which will allow programmers to upload their own apps to share or sell to consumers. The Buzz at the Control4 booth was palpable. This was illustrated by the two Japanese gentlemen I saw marveling over the number of attendees swarming around the booth.
With all the 3D, LCD, Blu-ray, home automation, and digital download/distribution formalities out of the way (at least the ones that caught my eye) it was time to get to the stuff that really excites me, projectors! In no particular order, I stopped by Digital Projection’s booth first. To be honest, it would be more notable that DP had bad looking video than good. They never cease to impress with those huge, bright, punchy images. This year it was a complete and ready to watch “3D system” that consisted of a 120″ screen, 3-Chip DLP projector, and 3D processor with glasses that allows you to watch 3D right now with a standard Blu-ray disc. It looked pretty good actually. The price you ask? somewhere north of 42k.
Moving over to JVC’s booth, I was anxious to see the DLA-RS35/DLA-HD990 and it certainly didn’t disappoint. This HQV Reon-VX equipped, THX certified, 120hz, 70,000:1 stunner was just so easy on the eyes and artifact free (the entire range is, to be honest), it left me nostalgic for those first days spent with the RS1. There is just something about these projectors that make you forget about the gear and enjoy what’s on the screen. I honestly don’t know of a better accolade for a piece of A/V gear. Those considering the Sony VPL-VW85 should definitely check out the DLA-RS25/DLA-HD950 as well.
After the JVC demo I was on my way over to Sim2, specifically to see the C3X Lumis. Sim2 partnered with Krell to provide the audio for the demonstration and what a demonstration it was. They were using a Stevie Wonder concert disc on Blu-ray
I’ve saved the best for last folks. I’ve been to front projection nirvana and appropriately enough Norwegians were present. Err wait, that would be Valhalla, but you get my drift. Many of you are familiar with Projection Design but perhaps not as familiar with their home cinema division, Avielo. While Avielo demonstrated several projectors at their booth, there were two in particular of note. First up was the LED lamped ‘Kroma’ with a MSRP of 32k (estimated 27k street). Given the fact the Kroma uses a LED lamp, it’s entirely possible the original lamp will still be plugging away long after the 3-year factory warranty has expired. That’s an entirely new concept to the world of front projection and hopefully one that will filter down to budget projectors as well. I saw a quick demo of the Kroma and the colors were certainly impressive. This is no slouch of a projector and one I look forward to seeing more of.
The Helios was on display twice at the Avielo booth. It was perched up front and center projecting onto a 100-something-inch screen right out in the open with all sorts of ambient light, and it looked as good as some high-end projectors in pitch black, bat caves. As well it should, considering the 65k (retail, I overheard 34k or so street) asking price. Keep in mind we’re talking about the upper echelon of performance here folks and not necessarily something that many of us will ever be able to afford. But the high-end is always relevant, as it gives us a benchmark to aim for down the road; as budget projectors improve right along with their big brother counterparts.
Avielo’s demo room also featured a Helios, thankfully this time under much more ideal circumstances. It was in this room I got a glimpse of near perfection (I say near not as a knock but because it doesn’t exist in electronics). The clip in question was from 10,000 BC. It was the scene toward the end of the movie where the hero is reunited with his object of desire, albeit too late. There are several different actors in the shot, all of different ethnicities. This was hands down the best flesh tone reproduction I’ve seen from a front projector, or pretty much any display for that matter. Don’t let anyone tell you DLP is a dying technology. It’s not the technology that’s being bettered, it’s the price points. The Helios is aptly named (Greek god of the sun) with its dual lamp system capable of 12 foot lamberts at 300” diagonal. It’s as bright as the day is long, but also capable of incredible subtlety as well. I could throw out a handful of other specs at you, like auto calibration, REC 709 standard compliance, etc., etc., but seeing is believing. If you get the chance, be sure and check out this projector. It’ll be well worth your time.
I said I saved the best (projectors) for last, but I do have one more find to share with you. As many of you know Les Paul died back in August and the world of music will forever miss him. I suppose it was fitting that one of the very last things I saw on my way home from CEDIA was a Thiel CS3.7, finished in a special Gibson sunburst orange and signed by Les himself. The Thiel representative I spoke to said they were so proud to have had Les involved with the project and they were honestly overwhelmed at the timing of his passing.
Overall great show this year, of course I’m looking forward to the return of the “mega-CEDIA”, but all in good time.
Posted by B.Greenway | Filed Under Trade Shows | 2 Comments
CEDIA 2009 Preview
August 27, 2009
The 20th annual CEDIA Expo (Atlanta September 9-13) may be our first look at some of the biggest CE introductions of 2010, or second looks at products introduced in years past, polished off with a few revisions. The cynic in me suspects the latter, but I’m ready and willing to be pleasantly surprised. Among the potential areas of excitement, 3D certainly ranks high. I’ve made no secret of my dislike of glasses based 3D but of course others can’t seem to get enough of the genre. One of the key things to keep an eye on (pun) this year will be 3D source material. We’ve already seen 3D capable displays, this year it’s the content providers turn to tip their hat. Without full-fledged studio support, 3D is just spoofs, goofs, and gimmicks.
In addition to 3D displays (and hopefully source equipment) I’m sure we’ll see some 240hz displays. Heck it wouldn’t shock me if some weisenheimer previews a 480hz set (that was a joke in more ways than one) and of course with that I’m sure some of them will feature HDMI 1.4. Personally, I’m more interested in LED backlit LCD’s and LED projectors. The life-span of LED’s is already impressive, now it’s time to ratchet up deployment and spec them in mid-range sets as well.
Aside from all the whiz-bang advancements in video, it would be nice to see some audio revelations as well. But as someone, who knows more about audio than I’ll ever have the chance to learn, said: “video is easy, it’s audio thats hard.” Sure DSP’s have improved over the years but at the end of the day, clean pre-amplifiers and high quality amplifiers don’t enjoy the generational leap(s) forward that video decoding benefits from. That said, I wouldn’t rule out serious advancements in audio performance over the next few years, namely in terms of digital room correction. This year’s CEDIA EXPO might be too early for those “next-gen” room correction products but they’re definitely on the way.
Posted by B.Greenway | Filed Under Trade Shows | 2 Comments
Twitter Roundup for the Week of 8/03/09
August 12, 2009
So sad to hear John Hughes passed away, what a legacy though Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Weird Science, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off..
LG Electronics First to Bring VUDU HD Movie Service to Broadband HDTV’s http://cli.gs/n5dB1X
Comcast Nears ‘Wideband’ Halfway Mark http://cli.gs/mMdyRt
Saw 500 Days of Summer last night, good flick but they weren’t kidding with the tag-line “this is not a love story
TiVo Demands ‘Nearly $1 Billion’ From Dish http://cli.gs/QuXBb9
Just got back from GI Joe, not sure what the critics were expecting but we thought it rocked. It’s better, not worse than the trailer.
Follow Home Theater Blog at Twitter for peeks at upcoming content, suggest new topics or even just to say hi.
Posted by B.Greenway | Filed Under Commentary | Leave a Comment
Blu-ray Review: Watchmen Director’s Cut
July 24, 2009
Without a doubt Watchmen on Blu-ray has been one of my most anticipated titles of 2009. What’s so special about Watchmen you ask? Aside from some of the most engaging characters to ever grace a graphic novel, Alan Moore’s 12 part series takes place in an alternate universe where super-heroes helped the U.S. win the Vietnam War, while later the United States and the Soviet Union find themselves at the brink of nuclear war. It’s this scenario that fuels the majority of the films plot line.
While the comic’s semi-historical references certainly create a unique and compelling world for the story to unfold, it was the characters themselves that were a breath of fresh air to the comic genre. Watchmen’s super heroes experience self-doubt, heartache, cynicism, regret and ultimately hope for a better world. In a nutshell, it’s the uniqueness of Watchmen’s characters that really separate the story from the rest of the comic world. To date I’ve read some really remarkable comics but nothing quite like Watchmen. But of course as with any comic adaptation its up to the screenwriter, director and cast to bring it to life.
Plot: From the opening drones of Dylan’s ’The Times They Are a-Changin’, to the Ronald Reagan reference right before the credits roll, Zack Snyders Watchmen is painted on a canvas of an alternate history of the United States and what a vivid, fantastic history it was. Again though, without Watchmen’s characters the pretty (ugly I suppose) canvas is nothing more than eye candy and it’s hard to single out one character above another here.
From Dr. Manhattan’s omnipotence, to the Comedian’s ability to cut through the fog and see things for what they are, to the Night Owl’s ‘guy next door’ sensibilities, it’s hard to nail down a favorite, but if pressed I’d have to say Rorschach is my favorite. Rorschach’s no-nonsense black and white vigilantism was electrifying on-screen; he also delivered some of the films most memorable dialogue:
Posted by B.Greenway | Filed Under Blu-ray, Reviews | 3 Comments
Boxee Review
June 30, 2009
I’ve wanted to try Boxee for a long time now but something else always got in the way, well I finally got around to it and I’m almost kicking myself for not trying it sooner. Boxee is a cross-platform media center that runs on Linux, Mac OS X, and now Windows. The majority of my time thus far with Boxee was with a pre-alpha windows version; however Boxee recently released build 0.9.12.6570 for XP, Vista and Win 7. What few lingering annoyances I found with the pre-alpha build that I was running, seem to have been resolved with 6570.
But before we get too far into the particulars I should explain how Boxee intends to separate itself from the rest of the media center herd. I suppose the answer is multifaceted, but in essence Boxee wants to become more than just another media center, they’re hoping to tap into the social media blitzkrieg. Sites like Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Delicious, and others have forever changed the way we share content and the folks at Boxee are of the opinion that media centers shouldn’t be left out of the fun. Boxee allows you to share video picks with friends and in-turn view their recently viewed list (should they feel so inclined to share). Keep in mind you can share as much or as little as you like, it’s entirely up to you.
Ok, so that’s the idea in a nutshell, but what’s it really like? How’s it work and is it even worth signing up for? Right off the bat Boxee has a different feel to it. The menu system is smooth and once you shed off the trappings of conventional media centers and adjust to Boxee’s way of doing things, it starts to feel intuitive. Boxee’s a lot to take in early on which is a bit surprising given how spartan the interface appears. Notice I said appears because once you dive in a little deeper you’ll quickly see there are a ton of settings and features to tweak should you wish. If not, no worries. Most of Boxee’s cool features work right out of the box. (One day I’ll quit saying right out of the box about things that have no box, but old habits die hard).
Posted by B.Greenway | Filed Under HTPC, Media Servers, Reviews | 3 Comments
Blu-ray Statistics, the Other Side of the Coin
June 23, 2009
If you haven’t had a chance to read the latest Harris Poll on HDTV and Blu-ray uptake among U.S. consumers, it might be quite the eye opener (Head’s up, PDF link). But before we get into some of those numbers, keep in mind that just like the data used by public relation firms, poll’s can be misleading as well. (Cough New York Times Healthcare Poll)
With polls however, at least we have a pretty clear understanding of what’s being presented to us in most cases, often with sales data what’s not being reported is just as important as what is. The first thing that jumped out at me about the report released last Thursday was that while HDTV ownership increased to 47% from 35% just the year prior, Blu-ray penetration lags significantly behind those numbers.
Just 7% of those polled indicated they would be likely to purchase a Blu-ray player within the next year. That’s actually down by 2% from last year, when the question posed was, “Knowing that Blu-ray is the unofficial winner of the high-definition DVD format war, how likely are you to purchase a Blu-ray disc player within the next year?”
Obviously the recession plays a part in that disparity, no matter what anyone thought of their finances a year ago, they’re likely even more concerned today. That alone would explain the dip in buying intent. But I couldn’t help think back to the bevy of “Blu-ray player sales surge” articles from last May.
Posted by B.Greenway | Filed Under Blu-ray, HDTV | 3 Comments
Blu-ray Review: Indecent Proposal
June 18, 2009
I’m not exactly sure why but I get a kick out of reviewing films on Blu-ray I saw in theater 10-15 years earlier. Nostalgia I guess, or perhaps its just fun to see if they’ve aged well with time. I saw Indecent Proposal back during the spring of 1993. I remember the trailer featuring Demi Moore sporting that short bob haircut, wearing the now-famous black cocktail dress and well, being a twenty something year-old male, that was about all the reason I needed.
I also recall some of the controversy surrounding the films plot, most of the outrage was misplaced if not completely disingenuous in my opinion. The idea of being bought and paid for (pivotal to the movies plot) was nothing new, but portraying it onscreen, to this extent was I suppose. Still, much of the outrage rang a little hollow, the premise of ‘Indecent Proposal’ was hardly the most shocking thing ever portrayed onscreen.
Plot: Strip away all the really, really good looking people (copyright Zoolander) and at its core, Indecent Proposal
In some regards 1993 could be yesterday but in others it might as well be a hundred years ago. The film feels a bit dated but not entirely irrelevant by modern standards. On one hand, the couples win or lose it all together moments still feel endearing but the 1990′esque musical interludes / music video scenes felt decidedly passé. One subject decidedly un-dated however was the recession (at least the one portrayed) in the film. It plays a pivotal role in the dilemma the two main characters find themselves in.
Posted by B.Greenway | Filed Under Blu-ray, Reviews | Leave a Comment
Last One Out Turn Off the Lights
June 11, 2009
This Friday marks the end of analog television (knock on wood) yet according to CNET news some 2.8 million people aren’t ready. This would be the same analog cut-off date that was delayed more times than I can remember, the one with reminders scrolled across the bottom of thousands of hours of programming and the same one first announced in 1996.
If anyone can honestly claim they didn’t know abut the transition I’m not sure all the time in the world would have made a difference, much less a few more months.
Here’s the kicker though, after all the hubbub, delays and talk of the final shut off date, many of those who would presumably be hardest hit by the shutoff; (read those in rural areas) likely won’t see the end of analog TV for months if not years longer.
There’s a little known clause in the transition legislation that waives so called LPTV (low-power television) stations from the June 12th cut off date. The LPTV stations are often re-broadcasters and or local programming providers outside of major metropolitan areas. But again, in all honesty if the transition does catch someone by surprise I cant imagine another few months or even a few more years making a difference.
Posted by B.Greenway | Filed Under HDTV Programming | Leave a Comment