Microsoft: I'd like to use my computer, please!!!
Seems that every time I boot a Windows machine around here nowadays it wants to spend an extra 2-5 minutes downloading stuff and in some cases reboot the machine for those updates. If you're running Vista it may even reboot when you're in the middle of doing something like rending a video file that may take hours ruining what rendering has already occurred. Apparently all the good people have left Microsoft and only nitwits are making new stuff. On my Linux machine which seems to be also have a party of updates lately all that occurs is a little icon showing there are new updates available. You can click on that anytime convenient for the updates. Though there is some similar options in Windows in some cases (especially the dreaded Vista) those may be less apparent. I have one machine where MS wants to update Explorer 6 to Explorer 7. I want to keep that machine Explorer 6 for testing. Did this ever occur to nitwits at MS that some people including those of use who author web pages may want to do this?
BTW, I hardly even do any Internet browsing on my Windows machines and no email. That's what Linux is for since it is very resistant towards viruses, spyware and trojans. As Linux gets even more user friendly I would highly recommend that operating system for those folks which MS enforces all these downloads for. Then they too can use their computer right away than wait 10 minutes.
The BluRay Plunge
Sony had a sale on the BD-300S right before Christmas so I added it to my collection of players. Unless you've been living in a cave Warner Brothers threw a curve into the mix for the HD media format war. They declared that after May they won't be doing HD-DVD versions anymore. Many declared the war over and that BluRay had one. In spite of the fact that HD-DVD costs less to produce Warner's reasoning was that due to the coming recession (remember when that was "conspiracy talk") they didn't want consumers confused on a "impulse buy" so have gone with BluRay.
So what do I think of my BluRay player? I like it better than my HD-DVD player. For one thing being a video guy I can throw a lot of my footage on a regular DVD and the BluRay player will play it. HD-DVD won't do that. Maybe that's due to Sony and Panasonic wanting to support their camcorder customers and Toshiba has none. Ulead's Video Studio 11+ can encode in AVCHD and you can author BluRay disks with those files (it just remuxes them). Videos Studio will not do that with HD-DVD authoring even though HD-DVD can play AVCHD encoded disks (many of the recent HD-DVD titles I've rented such as "Zodiac" are encoded using AVCHD). What that means is I can put up to about 2 hours of video encoded with AVCHD on a regular dual layer DVD whereas I'm rather stuck at 40 minutes in HD-DVD on a dual layer DVD disk.
At the moment BluRay and HD-DVD burners are luxury items. I have no current need to invest in one like I did when I bought the Compaq with the Pioneer DVD burner back in 2001. That item added $1000 to the machine but saved much time on a project for the ill-fated NUON I was developing. Up until then it took up to a week to get a data disk for the project burned. So I'll wait until the BluRay burners drop down to about $100 (they will).
As for picture quality I do note that some of the HD-DVD disks I've played look better than the BluRay disks. "Zodiac" in HD-DVD was very crisp and clear on my 7 year old Pioneer 52" HD set. Now that may be due to the settings on the Toshiba player especially the IRE settings. I may need to duplicate those (hidden under other terms) on the Sony player. The BluRay player is a little more user friendly like a regular DVD player. Both are Linux boxes but the recent firmware update to the Sony allows it to boot in less than one minute. Unfortunately some BluRay disks like Fox's "Sunshine" have extra copy protection that apparently gets installed every time you play the disk. This delays the start of the movie an extra 2 to 3 minutes. The studios may be pleased but consumers won't. Note my "Blade Runner - Final Cut" collection does not have this. This copy protection also does not allow saving where you are in the movie if you hit stop. Other niceties missing from HD-DVD that are on the BluRay player are bitrate displays, information as to where you are in the movie including how long the movie or clip is. And for the "green" folks among us the Sony turns completely off whereas the Toshiba bleeds electricity keeping its red led on to indicate "standby."
Inexpensive 1080p cameras on the way!
A number of companies announced 1080p HD hybrid cameras at CES. Aiptek announced two models priced at $300 and $200 which will release in May. Also joining the fray was Samsung, Mustek, GFX, RCA (a 720p flip camera) and a few others. Most of these will be "brownie" point and shoots but still a lot of fun.
BTW, I hardly even do any Internet browsing on my Windows machines and no email. That's what Linux is for since it is very resistant towards viruses, spyware and trojans. As Linux gets even more user friendly I would highly recommend that operating system for those folks which MS enforces all these downloads for. Then they too can use their computer right away than wait 10 minutes.
The BluRay Plunge
Sony had a sale on the BD-300S right before Christmas so I added it to my collection of players. Unless you've been living in a cave Warner Brothers threw a curve into the mix for the HD media format war. They declared that after May they won't be doing HD-DVD versions anymore. Many declared the war over and that BluRay had one. In spite of the fact that HD-DVD costs less to produce Warner's reasoning was that due to the coming recession (remember when that was "conspiracy talk") they didn't want consumers confused on a "impulse buy" so have gone with BluRay.
So what do I think of my BluRay player? I like it better than my HD-DVD player. For one thing being a video guy I can throw a lot of my footage on a regular DVD and the BluRay player will play it. HD-DVD won't do that. Maybe that's due to Sony and Panasonic wanting to support their camcorder customers and Toshiba has none. Ulead's Video Studio 11+ can encode in AVCHD and you can author BluRay disks with those files (it just remuxes them). Videos Studio will not do that with HD-DVD authoring even though HD-DVD can play AVCHD encoded disks (many of the recent HD-DVD titles I've rented such as "Zodiac" are encoded using AVCHD). What that means is I can put up to about 2 hours of video encoded with AVCHD on a regular dual layer DVD whereas I'm rather stuck at 40 minutes in HD-DVD on a dual layer DVD disk.
At the moment BluRay and HD-DVD burners are luxury items. I have no current need to invest in one like I did when I bought the Compaq with the Pioneer DVD burner back in 2001. That item added $1000 to the machine but saved much time on a project for the ill-fated NUON I was developing. Up until then it took up to a week to get a data disk for the project burned. So I'll wait until the BluRay burners drop down to about $100 (they will).
As for picture quality I do note that some of the HD-DVD disks I've played look better than the BluRay disks. "Zodiac" in HD-DVD was very crisp and clear on my 7 year old Pioneer 52" HD set. Now that may be due to the settings on the Toshiba player especially the IRE settings. I may need to duplicate those (hidden under other terms) on the Sony player. The BluRay player is a little more user friendly like a regular DVD player. Both are Linux boxes but the recent firmware update to the Sony allows it to boot in less than one minute. Unfortunately some BluRay disks like Fox's "Sunshine" have extra copy protection that apparently gets installed every time you play the disk. This delays the start of the movie an extra 2 to 3 minutes. The studios may be pleased but consumers won't. Note my "Blade Runner - Final Cut" collection does not have this. This copy protection also does not allow saving where you are in the movie if you hit stop. Other niceties missing from HD-DVD that are on the BluRay player are bitrate displays, information as to where you are in the movie including how long the movie or clip is. And for the "green" folks among us the Sony turns completely off whereas the Toshiba bleeds electricity keeping its red led on to indicate "standby."
Inexpensive 1080p cameras on the way!
A number of companies announced 1080p HD hybrid cameras at CES. Aiptek announced two models priced at $300 and $200 which will release in May. Also joining the fray was Samsung, Mustek, GFX, RCA (a 720p flip camera) and a few others. Most of these will be "brownie" point and shoots but still a lot of fun.
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