Author Archives: Stephen Dawson

Rocks and the people who sell them

Posted on June 24, 2012 by Stephen Dawson

I was going to write something nasty about a device called The Exorcist from a company called The Gryphon. But I’ve had mine for quite a few years, so I thought I’d better check if it was still a current … Continue reading →

Posted in Audio, Mysticism | 2 Comments

It all depends on the model: further on LG passive 3D

Posted on June 20, 2012 by Stephen Dawson

Well, there I was, once again incorrectly, thinking that the whole matter of passive 3D was settled. A couple of weeks ago I established, I think, that the current top of the line LG TV, the 55LM9600, uses two different … Continue reading →

Posted in 3D, Testing | 1 Comment

Do manufacturers listen to their home theatre receivers?

Posted on June 11, 2012 by Stephen Dawson

I’ve just drafted yet another review of yet another home theatre receiver which, goddam it, buggers up the sound! The reason? Supposedly clever sound processors from third party suppliers. With this one it was Dolby Volume. With another couple I’ve … Continue reading →

Posted in Audio, Testing | 19 Comments

Passive 3D from the beginning – Part 4 – So how does LG work now?

Posted on June 3, 2012 by Stephen Dawson

So far we’ve established that at least at one point last year Toshiba and LG passive 3D TVs worked by eliminating all the even lines from both eye views, and showing you only the odd numbered lines, shifting the right-hand … Continue reading →

Posted in 3D | 4 Comments

Passive 3D from the beginning – Part 3 – Same Line Allocation in action

Posted on June 3, 2012 by Stephen Dawson

To repeat from the last post: Same Line Allocation is where the display simply throws out source lines L2, L4 … L1080, and also throws out source lines R2, R4 … R1080. In other words, all the even numbered lines … Continue reading →

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Passive 3D from the beginning – Part 2 – Line allocation

Posted on June 3, 2012 by Stephen Dawson

From the last post we know that with a passive 3D TV, the separation of left and right eye images is achieved by allowing the left eye to see only the odd-numbered display lines, and the right eye to see … Continue reading →

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Passive 3D from the beginning – Part 1 – The Basics

Posted on June 3, 2012 by Stephen Dawson

My posts on 3D are all over the place. I had a total loss of confidence in my earlier work on passive 3D. And I’ve been busy. So lately I’ve been in hiatus here while I try to make sense … Continue reading →

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Heinlein

Posted on May 20, 2012 by Stephen Dawson

Robert Heinlein was by far my favourite science fiction author. That he he hasn’t been well represented on the big screen is a real pity. The dreadful efforts represented by Starship Troopers and The Puppet Masters shouldn’t be taken to … Continue reading →

Posted in Misc | 3 Comments

Digital TV video bitrates – May 2011

Posted on May 17, 2012 by Stephen Dawson

More advertising has recently hit our regional TV stations in the form of a channel called ‘GOLD’ using part of the WIN TV spectrum (it’s on Channel 84). Which, of course, prompts me to update the table of video bitrates. … Continue reading →

Posted in Codecs, DTV, HDTV | 2 Comments

Converting 2D to 3D

Posted on May 15, 2012 by Stephen Dawson

Many TVs and even some Blu-ray players feature circuits that take 2D content and turn it into 3D. There are two parts to this process. The first is the employment of some algorithm to work out which bits of the … Continue reading →

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