Author Archives: Stephen Dawson

Blu-ray Error handling

Posted on September 2, 2009 by Stephen Dawson

Early this year I foolishly purchased a Blu-ray disc from one of those shops that insist on opening the sealed cases. It wasn’t until a couple of weeks ago that I got around to doing anything with the disc, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Blu-ray, Testing | Leave a comment

DVD Information

Posted on September 2, 2009 by Stephen Dawson

Years ago I purchased a Harman Kardon DVD-30 DVD player, primarily for its decent DVD performance combined with DVD Audio playback. These days I primarily use an Oppo DV-980H DVD player, or an Oppo BD-83 Blu-ray player. After all, the … Continue reading →

Posted in DVD, Interlacing, Progressive scan | Leave a comment

A Decade of Tuning Tips (Part Two) – 1

Posted on August 31, 2009 by Stephen Dawson

I suspect it was English high fidelity magazines from the second half of the 1970s, and especially the 1980s, that most fostered the irrationality which invaded the world of high fidelity sound. By the end of the 1980s this had … Continue reading →

Posted in Mysticism, Rant | Leave a comment

I’m a Twit

Posted on August 27, 2009 by Stephen Dawson

And if you like, you can follow me at twitter.com/STEPHENCDAWSON. Even more worth following is Jez Ford.

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Oppo BDP-83 Blu-ray – the standard source

Posted on August 26, 2009 by Stephen Dawson

For the past year or more I’ve had on long term loan from Sony Computer Entertainment a Sony Playstation 3. This has been the source I’ve been primarily using for my Blu-ray reviews. At the time, the PS3 was the … Continue reading →

Posted in Blu-ray, Testing | Leave a comment

We’re All Going To Die

Posted on August 26, 2009 by Stephen Dawson

That’s the the title of a recent editorial in Geare magazine (#56, July/August 2009) from Jez Ford, one of my editors. If you met Jez, you’d learn instantly that he is most certainly not a doom and gloom kind of … Continue reading →

Posted in Power consumption, Rant | Leave a comment

Oppo Rules

Posted on August 25, 2009 by Stephen Dawson

My review of the Oppo Digital BDP-83 Blu-ray player appears in the newly released issue of Sound and Image magazine. Let me cut to the chase: this is the best Blu-ray player I have yet tested, and I have tested … Continue reading →

Posted in Blu-ray, Equipment | Leave a comment

BD-Live advances – a Possible Killer App?

Posted on August 13, 2009 by Stephen Dawson

Yesterday I went to Sydney, courtesy of Sony, to see its new line of Blu-ray players and some of the stuff it’s doing with Blu-ray discs. First, the players. There are three models: the BDP-S360, BDP-S560 and the BDP-S760. They … Continue reading →

Posted in BD-Live, Blu-ray, Equipment | Leave a comment

Been Away – Back Now

Posted on August 13, 2009 by Stephen Dawson

Visited my son and his partner in Darwin for a week or more. The minimum temperature every day was significantly more than the maximum temperature here in Canberra. Nice time. Been back since Tuesday.

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1.0

Posted on July 24, 2009 by Stephen Dawson

The other day I put on the excellent Warner Bros Blu-ray title, An American in Paris, and noticed something odd: the music was coming out of the front left and right speakers. I already know that this disc has seven … Continue reading →

Posted in Audio, Blu-ray, DTV | Leave a comment