Author Archives: Stephen Dawson

Blu-ray and HD DVD the same … more or less

Posted on November 18, 2008 by Stephen Dawson

It used to amuse me when people would pronouce Blu-ray to be the ‘better’ format than HD DVD, or vice versa, on picture quality grounds. Potentially BD could be better simply because it had more space available. Kind of. Possibly. … Continue reading →

Posted in Blu-ray, Disc details, HD DVD, Rant | Leave a comment

Bunch of Warner Bros Blu-ray discs coming, new and old

Posted on November 17, 2008 by Stephen Dawson

Some interesting stuff here: Batman: Gotham Knight $39.95 December 2008 The Lost Boys $34.95 December 2008 The Omega Man Deluxe Edition $29.95 December 2008 (an earlier version of I Am Legend) Beetlejuice 20th Anniversary Edition $34.95 December 2008 L.A. Confidential … Continue reading →

Posted in Blu-ray, Disc details | Leave a comment

Easy, or not, on the eyes

Posted on November 17, 2008 by Stephen Dawson

I haven’t actually been doing entirely nothing lately. Truly! In fact I’ve been adding some more Blu-ray reviews, and in their absence some DVD vs Blu-ray comparisons. Check them out. What follows here is an extended discussion regarding the picture … Continue reading →

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Careful of your fingers

Posted on November 6, 2008 by Stephen Dawson

This is just sad. This comes from page 3 of the manual of the Marantz AV8003 home theatre preamplifier/tuner. This is a wonder of technology and high-end performance that costs $4,499. Yet it has to have a notice in the … Continue reading →

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James Bond scrubs up, as does Ursula Andress

Posted on October 28, 2008 by Stephen Dawson

Twentieth Century Fox is releasing its first batch of Bond Blu-ray discs in Australia on 12 November 2008. These are: Dr. No (1962) (the first 007, with Sean Connery) From Russia With Love (1963) Thunderball (1965) Live and Let Die … Continue reading →

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More DVD/Blu-ray comparisons

Posted on October 24, 2008 by Stephen Dawson

I’ve added a few more DVD/Blu-ray comparisons. For those that haven’t checked them out, I take an identical frame from the DVD and the Blu-ray, digitally captured using a suitable application and drive on my computer (I’ve been using LG’s … Continue reading →

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Bring on the Blu-ray Sound

Posted on October 22, 2008 by Stephen Dawson

Although I think DVD Audio is a dead format, and SACD isn’t too far off either, I still keep buying them if I see them at a reasonable price. The other day I picked up The Who’s Tommy from Amazon.com … Continue reading →

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

Sony Playstation 3 Audio Handling

Posted on October 17, 2008 by Stephen Dawson

A couple of months ago Sony Computer Entertainment kindly loaned to me a Sony PS3 for use as a Blu-ray player. I sought this so that I could explore the new advanced features of Blu-ray: BonusView PIP material and BD-Live … Continue reading →

Posted in Audio, Equipment | Leave a comment

Regulations got around, as usual

Posted on October 15, 2008 by Stephen Dawson

A while back some or other agency of the Australian government was talking about banning TVs that were threatening to destroy the planet. Something about using too much power, and therefore causing too much carbon dioxide to be generated. As … Continue reading →

Posted in Equipment, Power consumption, Video | Leave a comment

Samsung BD-P1500 Blu-ray player going BD-Live

Posted on October 12, 2008 by Stephen Dawson

The other day Samsung made available a Version 2 firmware for its BD-P1500 Blu-ray player. As delivered the player was BonusView (ie. PIP) capable, and ‘BD-Live ready’. That is, it had the hardware for BD-Live (principally, the ability to access … Continue reading →

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