Author Archives: Stephen Dawson

WIN TV goes HD in Canberra

Posted on March 19, 2004 by Stephen Dawson

Last night I went to the official opening of the new Bing Lee store in Fyshwick, Canberra. Nice store. I’ll be writing about that for Appliance Retailer sometime today (if you’re reading, James :-). There, one of the speech-makers disclosed … Continue reading →

Posted in DTV, HDTV | Leave a comment

DVD Recording convergence, or LG goes quad

Posted on March 18, 2004 by Stephen Dawson

For the last couple of years I’ve been arguing that the multitude of recordable DVD formats (DVD+R, DVD-R, DVD+RW, DVD-RW, DVD-RAM) do not threaten a repeat of the Beta/VHS wars of two decades ago. To put it simply, unlike the … Continue reading →

Posted in Equipment, Recorders | Leave a comment

Euro-NTSC

Posted on March 18, 2004 by Stephen Dawson

The other day my brother, who is somewhat of an Austria-phile, was pondering his collection of DVDs of the annual Vienna New Years Day concerts. As he says: Each year it is released on a different label although the content … Continue reading →

Posted in DVD, Music | Leave a comment

Universal also stuffs up on ‘anamorphic’ label

Posted on March 11, 2004 by Stephen Dawson

I was whinging earlier (and here as well) about MGM releasing low cost Region 4 DVDs in non-anamorphic widescreen, while claiming on their boxes that they are actually ’16:9′ (ie. anamorphic) transfers. Now, it seems, Universal is up to the … Continue reading →

Posted in DVD | Leave a comment

The Real Starship Troopers

Posted on March 11, 2004 by Stephen Dawson

There were many, many disappointments in Paul Verhoeven’s 1997 movie Starship Troopers. Those of us who love Robert A Heinlein’s novel object to the political re-orientation in the movie, the idiotic ‘science’ and the unbelievable contrivances used to have the … Continue reading →

Posted in General Tech | Leave a comment

Useful explanation of anamorphic widescreen

Posted on February 28, 2004 by Stephen Dawson

Many pieces have been written by many people attempting to explain, in terms accessible to the non-technical, what anamorphic widescreen is all about. I’ve had a bash at it myself here and here and, to some extent, here. But this … Continue reading →

Posted in Video | Leave a comment

Dictionary additions and dialog normalization

Posted on February 26, 2004 by Stephen Dawson

Rod, mentioned in the post below, has also suggested I include ‘dialog normalization’ in the Dictionary of Home Entertainment. Good point, and it was something I shouldn’t have overlooked, so here it is. Naturally this required some other additions, so … Continue reading →

Posted in Audio | Leave a comment

Is separate boxing for video switching necessary?

Posted on February 25, 2004 by Stephen Dawson

Rod, the chap who maintains the extremely useful Chopping List Web site (on movie censorship), asks: While reading your informative A/V blog yet again, I was reminded of a question which you may be able to help me with. I … Continue reading →

Posted in Equipment, Video | Leave a comment

Is CRT on the way out?

Posted on February 25, 2004 by Stephen Dawson

Sony Australia says that it has stopped importing and selling CRT computer monitors. From now on, it’s LCD all the way. The reason? According to GfK independent research statistics, in Australia the LCD market has grown by 183% by volume … Continue reading →

Posted in Equipment | Leave a comment

Is Black and White cinema that good?

Posted on February 25, 2004 by Stephen Dawson

Having just read this Blog entry from the erudite 2Blowhards on the wonder of black and white cinema, I feel rather inadequate. I prefer colour in general, and clearly I haven’t educated myself enough about the mood differences generated by … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, Video | Leave a comment