Category Archives: Equipment

Does Blu-ray deliver five times, or ten times, the resolution of DVD?

Posted on November 22, 2006 by Stephen Dawson

I received an email today, originating from Panasonic, in which polite issue was taken with a statement I had made in a review I had written of the Panasonic DMP-BD100 Blu-ray player. The statement was: ‘there is five times as … Continue reading →

Posted in BD-Live, Equipment, How Things Work | Leave a comment

Topfield releases its first HD PVR

Posted on November 16, 2006 by Stephen Dawson

Just received a press release from Topfield. It has now released its TF7000HDPVRt. That string of letters at the end have meaning: t=terrestrial (ie, as opposed to satellite), PVR=Personal Video Recorder, and HD=High Definition. Price? $1,299. The natural competitor to … Continue reading →

Posted in DTV, Equipment, HDTV | Leave a comment

Panasonic goes HD in a big way

Posted on September 19, 2006 by Stephen Dawson

I went to Sydney today for the Panasonic’s 2006 product launch (at Panasonic’s expense). They whetted my appetite by an invitation to a small group briefing, after the main event, on Panasonic’s Blu-ray strategy (I think there were about half … Continue reading →

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Sony to release HDD DVD recorder with SD tuner

Posted on August 17, 2006 by Stephen Dawson

There was another interesting product at the Sony Experience expo: the Sony RDRHX760 DVD recorder. So what? This one has a built in standard definition digital TV tuner. About time! Compared to the forthcoming Philips DVDR9000H it has some advantages … Continue reading →

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Samsung aims to be first on Australian market with Blu-ray player

Posted on August 15, 2006 by Stephen Dawson

Samsung has just announced that it will be releasing its first Blu-ray player, the BD-P1000, ‘early in Q4’ this year. That would suggest sometime in October. Might make a nice match with the Sony projector mentioned below. Samsung says it … Continue reading →

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New High Definition Projector from Sony

Posted on August 11, 2006 by Stephen Dawson

I went to the Sony Experience expo yesterday in Sydney. Some interesting new stuff was shown. The new range of home theatre receivers are going to have nicely organised, and attractively designed, on screen menus instead of the current interminable … Continue reading →

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Kordz, plus Panasonic

Posted on July 30, 2006 by Stephen Dawson

A few weeks ago I went looking for a ten metre HDMI cable so it would fit nicely with my bundle of analogue video cables. Until then I had been using a five metre cable that barely stretched from receiver … Continue reading →

Posted in Cables, Equipment, HDMI, Value | Leave a comment

Going insane, and then relief

Posted on June 29, 2006 by Stephen Dawson

So I’m reviewing mid-priced ($AUS2,000 to $4,000) home theatre receivers at the moment. Most of them are equipped with HDMI switching. I’ve been using one of them for a couple of weeks, with a HDMI DVD player plugged in along … Continue reading →

Posted in Cables, Equipment, HDMI, Testing | Leave a comment

Samsung promises first Australian Blu-ray player

Posted on May 24, 2006 by Stephen Dawson

At yesterday’s product showing, Samsung demonstrated a Blu-ray player. It says it intends to be the first on the Australian market with a Blu-ray player, slated for the fourth quarter this year, and it’s aiming at a price of under … Continue reading →

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Philips leads the field with digital TV/DVD recorder

Posted on May 23, 2006 by Stephen Dawson

Well, today was busy. First I went to a Samsung product showing in Melbourne, and then a Philips one in Canberra. Both Samsung and Philips have some interesting new technology to enhance black levels in LCD TVs, and the new … Continue reading →

Posted in DVD, Equipment, Recorders | Leave a comment