Category Archives: How Things Work

‘Region A vs Region B on Blu-ray’

Posted on October 11, 2009 by Stephen Dawson

Yesterday I received a very interesting email from a reader, headed as shown above. The matters raised will be, I think, of interest to other readers on this Blog, so I’m answering it here. First, here’s the email (lighted edited … Continue reading →

Posted in Equipment, How Things Work, Mysticism, Video | Leave a comment

DOS

Posted on June 28, 2009 by Stephen Dawson

When I’m preparing Blu-ray vs DVD comparisons, my process these days is to rip most or all of the ‘I’ frames from the Blu-ray first, organise them, then select the comparison frames and rip DVD frames to match those. That’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Blu-ray, Computer, How Things Work | Leave a comment

‘600hz sub fielding’

Posted on April 21, 2009 by Stephen Dawson

A member the public has written to one of my editors asking, in short, what is ‘600Hz sub fielding’? The editor passed it on to me, and my initial thought was: ‘I have no idea’. Fortunately our correspondent quoted some … Continue reading →

Posted in Equipment, How Things Work, Video | Leave a comment

Know It All

Posted on March 24, 2009 by Stephen Dawson

Since 2004 I have been writing a column for Geare magazine called ‘Know It All’. In each column I endeavour to explain how some bit or other of technology, or other working thing, actually does work. I’ve uploaded the first … Continue reading →

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Do these cables support HDMI 1.3?

Posted on February 27, 2009 by Stephen Dawson

On lots of Internet forums there is discussion about suitable cables for home theatre. In particular, people frequently ask about HDMI 1.3 cables. The problem is, despite labels on some cables, their capabilities aren’t as clear cut as simple versions … Continue reading →

Posted in Cables, How Things Work, Rant | Leave a comment

Yay for Eastman Color!

Posted on February 13, 2009 by Stephen Dawson

My brother has drawn to my attention a truly fascinating article published (perhaps, republished) in the Journal of the National Film and Sound Archive, an Australian government body. Entitled ‘Crying in Color: How Hollywood Coped When Technicolor Died‘ (PDF). In … Continue reading →

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Was HDMI ‘designed to degrade the signal’?

Posted on January 18, 2009 by Stephen Dawson

I noticed a comment recently on a movie website to the effect that HDMI hobbles burnt DVDs. I followed up and ‘C.B.’ replied in part: Since getting the Bravia, I noticed that DVDs I burned are markedly poorer in quality … Continue reading →

Posted in Cables, How Things Work | Leave a comment

3DTV

Posted on August 26, 2008 by Stephen Dawson

Back in the early 1970s I entered a $100 bet with a school friend to the effect that before we died some form of effective, commercial 3D TV would be available. A hundred dollars seemed like a lot in those … Continue reading →

Posted in 3D, How Things Work, Video | Leave a comment

Audio calculations

Posted on August 18, 2008 by Stephen Dawson

The editor of Australian HI-FI, for which I write, has just emailed me a link to the most incredible and useful set of calculators I’ve ever seen at Sound Studio and Audio Calculations Online – Acoustics Conversion Engines. Okay, they’re … Continue reading →

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Cuil pride

Posted on July 31, 2008 by Stephen Dawson

A month or so ago I sent an email to prominent conservative newspaper blogger Andrew Bolt, expressing my pride in my son, who had recently graduated as an Officer in the Australia Army from the Royal Military College, Duntroon, Canberra. … Continue reading →

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