Category Archives: Imperfect perception

Crosstalk – 3D and audio

Posted on August 5, 2010 by Stephen Dawson

I have reviewed five different 3D TVs. All five of them had noticeable problems with crosstalk. Crosstalk is a word that has been used for decades in regard to consumer electronics. It is used to label a legitimate signal ending … Continue reading →

Posted in 3D, Audio, How Things Work, Imperfect perception, Vinyl | Leave a comment

3D without the glasses?

Posted on June 15, 2010 by Stephen Dawson

Reader James has emailed a very interesting question: I went to the movies with my 7 year old son and a couple of his friends yesterday to see the new Shrek 3D. I saw the movie at Burwood Greater union … Continue reading →

Posted in 3D, Imperfect perception | 2 Comments

Fine music and fine wine

Posted on May 14, 2010 by Stephen Dawson

Sometimes I think the art of listening to hifi — not for the music, but for the performance of the system — is somewhat like the art of tasting wine. Long time readers would realise from that association that I … Continue reading →

Posted in Blu-ray, Giveaway, Imperfect perception, Mysticism, Testing | 4 Comments

Edge enhancement

Posted on May 3, 2010 by Stephen Dawson

In so many ways video technology replicates what the eye does naturally. Consider the illusion called ‘Mach Bands‘. I’ve lifted the following graphic from the Wikipedia entry to which I’ve linked: What you can see is a light grey block … Continue reading →

Posted in Imperfect perception, Video | Leave a comment

Lip Sync

Posted on April 22, 2010 by Stephen Dawson

About eighteen months ago I did a substantial piece on lip sync which was published in Sound and Image. I’ve just uploaded it, and here it is. It deals with what lip sync problems are, the processing in our brains … Continue reading →

Posted in Audio, How Things Work, Imperfect perception | Leave a comment

Homeopathy vs Science

Posted on March 15, 2010 by Stephen Dawson

Nice optical illusion. Nice discussion. Nice bit of web programming. Definitely worth a look. Via Yet another weird SF fan.

Posted in Imperfect perception, Mysticism | Leave a comment

The flexible eye again

Posted on February 26, 2010 by Stephen Dawson

From another old post, but I thought I’d actually include the picture this time, since the source website says ‘These checkershadow images may be reproduced and distributed freely’. The squares marked A and B are the same level or brightness … Continue reading →

Posted in Imperfect perception, Testing | Leave a comment

A Decade of Tuning Tips (Part Two) – 2

Posted on September 28, 2009 by Stephen Dawson

Perhaps ‘the worst book ever written‘ was actually the second worst. A while back I mentioned this little pamphlet, and promised to come back to it. Well, here goes. First, the claim by the author, Jimmy Hughes: I have experienced … Continue reading →

Posted in Audio, Imperfect perception, Mysticism, Rant | 1 Comment

Over-rating our capabilities

Posted on June 24, 2009 by Stephen Dawson

Subjective assessment of home entertainment equipment is important because there are characteristics of performance which aren’t well conveyed through measurements. I am not saying that these things aren’t captured by the measurements (thoroughly and carefully conducted); merely that few people … Continue reading →

Posted in Imperfect perception, Mysticism, Rant, Testing, Video | Leave a comment

The flexible eye

Posted on August 15, 2005 by Stephen Dawson

The eye/brain mechanism for seeing is remarkable. We rely intensely on its ‘defects’ for home theatre. Consider a projector. It is casting an image onto a white screen. Yet with a good projector in a dark room, the black areas … Continue reading →

Posted in How Things Work, Imperfect perception, Testing, Video | Leave a comment