Monthly Archives: November 2008

DTS vs Dolby Digital vs high definition sound

Posted on November 25, 2008 by Stephen Dawson

Interesting article here about the differences in sound quality between the various forms of DTS and Dolby Digital and the new lossless formats, in which actual controlled listening tests are conducted. Bottom line: differences are subtle.

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Wall-e coming

Posted on November 25, 2008 by Stephen Dawson

Disney advises that it will be releasing its latest animated marvel, Wall-e, on DVD and Blu-ray on 14 January 2009. Here’s what it says about the extras: Single Disc DVD: Presto – A Pixar Animation Studios original theatrical short about … Continue reading →

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Batman Begins menu: sliding or snappy

Posted on November 25, 2008 by Stephen Dawson

As is Warner Bros’ habit, the Blu-ray of Batman Begins doesn’t really have a main menu. When you insert the disc, the player shows an FBI warning, then the Warner Bros logo, then reads off some BD-Java code and then … Continue reading →

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Panasonic Makes Me Happy

Posted on November 25, 2008 by Stephen Dawson

When I reviewed the Panasonic DMP-BD30 Blu-ray player back in May this year, I wrote: On PAL DVDs, you can set the deinterlacing mode via the ‘Display’ on-screen menu. Unfortunately, while some older Panasonic products had a ‘Film’ mode option, … Continue reading →

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The Physics of the Spirit

Posted on November 23, 2008 by Stephen Dawson

In the dying moments of the First Cricket Test match for this season between Australia and New Zealand, one of the TV commentators remarked that the Australian bowler Mitchell Johnson was noted for being able to produce a ‘heavy’ ball. … Continue reading →

Posted in Mysticism, Rant, Testing | Leave a comment

Forty four episodes of ‘The Simpsons’

Posted on November 19, 2008 by Stephen Dawson

Any semi-fans of ‘The Simpsons’ out there? I have eleven themed DVDs to give away. No covers. No boxes. Stamped ‘Not for Sale’. They are: The Simpsons Classics: Crime and Punishment The Simpsons Classics: Heaven and Hell The Simpsons Classics: … Continue reading →

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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 →

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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 →

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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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