Monthly Archives: February 2009

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 →

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Posted on February 26, 2009 by Stephen Dawson

In the last item on today’s ‘Best of the Web Today’ column in the Wall Street Journal Opinion Journal, the writer draws attention to a gaffe by the US Vice President in which he made reference to ‘a website number’. … Continue reading →

Posted in Computer, General Tech | Leave a comment

Disclosures and subjectivity

Posted on February 24, 2009 by Stephen Dawson

This morning my attention was drawn to my disclosures page on this site (click on ‘Disclosures’ above). Having more or less forgotten about it, I went and had a read. Two things struck me. First, it was woefully out of … Continue reading →

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WALL-E Blu-ray vs PAL DVD screenshots

Posted on February 23, 2009 by Stephen Dawson

Here’s my comparison between the two formats for WALL-E. The most startling of the six comparison shots is this one (DVD bottom left, Blu-ray bottom right, full frame top):

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More Blu-ray vs PAL DVD screenshots

Posted on February 22, 2009 by Stephen Dawson

Classics this time: Bonnie and Clyde (1967) (made slightly topical by Faye Dunaway’s meanspirited dismissal of Hilary Duff soon reprising the Bonnie Parker role – we all have our doubts, but perhaps this will be a breakout performance, proving Duff … Continue reading →

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Whacky WALL-E

Posted on February 21, 2009 by Stephen Dawson

Well, that has been a struggle. Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment has sent me both the Blu-ray and DVD versions of the most recent Pixar animation: WALL-E. So I set out to do a Blu-ray vs DVD comparison. There were … Continue reading →

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Alex Proyas’ Dark City on Blu-ray

Posted on February 16, 2009 by Stephen Dawson

Reel DVD has released Dark City on Blu-ray. In addition to providing a ten minute longer Director’s Cut version, the Blu-ray offers amongst the greatest picture quality improvement I’ve seen from the format over DVD. UPDATE (Saturday, 21 February 2009, … Continue reading →

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The oldest comparison yet

Posted on February 15, 2009 by Stephen Dawson

I have just added a Blu-ray vs DVD comparsion of Casablanca, the oldest movie I’ve yet done (1942), here.

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Another 1080i50 movie

Posted on February 13, 2009 by Stephen Dawson

Icon Film Distribution has kindly sent me another of its Blu-ray discs, the movie In Bruges. I’m pretty keen on watching this one since it scores a solid 8.1 on IMDB with 55,000+ votes. The disc is, like Miss Potter, … Continue reading →

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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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