Category Archives: Testing

Audio subjectivism

Posted on June 22, 2009 by Stephen Dawson

My brother has drawn my attention to an episode of ‘Skeptoid’ in which (third item) the magical benefits of expensive audio cables are dismissed, along with the value of face masks in combating swine flu, the radioactive dangers of depleted … Continue reading →

Posted in Audio, Cables, Mysticism, Testing | Leave a comment

7669

Posted on April 4, 2009 by Stephen Dawson

While examining The Fifth Element I noticed that there was a one minute long video file on the disc, with no apparent linkage from the menu. So I dragged it into a video player and discovered that it was a … Continue reading →

Posted in Blu-ray, Testing, Video | Leave a comment

DTS-HD High Resolution

Posted on March 23, 2009 by Stephen Dawson

I’ve been after a disc — any disc — carrying DTS-HD High Resolution audio. This is, of course, the improved version of DTS. It remains lossy, but can carry more bits of data, so it is less lossy than regular … Continue reading →

Posted in Audio, Blu-ray, Compression, Disc details, Testing | Leave a comment

Visiting elsewhere

Posted on March 23, 2009 by Stephen Dawson

That’s naughty of me. I’ve been hanging around elsewhere over the last ten days or so. Primarily here. That is a site for gathering detailed statistical information on Blu-ray content. I’ve contributed some information on a few discs, thanks to … Continue reading →

Posted in Admin, Blu-ray, Testing | Leave a comment

The Zombie Strippers test

Posted on February 4, 2009 by Stephen Dawson

In my recent comparison of inexpensive Blu-ray players for Sound and Image magazine, I introduced a new picture quality test. Here’s how I explained it: In assessing picture quality, I made resort to a test that shall henceforth be known … Continue reading →

Posted in Blu-ray, Testing | Leave a comment

Nailing Down An Issue

Posted on January 21, 2009 by Stephen Dawson

You may have noticed that in my previous post I didn’t mention which Blu-ray player I was using. That’s because I don’t like accusing players of misbehaviour until I’m very certain of my ground. Since doing that post I’ve been … Continue reading →

Posted in Blu-ray, Disc details, Testing, Video | Leave a comment

Miss Potter shall be amongst my most-played Blu-ray discs

Posted on January 20, 2009 by Stephen Dawson

In an earlier post I noted that the newly released Blu-ray of Miss Potter runs at 25 frames per second, rather than the usual 24. So it appears to have been sped up, for no good reason. I made reference … Continue reading →

Posted in Blu-ray, Interlacing, Testing | Leave a comment

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

Deinterlacing Demo

Posted on September 5, 2008 by Stephen Dawson

In the previous post I mentioned grabbing some video for a test clip. Here is a somewhat similar test clip I currently use. Use? Overuse! The clip is 3 minutes and 34.8 seconds long and I’ve watched bits of it … Continue reading →

Posted in DVD, Interlacing, Testing, Video | Leave a comment

Program content or broken equipment?

Posted on July 22, 2008 by Stephen Dawson

I’m testing a whole batch of TVs at the moment, and have just reached the last of the six of them. One of the first things I do these days with a display is plug a Beyonwiz HDTV receiver into … Continue reading →

Posted in DTV, Equipment, Testing, Video | Leave a comment