Saturday, January 28, 2012

Next Generation Game Consoles will not allow you to use second hand games

Digital trends reported:
Microsoft is reported to be testing a software or hardware method on the next version of the Xbox hardware designed to halt the ability to play used games. While this report doesn't indicate that this feature will definitely be included in the next version, the appeal to developers and publishers is likely incredibly high. This type of solution would make it vastly more difficult for retailers like Gamestop to resell traded-in games...
and they go:
it's also likely to anger consumers that want to unload old games on sites like eBay and severely harm video game rental services like Gamefly or Redbox.
We predict a serious backlash from consumers.

Monday, January 16, 2012

The Sopa Opera Effect or Why I Prefer Plasma Over LCD

We live in this world where LCD TV manufacturers are obsessed with advertising 120/240Hz refresh rates packaged with motion interpolation effects. The 120/240Hz refresh rate is fine for judder reduction. Using a 120/240Hz screen and applying a whole number 5:5 or 10:10 frame repeat does a good job of reducing the film judder and preserving the original image integrity. The problem are the motion interpolation effects (sometimes branded as "Precision Motion"). On a 12 Hz TV with the motion interpolation turned on, this means that 4 out of every 5 frames displayed on the TV were artificially filled in by the TV's video processor, not native to the source. That creates the "soap opera effect". In other words, it makes something originally shot on a 35/70mm film camera look like it was created on a cheap camcorder. That's why I still prefer a PLASMA TV. PLASMAs don't suffer from this kind of problems.

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Monster Cables

In my personal opinion, a monster cable is almost always the worst cable you can use... The heavy shielding and thick wires put too much strain on the connectors. This causes them to break way before a cheaper cable would.