Posts by: Matthew Moskovciak

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New Universal Blu-rays come with iPhone interactivity

Matthew Moskovciak | Nov 12, 2009

9 will be one of the new Blu-ray titles to feature iPhone interactivity.
(Credit: Amazon)

Excluding the recent Netflix PS3 disc, BD-Live has been a bust. Still, we give the movie studios credit for not completely abandoning the technology yet, and according to a recent Video Business story, Universal will feature iPhone interactivity on many several releases, "including Bruno, Public Enemies, 9, and Inglourious Basterds".

While it's easy to write it off as a gimmick, the iPhone functionality (called "Pocket Blu") is aimed at overcoming one of the biggest hurdles to interactive content, which is the painful process of entering text using a standard Blu-ray remote. While iPhone functionality won't solve that problem for Blu-ray owners that don't own iPhones, it's probably the easiest workaround at this stage (we would have loved if Blu-ray players included a remote with a built-in keyboard, similar to Vizio's bluetooth remote).
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JVC (oddly) opts for Profile 1.1 for its latest Blu-ray player

Matthew Moskovciak | Oct 30, 2009

(Credit: JVC)

These days, what separates Blu-ray players from one another has less to do with how they play Blu-rays--they all do that pretty well--and more to do with the sort of extra features they offer. Many players, for instance, can access a variety of online entertainment options such as YouTube and Picasa. Unfortunately, JVC's latest player doesn't have any of those online features. In fact, it can't even access the online extras found on some Blu-ray Discs.

JVC has released an entry-level Blu-ray player, the XV-BP11 (US$200), which--surprisingly--only complies with the older Blu-ray Profile 1.1 standard. That means it's not capable of playing back any of the Internet-enabled BD-Live content that is included on some Blu-ray Discs. Now, we'll admit that virtually all of the BD-Live content we've seen is disappointing, but that's still not reason to get an underfeatured Blu-ray player when there are Profile 2.0 players for US$100.
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JVC releases a superslim, super-premium 32-incher

Matthew Moskovciak | Sep 11, 2009

The JVC LT-32WX50 is just a quarter of an inch thick at its slimmest point.
(Credit: JVC)

We're not quite sure why HDTV manufacturers feel the need to keep going thinner, but that hasn't stopped them yet. JVC's new 32-inch LCD, the LT-32WX50, is just a quarter of an inch thick at its slimmest point; the screen only bevels out toward the bottom because of the thickness of the inputs. Here's a quick glance at its feature set.

Key features of the JVC LT-32WX50:

Edge-lit LED backlighting

4,000:1 quoted contrast ratio

Wide color gamut--100% percent of sRGB and 90% of Adobe RGB

Two HDMI inputs

VGA-style PC input

RS-232 port for custom installations

JVC is positioning this product as an "LCD monitor for home theater use," but we're having trouble figuring out why anyone would opt for this US$3,000 display over, say, a 50-inch Panasonic TC-P50V10 (street price under US$2,000). Another strike against the LT-32WX50 is its use of edge-lit LED backlighting, which we've found it a step behind both local dimming LED-backlighting and plasma displays for home theater use.

Via CNET.com

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Sony unveils superslim, wireless XBR10 LCDs

Matthew Moskovciak | Sep 10, 2009

(Credit: Sony)

Edgelit LED backlighting has allowed LCDs to get thinner than ever, but at some point you run into physical limitation; you can't make a TV thinner than the actual inputs. That is, unless you move the inputs somewhere else, which is precisely what Sony has done with its new KDL-XBR10 line of LCDs. The XBR10 series uses a separate media receiver to handle inputs, and it transmits video wirelessly to the display, similar to the design of Panasonic's 1-inch-thick Z1 plasmas. The rest of the features are similar to what's available on other Sony LCDs; let's take a look.
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Blu-Link universal remote works with PS3 and other gear

Matthew Moskovciak | Sep 04, 2009

Ever since we realized the PS3 didn't have an IR receiver, we've expected Logitech to release a Harmony remote with built-in Bluetooth support. Somewhat surprisingly, that day still hasn't come, with the company opting to release the Logitech Harmony adapter for PlayStation 3 instead.

The recently released SMK Blu-Link universal remote offers what we've been waiting for since 2006: A single remote that controls all your gear, without a dongle.

It's capable of controlling six devices and it uses a library of IR codes, similar to the cheap universal remotes you might pick up in a drug store. If the code isn't in the book, the Blu-Link can also "learn" it by pointing the device's original remote at the Blu-Link. We can't say how well the remote will work in practice, but from the image, it looks as if Blu-Link took some smart design cues from the TiVo "peanut" remote, with convenient DVR controls and a large directional pad-up top.
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