Posts in Home AV
Gamers waste US$1 billion of energy? Probably not
Matthew Moskovciak | Nov 23, 2008
On Wednesday, NRDC
released a study claiming that video game consoles are wasting US$1 billion
per year. There's a lot of interesting research in the study, including the
differences in power consumption between different games and how the PS3 is incredibly inefficient as a
Blu-ray player compared to standalone models.
The headline-grabbing "US$1 billion wasted" claim, however, seems hyped in our opinion. Digging into the report, we found that the one of the assumptions used in deriving this figure is that 50 percent of gamers leave their consoles on all the time--24 hours a day, 365 days a year. That seemed unbelievable, so we dug a little deeper to see how the NRDC came up with this number. Here's what we found:
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13m-tall Aquos Christmas tree
Philip Wong | Nov 21, 2008
What a sight, indeed! Sharp has planted a 13m-tall Christmas tree stacked with 43 Aquos LCD TVs at Grand Central Station, New York. These 19- to 52-inch panels are wired and programmed to display synchronized images such as a flowing waterfall and snowflakes from nine patterns designed by Japanese video artist Tsuyoshi Takashiro. The current patterns will also be replaced by 10 fresh selections starting December.
According to PopSci.com, this eye-catching Christmas tree is for a good cause, too. It's used to publicize the Hope Program which provides job training and career counseling for New Yorkers. For every sign-up, passers-by can stand a chance to win one of the TVs on the tree. Furthermore, Sharp will donate one dollar to a new Green Collar project that specializes in eco-related job training, such as solar panel installation, a product which the company manufactures.
Via Ubergizmo | Photo credit: PopSci.com
As HDMI rises, DVI falls
Eric Franklin | Nov 21, 2008
It seems almost inconceivable that just five years ago we purchased a digital TV without a high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI) port. Today virtually every computer monitor that comes through CNET's testing labs has an HDMI port, even the smallish 22-inchers. Some even only come with an HDMI port, forgoing the DVI port altogether.
The rapid rise in HDMI integration by vendors isn't just my imagination, either. In-Stat has released a new report on the quick adoption of HDMI and Digital Visual Interface's (DVI) slow decline.
According to the report, HDMI ports were found in 95 percent of digital TVs shipped worldwide in 2008. It also states that DVI's biggest customers are still the PC and PC peripherals markets.
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Apple TV 2.3 firmware update adds a handful of minor tweaks
John P. Falcone | Nov 21, 2008
The 2.3 firmware update for the Apple TV is now available, but it delivers just a select few feature enhancements. According to Apple's support Web site, here's what you get:
If those sound like minor tweaks, that's because they are. (Indeed, we've already used a Logitech Harmony remote with our in-house Apple TV before applying the 2.3 update, so we're not sure what the second bullet point adds.) Still, we're just happy to see that Apple is doing something with the product besides dismissing it as "just a hobby."
Let us know if the new Apple TV features are important or useful to you. (Or if you're skipping the Apple firmware update and hacking your Apple TV to run Boxee instead.)
Via CNET Crave | Photo credit: CNET
Toshiba's XDE DVD player lands in Singapore
Reuben Lee | Nov 21, 2008
Toshiba may have lost the HD format war against Blu-ray earlier this year, but the company's not giving up on the movie player market just yet. In fact, its latest XD-E500 DVD player may just be what the Japanese vendor needs to get back into the mix.
Introduced for the very first time in Asia (outside Japan), the XD-E500 has a rather unique proposition. It is aimed at enhancing DVD playback on HDTVs, rather than to compete directly with Blu-ray. While some may dismiss this as a stopgap solution from Toshiba, the XD-E500 does fill an important role in extending the life of DVDs which are still the dominant format in the industry. At S$199 (US$141.39), it is a much more affordable option for the mainstream crowd who have amassed a huge collection of DVDs to the expensive Blu-ray players and movie titles. The timing also couldn't have been better, given the current economic recession and belt-tightening.
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