Posts in Home AV
Ultrathin Aquos offers wireless A/V
Philip Wong | May 01, 2008
Sharp has entered a partnership with Amimon Inc. to equipped its X-series Aquos LCD TVs with the latter's WHDI chipset. This technology allows a wireless audio-visual interlink between the Aquo's ultrathin panel and external tuner box without relying on traditional cabling. According to Amimon's press release, the system also has a 30m effective range and can penetrate multiple walls without the penalty of transmission lag.
The semiconductor manufacturer has added that WHDI is capable of supporting uncompressed 1080p video feeds with quality equivalent to wired HDMI interface. This sure sounds very promising on paper, but until we can sample a working product in our Lab, this could well be simply hot air and the usual sales speak. No further Asia launch details on the X-series Aquos were available at press time.
Via Engadget | Photo credit: Engadget
Buying Korean dramas, the right way
Darius Chang | May 01, 2008
It never rain but pours. Having been cut off from human contact with a combination of chicken pox, throat infection, gastric and tooth nerve pain, I can categorically say that pain is now my best friend. It lets me know that death is not as frightening as intense suffering, but I digress.
There is only so much one can surf, and free-to-air channels gets boring after the, oh, first day. Fortunately, before my illness, I had bought a trio of Korean drama DVDs for my girlfriend which turned out to be my only solace during this recuperative period. From this experience, I found that buying drama DVDs is not as easy as choosing your favorite titles and putting down cash. A single title may have multiple box sets coming in from Taiwan, China, etc., and the quality of the image and dubbing differs greatly. Here are some tips on buying quality Korean DVDs (though it may also be applicable to other foreign language shows).
Tip 1: In general, some of the Mandarin terms used in China dubs will be unfamiliar with those used to simplified Mandarin. The Taiwanese translation tends to be easier to understand.
Tip 2: If you prefer to read English subtitles while listening to the native track, make sure you sit through at least half an episode to ensure that the subtitles actually make sense. Some versions have translations which are so obviously wrong, it's actually painfully funny.
Tip 3: Check the number of episodes per disc. One of the shows, Couple in Trouble, has about six episodes per DVD and gives acceptable picture quality. The other, My Lovely Sam Soon, throws in eight per disc and there are very obvious artifacts in the image. This is just a rough gauge and you should, if possible, check the quality before you buy.
Epson's 400W big-eyed dolly
Philip Wong | Apr 30, 2008
We swear we've seen it all here in CNET, but nothing could prepare us for the latest 3LCD Epson EMP-400W and its hilarious gigantic eye. Aside from tickling your funny bone, this one-of-a-kind megazoom lens also delivers an amazing ultra-short throw performance. For the record, that's a mighty 60-inch projection at a mere 0.65m, perfect for small meeting rooms and classrooms.
To deliver pixel-to-pixel perfect visuals with the new crop of laptops, this Epson has matching wide-aspect 1,280 x 800-resolution for sharper text and smooth graphics. When coupled with its competent 1,800 ANSI lumens brightness, this ensures hassle-free presentations even amid mild ambient lighting. Onboard network connectivity and a powerful 10W speaker further add to its appeal and to justify its equally eye-popping S$5,688 (US$3,742.11) sticker price.
Photo credit: Epson
Grand Theft Auto IV review (PlayStation 3)
Justin Calvert | Apr 30, 2008
Stepping off a boat in the shoes of illegal immigrant Niko Bellic as he arrives in Liberty City at the start of Grand Theft Auto IV, you can tell immediately that Rockstar North's latest offering is something quite special. Yes, this is another GTA game in which you'll likely spend the bulk of your time stealing cars and gunning down cops and criminals, but it's also much more than that. GTAIV is a game with a compelling and nonlinear storyline, a game with a great protagonist who you can't help but like, and a game that boasts a plethora of online multiplayer features in addition to its lengthy story mode. It's not without some flaws, but GTAIV is undoubtedly the best Grand Theft Auto yet. For more on our good, bad and sometimes ugly take, check it out here.
Liberty City has changed a lot since 2001.
One of the many things that sets GTAIV apart from its predecessors is Liberty City, which is more convincing as a living, breathing urban environment than anything that you've seen in a game before, and bears little resemblance to its namesake in 2001's GTAIII. Liberty's diverse population believably attempts to go about its daily business, seemingly unaware that several criminal factions are at war in the city. Niko has no such luck. He's compelled to start working for one of the factions shortly after arriving, when he learns that his cousin Roman has some potentially fatal gambling debts. Niko's military experience makes him a useful freelancer for employers in the business of killing each other, and though his reluctance to carry out their orders is often apparent, he does whatever is asked of him in the hope that completing missions for other people will ultimately give him the means to complete his own.
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GTA IV: The good, the bad, and the sometimes ugly
Dan Ackerman | Apr 30, 2008
We previously tried the game out a couple of times while it was still in development, and now that we've had a chance to give the final shipping version a serious run-through over this past weekend, here are our initial thoughts on the final game's pluses and minuses.
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