Recent Comments:
Japanese researchers debut wheelchair-replacing RODEM "universal vehicle" {Engadget}
Aug 27th 2009 2:43PM You are exactly right. There is a reason why motorized wheelchair and scooters look the way they look today. Many disabled patients who ended up using these devices have very poor trunk control and the seat on this thing is totally unsafe for that purpose! Many of them also have neurological conditions where the use of upper extremity is limited, that is why joy sticks instead of steering wheels or bars are used. The new trend is making scooters and motorized wheelchairs foldable and easy to pack into a vehicle's trunk while keep it just the right weight so it can be stored while not tip over when riding on uneven surfaces. This device is just a personal transporter and not safe for handicapped use at all!
Marantz $6K UD9004 Blu-ray player now shipping {Engadget HD}
Aug 2nd 2009 1:50AM As one of another reader already replied, was any of the audition where some of you claim you heard the difference between super expensive and cheaper devices performed with controlled, objective double blind testing...? Many studies show that while many devices do have measurable differences as tested by testing equipment, but then under scientific, double blind testings, where influences of psychological expectation and limitations of human auditory memory are taken out of the equation, human ears can only detect certain quantifiable, measurable differences in certain parameters, but cannot detect any differences if the measured difference is small, and sometimes, not at all even if the differences are significant in some parameters. And this is not just talk, this is supported by countless evidence based studies, not just subjective impressions that can be biased by many parameters such as psychological expectation, acoustic memory... Are you guys claiming that your subjective impression is more valid than scientific studies? And before anyone bash science, remember that audio engineering is a science, products are measured to be "better" or "worse" based on scientific measurements, and manufacturers charge more for their products based on these machine measured differences that they can print on paper. No manufacturer will justify charging a lot of money for a certain product if the product does not have a good measurable performance under scientific methods, and just advertise their products without these objective specifications, but rather by:"Our human, golden ear panel's subjective, none double blind listening tests show our products are worth $6K"... The question is, can the human ear and brain (not dogs or bats or elephants) actually detect the measured differences that they are so easily and willing to pay lots of $ for??
Engadget's recession antidote: win our custom-built HTPC! {Engadget}
Jul 22nd 2009 5:54PM I don't need one but this wold make a nice Christmas present for my friend...
Engadget HD's recession antidote: win a pair of THIEL PowerPoint speakers {Engadget HD}
Jul 21st 2009 5:15PM Read some past reviews on these little expensive speakers and was really impressed. If I am so lucky to ever win anything...
Engadget HD giveaway: win a copy of Coraline on Blu-ray! {Engadget HD}
Jul 20th 2009 6:45PM Now this one I really want!!!
Plasma prices falling as they cede sizes to LCD {Engadget HD}
Jul 19th 2009 11:33PM I certainly agree. Unfortunately I don't think there are any more Kuro's around anymore.. Thank God I got my 60" Kuro last year. I had the choice to buy the SONY LCD, but Kuro still, to my eyes, dither shaping or not, beats any LCD hands down.
Plasma prices falling as they cede sizes to LCD {Engadget HD}
Jul 19th 2009 8:44PM I am wondering, were you sitting very, very close to the PDP to notice the dither shaping artifacts...? Pioneer last generation plasmas used true, successive PWM, so this should not be very noticeable at all. Unless, I maybe wrong, if you were shown Blueray material with 24 frames/sec, which may be more prone to dithering noise as you only get 192 subfield per second (PDPs use 8 subfields nominally so you get 480hz subfileds). And this was known to be more of a problem with Panasonic sets, not Kuro sets...
In any case, your specific SONY set, like some Panasonic and Kuro plasma sets, in direct testing, got almost perfect linear grey scale tracking. However, contrast ratio is still only a measly 35% of the Panasonic set (and I am sure even less when compared to a Kuro)....
Most people are a lot more bothered by the low contrast ratio of LCD sets and not so much by dithering noise (unless you are sitting 2 feet away from the screen or viewing 24hz material on some Panasonic sets). With LCD, you loose so much dynamic punch in the picture if the set is properly calibrated to preserve all image details... Unless the LCD set is calibrated with clipped whites, crushed blacks, and super saturated colors..., which steers away from what the director saw as the film was originally shot...
But everyone to his own...
Plasma prices falling as they cede sizes to LCD {Engadget HD}
Jul 19th 2009 6:02PM While it is true that PDP can suffer from dithering noise (PDPs either turn on or off a pixel, and all intermediate values have to be expressed as series of on and off pulses), but modern PDP sets use very advanced Pulse Modulation Width algorithm. Usually, the resulting dithering noise is of very high frequency and low amplitude, only visible to the human eyes if you are like 12" to 24" from the screen and viewing certain solid and static color patches... I wonder if the above commentator viewed the set too close or there are other issues with the display he tested... Compared to LCD, I personally think the small amount of dithering noise in PDP is a lot more tolerable with real world video material and under real world viewing conditions than the issues with LCD, and it is beyond just viewing angles...
Here is an article with objective, direct comparionsons with SONY, Samsung, Sharp LCD vs Panasonic plasma sets:
http://www.displaymate.com/LCD_Plasma_ShootOut.htm
Here an article explaining PDP dithering techniques:
http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/7522130/description.html
Toshiba launching Blu-ray player by year's end {Engadget HD}
Jul 19th 2009 3:57PM Benny Boy,
MFM is a fan boy of unconverted standard resolution DVDs and small TVs! No HD!! All this guy has as far as video equipment is the unconvertible chip in his Onkyo receiver, that is it!! Really!!! Check out his long list of rants, and one of them he lists his equipment. He just runs his mouth without even experiencing anything than the few outdated equipment he has. Check his profile and see!! He is full of BS!
Engadget's recession antidote: win a VTech IS9181 WiFi radio! {Engadget}
Jul 19th 2009 3:47PM Count me in!!!
