Yes…it’s an odd title…but it got your attention…

If you are into home theater, or consumer electronics, then you will have an idea of what the aforementioned title is referring to.  1080p is a common term used to identify a large format display device with a native resolution of 1920 x 1080.  That means 1,920 pixels across by 1,080 pixels down (aka horizontal x vertical).

Three years ago, if you were looking to buy a video projector with this type of native resolution, you would be paying in the neighborhood of $10,000.  To start.  You would have also received a product that offered very low lumens.  Purists would have you believe that this is fine, as you are attempting to create a cinematic experience within your home.

 I do not necessarily agree.  A high lumens video projector has more value than a low lumens projector.  While this to me seems like simple logic, I have met pure a/v enthusiasts that will argue until they are blue in the face.  Even so – my reason for a high resolution projector is that it allows more options for viewing.  For example, when watching sports, generally people like having the lights on, which is an impossibility with a low lumens projector.  It washes out the screen, making the image unviewable.

1080p projectors can now be found at a price point under $2,000.00.  What a bargain!  The market is ultra-competitive right now, which is driving up quality and lowering prices.  Demand for these video projectors is also lowering prices.  Epson, Mitsubishi, and Sanyo have all introduced sub-$2,000 video projectors.  All three brands are quality, and each offer unique perks.  I have not played with the various current models, so for me to do a head-to-head comparison would be a waste of your time, because I would be going by nothing but the published manufacturers specifications.  This is not something I recommend to people to do, unless you have no other recourse.

If it is possible to demo or test drive the projectors that you are looking at purchasing, then I wholeheartedly recommend that you do so.  The best way to buy is to see the product with your own two eyes.  There is absolutely no substitute for that.  It is entirely possible that you may favor a projector with specs that do not look as good on paper over another video projector.  I worked in the consumer electronics industry for six years, and I have seen it many times.  Price is always a consideration, but most people are flexible with price if the quality is significantly better.  Sometimes it is, sometimes it is not.  The variance that is found in the pricing of 1080p video projectors is considerable.

Senator Hillary Clinton for Secretary of State?  President-elect Barack Obama is considering this witch for a top-level position in his cabinet.  At first glance, one would think that he had lost his marbles.  Stand back and look at the big picture, and you may be able to see what he is truly thinking.

The Democratic runner-up for the top job in the White House certainly has the credentials to do the job.  In fact, of the handful of qualified candidates for the job, Clinton may be the most qualified.  However, given the war that transpired between her and Obama during the nomination process (despite her endorsement of Obama once he had secured the nomination), she is nonetheless a curious choice.

By Obama offering this high-level position to Clinton, it effectively paints her into a corner.  If she accepts, then President-elect Obama is her boss.  She is his employee there on in, and this thusly prevents her from pulling any power plays (as she may be able to by remaining a member of the Senate).  If she declines the post, then her power base is eroded and she will alienate many Democrats.

This also allows Obama to scrutinize her finances and past history carefully.  It is no secret that her and Bill have a lot of skeletons in the closet.  Being a first term President, he doesn’t need that baggage coming out to haunt him at the most innopportune of times.

Obama also consolidates his power base by having it leak out that the Secretary of State was offered to Hillary.  He now looks magnanimous by making the pitch to Mrs. Clinton.  For a rookie politician, President-elect Obama seems to be making few, if any, mistakes.  One can only hope that he is not the rabbit sleeping with the snake.

There is a lot in the news about Blu-Ray.  By now, everyone knows what it is, and since it “won the war” with HD-DVD, it is the only high definition portable media currently on the market.  But, is Blu-Ray in trouble?

Some would think so.  Due to the recent economic downturn, many experts are forecasting a bitter Christmas in the retail sector.  With Blu-Ray discs being a commodity, people may decide to stay away unless they can be otherwise enticed to purchase.  Wal-Mart has slashed prices on many Blu-Ray discs, some of them now being well under $20.00.  The new releases are still priced higher, at approximately $34.00 per movie.

Furthermore, the advent of digital downloading via iTunes and other media sites will put a dent into Blu-Ray sales as well.  High Definition Digital Media is on the forefront of being released, and when it becomes more widespread a ripple effect will undoubtedly be seen throughout the Blu-Ray world.

Digital Media has an inherent advantage in that it can be viewed immediately after download on the downloader’s PC, iPod, Zune, PSP, or iPhone.  A Blu-Ray player is not required.  Blu-Ray players are still priced in the $300.00 range, which is not an insignificant expense for the average consumer.  Following that, they have to shell out for the movies.  HD Digital Media will likely be priced at $9.99 for a new release, and less than that for older releases.  This represents a significant cost savings to the average consumer right off the bat.

It is also interesting to look at the cost of producing a blu-ray disc.  Have you ever wondered why small, independent studios do not release their product on Blu-Ray?  The answer is that it is too expensive!  A sample cost breakdown looks something like this:

1. DVD Authoring Program (such as Sonic Scenarist) can run in the neighborhood of $40,000 for a volume licence.
2. Blu-Ray reproduction is approximately $20.00 per disc.  This is printed and sealed in a case.
3. AACS Encryption.  This is the copy protection that is on a blu-ray disc.  Notwithstanding the fact that it has already been hacked, the costs include a $3,000 one time fee, $1,600 per project, and a fee of $0.04 cents per disc.
4. Blu-Ray logo fee of $3,000 per annum.  This fee gives the publisher the right to use the Blu-Ray logo.

One major advantage that Blu-Ray has over digital media will be in the sound department.  Digital Media is currently restricted to AC-3 (Stereo) sound.  For audiophiles, blu-ray media is the only way to go to get that 5.1 (or better) sound.

Still looking to purchase a Blu-Ray player?

If you are in the market for a Blu-Ray player consider purchasing a PlayStation 3.  They are more expensive than your typical blu-ray player, but they offer up a few advantages as well.  The first and most obvious is the ability to play games.  All PS3′s will play the PS2 and PS3 games, but only the original model has PS1 support.  In my world, playing the original playstation games is not a big deal, as they are a decade old (though there are hard core geeks out there with a modded original x-box who also have a playstation emulator installed that would disagree with me vehemently).

Secondly, the PlayStation is auto-upgradeable through your LAN – plug it in, and it will acquire and IP and auto-update itself.  No more nasty firmware updates!  Firmware updates are necessary because some discs will just refuse to play without the latest firmware installed.

The PS3 also has the ability to interface with your personal computer as a digital media center.  You can play video, mp3′s, or look at photos through your LAN.  While this does require some configuration, it is definately worth the hassle.  Mine is setup in this fashion and it is one of the best things that I have done.  A blu-ray player that doubles as a digital media interface.

Lastly, the interface is easy to use and understand.  My mother, who is technologically impaired, has no trouble with the menu system.  That in of itself should illustrate the ease-of-use factor.

Any questions?  Post them here!

I am working on a new home theater PC (HTPC).  I am using Mythbuntu as the installation, and I am going to play around and see how well it works as a multi-capture device and a media server.  I can have front-end and back-end servers, and from all that I have read, it looks very promising.  It will not, however, capture HD via component video, as the Blackmagic Series of cards are not supported.  I can put an HDTV tuner in it, however, and that will capture HD.  The faster the CPU, the more simultaneous streams that can be captured.

I will update more as I tweak the installation, and get things working smoothly.

Meanwhile, I have a few old computers here.  Pentium III’s.  If someone reading needs a free computer, please send me an e-mail to steve(dot)deryck(at)abattoir(dot)net.  We are doing nothing with them, and will eventually dispose of them.  I would like to see them go to a good home.

A couple of different topics today…usually I try to separate them into different posts, but tonight I am not going to.

We use a Data Robotics Drobo for file storage.  We have four one-terabyte drives in it, giving us a total storage of approximately 2.7 terabytes.  It is a USB storage device, for those who are not familiar with the unit.  USB has an upper storage limit of 2.0 terabytes, which means that according to Windows, we are missing 700 gigabytes of capacity!

Through all the forums that I have perused, there is no easy fix for this, short of partitioning the available capacity on the Drobo unit.  This requires that the entire unit be offloaded prior to removing the existing partition and reformatting.  The other solution out there is to run Linux.  Given my lack of Linux knowledge, that is not the best solution, as this is a production server.  Since we have some spare computers, I am going to haul one out and begin to expand my knowlegebase.  As an aside, on a personal level this year will be one of re-education, reviewing, renewing, and adding to my certification base.  I did not do any certification testing during my six years at Netbored, to my dissatisfaction.

For those of you who have an Epson R260 printer (or an Epson R280 or 360, or any of those printers that use the same driver line), I have discovered a bug in the Epson Status Monitor under Windows Vista x64 Ultimate.  The filename is E_FAMTBNA.EXE and it stays resident in memory after you have sent your print job to the printer.  Even more irritating is that if you send another print job out, it runs a second instance of E_FAMTBNA.EXE.  A third print job, you get three copies running, and so forth.  Each instance of E_FAMTBNA.EXE eats up 13% of your CPU power.

This issue first came to light due to the fact that my computer was idling and somehow using up 88% of its total CPU power.  On a dual quad-core Xeon machine, that is generally a tough task to do during peak usage, much less when the machine is doing nothing but checking e-mail.  It would be easy to blame it on Windows Vista, which is a notorious memory hog (and bloated, do not even get me started on that one), but in this case… Epson Status Monitor, you are the weakest link.  Goodbye.

This is one of the better televisions shows that I have come across.  This show debuted alongside another show, Bionic Woman.  Bionic Woman was a remake of the 70′s classic show and was supposed to be the better show.  It turns out, however, that Terminator far surpassed it both in action and writing quality.

The first season was nine episodes and I thoroughly enjoyed each one.  Summer Glau, despite my initial hesitations, makes an excellent Terminator.  Lena Headley is great as Sarah Connor.  I don’t know if the second season is going to be a full arc, but this is a show that I will make time for.  I hope that the second season is as good as the first one was.

The big man took it…Brock Lesnar, in his fourth professional mixed martial arts fight, won the UFC Heavyweight Title from Randy Couture.  The last person to win the UFC Heavyweight Title in his fourth fight was none other than The Natural himself.  The fight itself was not terribly technical.  Lesnar wobbled Couture with a big right hand that knocked him down, then used those ham-hocks that he calls fists to pound on Randy’s head until the fight was stopped.

In other fight news, Demian Maia pulled out a slick submission win over Nate Quarry, and Kenny Florian did likewise to Joe Stevenson.  Both fights finished with rear-naked chokes.  Florian now gets to fight B.J. Penn for the Lightweight Title.  This will be a great fight, albeit with two fighters that I do not care much for.  While I respect their technical ability, both fighters are somewhat pompous in their behaviour outside the ring.  Especially B.J.

The UFC showed all nine fights on the Pay Per View, which I think is a record.  However, this card was unusual in that the five fights that were on the main card all ended fairly quickly.  It is a rarity but it does happen.

…to me.    I am thirty-five today.  And I have a cold.  So far, it has been a typical day.  That is just fine by me.

I have been meaning to update since yesterday, but with the onset of being ill and being that it was a busy day yesterday, I have not been able to post until now.

Looking around the news, Wal-Mart’s Black Friday deals have been leaked to the public.  Of course, Wal-Mart denies leaking them, but since it happens every year, it begs the question as to if they are being completely honest.  Wal-Mart is very aggressive in the business market and they are ruthless.  They are not above using any and every tactic available to acquire sales.  Officially, these prices will be unveiled to consumers on November 24th.

This year, some of the deals include a Samsung 50″ Plasma for $798.00 (my guess is that it will be the PN50A450S), a Magnavox Blu-Ray Player for $128.00, and an X-Box 360 with Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock for $199.00.  They are focusing on High Tech / Consumer Electronics products this year.

Strategically, this is a smart move for them.  There are many resellers of consumer electronics and home theater equipment, but given the economic downturn the market is predicted to be very soft this year.  A lot of these companies are worried, and justifiably so.  Consumers tend to not spend their money during an economic downturn, and consumer electronics products are considered a luxury that they can do without.

Traditionally, in brick-and-mortar companies, the margins on these goods are relatively high.  They promote their products as more upscale, and tend to provide superior customer service throughout the sale than you would find shopping at a Wal-Mart or other discounted retailer.  On the flipside, if you are a saavy shopper and are willing to research the products yourself, often the Internet is your best bet.  There are many websites out there that offer great value and superior knowledge about the products that they sell.  One such company I used to work for.  Their website is http://www.plasma.com.  Alternatively, if you are in Canada the Canadian website is http://www.avdeals.ca.

Consumer Electronics is a hobby of mine, and something that I enjoy.  While the old saying may be that free advice is seldom cheap, if anyone has any questions please feel free to ask.   I will continue to write articles about the industry, or perhaps a product that I think may be interesting.  This is a blog about interests, after all…

Maybe my next topic will be a controversial one…Religion.

I am a big fan of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA).  The Ultimate Fighting Championship presents UFC 91 on November 15th.  Aside from the main event, there are a couple of interesting fights on this card that I will break down here, and offer my predictions on.

Fight #1: Randy “The Natural” Couture vs. Brock Lesnar

This fight is clearly a David vs. Goliath matchup, but also one of youth vs. experience.  In so saying that, styles make fights and Brock Lesnar represents the worst possible matchup for Randy Couture.  Couture typically has problems with big aggressive wrestlers (see his losses to Josh Barnett and Ricco Rodriguez).  In addition, due to a contract dispute, he has not fought in nearly sixteen months.

Lesnar’s weakness is that he is new to the MMA game.  He is a fantastic wrestler, but so is Couture.  Lesnar has been under the spotlight with respect to being in a big time main event (with the WWE at Wrestlemania), therefore I do not see him getting butterflies.  However, his overall skills are subject to scrutiny due to the fact that he is a rookie.

The old adage in the MMA world is to never bet against The Natural.  I think the old ring general will surprise many fans once again and take this fight via rear naked choke.  He will submit Lesnar despite having only two submission wins on his record, and doing the unexpected against this monster challenger.

Fight #2: Kenny “KenFlo” Florian vs. Joe “Daddy” Stevenson

This fight has the potential to be fight of the night.  Two lightweights squaring off to determine the number one contender for the lightweight title, currently held by B.J. Penn.  Aside from Florian needing a new nickname (KenFlo has to be the worst in the sport, bar none), his talent and the amount that he has grown as a fighter since he was on Season One of The Ultimate Fighter is undeniable.  Stevenson, also of The Ultimate Fighter fame (Season Two), is also an impressive fighter.

I believe that Stevenson has a better ground game than Florian.  He is able to transition from submission attempt to submission attempt fluidly.  The better overall game, however, goes to Florian.  He is more athletic, faster, and a better striker.  I also think that he will be able to counter Stevenson’s submission attempts.  I see KenFlo taking this fight via Unanimous Decision.

Fight #3: Nate “Rock” Quarry vs. Demian Maia

Nate Quarry has not fought in a year, not counting the debacle with Kalib Starnes.  That was not his fault, however.  This fight against the undefeated Demian Maia will be a true test for him.  Quarry is a big, strong guy with powerful punches.  Maia is the best pure Jiu-Jitsu practitioner in MMA today.  His three UFC wins have all been by tapout (choke).  I think that this fight will end with a choke, and Quarry tapping out.  Demian Maia is not a fighter that he wants to go to the ground with.  Quarry’s best chance to win this fight is to pressure Maia and test his chin.

As an aside, the fan in me would love to see Maia matched up with Ricardo Almeida.  What a fight that would be!

Other Fights

Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Josh Hendricks
Jorge Gurgel vs. Aaron Riley
Dustin Hazelett vs. Tamdan McCrory
Jeremy Stephens vs. Rafael dos Anjos
Alvin Robinson vs. Mark Bocek
Matt Brown vs. Ryan Thomas