Archive for the 'Video' Category

Interested in video chatting? It’s a great way to keep in touch with friends who live far away, allowing you to have as close to a face to face conversation as you’re going to get on opposite sides of the country. In order to do so, you’re going to need a webcam.

The Logitech Quickcam Pro 9000 Webcam is one of the better webcams out there. It’s got a great resolution, providing high quality stills and high definition video. It also has a face tracking feature, ensuring you stay in frame and in focus when it’s pointed at you. It can actually recognize where your face is and make adjustments on the fly. It can clip to the top of your laptop screen or rest on your monitor depending on your setup, and it connects to your computer via a USB port. It also has a built in microphone so you can make sure you’re always heard. So don’t rely on the boring old phone: upgrade to video chatting.

So you’ve spent all sorts of money on an HDTV and all the fun toys that plug into your new TV. Awesome! You’re making sure that everything looks as good as possible. So why are you skimping on the cables? All of your investments are for naught if the signal degrades between the TV and the source. So get some decent cables!

The Monster Cable THX V100 CV-4 Component Video Cables bear the THX seal of approval, showing that they’ve passed rigorous tests and can carry signals without degrading. They’re built with super high quality materials, ensuring that you won’t get stuck with digital artifacts or dropped frames due to cheap cables. It’s an element of the home theater that’s often overlooked but extremely important. Don’t let your fancy, expensive equipment go to waste over something so simple.

Denon, the world-renowned manufacturer of superb audio and video equipment recently released the AVR-1909. It’s an entry-level receiver that packs a whole lot of punch for the price.

The AVR-1909 has been getting rave reviews, and it’s easy to see why. Equipped with 3 HDMI v1.3a inputs, it can internally decode the lossless surround sound formats Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio. The powerful amplifier section has seven channels. Fully driven, it outputs 90 watts a channel, capable of delivering earth shattering 7.1 surround sound. Of course, 5.1 surround sound is adequate if you don’t have or want 7.1. The receiver has the option of driving a 5.1 channel system in your main room in addition to a 2-channel system in a second zone. This is a feature you rarely see in an entry-level receiver. It also does a terrific job with up-converting standard definition material.

There is an in-depth discussion on the AVSforum about this receiver. It’s worth a look for anyone contemplating an entry-level receiver with all the bells and whistles.

Digital video is all the rage these days. The problem? There are a million different formats for digital video, all intended for different uses and devices. What if you have a video that you shot with a camcorder that you want to put on your iPod? What if you want to convert video to put it on a DVD? What about putting it on the web? You need different formats for all these things.

Well, Roxio Crunch Video Conversion Software can handle them all. It’s designed to convert a huge number of video formats from whatever you have to whatever you need, making digital video a much more manageable affair. It’ll convert video from DVDs if you have them, allowing you to back them up and watch them on portable devices. It also handles compression like a pro, letting you save hard disk space without sacrificing on quality. If you’re going to deal with digital video, you need a way to handle all the formats. This is it.

In the world of high-end HDTVs, specifically high-end plasma TVs, there’s really one name that’s regarded as head and shoulders above the rest, and it’s Pioneer’s Kuro line. These TVs are consistently ranked higher than any other in terms of picture quality, brightness, sharpness, and contrast. They simply produce the best picture quality of any TV around.

So if you’re in the market for a new HDTV, you owe it to yourself to check out the Pioneer PDP-6020FD KURO 60-inch Class Plasma 1080p HDTV. This monster of a TV will blow away any other TV you’ve ever owned. It’s got blacks that are five times deeper than previous models, smooth film mode to reduce motion blur, and incredible brightness. And did I mention that it’s 60 inches diagonal? Yeah, that’s pretty huge. This is a TV you’ll keep for years and years, and you’ll be happy you have it. Think of it as an investment in your living room for the foreseeable future.

I’m no stranger to streaming devices. I’ve owned many different devices from Squeezeboxes to Sonos Multi-Room Music Systems. They all worked fabulously, and I would wholeheartedly recommend them. However, one thing they lacked was video content. If you only cared about music, then devices like the Squeezebox or Sonos would be all you really need. I love music, but many people are always looking for ways to integrate audio and video. Sure, that may be heresy for audio purists, but this is the real world. Devices that can multi-task and serve more than one function will always be welcome.

One device that caught my attention was the Apple TV. My only gripe with the Apple TV when it was initially released was the relatively small (for me at least) 40gb hard-drive and the lack of high definition videos and surround sound. Thankfully, Apple addressed all these issues. They released a 160gb model, and now high definition movie rentals are available, as well as surround sound.

I purchased one about two weeks ago, and the experience so far has been wonderful. Synching the Apple TV to my wireless network and to iTunes was a breeze. The set-up process took less than five minutes. In no time, I was browsing the Apple webstore, watching videos on youtube, streaming HD videos from my macbook and browsing photos on flickr.

I took some photos of the Apple TV and the interface.

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ZeeVee Inc recently introduced the ZVBox. According to ZeeVee, “the ZvBox allows Internet TV watchers to move from the small-screen of their computers and the discomfort of the home office to the superior viewing experience of their HDTVs and the comfort of the couch. ZvBox is the first device that allows consumers to watch anything they can get online or on their computers on all the HDTVs in their homes. By simply connecting to the monitor output of the computer, ZvBox turns the computer screen into a new high-definition TV channel called Zv, which it then ‘localcasts’ across the existing coaxial cable wiring to all HDTVs in the home”.

J&R has it now.

Netflix is slowly working its way into all sorts of boxes that are connected to your TV. First they released the Roku box, then they announced that Netflix streaming was coming to the Xbox 360, and now there’s the world’s first Blu-ray player with Netflix streaming. It’s the LG BD300, and it’s a sub-$500 Blu-ray player that allows anyone with a Netflix account to stream any movie viewable via the “watch now” feature in the Netflix library.

It’s a pretty great feature. Imagine, never having to wait for a movie to arrive in the mail again. You can just sit down, pick what movie you want to watch, and you’ll be able to watch it instantly. You can pause, fast forward and rewind, and there’s no limit to how many movies you can watch. It’s going to make the BD300 one of the top Blu-ray players on the market when it comes out this fall, and with good reason.

Denon is well known around the world for manufacturing quality audio and video equipment. Their latest flagship receiver, the AVR-5308CI is no exception to their track record of excellence. At almost 63lbs, it’s a powerhouse.

First and foremost, it is HDMI 1.3, so it will internally decode both Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD MA. It delivers 150 Watts per. channel, so power is something it has in spades.

Apart from the raw power of the 5308, it uses Audyssey room correction, which calibrates your speakers to make them sound optimally based on your room and layout.

If you really want the best audio and video experience at any cost, then the 5308 would definitely fit the bill.

Camcorders used to be gigantic affairs that required all sorts of tapes to use. They had to sit on your shoulder, or you’d get tennis elbow trying to hold it steady while you shot. And then, after all that effort, you’d be stuck with footage that looked downright terrible. It’s no wonder not that many people had camcorders. But that time is over.

Now we have amazing, tiny HD camcorders such as the Canon VIXIA HF100 High Definition Camcorder. Weighing in at less than a pound, this is one of the most portable camcorders around. But just because it’s tiny doesn’t mean it skimps on quality. You can shoot full HD video with this, matching the quality of what you see on your HDTV. It has a generous 2.7-inch screen for previewing your shots, and you can take still pictures with it as well. It stores your footage on a SD card, letting you ditch tapes and the frustration of fast forwarding and rewinding all the time. It’s the camcorder that’ll make camcorders a must-own item. Finally.