Blu-ray is currently the best medium to view movies for the consumer. Anyone serious about maximizing their audio and video experience at home need not look further than blu-ray at the moment. It’s the pinnacle of home entertainment.

So that said, what should you purchase for the blu-ray addict in your life?

The first thing should be a nice, 1080p display. To get the most accurate, cinematic detail from your movies, then you should go with a plasma panel. When it comes to displays, my philosophy is always to go big. The price of many 50 inch sets have come down dramatically. Case in point, the Panasonic TC-P54S1. This is a 54 inch television, and it is a steal at the current asking price.

Continue Reading »

Toshiba has officially accepted defeat. It’s been almost two years since the demise of their HD DVD format, the lone high definition, physical disc medium that was a viable threat to blu-ray. However, they sure took their time to release a blu-ray deck.

Toshiba has finally licked their wounds, and have gone on to release the new BDX2000. It’s the real deal. It has a sleek, modern, svelte design, with premium fit and finish.

In terms of specs, the BDX2000 does everything any modern blu-ray player is capable of. It’s Profile 2.0, so it will support BD Live content. It will bitstream and decode both Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio for maximum fidelity. Video quality is fantastic with a 1080p24 signal. In short, you simply can’t go wrong with this player. Kudos to Toshiba for finally coming around. Life is good in the winners circle, isn’t it Toshiba.
Continue Reading »

For all its glory, HDTV at high resolution still presents a 2 dimensional image that through our eyes and mind may appear to have 3 dimensions. At CEATEC 2009, in Chiba Japan, Sony and Panasonic have released prototypes of the first HDTV models that can present 3D images through Blu-ray. Both will require special eyeglasses to isolate the images and blend into 3D.

The emergence of 3 dimensional viewing was in the 1950’s when movie studios felt threatened by television. Movies were released with rudimentary 3D technology that required special glasses to decode the image. Without those glasses, the image seemed a blur.
Continue Reading »

While the chills of autumn bring folk inside, fantasies re-ignite with a variety of games to enjoy indoors. Then when you tire of games, sit back and let your HDTV and Blu-ray player open up Star Trek as you’ve never seen before.

Say hello to Halo 3. Developed exclusively for Xbox 360, Halo 3: ODST is a new, stand-alone expansion to the Halo saga that lets players experience the events leading up to the epic story told in Halo 3 through the eyes of an entirely new character the ODST (Orbital Drop Shock Trooper), as they search for clues leading to the whereabouts of their scattered squad and the motivations behind the Covenant’s invasion of New Mombasa. Continue Reading »

Everyone has a widescreen TV and HDTV has become part of daily language. But the conversion to digital TV broadcasting also brings vast improvements in TV sound. You can’t really find it coming from those 2 speakers on your TV. You need a home theater sound system. Now there are many home-theater in a box (HTiB) sound systems available but many home owners are reluctant to place speakers front and rear within the traditional surround set-up. JVC introduced a marvelous new system, at CEDIA 2009 USA, that will change all that.
Continue Reading »

When it comes to blu-ray players, the philosophy of Denon must be the more the merrier. It seems that they want to cover a wider spectrum of blu-ray shoppers. Well, relatively speaking of course, since if you are shopping for Denon blu-ray players, you are far from the average Joe. For the discriminating audiophile with deep pockets, the DVD-A1UDCI has all they could want. For those who want exceptional quality at a more modest price, the DBP-1610 is more up their alley.
Continue Reading »

The PS3 in my opinion is one of the biggest bargains in the CE industry. In addition to being a fantastic video game console, it also doubles as a fine blu-ray player. In fact, when blu-ray player choices were slim, many people bought the console solely for blu-ray playback.

However, there was one caveat with using the PS3 as a blu-ray player; the remote issue. The PS3 is a bluetooth device, so it obviously won’t work with most universal remotes on the market that are either IR or RF. Up until now, your options were the cumbersome PS3 controller which is fine for games, not so much for movies. Another option was the PS3 bluetooth remote which worked fine, but defeated the purpose of getting a universal remote in the first place. No one wants to buy a universal remote, only to purchase another remote.
Continue Reading »

Denon is no stranger to the discriminating audiophile. Sure, they make mass market receivers and disc players that are geared towards the average consumer, but every now and then, they drop a reference piece that is only for those with serious home theater systems. Their latest disc player is one such reference piece. The DVD-A1UDCI is the latest universal player, and by universal, I mean universal! If it’s on a round shiny disc, this sucker will play it. Well, with the exception of HD DVD discs, but those are the breaks. Sorry to the three HD DVD fanboys holding the fort down. It will play Blu-ray, SACD, DVD-A, DVD-V and CD. Continue Reading »

Pioneer recently introduced their latest Profile 2.0 blu-ray player into the already crowded mix of blu-ray players. The latest model is the BDP-320. With its piano black finish, it looks really slick. However, it goes far beyond looks. The BDP-320 sports the latest in blu-ray playback and technology. It will internally decode and bitstream the lossless audio formats Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD MA. Since it is Profile 2.0, it comes equipped with an ethernet jack in the back that will make firmware updates a snap, as well as the opportunity to access BD-LIVE content.
Continue Reading »

If you are down near Park Row around lunch time today, stop by J&R to meet Rob Schneider. Rob will be here signing autographs of his latest movie and directorial debut, Big Stan. Rob was also kind enough to answer five quick questions for us the other day.

Who were some of your comedy influences?

Some of my favorite comedy influences are: Richard Pryor, George Carlin, Monty Python, Steve Martin, the original cast of SNL, Peter Sellers, and Danny Kaye.

Are you a techie? If so, what are some of the current gadgets you are using?

I have an antique cell phone that I carry around. It weighs about 9lbs and it’s like a mobile booth phone. I don’t have an iPod or a blackberry but I did just purchase the Rosetta Stone so I can learn Spanish, which I have only practiced for a few hours.

What can you tell us about your next project?

Right now, I am working on a romantic comedy called, “You May Not Kiss The Bride,” directed by Robert Heden. It stars Mena Suvari, David Annable and Katharine McPhee. I am also going to be working on a movie in Boston this summer called, “Lake House” with Adam Sandler, David Spade, Chris Rock and Kevin James. Adam Sandler and Fred Wolf both wrote the script for the film.

Who was your favorite character to play on SNL?

Some of my favorite characters I have played on SNL were the copy machine guy, the sensitive naked guy, as well as the homeless guy on the subway who sang songs.

How did your catch phrase, “You can do it!” come about? Is there any story behind it?

Tim Hurley, former writer for SNL who’s also worked with Adam Sandler on a lot of his movies, came up with the phrase. He told me to get on a plane to Florida and have fun with, “You can do it!” It started as an inside joke between Adam and I. Adam knew it was going to become a catchy phrase.

____________________________________
You can check out this clip of Rob talking about the film on the WPIX Morning Show’s Blog.