TV manufacturers try to put in all kind of new technical gimmicks to their products. Top telly tech fails to drive new set sales. The technologies telly makers are promoting in a bid to persuade punters to replace existing TVs are failing to excite consumers: LED backlight technology, internet connectivity and 3D. LED was the →
Stephen Spielberg’s Minority Report (released nearly 10 years ago) captured the imagination of many in the technology space. Today we are seeing some things from the movie start to come true right in front of our eyes today. Entering The Minority Report Era: A Video Series article shows some examples of those technologies. The video →
A fractal is a figure with a self-similar pattern. Usually the fractals are calculated with a computer, but is is possible to produce Fractals without a Computer! It’s very cool – partly because it looks neat, but also partly because it shows you something important about fractals. Optical video feedback is a well-known phenomenon. If →
Audiophiles seem to revel in minor controversies – vinyl vs CD’s, tubes versus solid state, capacitor, wires, magic dots… and negative feedback. At one extreme (“objectivists” and engineers), the position is that “feedback makes amplifiers perfect”. At the other extreme (“subjectivists”) usually claim that “feedback is a menacing succubus that sucks the life out of →
Are Star-Quad is well known in the audio industry as a good cable construction to use in demanding environments because its superior handling of EMI. And that reputation is based in science; the Canare document, for example, contains lots of claims which can be tested objectively, and all those claims are rooted in physics-based (reality-based) →
The DJ mixer crossfader was originally developed as a control for implementing smooth fades from one program source to another, but where did the idea come from? Evolution of the DJ Crossfader article tells the history and development of crossfader in DJ mixers. →
Why 3D doesn’t work and never will. Case closed. article tells about a letter is from Walter Murch, the most respected film editor and sound designer in the modern cinema (and not a big fan of 3D). The article comments on 3D cinema: dark, small, stroby, headache inducing, alienating. And expensive. The first problem is →
Use FPGAs for stunning surveillance camera images is a cool article on image processing performed inside modern surveillance cameras. The “stunning images” are made possible by utilizing the latest in high definition high dynamic range CMOS image sensor technology. The “valuable information” is provided by adding intelligence in the camera that can look for the →
Many modern PCs still use the over 20 year old 15 pin analogue VGA connector to connect the display to PC. The VGA connector carries the video signal in RGB format, which is a bit outdated in the world where the graphics card and display devices are all digital. Most Windows PC builders have been →
RIAA Misfires, Grazes PCMag.com article points that the music industry has gone off the deep end. The RIAA and other music industry organizations have spent the better part of the decade fighting the digital transition, with only a shrinking business to show for. It’s time for these music execs to pull their collective heads out →