Digital Home Thoughts - News & Reviews for the Digital Home

Be sure to register in our forums and post your comments - we want to hear from you!


Zune Thoughts

Loading feed...

Apple Thoughts

Loading feed...

Laptop Thoughts

Loading feed...





All posts tagged "video"


Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Logitech And Skype Team Up On TV Cam

Posted by Brad Wasson in "Digital Home Talk" @ 10:00 AM

http://gizmodo.com/5931526/this-200...-a-skype-center

"The TV Cam HD is compatible with any HDMI-equipped TV, and can use either Wi-Fi or ethernet to hook up to the internet. The device is pre-loaded with Skype-running on what we're not quite sure-so you can just use it to log in to your existing account and make video calls, or proper phone calls using credit."

If you've ever wanted to use your TV as a Skype-compatible device then this product may interest you. You'll need an HDMI-equipped TV to connect this device to, but as long as you have a Wi-Fi or ethernet connection to your TV you will be all set. Simply log in to your existing account and make video calls, or proper phone calls using credit. If you get a call while your TV is off it will still ring, alerting you that someone wants to Skype. Some expect that this sort of capability will be built into future TVs, but if you just bought a new one and plan to keep it for years to come, this option may be very attractive.


Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Amazon.com Streaming Prime Instant Video to Xbox 360

Posted by Jeff Campbell in "The Competition" @ 01:49 PM

http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.ht...&pf_rd_i=507846

"You can already stream Prime Instant Videos on your Kindle Fire, your PlayStation 3, your Roku, and hundreds of other TVs, Blu-ray players, and set-top boxes. Today, we're excited to announce that the Xbox 360 joins the fold."

About time! And you can also set up a "wait list" much like the que you set up in Netflix. Too bad they don't have it set up for iPad or for Apple TV but at least you can watch it on your Mac. Personally, the more they add to Xbox 360 the happier I get since it means I'm that much closer to getting rid of Dish Network. I'm almost there actually, between this and Hulu + and Apple TV, along with the iPad apps I use I pretty much can get all I want except for sports. And for that I can always go to a bar or a friends house, sports are more fun to watch in groups anyway right?


Sunday, March 25, 2012

iTunes New Video Encoding Compares Favorably To Blu-ray

Posted by Brad Wasson in "Digital Home Talk" @ 01:00 PM

http://arstechnica.com/apple/guides...=1#comments-bar

"Ars was recently able to conclude that the newly launched iTunes movies encoded in 1080p do, in fact, look better than the same content encoded in 720p, despite the modest increase in file size. That's good news for iTunes customers. But the real question is: how do iTunes 1080p downloads compare to the reigning king of home video image quality-Blu-ray Disc (BRD)? This is what we set out to test."

With the recent announcement of the new iPad, Apple also launched iTunes movies encoded in 1080p. This was welcome news for many video enthusiasts. Many questioned, though, just how good the video and audio encoding would turn out to be, especially compared to Blu-ray. Ars Technica resources were up to the task of examining this question, and their report indicates the encoding is pretty good indeed (video, at least) although it is not quite as good as Blu-ray. The Read link has the complete story.


Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Walmart And Partners Offering Cloud Access To Video

Posted by Brad Wasson in "Digital Home Talk" @ 06:00 PM

http://blog.streamingmedia.com/the_...olet-cloud.html

"Tomorrow at 1pm ET, Walmart along with UltraViolet partners Universal, Paramount, Warner Brothers, Sony Pictures and Fox will announce Walmart's UltraViolet offering. Studio execs I have spoken with say that consumers will be able to bring their DVDs into Walmart, which will then charge the consumer between $2-$4 per DVD to give the consumer access to that movie in the UltraViolet cloud locker system. DVDs will then be stamped at the store, so they can't be used by multiple people and I'm told pricing for converting the DVD to digital will vary based on either SD or HD quality."

UltraViolet is a digital rights authentication and cloud-based licensing system that allows consumers of digital home entertainment content to stream and download purchased content to multiple platforms and devices. One of its selling points is that it allows a consumer to store movie or TV titles in a free, online personal library. UltraViolet is deployed by the 70-plus members of the Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem consortium, which includes film studios, retailers, consumer electronics manufacturers, cable companies, ISPs, network hosting vendors, and other Internet systems and security vendors. Walmart's service offering is intended to help facilitate consumers using the cloud-based system.

Dan Rayburn over at the Streaming Media Blog has some very interesting analysis of the potential success of the UltraViolet system. In short, he doesn't think it will work. Among the issues he sees as prevailing are the fact that consumers have to pay twice for the same piece of content, it is not easy to use, it requires multiple accounts with multiple websites, there is very little device support, and you need an Internet connection to watch your cloud-based movie. His analysis is well-worth reading if you are thinking of using the Walmart or a similar service, or if you just need to get up to speed with some of the issues in this domain.


Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Netbook News' Best of Computex 2011

Posted by Jason Dunn in "Laptop Thoughts News" @ 09:00 AM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwgM...8&feature=feedu

Curious about what was revealed at the Computex 2011 show? The team over at Netbook News collected the best stuff they saw at the show and put it into a single video. Worth a look!


Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Uploading Unauthorized Video To YouTube Could Eventually Cause You Some Legal Issues

Posted by Brad Wasson in "Digital Home Talk" @ 05:00 PM

http://www.digitaltrends.com/entert...on-be-a-felony/

"If you're considering uploading a movie or TV show to YouTube, go ahead and get it out of your system now, because pretty soon, such an act could land you behind bars with a felony count on your rap sheet - at least if Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) get their way."

While there is nothing imminent at this point in time, you've likely been thinking this idea was not far off. The proposal for this future bill is focused on increasing the penalties associated with streaming unauthorized content. The issue has been studied by Victoria Espinel, President Obama’s US Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator. Currently, related laws state that “reproducing” and “distributing” copyrighted content are felony offenses. Streaming, on the other hand, is still considered a “public performance,” which carries lesser consequences. It seems significant new deterrents will be in place, including up to a five-year jail sentence and fines. Hit the Read link for a more detailed discussion of the proposed bill.


Thursday, April 21, 2011

Should the Unemployed Buy New Macs to Find Jobs? The Onion Panel Weighs In

Posted by Jason Dunn in "Apple Talk" @ 07:00 AM

http://www.theonion.com/video/in-th...be-buyin,20083/

No matter where you fall on the Apple/Windows side of the fence, you have to admit this is utterly hilarious - I love the way it plays to the fanboy stereotypes. ;-)


Tuesday, March 29, 2011

YouTube Feature Can Help Stabilize Shaky Video

Posted by Brad Wasson in "Digital Home Talk" @ 05:00 PM

http://lifehacker.com/#!5786091/sta...os-with-youtube

"If you take handheld videos (on your smartphone, for example), the videos may suffer from shakiness. YouTube has an easy fix for this issue with their video stabilization editing feature."

Lifehacker has posted a nice tip about the YouTube video stabilization feature. If you are the type of person that takes a lot of videos with, say, your smartphone, then you'll be very familiar with the issue this feature is trying to resolve. Those shaky videos can be improved quite easily, although the processing time for your video may make you wait a fair bit to see the result. Nevertheless, results can be quite good and may help you get the most out of a seemingly poor video.


Wednesday, January 5, 2011

The BIOS As You Knew It Is Finally Dying

Posted by Jason Dunn in "Digital Home Hardware & Accessories" @ 05:00 PM

If you're a power user who has ever done overclocking, you've no doubt spent hours in your system BIOS tweaking settings and reminiscing on the early '90s when we were still using DOS. The computer BIOS hasn't significantly changed in well over a decade - some might say two decades - but, finally, the old BIOS as you knew it is dead. Long live UEFI!

Tags: hardware, video, efi, bios, uefi

Sunday, December 12, 2010

PC Worlds Guide To Improving Voice And Video Chats

Posted by Andy Dixon in "Digital Home Talk" @ 11:00 AM

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2128...voip_video.html

"We've gone through a few ways to ensure a fast internet connection when you need it, but if your voice and video chats are of sub-par quality, there are actually quite a few different settings you can tweak for optimal connection.PC World has a great guide to tweaking the more advanced settings of your router for optimizing your router for VoIP and video, though the same rules can apply for any bandwidth-heavy activity like file sharing or video games. While we've discussed a few of the options before (namely QoS and port forwarding), PC World also mentions a few settings we haven't touched on before, like using a DMZ, splitting your traffic between two wireless networks, wireless multimedia extensions, and wireless intelligent stream handling."

If you use video chat a lot, but experience choppiness, or lag, or even just general poor video, then there may be some tweaks you can make on your router to improve this. Lifehacker found an article on PC World about settings that you can change on your router to improve voip and video streaming.


Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Forget About RedBox and Returning Movies

Posted by Hooch Tan in "Digital Home News" @ 07:30 AM

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_techn...with-usb-drives

"So, how would renting a movie from Flix on Stix work? Basically, you'd step up to a kiosk, browse for a movie (or a TV show, or even a game) using a touchscreen interface, pay with a credit card, and then plug in a thumb drive (your own, or one supplied by Flix on Stix) into the kiosk's USB port."

Here we go again. Remember DIVX? No, not DivX, DIVX. It was a system attempted by Best Buy where you could "rent" DVD-like discs that would play in special DIVX players. You would pony up some cash, and a licensing server would then allow you to watch the DIVX movie on a DIVX player for a certain amount of time. When you are done, you would toss the disc. Not ringing any bells? That is because it failed. Read more...


Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Roxio Creator 2011: A Suite 3D Solution

Posted by Eric Juillerat in "Digital Home Software" @ 02:00 PM

Product Category: Video, Graphics, Photo & Music Software
Manufacturer: Roxio
Where to Buy: Amazon.com [Affiliate]
Price: $82.98 USD
System Requirements (Minimum):Microsoft® 7 (32- or 64-bit), Windows VistaTM SP2 (32- or 64-bit), Windows® XP SP3 (32-bit), Windows®XP SP2 (64-bit), Intel® 1.6GHz Pentium 4 processor or AMD equivalent, 512MB RAM for windows XP and 1GB RAM for Windows Vista and Windows 7, 1024x768 DirectX 9.0c compatible graphics card with at least 16-bit color setting, sound card, DVD-ROM drive, Hard drive with at least 3GB free space for the installation process.
Specifications: External Link

Pros:

  • Fun, quick, and easy;
  • Huge, capable, fully loaded suite;
  • Learning Center.

Cons:

  • 3D features won't please everyone;
  • Not all applications in the suite have been improved;
  • Retail price double that of iLife.

Summary:There is a third dimension, beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and between Roxio Creator 2010 and 2012 - which indecently is Roxio Creator 2011. I have taken some liberties with Rod Sterling's famous words (see The Twilight Zone), and Roxio has taken some liberties with the notion that two dimensions can be converted into three. But really, how cool would it be to do just that - convert your 2D photos and video into 3D? I put on the included 3D glasses and took a look for myself. Spoiler alert - it's pretty cool! Read more...


Saturday, November 6, 2010

Nikon D7000 Video Test

Posted by Jason Dunn in "Digital Home Hardware & Accessories" @ 08:00 AM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKyROOb1jLc

What's that? You're keen on getting a Nikon D7000, but you're kind of curious how the video looks, how (if?) they compensated for the "Sensor Jello" problem, and what the ISO performance is like in video mode? Well, wonder no more: the above video should answer most of your questions. Curiously, it's only available in 720p rather than 1080p. Still, it's helpful!


Thursday, September 23, 2010

Smugmug Pro: The Video

Posted by Jason Dunn in "Digital Home Articles & Resources" @ 12:10 PM

http://www.smugmug.com

Long-time readers of this site know I'm a big fan of Smugmug; they deliver the best platform for photo sharing I've seen, and customer service that's light years beyond anything else I've experienced. I don't consider myself a professional photographer - I don't charge for the photos I take - but I take advantage of some of the services that Smugmug offers. The video above looks like it was shot with an all-DSLR approach, and looks as beautiful as you'd expect.


Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Behind the Scenes at SmugMug

Posted by Jason Dunn in "Digital Home Talk" @ 01:00 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9fKuKglTH8

I'm a long-time Smugmug user and it's really cool to see a behind the scenes video about the company. I have a great deal of genuine respect for Smugmug as a company - they're very different than the big faceless corporations out there doing photo sharing/hosting. If you're passionate about photography and are curious about some of the inner workings of Smugmug, this video is worth watching. Too bad it's not in HD though!

Tags: video, smugmug

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Canon EOS 60D Videos

Posted by Jason Dunn in "Digital Home Hardware & Accessories" @ 07:00 PM

Excited about the Canon EOS 60D? Then these two videos will get your blood pumping - the one above is the marketing promo video, and the one below is a series of sample videos taken with the camera (and looks great). Enjoy!


Monday, July 12, 2010

MotionBox Acquired by HP Snapfish, Service Shuts Down August 10th

Posted by Jason Dunn in "Digital Home Talk" @ 04:26 PM

The above screen shot of the email I just received pretty much says it all; I'm a MotionBox subscriber, so this is somewhat disconcerting, because they don't mention what happens to all of the embedded MotionBox video out there. I've used MotionBox on my personal blog, and have embedded quite a few personal videos there...so will that stop working? I have no clue - but I have less than a month to find out. I'm not very pleased by this - guess I should have gotten an account with Vimeo. :-(


Friday, April 16, 2010

Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Cables?

Posted by Reid Kistler in "Digital Home Hardware & Accessories" @ 05:00 PM

http://www.pcworld.com/article/1938...able_guide.html

"Everyone has had the experience of staring at the back of a machine, device, or gadget, scratching their head, gazing in bewilderment at some unfamiliar cable port. In this massive guide to the bizarre world of plugs and cables... we'll explain nearly every modern connector for computers, TVs, and audio equipment, including which ones to use when you have choices, and which ones you can easily adapt to fit others."

Until all equipment becomes wireless, connecting the gear in our Digital Homes will depend upon a variety of cables. PCWorld.com has put together a "Giant Cable Guide" intended to help sort through the various types of cables and connecting ports that might be found in the typical home. The Guide is broken down into five categories of cables - Display, Proprietary, Peripheral, Audio/Video, and Networking - and includes advice on preferences (e.g.: when possible, use S-Video instead of Composite Video), adapters / converters, and methods that can be employed to add additional outlets to a given type of port. I found the article somewhat basic (or skimpy) overall, but it might still be a useful reference.


Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Eight Reasons Not To Buy a DSLR for Video

Posted by Jason Dunn in "Digital Home Articles & Resources" @ 10:00 AM

http://poetzerofilm.com/2010/04/8-r...-to-buy-a-dslr/

"DSLR's, the game-changing family of hybrid cameras are the darlings of the media world. Cheap and capable of eye-catching imagery, they've captured the imagination of thousands of would-be (and real life) cinematographers and directors. It seems everyone has a feature in production using the neat little cams which are going to take over Hollywood. But this picture isn't perfect. Here are 8 reasons not to buy a DSLR for video."

This article brings up some excellent points about the limitations of using a DSLR for video - the biggest of which is the ergonomics. DSLRs were designed to take pictures; video is just an afterthought. I love the way DSLR video looks, but this article raises some very valid points that should make anyone re-think a DSLR video project if they assumed it would be easy. Not that it can't be done - Vincent Laforet has proven amazing things can be achieved - but it's not something you should go into blindly. I wonder what kind of challenges they had on this episode of House shot with a DSLR?


Jake Ludington's Audio and Video Answers eBook on Sale for $7

Posted by Jason Dunn in "Digital Home Events" @ 08:44 AM

http://www.jakeludington.com/tutori...=1fI55gBuj1yTzX

"PC Audio and Video are frustrating. Over the years of writing my Digital Lifestyle newsletter I've answered hundreds of reader questions on everything from common Windows XP frustrations to specific issues in dealing with audio and video problems. Eliminating the frustrations quickly so you can get back to watching video, creating home movies, archiving your music collection or simply enjoying your computer is the primary aim of this ebook: Audio and Video Answers."

Jake Ludington is one of the most experienced digital audio/video guys I know - I go to him for answers when I'm stumped - and he's discounting his 200 page eBook from $47 down to $7 for a short time...the sale price ends on April 16th. If you'd like to expand your knowledge of digital audio and video, I'm certain this is worth your $7.


Featured Product

The Canon PowerShot S100 - The incredibly fun and small camera that offers you 12.1 megapixels with a bright f/2.0 lens and full 1080p video recording . MORE INFO

News Tip or Feedback?

Contact us

Thoughts Media Sites

Windows Phone Thoughts

Digital Home Thoughts

Zune Thoughts

Apple Thoughts

Laptop Thoughts

Android Thoughts

Reviews & Articles

Loading feed...

News

Loading feed...

Reviews & Articles

Loading feed...

News

Loading feed...

Reviews & Articles

Loading feed...

News

Loading feed...

Reviews & Articles

Loading feed...

News

Loading feed...

Reviews & Articles

Loading feed...

News

Loading feed...