Cloud Based Streaming. Cloud based music streaming is coming this year from Google and Apple among others but I would love to also sync my movies for streaming. I know it’s not really a new thing but the way we stream now isn’t really cloud based nor is it efficient.
Sixth Sense Gesture Based Interfaces. Although it’s not completely practical as it is now, the future possibilities are endless. This truly is a bridge where your brain and your eyes can be digitized live and used. Where “reading” wouldn’t even be done with your brain. Scary? Yes, but you’ll be able to read all languages instantly. Imagine taking a trip to Japan and having no problem getting around. Talking to locals via Google’s live translation app. This leads right into Augmented Reality. I can write pages here on the possibilities of the Sixth Sense stuff but I’ll let Google help you with that.
Augmented Reality. I’m not talking about those stupid apps on your iPhone, although, it is the same idea (just not enough location resolution). This is basically location based interactive views. With the infinite number of “layer” possibilities, this will be a gold rush as big as the dot-com gold rush on the internet. As soon as a definitive open format is standardized to read layers, the floodgates will open. Information, advertising, gaming, etc. It’ll all be there.
Hyper-Sonic Sound. If you know me this one goes back far. A directional speaker that uses your ear to decode the information. Unfortunately this technology has now been fully focused as a weapon/security issue rather than music. The creative possibilities are endless.
Those are a few things. There are many things I’d love to see, including all the medical stuff but I don’t know much about that. Give me a good computer or something. I would love a good “smartphone” but I have a feeling there will always be a compromise somewhere. Apple’s FaceTime? This technology goes back to 1934. Give me something new and innovative. Blow my mind.
This past month, I fell victim to buying my first HD television. It was quite the struggle. As of today I have never come across an HD television (LCD, Plasma, Laser, 3D, etc…) that compares to CRT televisions. In my eyes, even the Pioneer I bought doesn’t compare. Regardless of all that, I’m happy with my new 60”. The upcoming World Cup helped in prompting this purchase.
When buying HD gear, most people come upon the situation of purchasing HDMI cable. Whether it’s your PS3, XBOX, Cable Box, or Blu-ray player, 7 times out of 10 you’ll want to go with HDMI cable over component cable. Over the past few years people have always come to me asking “Does it matter what kind of HDMI cable I get?”. “It’s digital right? So it shouldn’t matter?”. “Do I have to get the $50 cable or can I get the $10 one? And I never have a solid answer because I’m always speaking on theory of what I’ve read. Until now.
After testing my TV for two weeks I can say “It matters.” Of course it matters. If we’re talking about getting the best picture you want out of your TV then yes it does actually make difference. However, there are many situations where it makes no difference at all. It depends on what kind of TV you have. What type of HDMI jacks are involved. What category of HDMI cable. How your TV is setup to display. Where your source footage is coming from. It’s a confusing journey but one that was well worth it for me. Read more below…
My Pioneer has HDMI 1.3 ports on the back of it. HDMI 1.3 has two types of HDMI cable. Category 1 and Category 2. Category 1 does 720p60 and 1080i60 while Category 2 does 1080p60 and 2160p30. 2160p30 doesn’t really matter to me but “p” does. P stands for progressive and I stands for interlaced. Look those up to see which one works for you. There is a newer HDMI port format called HDMI 1.4. HDMI 1.3 and 1.4 are equivalent in clock rate, video throughput, audio throughput, and color depth. Basically everything except for resolution. My TV is HD at 1920×1080. If you have a 4K TV, 4096×2160, you will probably go with the 1.4 cable but again, I have yet to see a 4K that looks good. Hey, if you want higher resolution just move back from the TV!
My cable box came with a no-frills HDMI cable. Now, I know HD cable television broadcasts look horrible on ALL TVs but my gut told me it looked more bad than it should. I bought the shamefully marketed Monster Cable 1000HD HDMI cable. The one that promised 15.8 GBps of video throughput (even though HDMI only goes up to 10.2 GBps). I decided to A/B a bunch of television stations using both cables. I tested both 720p and 1080i TV broadcasts. I tested everything from the NBA finals to local news. The results were night and day. I’m only using my eye here but the Monster cable outperformed the no-frills cable. Unfortunately I have no idea if that cable is a Category 1 cable or what. So I decided to buy a decent cable off Amazon. I went with Mediabridge.
Before I continue, let me mention that I bought the smallest distance cable possible as my components are super close and I know longer distances may effect signal fidelity. Also, I spent a decent amount of time playing with my display settings which included turning down my sharpness and detail all the way. Those two settings on my Pioneer were unnecessary and introduced too many artifacts for my taste. Again, I prefer the CRTs, so you know where I’m coming from.
Once again, the Monster cable outperformed the Mediabridge cable. I ran through these same tests with my Baraka blu-ray. I decided to use that because I wasn’t happy with some other blu-ray movies I have. Also, I’ve seen it in the theater as well as TV and DVD so I had some kind of reference. [Note: I used a Pioneer blu-ray player as I don't like my PS3 one. If you think that's crazy, you probably think all DVD players are the same and all CD players are the same. It's all digital right? Wrong.] The Monster cable again outperformed the Mediabridge.
I can’t guarantee these results will match yours. This was my own unscientific test. There are plenty of horrible TVs out there with horrible settings and horrible source footage. Just walk into a Best Buy and look around. What I can say is that the picture changed based on the HDMI cable. Yes, I think it’s outrageous to charge so much for a cable. Whether or not it’s worth it depends on your situation.
I saw Conan O’Brien at Radio City the other day and it was funny. But who I really wanted to see was Reggie Watts. My desires were answered before I even got in the venue. Not only did he bless us with an awesome performance but he did his dope single “Fuck Shit Stack”. I lost my mind.
To hear Radio City singing the hook to “Fuck Shit Stack” was one of my all time best live music experiences.
I don’t know where the audience was from but it sure wasn’t dominantly New York. You’d think Conan coming back to NYC on tour would have a better audience response. Besides when John Krasinski came out, it was dead in that room. I still can’t get into The Office.
Last night I tried to hit up the Homeboy Sandman album release party but ended up just getting the album. I can’t stay out late these days.
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Above, is an interview with him before performing last night at SOB’s. Whether he’s ranting about Dr. Zizmor or talking about going bald, this dude constantly entertains. Enjoy and cop that album.
I picked up the New York Times this Sunday and checked out some photos of M.I.A. in the New York Times Magazine. They were taken by Ryan McGinley. The one above is on from the roof of the Ohm building. One of my daily addictions, among surfing YouTube covers, is reading how pictures were constructed. I was very happy to see that the NYT Magazine included a picture to fuel that addiction.
Sixth Sense Gesture Based Interfaces. Although it’s not completely practical as it is now, the future possibilities are endless. This truly is a bridge where your brain and your eyes can be digitized live and used. Where “reading” wouldn’t even be done with your brain. Scary? Yes, but you’ll be able to read all languages instantly. Imagine taking a trip to Japan and having no problem getting around. Talking to locals via Google’s live translation app. This leads right into Augmented Reality. I can write pages here on the possibilities of the Sixth Sense stuff but I’ll let Google help you with that.
This past month, I fell victim to buying my first HD television. It was quite the struggle. As of today I have never come across an HD television (LCD, Plasma, Laser, 3D, etc…) that compares to CRT televisions. In my eyes, even the Pioneer I bought doesn’t compare. Regardless of all that, I’m happy with my new 60”. The upcoming World Cup helped in prompting this purchase.
After testing my TV for two weeks I can say “It matters.” Of course it matters. If we’re talking about getting the best picture you want out of your TV then yes it does actually make difference. However, there are many situations where it makes no difference at all. It depends on what kind of TV you have. What type of HDMI jacks are involved. What category of HDMI cable. How your TV is setup to display. Where your source footage is coming from. It’s a confusing journey but one that was well worth it for me. Read more below…
My cable box came with a no-frills HDMI cable. Now, I know HD cable television broadcasts look horrible on ALL TVs but my gut told me it looked more bad than it should. I bought the shamefully marketed Monster Cable 1000HD HDMI cable. The one that promised 15.8 GBps of video throughput (even though HDMI only goes up to 10.2 GBps). I decided to A/B a bunch of television stations using both cables. I tested both 720p and 1080i TV broadcasts. I tested everything from the NBA finals to local news. The results were night and day. I’m only using my eye here but the Monster cable outperformed the no-frills cable. Unfortunately I have no idea if that cable is a Category 1 cable or what. So I decided to buy a decent cable off Amazon. I went with Mediabridge.
Once again, the Monster cable outperformed the Mediabridge cable. I ran through these same tests with my 
