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Win a $100 Gift Card From eBay and HDD for Mother's Day
Mon May 02, 2011 at 02:50 PM ETTags: eBay, Contests, High-Def Digest, Fun Stuff (all tags)
Mother's Day is this weekend! THIS WEEKEND! If you're anything like us, these floating holidays have a maddening way of sneaking up on you. Every year we find ourselves scrambling at the last second to find the perfect Mother's Day presents.
eBay always makes last minute gift giving a snap, because we can find just about anything on there. Now they're making it even easier to get your mom the perfect present, because in a partnership with High-Def Digest, eBay is giving away a $100 eBay gift certificate in this exclusive contest.
Now, you're just dying to learn how to win one hundred bucks of free eBay merchandise, aren't you? Well, the contest rules are pretty simple. Head on over to eBay's Mother's Day page and pick out three of your favorite Mother's Day items. Probably the items that you would buy if you were lucky enough to win the gift card. Then come on back to the forums on High-Def Digest and post your choices in the eBay giveaway thread linked below. The winner will be selected at random.
That's it. That's all you have to do. Now you're entered into a contest that will possibly make you the best son or daughter ever. That is assuming you actually use the gift card on your mother!
Check out the eBay Mother's Day contest here, then visit the forum discussion below to post your gift picks and enter the contest!
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Have you "Liked" High-Def Digest on Facebook yet?
Tue Apr 19, 2011 at 05:40 PM ETTags: Fun Stuff, Mindblowingly Awesome Things, High-Def Digest, Industry Trends (all tags)
Have you visited the High-Def Digest Facebook page lately? If not, why not swing by and let your friends know that you like us? In return, we'll make sure you never miss a Blu-ray bargain or a great review.
Please check out the High-Def Digest Page on Facebook, click "like," and spread the word, so you and your friends can always find the best Blu-ray and High-Def news and reviews online.
Our Facebook page is still going strong, and we'd love you to join in the fun. In addition to our reviews, highlights from The Bonus View, and priceless witticisms, we use the page as one more way of spreading the word about the best high-def releases on the market.
If you haven't joined the fun yet, you can check it out here.
Hope to see you there soon!
Top 5/Bottom 5: Jeff Bridges
Tue Apr 05, 2011 at 02:20 PM ETTags: Aaron Peck, Top 5/Bottom 5, Fun Stuff (all tags)
by Aaron Peck
Jeff Bridges has had a very long career. With the release of 'Tron: Legacy' and the original 'Tron' on Blu-ray this week, we thought we'd take a look back at Mr. Bridges filmography and decide where he went right and where he went very, very wrong.
He's played some of the most memorable characters in cinema, and he's also been in some serious disasters, but the great thing with Bridges is that even when a movie is an utter mess, he's always doing something interesting with the role he's playing. He takes on a different way of speaking, often doing something almost indefinable with his jaw, just watch for it. The mannerisms, the pitch of his voice, the way he approaches the other actors, the guy isn't Nicholson, who often plays some variation of "Jack." No, a Bridges character is always original. The Dude is not Rooster Cogburn, and Rooster Cogburn sure as hell isn't Bad Blake. When Bridges' character and the movie itself come together, there are few more satisfying films. Here are some of the best and some of the worst.
The Best
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Confession time. I've never been that big a fan of 'The Big Lebowski' as a movie, but Bridges' performance as The Dude is arguably the best of his career, and it's definitely the most memorable. The movie as a whole never grabbed me like it grabbed so many other fans, but I couldn't leave this one off the list for fear of 'Lebowski' fans calling for my little toe in an envelope. Don't watch this one if you don't have the fixings for a white Russian in the house. Trust me!
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Another classic movie that, despite its dated graphics, has stood the test of time and has continued to gain fans over the decades, enough fans and support that Disney saw it fit to make a sequel almost 30 years later!
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Who knew that Jeff Bridges could sing country music so well? He was also able to make a romance between a grizzled old country singer and Maggie Gyllenhaal seem genuine. He capped off his performance as Bad Blake by taking home the Best Actor award at the Oscars that year.
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Some have said that Jeff Bridges was even better than John Wayne in the role of Rooster Cogburn. Whether that's true or not, doesn't negate the fact that Bridges was superb in this movie. Many people thought he deserved to win back to back Best Actor awards. If it hadn't been for Colin Firth and his stammering performance, I think Bridges would have walked home with a second golden trophy.
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I was surprised how imposing Jeff Bridges is with a shaved head and full beard. He made a great villain, which surprised me even more because I've become so accustomed to Bridges being the consummate good guy.
The Worst
'How to Lose Friends & Alienate People'
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Sandwiched between 'Iron Man' and 'Crazy Heart' was this turd of a movie that was hastily thrown together to capitalize on Megan Fox's popularity. You know your movie is a piece of garbage when you have Jeff Bridges, but your main focus is on Megan Fox. Not to mention Bridges sported one of the worst wigs ever.
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This was a promising movie. Terry Gilliam was directing, and Jeff Bridges was starring, but as so often happens with Gilliam productions, somewhere something went very, very wrong. Gilliam got too weird for his own good, and made 'Tideland' an almost unwatchable mess.
'Blown Away'
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One of those movies that you see on TBS or some other basic cable channel Saturday morning and after watching about ten minutes you realize why you never actually think of it unless it's on Saturday morning. Even with Bridges and Tommy Lee Jones, 'Blown Away' failed to establish much suspense at all. Just another bland thriller from the early 90s.
'Scenes of the Crime'
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Like 'Blown Away' only duller. 'Scenes of the Crime' is that movie where you wonder what in the world an actor like Bridges is doing in a movie like this. It just doesn't make any sense.
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Full of notable actors, 'The Amateurs' tried its hardest to be a sex-centric comedy with heart, but instead the movie ends up being a complete and utter mess. Even with a good performance by Bridges, this movie is still mired in an ugly heap of euphemisms that it mistakes for comedy.
Bridges has plenty more movies that could go in as Honorable Mentions like 'Starman,' 'The Door in the Floor,' 'Arlington Road,' and 'Fearless' (can we please get a Blu-ray for this Peter Weir masterpiece?!) He's had quite the career, and he's treated us to some wonderful performances over the years. Even the dregs of Bridges' filmography still harbor serviceable performances from him.
So what do you think? Please visit the forums and tell us your own Top 5/Bottom 5 for Jeff Bridges!
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Have you checked out the High-Def Digest Facebook page?
Thu Mar 24, 2011 at 03:00 PM ETTags: Facebook, Mindblowingly Awesome Things (all tags)
Have you visited the High-Def Digest Facebook page lately? If not, why not swing by and let your friends know that you like us? In return, we'll make sure you never miss a Blu-ray bargain or a great review.
Please check out the High-Def Digest Page on Facebook, click "like," and spread the word, so you and your friends can always find the best Blu-ray and High-Def news and reviews online.
Our Facebook page is still going strong, and we'd love you to join in the fun. In addition to our reviews, highlights from The Bonus View, and priceless witticisms, we use the page as one more way of spreading the word about the best high-def releases on the market.
If you haven't joined the fun yet, you can check it out here.
Hope to see you there soon!
See what people are saying about this story in our forums area, or check out other recent discussions.
Disaster in Japan May Strongly Affect Consumer Electronics Industry
Wed Mar 16, 2011 at 10:00 AM ETTags: High-Def Retailing, Industry Trends (all tags)
Supply goes down, price goes up, and products may be delayed.
The recent natural and nuclear disasters in Japan may end up having a devastating effect on the Japanese consumer electronics industry, but at this point it's really too soon to tell just what the outcome will be.
Updates are still coming in from the major suppliers and manufacturers, but many have already reported conditions from light building damage and lack of electricity and water up to Toshiba's Kitakami City plant which will be out of operation indefinitely.
Most companies, thankfully, have been reporting small amounts of damage and minor injuries.
The folks at TWICE are updating regularly as they find out more.
Source: TWICE
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Top 5/Bottom 5: Rachel McAdams
Tue Mar 08, 2011 at 06:35 PM ETTags: Aaron Peck, Top 5/Bottom 5, Fun Stuff (all tags)
by Aaron Peck
I had to do this list after our esteemed editor, Mike Attebery, confessed his secret love for Ms. McAdams and her acting. Truthfully, I don't think he has to be secretive about anything. She's cute, and given the right role, she flourishes. Sure there are a couple dark moments in her career, but when she's good. She's very good.
With today's Blu-ray release of 'Morning Glory,' we thought this was a fantastic time to revisit the filmography of our favorite Canadian import!
The Best
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Personally I think 'Mean Girls' is Rachel McAdams' best movie by far. Partly because the movie itself is one of the best high school comedies out there, and partly because she's perfect playing the bitchy Regina. I'm sure we can all hearken back to our high school days and remember the snotty, pretty girl that walked around the school like she owned it. 'Mean Girls' nails the high school comedy, and with McAdams' performance, it's a movie that I can sit down and watch over and over again.
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Sure it's a corny Nicolas Sparks movie that makes me want to cringe every time I see it, but McAdams successfully pulls off the melodramatic mess of a script with a quiet refinement. It's actually quite marvelous to watch her. She's invested in this role, even though the movie itself is just so darn manipulative and over-the-top.
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I thought our Rachel did a great job holding her own against the likes of Harrison Ford and Diane Keaton. Even with those two big stars, she was called upon to carry much of 'Morning Glory' and she does so very well.
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When the previews for 'State of Play' were playing on TV I couldn't help but watch them and think it looked like a mediocre two-hour episode of 'Law and Order'. It just looked so terribly cliché that I didn't want to have much to do with it. I'm glad I was wrong. 'State of Play' is a taut thriller that packs a sturdy gut punch. Seasoned director Kevin MacDonald is able to draw an exremely strong performance out of McAdams here as reporter Della Frye. A very pleasant surprise! It's also a steal on Blu-ray.
'Red Eye'
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Guilty pleasure time. I'm allowed at least one on these lists, I'm pretty sure of that. Anyway, as a damsel in distress, McAdams excels. She's not asked to do much, but what she does, she does well. And stabbing Cillian Murphy in the throat with a pen, that was pretty bad-ass (and long overdue!). Good for her. Let's get this one out on Blu-ray, shall we?
The Worst
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Is it McAdams' fault that this movie is a complete dud? Not really, but despite playing the film's title character, she's still never convincing in the role. She basically just sits around waiting for her husband to disappear and reappear whenever his time travel disease sees fit. Yawn...
'The Hot Chick'
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I'm instituting a rule in the Top 5 / Bottom 5 articles. If ever an actor stars in a movie opposite Rob Schneider that movie automatically goes into the Worst List no questions asked. Now imagine having to switch bodies with Rob Schneider. I shudder at the thought.
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Her Irine Adler was pretty wooden all the way around. Plus it didn't help that she was bumping up against nutty Robert Downey Jr. who completely owned this movie, chewing up most of the scenes that she was in.
'The Lucky Ones'
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A disappointing Iraq war movie that you probably never saw, and probably never will. What? I needed to fill in the requisite "unknown movie" slot somewhere on this list, right?
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Sporting a cast that included Chris Cooper and Pierce Brosnan, this World War II period piece about infidelity was hardly seen by anyone. It came and went without anyone really noticing it, and that's for a reason. It's dry, mundane, and sort of a slog to sit through. The movie's other downfall? It's a movie about adultery that features a PG-13 rating. With a good looking girl like McAdams in a movie about infidelity, I know many people would be hoping for something a little more risqué. Sorry boys. Not going to happen here. Not this time. (but on that note, 'Time Traveler's Wife' does has its moments!)
McAdams is cute and bubbly, and has stepped her way up into the A-list crowd of leading ladies. She's still got a little ways to go, however, since big as she's become, she still disappears in scenes involving actors like Robert Downey, Jr. (Then again, who doesn't, right?) She's getting better with every film though. Showing that she could stand up and be seen next to the likes of Ford and Keaton in 'Morning Glory' went a long way for her. As always, if we missed a movie, or included a film in the wrong section (according to you of course) then please let us know in the forums.
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HD Advisor Opus No. 96
Fri Mar 04, 2011 at 01:45 PM ETTags: HD Advisor, Joshua Zyber (all tags)
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Editor's Note: Each Friday, High-Def Digest's own HD Advisor will answer a new round of questions from our readers. If you have home theater questions you need answered, send an email to HDanswers@gmail.com. |
Answers by Joshua Zyber
Is Lossless Audio Mostly Hype?
Q: I'm having a difficult time getting to grips with these new audio formats. The hype led me to purchase a Panasonic BD85. (I'm using multi-channel analog out, not HDMI.) I'm running both analog (lossless) and digital (lossy) together. I can switch from one to the other, and I have to say there's not much in it, to be honest. I cannot believe my ears. Are these higher bandwidth legacy tracks really that good? Are there any Blu-rays that can clearly demonstrate the qualities of a lossless recording over a lossy compressed one? I sure would like to hear of it.
A: Honestly, you're going to get a variety of different answers to this question the more people you ask. Some will tell you that there's a mind-blowing, absolute night-and-day difference between the lossy audio used on DVD and the lossless audio used on Blu-ray. Others will tell you that they can't hear any difference at all. I'd venture that most people fall somewhere in between.
I've never pretended to be an audiophile. I came to the home theater hobby with an interest in video first, and learned about the audio side of things as I went. All I can give you is my perspective on the topic. You'll have to decide for yourself how much you agree with.
I tend to take a pragmatic approach to all home theater matters. Human hearing and our perception of audio quality is extremely subjective, much more so than vision or video quality. The way our brains process sound information is easily biased by Placebo Effect. Even a tiny difference in volume can be perceived as a significant difference in clarity, when it's really not. (Volume is not the same thing as quality.) Also, if you expect one piece of audio to sound better than another, your brain is more likely to interpret it according to that expectation. At the same time, the combination of factors that affect the sound quality in your home theater is enormously complex. One weak link in this chain can cause the whole thing to fall apart.
Here's what I believe: In most cases, yes, there is a perceptible improvement in audio quality with a lossless format like Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HD Master Audio. How much of an improvement will depend on what you're listening to, the specific equipment you're using, how you've set it up, the acoustics of the room environment you're listening in, and your own perceptions, preferences, and biases. In most cases, I don't believe that there's a so-called "night-and-day" difference. The improvement is usually subtle.
It may be so subtle that attempting to directly compare two short audio clips isn't the best way to go about it. Human short-term memory for audio quality is ridiculously poor. By the time you've finished listening to one clip and cue up the next one, you've already lost most of the ability to remember exactly what you last heard. What I recommend instead is to listen to lossless audio long enough for the effect to "sink in." This may take longer than one movie, or two movies, or five or ten. But eventually, after you've conditioned yourself to get accustomed to lossless quality, jumping back to standard lossy DVD audio will sound noticeably weaker, thinner, and more fatiguing on the ears. You may not be able to pinpoint exactly what, but it will just feel like something is missing. Because it is.
With that said, to truly benefit from lossless audio quality, you need equipment that can actually deliver it to your ears with as much of the fidelity as is available in the source. This means more than just getting a Blu-ray player and plugging it in to a receiver that has lossless audio decoders. You also need quality speakers that can reproduce all the subtle distinctions in the signal. Even if the "TrueHD" icon lights up on your receiver's front panel, you're not getting the full quality available if your receiver is wired out to flimsy "Home Theater in a Box" off-brand speakers that you bought as a $50 package at Big Lots. (I'm not accusing you of doing this. I'm just making an example here.)
The quality of your speakers is the single greatest limiting factor in your home theater to the sound quality your ears will hear. Poor speakers will not be able to reproduce the difference between lossy and lossless audio signals. Conversely, the better the speakers you own, the better that everything will sound through them. If you don't have good speakers now, upgrading them will provide a much more immediate and tangible difference to every single thing you listen to than the difference between lossy and lossless compression codecs ever could.
To go with these good speakers, you also need a receiver or amplifier that can provide enough juice to power them effectively. You also need to properly calibrate these speakers and receiver with a sound level meter (or, at the very least, the auto-calibration tool that may have come with the receiver). You need to arrange the speakers in your room with the most effective angles and distances from each other and from your seating position. You need to dampen audio reflections and compensate for other acoustic issues in your room.
There are a great, great, great many things that need to be done to fully optimize your home theater for the best sound quality. And, once you've done all of them, you still need to expect that the difference between lossy and lossless audio is going to be subtle. Because, frankly, lossy DVD audio was never "bad." It's actually pretty good. It just so happens that lossless Blu-ray audio is better. Nonetheless, the difference between "good" and "better" is much smaller than the difference between "bad" and "good."
Oh, and did I mention that if you're over 30-years-old, you've already lost the ability to hear many of the audio frequencies that make up those subtle distinctions? That's something to ponder as well.
To sum up here: There's a whole lot of hype about lossless audio. Some of it is merited and some isn't. It's worth going to the effort to set up a proper lossless audio chain in your home theater, but try to set realistic expectations for how great a difference you'll notice right off the bat.
HD DVD Compatibility
Q: I bought a friend the HD DVD discs of the 'Sopranos' TV show. I found that she has a Toshiba projection TV and a Toshiba DVD video player. All we could get on the TV was the sound from the discs. I searched on the internet and got a lot of stuff about Blu-ray that was no help. What I want to know is if and how I can get her discs, player and TV to be compatible. Is this possible?
A: I'm amazed that you got the audio to play. It really surprises me that you got that far. Without knowing the model number of the Toshiba disc player being used, all I can do is give you some background and general information.
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HD DVD was a high definition disc format developed by Toshiba as a competitor to Blu-ray. HD DVD discs can only be played on machines with the official "HD DVD" logo. (Note that there is no hyphen in "HD DVD.") The majority of HD DVD players were manufactured by Toshiba. However, this does not mean that all Toshiba DVD players are compatible with HD DVD discs. Only players specifically built for HD DVD will work. These were only manufactured from 2006 to 2008. As soon as Toshiba conceded defeat in the high definition format war in early 2008, the company discontinued all HD DVD player models and removed that functionality from all further machines.
If your friend has a standard DVD player without HD DVD capability, she will not be able to play these discs. If, by chance, she did happen to buy a real HD DVD player during the period they were available, the machine should be connected to the HDTV by either HDMI or Component Video cables. (HDMI is preferred.) The brand of television being connected to does not matter. Toshiba HD DVD players should work with any brand of HDTV.
The complete list of HD DVD player models can be found on this page.
The HD Advisor knows many things, but he doesn't know everything. Some questions are best answered with a consensus of opinions from our readers. If you can help to answer the following question, please post your response in our forum thread linked at the end of this article. Your advice and opinions matter too!
Home Theater Energy Efficiency
Q: I have recently installed a Hitachi 42" LCD TV, PS3 Slim 120GB, Xbox 360 120GB, and a Pioneer 5.1 Surround Sound system into the spare room. As a result of me playing video games a few hours per night, my electricity bill has shot through the roof. My girlfriend is constantly telling me that I need to play less games and watch fewer Blu-rays in order to save money, but I really want to find another alternative to playing less if i can help it.
In an attempt to show that I am at least making an effort, I have noticed that my LCD TV has an "energy efficient mode" to apparently reduce power consumption. But I have noticed that when it's activated, the content on the screen becomes extremely dark. In some cases (i.e. 'Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem'), the film is almost unwatchable. Is this a case of just simply increasing the brightness / contrast levels on the TV, or will this reduce the quality of the image overall? Also, are there any other alternatives to saving energy that I may have missed to avoid tinkering with my TV picture settings?
JZ: I'll leave it to our other readers who may be more knowledgeable on the subject to address your question about alternative methods for conserving energy. What I will point out, however, is that the 'Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem' Blu-ray is already dark to the point of unwatchability. That's just the way the movie was made and the disc was mastered.
I'll also say that cranking up your Brightness and Contrast settings pretty much defeats the purpose of turning on an energy efficiency mode built into the TV, which primarily works to save energy by reducing light output. Whether you use the energy efficiency mode or not, I highly recommend that you purchase a video calibration disc and adjust your settings with the guidelines provided by that. If you haven't already done this, you probably had those Brightness and Contrast settings too high to begin with. (Most TVs are set to "Torch Mode" out of the box.)
Check back soon for another round of answers. Keep those questions coming.
Joshua Zyber's opinions are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of this site, its owners or employees.
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The Bonus View Is Live-Blogging The Oscars TONIGHT! We Promise Prizes and SURPRISES!
Sun Feb 27, 2011 at 02:00 PM ETTags: Academy Awards 2011, Academy Awards, Oscars, Josh Zyber, The Bonus View (all tags)
If you weren’t already aware, the 2011 Academy Awards air TONIGHT!. High-Def Digest will be live-blogging the entire event over at The Bonus View!
In case you missed it, we had a blast with our Golden Globes live-blog, and we expect this one to be even more fun. How so, you ask? This time, we’re running multiple Blu-ray give-away contests throughout the show!! The best part, even people who’ve won any of our previous contests will be eligible to win!
We've been busy sharpening our barbed observations and working our way through stacks of Blu-rays, ferreting out some great award winners and plenty of secret shame crowd-pleasers. We have tons of high brow and low brow goodies to send your way!
Check out The Bonus View TONIGHT, and be sure to spread the word! We can’t wait to get started!
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Spread the Word! We're Live-Blogging The Oscars This Sunday!
Fri Feb 25, 2011 at 02:30 PM ETTags: Academy Awards 2011, Academy Awards, Oscars, Josh Zyber, The Bonus View (all tags)
If you weren’t already aware, the 2011 Academy Awards will air this Sunday, February 27th. High-Def Digest will be live-blogging the entire event over at The Bonus View!
In case you missed it, we had a blast with our Golden Globes live-blog, and we expect this one to be even more fun. How so, you ask? This time, we’re running multiple Blu-ray give-away contests throughout the show!! The best part, even people who’ve won any of our previous contests will be eligible to win!
We're busy sharpening our barbed observations and working our way through stacks of Blu-rays, ferreting out some great award winners and plenty of secret shame crowd-pleasers. We should have tons of high brow and low brow goodies to send your way!
Check out The Bonus View on Sunday evening, and be sure to spread the word! We can’t wait!
See what people are saying about this story in our forums area, or check out other recent discussions.
HDD's The Bonus View Is Live-Blogging The Oscars on Sunday!
Thu Feb 24, 2011 at 03:30 PM ETTags: Academy Awards 2011, Academy Awards, Oscars, Josh Zyber, The Bonus View (all tags)
If you weren’t already aware, the 2011 Academy Awards will air this Sunday, February 27th. High-Def Digest will be live-blogging the entire event over at The Bonus View!
In case you missed it, we had a blast with our Golden Globes live-blog, and we expect this one to be even more fun. How so, you ask? This time, we’re running multiple Blu-ray give-away contests throughout the show!! The best part, even people who’ve won any of our previous contests will be eligible to win!
We're busy sharpening our barbed observations and working our way through stacks of Blu-rays, ferreting out some great award winners and plenty of secret shame crowd-pleasers. We should have tons of high brow and low brow goodies to send your way!
Check out The Bonus View on Sunday evening, and be sure to spread the word! We can’t wait!
See what people are saying about this story in our forums area, or check out other recent discussions.
