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January 12th, 2009 An No comments
Netflix and Blu-ray
The Perfect Combination?

The road to Blu-ray was a complicated one for me. I wanted to get the most out of my purchase, especially since I was jumping on this technology-bandwagon so soon. My search began when I was looking for a Christmas present for my husband. I decided I wanted to look into streaming Netflix as a gift for him.

You can stream Netflix without purchasing a Blu-ray player or a streaming box. You can connect a computer to your TV. However, the TV we have is quite old and I would have had to purchase extra equipment in order to connect everything. A variety of ways to stream Netflix to your TV is offered online. The box offered by Netflix to stream video looked okay, and was reasonable in price. But, just below this listing I found some Blu-ray players that also stream Netflix. I appreciate multi-functionality in my electronics so I began my search for the perfect combo machine. I finally settled on the Samsung BD-P2500 for a variety of reasons, including price and availability.

Once the BD-P2500 arrived, it was amazingly simple to set up. As soon as the Samsung was plugged into my network, Netflix appeared upon the menu. The player walked me through activating my account. I used to my Netflix account through the computer and added eligible titles to my instant viewing queue to get movies to show up on my player.

There are quite a variety of titles available for both movies and TV shows. I am pretty happy with the selection but I do have some complaints. I chose a few TV shows to watch this weekend. The two series I chose had several episodes unavailable for viewing instantly. This is especially annoying since you do not become aware of it until you start watching. For instance, the first TV show I picked was missing the pilot episode, number three, and number four. I gave up on that show at that point since I prefer to watch everything in order.

I have to say, overall, that I do like the ability to stream Netflix. It gives me a wide variety of shows to watch and I don’t have to “waste” one of my 3 hard copy choices from Netflix to watch them. I also don’t feel guilty if I don’t like the movie and turn it off. This was a great purchase but do be aware you need a Netflix membership and a wired network connection in order to do this.

January 7th, 2009 An No comments
A Layman’s First Impression of High-Definition Television

Let me say, I’m impressed. For the first time in years I sit staring, open-mouthed, at a football game for more than 10 minutes. The crisp images projected in high-definition on a plasma television cannot be beat. I feel as if I’m on the field with the players. I get dizzy when the camera moves quickly, panning the crowd. Watching sports has become pleasurable again. HD viewing gets an A+ from me. 

But, just when you thought it couldn’t get any better, a Blu-ray/plasma TV combination tops even the most exciting football game. Together with surround sound, watching the Transformers movie over and over again this weekend at the request of a very excited three-year old proved to be an easy chore. How many times can I watch these robots fighting and flying around the cities? I don’t know, I’m not finished yet. Especially considering this is the only Blu-ray disc I have in the house, and it belongs to my son. I foresee this being played a lot and I won’t get tired of it too soon.

HD television is a pleasure to watch and I look forward to the day when everything is broadcast this way. It’s a disappointment now to watch the older, fuzzy shows. 21st century, here I come!

Vectors Versus Pixels

November 20th, 2008 An No comments
Vectors Versus Pixels

Our goal is to have your disc print perfect. While perfection is certainly not always possible, we can strive for it and keep a few things in mind. There are 2 types of art to be aware of when printing on a disc: vector-based and pixel-based. Each is unique and serves a special purpose. It is important to understand the different formats for various types of art to achieve our ultimate goal of the perfect disc.

Vector-based art is perfect for all text and line illustrations. Vector art uses mathematical equations to create the lines and points that make up your design. Each of the lines will be crisp and clear at any size you choose. This art is ideal for those occasions you would like to type out text, place your simple logo on a print piece, and especially when you would like to print in spot colors. One of the preferred programs used to create vector graphics is Adobe Illustrator

Pixel-based art is made up of little dots of color. Pixel art is ideal for photographs. Many different color dots (pixels) make up an image. Pixel art, though, is meant to stay at a certain size so it is important to create usable art at the size you intend to print. The larger you re-size your image the worse the quality gets. A visual inspection prior to sending them off is crucial for these types of files to make sure everything is crisp enough. Adobe Photoshop is the program most commonly used when working with photographs.

These two programs can work together and create a variety of art. Images can be placed in Illustrator and text can be created in Photoshop but the limitations of each program must be kept in mind. In the end it is best to use each program for what it is intended.

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