I’ve done the research.  I know Sony’s Playstation 3 is expensive and is not the world leader in “fun” games or units sold.  I didn’t buy the PS3 based on what it is not.

The PS3 is an incredible DVD upconverter.  So good that the night I plugged in my PS3 I watched 4 movies in a row because I was so blown away by the visual quality of the image (Saving Private Ryan, Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, 300, and Casino Royale).  If you have a large DVD collection and have purchased an HDTV lately, don’t bother buying an upconverting DVD player, buy a PS3 – you get native BluRay support, too.

The PS3 has built-in WiFi.  Within a few minutes of powering up I had the PS3 on the Internet and I was browsing with their (admittedly limited) browser.  Being connected to my wireless network has benefits beyond surfing though.

The PS3 can access media servers on your network.  That sounds like something you’d need a degree to set up but if you own a PS3 just install TVersity on your PC and you’ve instantly set up a media server.  Now I can stream songs, videos and pictures to the PS3 (and thus onto my big screen and home theatre) quickly and extremely easily (even from iTunes now that Apple is removing DRM from all their songs).

Oh yeah, and the PS3 plays amazing games.  So far I have owned Guitar Hero, NHL ‘09, Little Big Planet and Metal Gear Solid 4.  I had to return MGS4 because it was too good but the rest are really, REALLY good.  “Too good” you ask?  The immersion, graphics and story were so good that I knew that I would need to devote a lot of time and effort to really enjoy it and, with 2 kids and 2 jobs it was unlikely that something wouldn’t fall through the cracks.  I’ll try MGS4 when I have more free time – it really is amazing.

Lastly, the PS3 on screen interface is pretty slick.  The XMB, or CrossMediaBar, is really well thought out.  So well thought out that I’ll probably try to copy it in an upcoming web project…

I wish I had more time to write about all of the things I’m learning in the home theatre field but I’m too busy doing…

Crank it to 11, everyone!

J

While I may be pulling the curtain back and exposing the one of the most lucrative markets in North America, below are the top 3 HDTV-related myths and their [probably not-so shocking] facts.

Myth #1: 1080p is much better than 1080i (720p).  (i – interlaced vs. p – progressive scan is briefed at the bottom)

Fact: In tests after tests experts have proven that the human eye just isn’t sharp enough to see the difference at screen sizes and distances typical of North American homes.  So while you may feel like you’re slumming when you ’settle’ for a 720p HDTV to save a few bucks, know that your picture will likely look just as good as your neighbour’s 1080p (all else being equal).  And don’t forget, your incoming Satellite or cable HD signal is coming in at 720p – that’s a perfect match!

Myth #2: You need expensive new HDMI cabling to take full advantage of your HDTV.

Fact: Well, this one is about 50/50.  Yes, you’ll need HDMI cabling to get a higher than 480p picture but you don’t have to spend a lot on it.  There are only two standards when it comes to HDMI: standard and high speed.  If you are being asked to pay more than $10 CDN for less than 2 metres then you’re overpaying.  PMP: Packaging + Marketing = Profit.

Myth #3: 7.1 Surround sound is the best way to recreate that in-theatre experience.

Fact: Guess what?  The audio you’re listening to wasn’t even recorded in 7.1 surround sound.  Even on Blu-Ray.

What’s the difference between 1080i and 1080p?
That’s a good question.  Well, the 1080 is the number of horizontal lines of resolution.  That’s the same on both.  The “i” stands for interlaced and the “p” stands for progressive scan.  Interlaced means that only half of the lines are being refreshed during every other scan while progressive scan means that all 1080 lines are being refreshed on every scan.  Theoretically it means a smoother picture during fast moving action but in the real world, viewers have a really hard time picking out which set is “i” and which set is “p” on typically sized HDTVs.  480p is the maximum that a good DVD player can produce.  Oh yeah, and 720p and 1080i are basically the same – you can choose to have the entire screen refresh 720 lines at once, 720p, or you can have the entire screen refresh 1080 lines every other scan.  Experts say that fast moving sports like hockey sometimes look better on 720p.  I’ll let you know what I think soon.

What’s the difference between 60Hz and 120Hz?
Yet another good question.  60Hz and 120Hz (pronounced hertz) are the refresh rates of LCD TVs.  Not to be confused with response rates, which are how fast the screen can display the signal from the source, refresh rates are the hot topic in 2008.  Film movies and television are shot at 24 frames per second (as opposed to digital which is 30 frames per second).  If your TV has a refresh rate of 60Hz it means that some fancy footwork has to be done to try to show those 24 frames evenly.  Thus the 3:2 pulldown.  Your TV has to adjust the content to 30 frames and this can cause ‘jaggies.’  A 120Hz TV can handle 30 frames per second as well as 24 frames, without having to adjust anything (both 24 and 30 divide evenly into 120).  Jaggies are bad.  Choose 120Hz if you can.  This is not an issue with plasma displays.  Which brings me to my final question.

Plasma or LCD?
Personal preference.  Take your favourite movie into your favourite big box store and ask them to show you on both.  It really is just down to personal preference now.  Don’t let anyone tell you that burn-in or brightness are issues with either – those days are long gone.

Get ready for something completely different, coming January 2009 – jacobkennedysolutions.com – trust me, it’s different…

This is a test of the Emergency Blogging System.  Were this a real blog you’d be inclined to offer real comments and persuade your friends to read it.  Being that this is just a test, here are some random ramblings:

For those who didn’t know, Lesley and I are going to be parents again come Mayish.  We haven’t totally decided on names yet but we’re not going to tell a lot of people lest they steal our good ideas.  It wasn’t 3 months after our first, Ella Grace was born that we started seeing a lot of Ellas, and even Ella Graces showing up in the birth notices.  Oh who am I kidding, we’re going with Bertha for a girl and Leonard for a boy (copy that!).

Our tile drainage system appears to be working exactly as planned (wood being knocked).  Our well is quite high but just lower than where I’d expect our tile to be sitting.  Either we’ve had just enough rain and water to push the well to that point or our drainage is carrying away the excess and actually working.  Either way, I’m extremely happy to not be pumping.  At this point last year we’d already been pumping for a full month and a half straight… 2 pumps, 24/7 (does anyone even say that anymore?).

My truck is knocking when there’s a weight transfer from side to side.  It’s only 2 years old so that’s pretty annoying.  I’m told that GM is aware of the issue and claims that it is normal for this ‘knuckle’ to produce a certain amount of noise.  Why it had to start almost exactly 500km after my warranty ran out is completely beyond me.

Been playing some of the worst hockey of my recent life in the last month or so, so that’s not good…  I was blaming it on rust after hunt camp but I think it’s more the suckage.

Haven’t caught The Office in weeks – total bummer.  Watched The Island on Friday night – not as bad as everyone says.  Some definite leaps of faith but Ewan McGregor impressed me again, as did Sean Bean.  Buscemi was his usual awesome self and Nelix was good too.  The premise was a little bit frightening.  It’s easy to see that scenario actually playing itself out – body parts harvested from clones who are grown rather than raised, ignorant of the ‘real’ world.

Anyway, just thought I should write… don’t you hate blogs that grow stale?

I… am… outta here! (Dennis Miller – SNL Weekend Update circa… you figure it out)

We’ve all seen Jim act.  He can do voices (Stanley didn’t appreciate his being done but it was hilarious) and he can do mannerisms (he nailed Dwight).  What if Jim joined Michael at improv one night, to cheer him up about his money problems, and ended up being a hit?  There would be a pretty limitless acting arc for Jim and we’d have another reason to beat on Michael.  He’d have Ryan as his boss and Jim as the superior actor/comedian.

I’m just saying…

Well, The Sopranos is over and I’ve seen exactly 0 minutes of “America’s Favourite Drama Series.” Obviously, since I’ve never seen it, I didn’t not watch it because I didn’t like it. It’s just another one of those shows that was either on during another show I was already into, or it was a show I didn’t get, or it was a show that I respected enough to want to start from the beginning. In this case it was more than likely the latter.

There are several series that I have on my back ordered list of shows to watch. Most of the time the shows are hour long episodes that I didn’t want to waste my time on if they sucked; shows like 24 (which I was nervous about due to Keifer as the leading man), The Sopranos (which I didn’t think James Gandolfini could carry), Heroes (nerdies rejoice), and Lost (actually, I’m still on the fence over whether I’m interested in this one). But there are now a whole list of comedies that are on my list and I don’t know when I’ll find the time. I’ve had Arrested Development on my list ever since I saw Dodgeball.  I’ve always liked Jason Lee so My Name is Earl made the list.  I saw 20 minutes of one episode of the British The Office so it made my list, and people here at work won’t stop talking about the American The Office so now it’s on my list too.

The truth is, as long as the UFC stays popular, CSI continues to pump out episodes (and series[es?]) and America’s Funniest Videos is still running, I just don’t have any hours left in the TV-watching day. CSI is on 4 times a night so most of the time I can find an episode I haven’t seen. I am finding myself enjoying :New York even though I didn’t want to. :Miami has taken a strange turn and is completely unrealistic but is exactly like a train wreck – I can’t look away.

My watching CSI at all is a bit of a fluke. It was, at one time, in my back ordered shows list but while my wife and I were in Finland with my parents, it was the only show we got at my grandmother’s farm that was in English. I hate jumping into the middle of a series but CSI had me hooked the first time we met Greg in the lab. He sold me.

I guess what will eventually happen is that I’ll get to the point in my life where I am complaining that everything on TV is crap (and the music is too loud) and I’ll be able to go back and watch all of these series like they were brand new. The key will be maintaining a complete list of all of these shows I deem worthy. I’ll start it right now.

1. The Sopranos…