Hi Definition Television

My New Sharp 52" Hi Def Flatscreen with Motorola PVR (top right).



I hear a lot of people saying, they don't really think Hi Definition TV is a big deal. They think it's not worth it or that it's over hyped and that their current TV and current signal is good enough.

I was one of those.

My iMac changed my mind. Through QuickTime, an iMac user (at least one with a recent iMac) can download 1 - 3 minute Hi Definition clips of Movie Trailers and other films. You can go here if you want to try it.

The crystal clarity of the clips on my 20" iMac was amazing. I couldn't help but stare and replay the scenes.

I thought it was worth the investment. Two weeks ago we purchased a Sharp LC52D64U 52" 1080p Widescreen LCD Television (pictured above).

It's a beautiful machine even when it's turned off. We still had standard analogue cable and the picture was good but not great. Not a whole lot better than my 61" 1998 Proscan Rear Projector television it was replacing. In fact my wife complained that it was too small.

Last Monday, the Shaw Cable Guy came over and hooked us up to Hi Definition. He installed the Motorola DCT-6416 III, a 160GB PVR with Dual Hi Def Tuners.

Some people have compared Hi Definition Television to Standard Television as being like DVD's to the old VHS videotape, as far as quality improvement.

No way. A better analogy would be from going to Black and White to Colour Television. Or from going from an antenna reception to cable.

I'll go one step further and say that Hi Definition Television is the most dramatic improvement EVER in the history of Television Technology.

The viewing experience is amazing, it's like rediscovering what it's like to watch Television.

The first night we had the HI Def we watched Memoirs of a Geisha. I think my mouth was open in wonder at the beauty of the images we were watching.

Last night we watched "House" and then an episode of the fantastic series on the early life of Henry VIII called The Tudors.

You have to see for yourself. So much detail is exposed that you find yourself looking at the background scenery, the props, the beard growth on House's face, the jewelry garnishing Henry's royal robes. It's so freaky because you almost feel like you are with the actors in the scene.

And to watch the Canucks humiliate the Anaheim Ducks in Hi Definition, well who would pay $100 for a seat at GM Place when they can watch it just as clearly if not more so in the comfort of their home.

Expensive? Yes it is. The Sharp TV cost me around $3000, the PVR with the dual Tuners, close to $800 with taxes and a modest increase in my cable fees.

I think it's the best $4000 I ever spent. Will the novelty wear off? Maybe. Technological Standards rise with every passing year. I'm still able to access all my previous Standard Definition cable channels. What I thought was pretty good reception now looks unacceptable.

If you have the money, go for it. If you never liked watching televising before or thought it was a waste of time, this new technology will rekindle your fascination with what is available for you to view.

Tasers = Lazy Police

Thanks to the Internet and the fact that video cameras are everywhere, pretty much the whole world viewed Robert Dziekanski being killed at the hands of four RCMP officers at the Vancouver International Airport.

I carry my tiny Canon SD600 camera everywhere on the off chance that something monumental might occur that I can record. So far, nothing has, which might be good or bad.

But anyway, back to the lazy cops. Yep that's just what they were, lazy. Rather than risking messing up their uniforms or getting a bruise on their precious skin they chose instead to inflict, at the very minimum, intense pain and shock, at the worst, death on this unfortunate man. Of course, the worst happened.

There is no way anyone can tell me that their health and welfare were threatened in any way, shape or form. There were four of them, four against one panic stricken weaponless man.

So they took the easy way out and tasered him. And now all the world can see what a pack of lazy power crazed thugs those policemen really were.

At the very least their employment as RCMP officers should be terminated. They should be charged with manslaughter.

I've often wondered why, when a bear makes a nuisance of himself in an urban neighbourhood, he is peacefully tranquilized via a dart and carried off safely for all involved. Yet us miserable humans are zapped with a potentially lethal force. Can they not use the same tranquilizing method with people?

The Internet has been used for a lot of murky practices for sure. But the fact that injustice can be recorded and publicized makes up for all that evil and then some. Whether it be tyranny in Burma or thuggery in Vancouver, these acts of evil can now be exposed.

The video is clear, people can judge for themselves. People the world over.

Most police officers I think are admirable beings. They have what must be the hardest job in the world. They see the worst of people and the most horrific circumstances. They see the mayhem of automotive carnage, the broken bodies and lives. They have to tell mothers and fathers that their children have been killed. They have to prevent enraged husbands from beating their wives or children.

Still, there is no excuse for what happened at YVR. A gross injustice committed by the people we rely on to protect us.

I've said it many times:

The only thing worse than the criminals running wild is the police running wild.

Trying To Re Invent The Wheel

Mavis Johnson, so called "Traffic Safety Expert":

At the conference I'm attending there has been a lot of discussion about shared space. It's a European Concept. You remove the signals, lane designations and many of the signs that confuse people, sometimes even the sidewalks, and force everyone to negotiate rather than relying on traffic lights or stop signs."

Huh? What's confusing about traffic signals and stop signs. Seems to me its pretty clear. Red means stop, green means go. A stop sign means you have to stop.

What's confusing about that? This is a case of a so called "expert" dreaming up an idea, or at least considering one that is not needed and has no merit.

It never ceases to amaze me how few traffic accidents there are when you consider the amount of traffic there is on any given day.

I can't speak for elsewhere but I think the drivers in Kelowna are excellent.

Sure there are always a few Yahoos, either testosterone induced or senility impaired individuals who will cause mayhem.

That's always been the case and always will be. Most drivers, I find, are respectful. Almost to a fault. My pet peeve with drivers is the ones that give up their right of way to you, thinking they are being "nice". The result being that no one knows who is going where, when.

Stick to the rules of the road and everyone will be fine. And Mavis, that means don't fix it if it ain't broken.

To Upgrade or Buy?

NVidea 7800GS Superclocked



This week my Ati Radeon 9800 Pro All-In-Wonder Graphics Card died. I'd had the card for about two years enabling me to play my favorite PC Games.

I only play four games and four games only:

1) EA Sports NHL2007 (might get the new 2008, not sure yet).
2) G*T*R (FIA GT Racing Game)
3) GT Legends
4) Colin McRae Rally 2005

In order to play any of the above you NEED a quality graphics card.

I wonder how many people have purchased a computer in the $500 to $1200 price range, took it home only to find out it can't play games.

Computer manufacturers do not put quality graphics card in machines of that price range.

Sure computers are good for other things. But I have my Core 2 Duo iMac for that. Macs are great but they don't do games.

I have a PS2 and about a half dozen games with that. But a SD television screen cannot come close to the realism and resolution you can achieve with a computer screen. Not even in the same ball park.

So I prefer the computer games. And I need a Windows-based computer for that.

My current computer is about three years old. It an HP a620N with 160 GB HD and 1 Gb of RAM. It has the AMD Athlon 3200+ CPU.

It's old and outdated but it's fast enough for the games I like, especially with a good graphics card. It has the old AGP Bus so it limits the cards I can still acquire.

Anyway I got my new card yesterday. It's an Nvidea 7800GS (Superclocked), about 2 to 4 times faster than my ATI AIW 9800. The stats show this is one smokin fast card, not the fastest but near the top of the heap. Sweet!

The Future Shop site indicated it needed just a 300W power supply, which I thought was standard in most machines.


However when I purchased it I read it needed a minimum of 350W and even further to my surprise I found my a620n only had a 250W supply. Yikes.

Well I played NHL 2007 and it ran sweet and smooth as silk. But that game probably doesn't demand too much power-wise.

Colin McRae 2005 is the absolute best simulation of any kind that I've seen. The graphics are dazzling, its pretty darn close to virtual reality. I've played this "game" for probably thousands of hours.

It played well but I could see some areas where it should have performed better.

So now I am convinced I need to upgrade my Power. For 69.99 I can get a 400W unit.
That's on top of the $179.99 + tax I paid for the new card.

Yikes.

So I'm off to Future Shop now to get one of those bad boys, hoping it will fit my machine. Later..

Ok I have my new Dynex 400Watt power source installed, very easy installation. I'm set to go.

When my Radeon Card died I was very tempted to buy a brand new computer. The thing is I already have 5 (five) computers up and running and online in my home. Collecting computers and watching them become outdated is getting to be an issue.

But are they really outdated? The computer I was looking at was from Future Shop, an HP M9080N sold for as low as $1799 (reg $1999).

Yes, expensive but we are talking about an Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz CPU, 3 GB of RAM, 1 Terrabyte of hard drive storage, and the deal maker, an NVIDIA GeForce 8800GTS.

That's impressive credentials. But the more I thought about it the more I realized those specs were an exercise in overkill.

The HP I have now runs at 2.2 GHz, yes it is a "single core" but I don't multitask on it, when I play a game that's all I do I play 1 game. Its fast as I need it to be. I have a Core 2 Duo iMac and honestly its not that much faster than the single core CPU on the old a620n.

3GB of RAM. So what, who needs it? It most cases I don't come near even using the 1 GByte I already have, I doubt anyone does.

A Terrabyte (1000 GB) of storage. That's just nuts. Yes the dream machine is PVR capable for recording television but I already have two of those. Additional storage is cheap. And what happens when your hard drive crashes and everything you have is on it? It's wiser to forget about the huge hard drive on your machine and just get an external hard drive for back ups and something you can grab easily in case of a house fire.

The NVIDIA GeForce 8800GTS is near the top of the food chain as far as graphics cards go. But the Nvidea 7800GS card I just bought is not far behind.

So I'm happy I saved my money. My games run great on the equipment I have. The fancy dual and quad core processors are probably overkill, most people will never use their capability unless you are doing a lot of video editing and other tasks at the same time.

I think it's going to be difficult selling desktops in the future. People who have computers are satisfied with their speed. Most computers sold in the last 4 years have plenty of storage and, as I mentioned, additional storage is cheap.