Digital Trends
So you’re ready to take the plunge and buy a PlayStation 3 Slim. Congratulations, at $300, there’s never been a better time to buy. But the skeptical consumer can’t help but wonder: What’s the catch? Is it missing something? In short, the answer is “not much,” but Sony has made a handful of very slight changes to the new machine that are worth reviewing before you buy. Here’s what’s new.
Refreshed Design
Nikon has introduced its new top-of-the-line digital SLR camera, the Nikon D3X, a 24-5 megapixel FX-format DSLR that offers continuous 5 frames-per-second shooting at full resolution, along with a complete slate of high-end features sure to please professional photographers and simply wow the rest of us. The D3X can capture images at wieher 12-bit or 14-bit resolution to ensure high image quality…and at 24.5 megapixels, each RAW image is roughly 138 MB in size.
You’ve made the investment in a new HDTV, but ask yourself: Are you really getting the most for your money? Something many new HDTV owners might not realize is that they likely aren’t enjoying the best possible picture quality right out of the box. In fact, unbeknownst to certain users, some may not even be viewing programs in high-definition! In this short guide, we’ll help you make sure that you’re not only enjoying a high-def image, but also provide essential tips on eking every last bit of performance out of your HD television set.
Connect Your TV Properly
Consumers may still be reeling from the gratuitous resolutions available in even the cheapest digital cameras these days, but for the professional photographer, no resolution is ever really “enough.” Kodak made that point rather dramatically on Tuesday with the introduction of the world’s first 50-megapixel CCD for professional cameras, the KAF-50100, which takes photos in a staggering 8176 x 6132 resolution.
To put that in perspective, Kodak claims that if an aerial photograph of a field 1.5 miles across were taken with the sensor, viewers would be able to pick out an object just one foot square, like a small notebook computer. That makes it the most pixel-dense sensor in the 48 mm x 36 mm optical format, with pixels sized at just 6.0 microns.
High-end projectors with 1080p resolution and through-the-roof contrast ratios may garner the lion’s share of attention when they’re first announced, but with prices that rival those of most compact cars, they’re also out of the question for most people. NEC made an appeal to more budget-minded consumers on Monday with the release of its NP Value Series of mobile projectors, both of which offer portability and reasonable resolution without the need for a second mortgage.
The NEC NP100 and NP200 DLP-based projectors are nearly identical, save for resolution and light output. The NP100 offers only SVGA (800 x 600) resolution and 2,000 lumens of brightness, while the NP200 offers XGA (1024 x 768) resolution and 2,100 lumens.
Continuing in the trend of packing more and more resolution into pocketable point-and-shoot cameras, Sony broke news Monday of its new Cyber-Shot W300, a slim new digital camera that takes 13.6-megapixel shots.
Like many cameras in Sony’s Cyber-Shot line, the W300 gets a Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar lens, which offers 3x zoom and benefits from Sony’s Super SteadyShot optical image stabilization. It also sports a titanium covering to resist scratches and fingerprints, and manages to fit both a 2.7-inch LCD and viewfinder on its back panel.
These days the television industry is all abuzz about getting high-definition televisions into consumers’ hands. Sure, 480 lines of resolution on a 17-inch CRT might have been good enough for our grandparents, they tell us, but to really appreciate a good movie, you need at least a 50-inch screen displaying 1080 lines of resolution. And, wow, do they have a deal for you right over here….
But what comes next after “high-def?” After all, computer displays these days regularly exceed the 1,920 by 1,080 pixel resolution of high-definition television displays. What’s the next bump in resolution going to be? What do professionals and cinematographers want to have in their living rooms and editing booths?
Last month, General Electric raised a few eyebrows by announcing it would be entering the digital camera market with newcomer General Imaging, which is headed up by former Olympus president Hiroshi Komiya. Today at the Photo Marketing Association conference, General Imaging put its camera models were its press releases are, unveiling eight camera models (PDF) designed to appeal to first-time digital camera buyers as well as experienced photographers.
Canon has taken the wraps off even more additions to its digital camera lineup, including a new PowerShot G7 high-end point-and-shoot cameras and numerous new (and colorful) members of the company’s popular Digital Elph line. All the new cameras feature Canon’s DIGIC III image processor with face detection technology, so they can track faces as they move within the viewfinder to make sure those portraits and group shots turn out marvelous.
The new LCM-19v5 features integrated speakers, DVI input and a native resolution of 1280×1024. But will the LCM-19v5 be worth your money?
“Westinghouse Digital’s HD-Grade LCD monitors offer increased resolution, brightness and contrast ratios, delivering an enhanced viewing experience, whether you are working on documents or spreadsheets, sending e-mails, or enjoying digital entertainment,” said Douglas Woo, president of Westinghouse Digital. “The lightweight yet durable LCM-19v5 monitors can also be used for signage display in an industrial or commercial setting.”
The LCM-19v5 is available for an estimated $329.
Product specifications include:
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