Upscaled
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‘Babylon 5 Remastered’ now available to buy, or stream on HBO Max
Nearly thirty years after it first aired, and twenty years after its troubled DVD release, Babylon 5 is getting a polish as part of its release on HBO Max.
HDR10, Dolby Vision, and HLG: How does HDR work?
With 4K now firmly in place as the standard for most new TV's, high dynamic range, or HDR, video is starting to move from being an enthusiast curiosity to the next big thing in home media. HDR content looks vibrant, crisp and can be a bigger upgrade than 4K, but what's done to make those great images? Part of the confusion is that HDR isn't one thing, it's at least 4 different technology standards being unevenly applied by about the same number of competing video formats. These video standards, with opaque names like Rec2020 and SMPTE 2084, build on dozens of previous standards, going back to black-and-white CRT televisions and the dawn of broadcast. In short, it's all kind of a mess.
Is AMD's RDNA graphics technology ready to power next-gen consoles?
Welcome to the latest episode of Upscaled, our explainer show where we look at the components that make our tech faster. In this episode, we're taking a close look at AMD's RDNA graphics architecture. AMD's previous architecture, GCN, powered the Xbox One and PlayStation 4, and for the past few years has also provided the graphics power for Apple's higher-end laptops and desktops. But in the high-performance gaming space, AMD has been struggling in recent years, and many people were looking to RDNA as the product that would put AMD back on top. So does it live up to the hype? Well, not yet. The RDNA-based cards that AMD has released to far, the 5700 and 5700XT are perfectly fine performers, but they didn't exactly set the high-end graphics market on fire the way many people had hoped they would. So what actually makes RDNA different from the GCN-based graphics cards that came before it? Despite some claims that they're too similar to really be called a new architecture, RDNA does redesign how it processes graphical data at a pretty fundamental level. These changes should dramatically increase the efficiency of the GPU, and couple with a more flexible design, could lead to graphics processors that scale all the way from super-high end PC cards down to smartphone chips.
Are Intel’s 10nm Ice Lake CPUs worth the wait?
Welcome to the latest episode of Upscaled, our explainer show where we look at the parts that make our favorite tech faster. In this episode we're testing Intel's 10th gen, 10nm CPUs. Smaller transistors are one of the ways companies can speed up a chip, and Intel has been trying to get its transition from 14nm to 10nm processors going for years. This proved to be a bigger technological challenge than anyone expected, but finally Intel is gearing up to release a new line of chips based on 10nm technology. Code named "Ice Lake" these CPUS promise to be faster, and way more power efficient, and could help bring a new generation of speedy, ultra-long lasting laptops. But only laptops, because for now at least, Intel hasn't announced any desktop parts based on its new Ice Lake architecture. When they do, if they're anything like the mobile parts we tested, expect them to be seriously speedy. The CPU we benchmarked was the i7 1065G7, and despite being a pretty low-powered chip, it delivered some impressive performance.
Why your Avengers UHD Blu-rays aren’t actually 4K
Welcome to the latest episode of Upscaled, our explainer show where we look at the components and parts that make our favorite tech better. In this week, we're actually taking a step away from components to talk about 4K movies and TV. As companies push higher resolution screens and cameras, 4K resolution has become the standard for high-quality content. Distributors have also embraced high-resolution, with 4K streaming becoming more common on platforms like Netflix and Amazon, and Ultra HD Blu-Rays generally considered to be the best video quality you can get at home.
This is the year of the CPU ‘chiplet’
In the second episode of Upscaled, our new deep-dive explainer series focused on the components that make tech better, we're looking at what is going on with CPUs. Chips are still getting faster, but at a rate much slower than most predictions. 2019 might be the year that finally changes, though, and we're excited about a few developments that should be coming later this year.
NVIDIA’s RTX ray tracing put to the test
Welcome to the first episode of our new explainer series, Upscaled. We're going to be examining the components and gadgets that are helping move technology forward, and in this first episode, we're looking at graphics cards.
