60 Hz
Latest
60Hz makes it easy to follow your favorite TV shows and movies
There are several apps in the App Store that'll help you explore and track your favorite TV shows and movies. One title that is worth an extra look is 60Hz from M2D2. The app was recently updated with a new iOS 7 look that makes it even easier to follow your favorite TV shows and movies. It provides an attractive front-end to TV-tracking service Trakt.tv. You don't need to sign into the service to use 60Hz, but enabling Trakt.tv enhances your experience by providing you some extras like being able to check in to Trakt.tv or comment while you are logging an episode in 60Hz. The app has a visually driven interface that allows you to add TV shows and movies to a library. This library is your watchlist, where you keep track of all TV episodes and movies you watch. You can mark off the episodes that you've seen and read upcoming episode descriptions as you work your way through a series. If it is an older show, there are even stills taken from the show. I've been using 60Hz to track Lost, and I find it very helpful to keep track of the episodes I've watched as I revisit the series 10 years after it debuted. There is also a wishlist, which is your repository for TV shows and movies that you want to watch in the future. Once I am done with Lost, I plan to watch Breaking Bad as I missed half of the series for one reason or another. For those who like to plan, there is a TV scheduler section that'll remind you when the next episode of a show or a movie is about to air. Though you can't watch actual TV episodes or full-length movies from within the app, 60Hz does include trailers. You can watch movie trailers as well as TV trailers if the show produces them. The app is available for the iPhone and the iPad. The iPhone version is available for US$1.99 from the iOS App Store. The iPad version is available for $3.99. You can sync your library, wishlist and other content if you use Trakt.tv.
NHK 8K Super Hi-Vision camera captures native 120Hz footage, we go eyes-on at IBC (video)
We've seen plenty of 4K cameras, and we've even heard a whisper or two about 8K, but the quality of a viewing experience isn't tied only to resolution -- frame rate also comes into play, especially with fast-moving subjects. NHK's prototype Super Hi-Vision camera doubles the capture rate from the standard 60Hz to a much speedier 120Hz, yielding sharper motion. While the difference isn't noticeable with static or slow-moving scenes, it certainly comes into play when filming rapid-motion sporting events or panning the camera. The Japan Broadcasting Corporation's latest model was on hand at IBC in Amsterdam, and the advantages of a 120Hz cam were immediately crystal clear. Filming a rotating image that paired ordinary objects and cityscapes with letters and numbers, you could see the difference instantly, with the 120Hz image on the right side yielding far shaper details, while the left side was often a blurry mess. There's no software smoothing on hand here -- because the higher frequency comes directly from the source, it appears perfectly natural, and much more pleasant. We captured a video demonstrating the expo floor rig, but because our camera doesn't sport the same spec, you won't notice a difference in the hands-on clip after the break. You can see the difference in our stills gallery below, however, and you can take us on our word -- the improvement is quite dramatic.%Gallery-164700%
HDTV tests pit fantasy land specs against real world performance -- guess what happens
Good luck keeping up with the ever changing specs on the latest HDTVs, but as the numbers get more impressive, are the displays actually improving in any noticeable way? Dr. Raymond Soneira , president of DisplayMate, goes about breaking down many of the more often misused and misleading technical buzzwords in an article on MaximumPC. If you're wondering how manufacturers have advanced contrast ratios from thousands, to millions, to unlimited over the space of just a few years, there's a breakdown of what "dynamic contrast ratio" actually measures and why it's worth ignoring -- unless you watch your TV when it's only displaying one color at a time. When it comes to colors, some of the most scathing words were pointed towards Sharp's Quattron quad-pixel technology, which "can only decrease picture quality and accuracy!" Whether you believe the good Dr., a glistening review or Cmdr. Sulu, the factual heat burned hottest during a test of motion blur compared on LCDs, LED LCDs, plasmas and even a pro CRT. While additional motion processing and upgraded internals on newer HDTVs can help in many other ways, viewers couldn't detect any blur caused by a display even on an old 60Hz set, despite newer and faster 120Hz, 240Hz and 600Hz (plasma) sets claiming their technology helped them eliminate it. You'll need a minute to read through for the full details but it's a good, and unfortunately necessary, reminder to keep your eyes on the display and not just the spec sheet (just make sure you're getting a proper look that represents the way you watch TV at home first).
