GeekwithEnvy

Television

The Tablet Takeover

by Leave a Comment

We have been taken over! Not by an alien race but a massive movement towards tablet based computing. Tablets are undoubtably becoming the king of the hill and it’s easy to see why. Need proof that tablets are game changers? Windows 8 is a shining example how big these little devices are. What makes them so popular and what will their role become in our lives as technology continues to evolve? WiiU Controller

I have talked to a lot of people, many come from varying backgrounds and from all different age groups and almost all of them own a tablet. The typical scene in today’s modern household consists of a tower style desktop PC collecting dust in the corner of a quiet room, perhaps with a pile of books on it or maybe even some old bills. Next, there’s the tried and true laptop, which is seeing a fair amount of usage despite it starting to show it’s age. Finally, we have the tablet. The tablet PC comes in many different sizes and shapes, some with a logo of fruit on it and others that run software with little green robots firmly in control. These are the devices that are most up-to date and used the most in today’s household.

By analyzing the scenario I just described one could infer that the tablet is on track to replace these other devices, but I would argue (at least for now) that tablets may be taking on a different role. The tablet PC may be better suited as a supplementary device to others, but it will do so while having the added benefit of being able to stand on it’s own. Nintendo’s Wii U is a great example of how tablet technology can merge with others to create a more immersive and rich experience. The Wii U GamePad follows along with the action on the big screen and it feels seamless and engaging. Although you could argue that the Wii U is more of a hybrid, it’s still a tablet at heart.

Nintendo is getting ready to launch it’s new streaming service TVii, which is offering up features that actually resemble a step forward in technology. You will be able to get additional information about what you’re watching on screen, like sports scores and statistics. You will be able to share what you’re watching with friends and family and choose programming right on your tablet device. What about having your interactive programming guide right on your tablet instead of covering up your T.V screen. The possibilities are numerous and we will soon be reaping the benefits.

This idea will translate easily to other devices and you can start to imagine companies like Apple releasing a television product that works perfectly with your iPad. A new version of Apple TV would be pretty slick, but why stop there? The tablet is the swiss army knife of the tech world and it’s only going to get better.

Attack of the Show! and X-Play Canceled

by Leave a Comment

G4 announced earlier today that they are canceling both Attack of the Show! and X-Play. Here is the official message from G4.

“G4’s two longest-running and defining series, Attack of the Show! and X-Play, will be ending their run at the end of 2012. Both shows will include original episodes through the end of the year, and will look back at their most memorable moments as we lead up to their final episodes. A rotating lineup of guest co-hosts including John Barrowman, Michael Ian Black, Josh Myers, Paul Scheer, Rob Huebel and Horatio Sanz will join AOTS hosts Candace Bailey and Sara Underwood, and X-Play hosts Morgan Webb and Blair Herter as part of the farewell shows.”AOTS_logo

“With well over a thousand episodes each, Attack of the Show! and X-Play have defined gamer culture for a generation, serving as the launch pad for prominent personalities including Kevin Pereira, Olivia Munn, Chris Hardwick and Adam Sessler.

Attack of the Show! debuted March 28, 2005 and from the start was the ultimate guide to everything cool and new in the world of technology, web culture, gaming and pop culture. X-Play made its debut almost two years  earlier, on April 28, 2003 (on G4’s previous incarnation: TechTV), and immediately became the go-to destination for young men seeking the latest video game news, honest reviews, hands-on demos and exclusive video game trailers and footage. The year-end celebration will take you back through highlights of these landmark shows’ history, including its exclusive live-from-the-floor coverage of San Diego Comic-Con and E3.”

“Both long-running shows helped define, as well as expand, the pop culture and gaming TV experience for a generation. We hope you’ve had as much fun watching them as we have had making them, and sincerely hope you join us in bidding a fond farewell to Attack of the Show and X-Play’s as we look back over the next two months and head towards each series’ finale.”

Are You Ready For UHDTV?

by Leave a Comment

Just as we are starting to get really comfortable with HDTV as it is today, we are already looking ahead to the next big step.UHDTV Ultra High Definition Television

HDTV’s and basically any other displays we use are constantly being improved.

Television resolution was locked in at 480i (NTSC) and 576i (PAL) and these resolutions were the standard in television broadcasting for decades. Today, we seem to be in a race to create the most detailed display possible and every few months there is something better being created. We may not think about it very much but this is history being made before our eyes, quite literally.

Most of us are familiar with HDTV by now, which consists of two resolutions, 1080i/p (1920 x 1080) and 720p (1280 x 720). UHDTV or Ultra High Definition Television consists of 4K aka 2160p (4096 x 2160) and 8K aka 4320p (7680 x 4320). 3840 × 2160 is also considered to be UHDTV but for obvious reasons is not considered to be 4K.

Why in the world do we need such high resolutions? Well, as we begin to increase screen size we loose detail and with screen sizes over 80 inches, as is the case with projection systems, we begin to loose some of the fine detail that standard HDTV offers on screen sizes below 80 inches. 4K has primarily been used in projection technology until recently.

Now we are seeing LCD television sets that employ both 4K and 8K technology on screens at 84 and even 145 inch screens. The name of the game here is to reduce the visibility of pixels. Technologies like the Retina display from Apple and other high dpi screens also aim to make pixels disappear but on a much smaller scale. Resolution is relative to screen size, take a 1080p  image and place it on a 145 inch screen, that’s not going to look so great but also imagine 4K on your mobile phone, that’s not very practical so everything here is about making things look as smooth as possible based on screen size.

UHDTV_resolution_chart
Credit (GrandDrake)

Now that we have a basic understanding of what UHDTV actually is, it’s time to consider it’s actual implementation. In order for UHDTV to be broadcast, it would require a significant amount of bandwidth to do so. Many of our current television providers struggle to get us standard HDTV without severely compressing it and removing other data from the video pipeline. This also is true with streaming video online, we have only recently seen HDTV quality streaming actually work well on the internet and this is because we are still technically in the early days of broadband internet. I know what you’re thinking, our broadband has been around for more than a decade now! Yes, it is true that high speed internet has been around and it is relatively quick but we have only seen the tip of the “broadband iceberg”. Broadband will soon be many, many times faster than it is today and that’s when it will be practical to broadcast  or stream UHDTV.

I guess we can relax for now about our recent HDTV purchase as it looks like good old 1080p will be around for quite a while yet but we will start to see things change and it will be just as amazing as was the first HDTV display. It makes you wonder how much better will our displays get before we reach that theoretical “sweet spot”.

It is Time for More Star Trek or at Least Better Science Fiction on Television

by Leave a Comment

Star Trek The Next Generation was a great show and I think it’s about time that we bring Star Trek back to television. I was sitting at my computer thinking about the hit television series The Big Bang Theory after I watched this seasons first episode, and then I started thinking about Wil Wheaton and the rest is history. I want the sci-Fi series back and I think as long as it’s done well it should be able to gain an audience.

Michael_Dorn_by_Gage_Skidmore
Michael Dorn by Gage Skidmore

In a recent interview with Wired, Michael Dorn -who played Worf in the Star Trek series- mentioned that todays science fiction television lacks the optimism that previous television series like Star Trek The Next Generation had. Dorn talks about how we need a show that can help us escape from all of the day-to-day crap that goes on in the real world and that can leave us with a positive feeling.

I believe there is a large audience out there for a new Star Trek project but as Dorn mentions in the interview, sci-fi has taken on a different look and the original formula that made Star Trek work back then will not work now. The series would most likely need to take on a new approach in order to get a green light and gain viewership. Dorn also mentions how it would be nice for Star Trek to be a catalyst for change, which I think we need desperately.

I’m not saying that there isn’t any good sci-fi out there, I am just saying there isn’t enough. Many new shows fail to hold my interest and the quality of the storyline and production effort are just laughable. In a day and age where reality television has dominated the air waves, I believe it’s time to move on toward better writing.

There are so many great sci-fi stories out there could easily make for great television, it just seems that networks don’t care to look for them, especially if they don’t all involve some type of post apocalyptic storyline. Again, there are a few good shows out there including one that I think is done really well,  the Fox series Fringe. Fringe pulled me in right away and I love the idea of playing around with parallel universes and trying to understand complex issues with time.

For now we can only hope to see something come together that will inspire us and capture our imaginations. Don’t forget that we don’t have to wait for big television networks to bring us a good story though, there’s plenty of great sci-fi out there to read and if your looking for a place to start I would like to direct you toward the science fiction and fantasy themed book club, Sword and Laser.

 

Using the Power of the Cloud For Your DVR

by Leave a Comment

Imagine being able to watch any episode of a current season or being able to watch your DVR content from any device you choose, from anywhere you want. These are just a few of the possibilities with a cloud based DVR. I imagine being able to queue up a movie, then I can notify my friends or family members that I am about to start watching a new movie or episode of my favorite series, they then receive a message asking them if they would like to join me. Imagine how powerful this could be, being able to connect like this and have a live discussion about what your watching together from anywhere in the world. There are many ways that this could be implemented and there is word that companies like Apple are getting involved in making all this happen.

Cloud computing
Cloud Computing

There are many other technologies available for your television that use a remote database to provide content already, but nothing quite like this. The Internet has so many rich video experiences now that it makes sense that providers would want to have some of these same features. We live in a world now that has two separate ways to watch your favorite content, online or on TV. I think that as we move forward we will see the lines blur more and more until they just become one.

With ever increasing Internet speeds around the world becoming the driving force behind doing what might have been  impossible only 10 years ago, we are seeing history change right before us. I personally can’t wait to see whats next,  it’s one thing to talk  about how it might work and another to see what actually comes out. I have mentioned the power of the cloud before in other posts and this is no different. I am sure will will see more ways to utilize the cloud in the future that we didn’t expect to see.