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Showing posts with label HD. Show all posts
Showing posts with label HD. Show all posts
Thursday, 20 February 2014
Tuesday, 19 November 2013
Inquirer gives the Nokia 1520 a rave review
Seriously considering going back to the Windows Phone platform. Still annoyed that Google shuns the platform though.
Friday, 27 September 2013
ISPreview: Headache for Broadband ISPs as Netflix UK Add Super HD Movie Streams
The interesting bit is:
"Naturally the extra quality might give a headache to some providers and that’s one reason why Netflix are attempting to encourage ISPs to adopt Netflix Open Connect, which is their “highly optimized video content delivery network” that’s available at no cost to broadband providers."
I doubt any ISP's would struggle in their core of distribution layers of their network with this upgrade. The only problems will arise if there are access network capacity issues that beat forecasts in certain areas, otherwise this is a bit of a non-story really.
I hope Now TV move to match this quality. Their standalone NowTV box (for people who don't want Sky or prefer a pay as you go model) is awesome for the price but let down by being only 720p.
http://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2013/09/headache-broadband-isps-netflix-uk-add-super-hd-movie-streams.html
"Naturally the extra quality might give a headache to some providers and that’s one reason why Netflix are attempting to encourage ISPs to adopt Netflix Open Connect, which is their “highly optimized video content delivery network” that’s available at no cost to broadband providers."
I doubt any ISP's would struggle in their core of distribution layers of their network with this upgrade. The only problems will arise if there are access network capacity issues that beat forecasts in certain areas, otherwise this is a bit of a non-story really.
I hope Now TV move to match this quality. Their standalone NowTV box (for people who don't want Sky or prefer a pay as you go model) is awesome for the price but let down by being only 720p.
http://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2013/09/headache-broadband-isps-netflix-uk-add-super-hd-movie-streams.html
Monday, 26 August 2013
The next home-networking revolution will be wired
Anything to reduce the amount of cables I have behind my Amp and computer is considered a big step forward!
It has great potential, especially with the built in PoE! You could power, TV's, VoIP phones, games consoles etc with no need for all those separate power cables!
The real plus is for PC's that can function on less than 100W. You eliminate the display / power / network cable and just have one for them all. (I didn't mention audio as HDMI can carry that).
It's doesn't quite match up to DisplayPort's 17.28 Gbit/s transfer rate as it only manages 10.2 Gbit/s bit i'm sure as the standard develops it will catch up. Its good enough for 4K.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2036527/the-next-home-networking-revolution-will-be-wired.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDBaseT
http://www.hdbaset.org/spec2
It has great potential, especially with the built in PoE! You could power, TV's, VoIP phones, games consoles etc with no need for all those separate power cables!
The real plus is for PC's that can function on less than 100W. You eliminate the display / power / network cable and just have one for them all. (I didn't mention audio as HDMI can carry that).
It's doesn't quite match up to DisplayPort's 17.28 Gbit/s transfer rate as it only manages 10.2 Gbit/s bit i'm sure as the standard develops it will catch up. Its good enough for 4K.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2036527/the-next-home-networking-revolution-will-be-wired.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDBaseT
http://www.hdbaset.org/spec2
Wednesday, 10 April 2013
Shuttle SP35p2 and a AMD HD 7870 will work happily.
Everything went beautifully with the upgrade in physical terms.
UPDATE: Sadly after months of trying to diagnose the reboots I was getting I seem to have established that the cards cooler is pretty poor. I saw temps as high as 80oC in the case. I even modded a 120mm into the roof of the shuttle (looks so cool with blue LEDs) but I could not get it to stay cool.
I think it's only once ever got to the end of a run of 3D Mark and that was when I under clocked the card massively using the catalyst drivers sliders.It's pretty disapointing. You would have thought they would have designed the coolers to force the hot air out of the case and though the fins that way instead of having such as open design.
Even with the case off and all fans at 100% (it sounds like a jet engine) you still reboots.
The old GTX 275:
Without the GPU:
The new card (left) and the old (right):
Top down view:
The new card going in:
Everything back in the case:
PSU info (I doubt the Shuttle PC55 would make a difference as it not got the same efficiency rating):
UPDATE: Sadly after months of trying to diagnose the reboots I was getting I seem to have established that the cards cooler is pretty poor. I saw temps as high as 80oC in the case. I even modded a 120mm into the roof of the shuttle (looks so cool with blue LEDs) but I could not get it to stay cool.
I think it's only once ever got to the end of a run of 3D Mark and that was when I under clocked the card massively using the catalyst drivers sliders.It's pretty disapointing. You would have thought they would have designed the coolers to force the hot air out of the case and though the fins that way instead of having such as open design.
Even with the case off and all fans at 100% (it sounds like a jet engine) you still reboots.
The old GTX 275:
Without the GPU:
The new card (left) and the old (right):
Top down view:
The new card going in:
Everything back in the case:
PSU info (I doubt the Shuttle PC55 would make a difference as it not got the same efficiency rating):
Friday, 22 March 2013
Thursday, 7 February 2013
Ways to connect your Sky Set top box to your Sky Router
With the additional on demand content ramping up recently on Sky it's worth while making sure your set-up is correct to get the most out of your service!
Your Sky Set top box (STB) generally has a fair few connections coming out of the back.
The green Ethernet one is the one we're interested in for on demand content coming in via broadband. First of all make sure the telephone connector / cable hasn't been shoved in this socket by accident. (I've seen this done before!) If so put it in the right socket which is the orange telephone line one. To my understanding that's important also for pin services like renting a movie on box office.
If you have nothing in the green Ethernet port then we are going to need something in there connecting back to the router to get our broadband across to the unit.
There are a number of ways to do this:
The best in my opinion is to run a Ethernet (CAT5e or CAT6) to between the two units. This can be upto about 95m-100m !!!
Another way is to get a wireless adapter for the STB and link the units wirelessly. These can be bought direct from Sky:
http://www.sky.com/products/kit/wireless-connector/index.html
I only recommend these where there isn't too much in the way off the router and the STB. A good test it to use a wireless device like a laptop / iPad where the STB is and run something like BBC iPlayer to test. If the distance is too far or there are too many think walls / too much noise from other wireless devices, then this may not be the best option for you.
For further info regarding the wireless connector: PDF
The last option is to use your electricity sockets in the home as a network to get a cabled link back to the router. For this you will need adapters in power sockets by the Sky router an STB. These can be had for around £30 and I have linked to some in the Amazon widget at the bottom of this page. See this wiki-page for a better description of the technology.
On a completely unrelated note. If you want 5.1 Surround sound from your STB remember use a optical sound cable as Sky still don't send the surround sound down the HDMI which is disappointing!
Update: You can now get STB's with built in wifi and also as mentioned in the comments, Surround sound now can go via the HDMI. http://www.sky.com/shop/tv/sky-plus-hd-box/
If you found this article useful, please: like /share / tweet /+1
Your Sky Set top box (STB) generally has a fair few connections coming out of the back.
The green Ethernet one is the one we're interested in for on demand content coming in via broadband. First of all make sure the telephone connector / cable hasn't been shoved in this socket by accident. (I've seen this done before!) If so put it in the right socket which is the orange telephone line one. To my understanding that's important also for pin services like renting a movie on box office.
If you have nothing in the green Ethernet port then we are going to need something in there connecting back to the router to get our broadband across to the unit.
There are a number of ways to do this:
The best in my opinion is to run a Ethernet (CAT5e or CAT6) to between the two units. This can be upto about 95m-100m !!!
Another way is to get a wireless adapter for the STB and link the units wirelessly. These can be bought direct from Sky:
http://www.sky.com/products/kit/wireless-connector/index.html
I only recommend these where there isn't too much in the way off the router and the STB. A good test it to use a wireless device like a laptop / iPad where the STB is and run something like BBC iPlayer to test. If the distance is too far or there are too many think walls / too much noise from other wireless devices, then this may not be the best option for you.
For further info regarding the wireless connector: PDF
The last option is to use your electricity sockets in the home as a network to get a cabled link back to the router. For this you will need adapters in power sockets by the Sky router an STB. These can be had for around £30 and I have linked to some in the Amazon widget at the bottom of this page. See this wiki-page for a better description of the technology.
On a completely unrelated note. If you want 5.1 Surround sound from your STB remember use a optical sound cable as Sky still don't send the surround sound down the HDMI which is disappointing!
Update: You can now get STB's with built in wifi and also as mentioned in the comments, Surround sound now can go via the HDMI. http://www.sky.com/shop/tv/sky-plus-hd-box/
If you found this article useful, please: like /share / tweet /
Monday, 14 January 2013
Thursday, 16 August 2012
Sky 3D channel free for a week
Between Monday 13 and 20 August all HD customers get free access to the Sky 3D channel as part of the Sky 3D Free Week.
http://www.sky.com/shop/tv/3d/
http://www.sky.com/shop/tv/3d/
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