blu-ray

What is upconverting?

Your HDTV, HD cable box, Blu-ray player, and even most DVD players and receivers will "upconvert," or scale, a standard-definition image to fill the screen of an HDTV.

Despite the marketing hype, this doesn't make SD look like HD, but it can make it look better than regular SD. The better the source, the better your TV will look. So how well a piece of gear can make standard definition appear is one of the major performance differences between two products. Recent TVs and Blu-ray players have gotten quite good at this.

The irony is, as good as scalers or upconverters have gotten, they're becoming obsolete.… Read more

New Acer Aspire Ethos laptops add detachable wireless touch-pad remotes, high-end specs

Laptop news keeps coming this week, and Acer's latest is a funky one indeed. The newly-announced Acer Aspire Ethos is a new laptop line that's aimed squarely at the high-end over-$1000 market, with a very unique twist: its touch pad detaches and becomes a wireless remote.

That's right: a remote. The design's enough to mildly surprise even the most jaded laptop expert. While the rest of the Ethos chassis is downright staid, that wide multitouch pad's transformation into a separately functioning wireless remote complete with LED-backlit controls might qualify as one of the most … Read more

Get a refurbished Sony Blu-ray player for $49.99

Need an inexpensive set-top box that can sling Netflix movies and TV shows, play tunes from Pandora and Slacker, and stream the latest YouTube videos? The Sony BDP-S270 can do all that for just $49.99 (after applying coupon code OUTLETBDPS270 at checkout).

Oh, it's also a Blu-ray player.

Funny how priorities change, right? Think about it: if I showed you a Roku box for $50, you'd probably snap it up. Well, the BDP-S270 streams a lot of the same services (Amazon Video on Demand, Hulu Plus, Vudu). And unlike a Roku box, it can play those quaint … Read more

Should you upgrade your home theater gear?

Let's say you have a TV you like. Maybe it's a few years old; maybe it's new. But you have the upgrade bug, and can't decide what's best to get.

The following guide should help you figure out where the most bang will come from your dollars. … Read more

Blu-ray player streaming-media services compared

Editors' note: The chart doesn't list every streaming-media service available on each content portal; for the sake of simplicity, we chose those we considered most important.

If you're buying a Blu-ray player this year and you care about streaming media, the chart above is your new best friend. We've tallied up all the streaming-media services offered on each manufacturer's Blu-ray content portal, making it easy to directly compare the competing platforms. While every manufacturer includes Netflix, Vudu, YouTube, and Pandora, that's where the similarities end.

You can read the in-depth reviews of each streaming content portal by clicking on the links in the chart, which includes screenshots and a detailed look at each service's user interface. We'll continue to update the chart as the year goes on, but here's the quick-and-easy takeaway as of now.… Read more

Sony BDP-S580 review: Streaming-media galore

If you're buying a Blu-ray player in 2011, you're probably as interested in streaming-media services as you are in Blu-ray. The BDP-S580 is a tantalizing option for a streaming-media fan, packing in more services (including Netflix, Amazon Instant, and Hulu Plus) than any of its competitors. It also has built-in Wi-Fi and an excellent smartphone application you can use to search Netflix and other streaming-media services--no competitor provides this option for searching inside Netflix.

Yet we can't recommend the BDP-S580 without a few caveats. Unlike other Blu-ray players, the BDP-S580 has its own custom user interface for … Read more

Panasonic Blu-ray players having Netflix issues?

Almost a month after we gave the Panasonic DMP-BDT210 our Editors' Choice Award, we've noticed an increasing numbers of users complaining about Netflix streaming issues.

The large number of user reviews on both CNET and Amazon complaining about Netflix problems makes us believe it's not an isolated issue. And the complaints about Netflix streaming have also showed up on other Panasonic Blu-ray players, too.

For our part, we experienced flawless Netflix streaming during our testing period and we also streamed a few Netflix titles on our Panasonic DMP-BDT210 review sample yesterday (using Wi-Fi) without any problems. And it'… Read more

Crave giveaway: Malcolm McDowell-signed copy of 'A Clockwork Orange' Blu-ray

For the May 31 release of 'A Clockwork Orange'' 40th Anniversary Blu-ray Edition and the Stanley Kubrick: Limited Edition Collection on Blu-ray', Warner Home Video has provided us with a Malcolm McDowell signed copy of 'A Clockwork Orange.' (Alas, Kubrick isn't around anymore, so we got the next best thing).

Normally, "A Clockwork Orange'' 40th Anniversary Blu-ray Edition would cost around $30, but you have the chance to get it gratis.

So, how do you try to win this specially signed Blu-ray? Let me enumerate the basic rules. Please read them carefully; there will be a test.

How bad is your HD?

A few weeks ago I asked how many people had given up on standard definition completely and only watch high definition. Interestingly, even though the majority of you had made the switch, it seems many were dissatisfied with the picture quality of their HD programming.

At the top of the HD quality pyramid is Blu-ray, of course. Lots of bandwidth, lots of storage, and pristine image quality are the hallmarks of what will surely be our last physical media format.

Quality degrades rapidly, though, as you change media. In many markets, the HD broadcast (over-the-air) signal is nearly as good as Blu-ray. But this isn't always the case. Many stations try to squeeze multiple channels within their allotted bandwidth (such as 2-1, 2-2, 2-3, and so on, all from the same station). This has a noticeable and negative effect on the quality.

Worse yet are cable and satellite TV, all of which have limited bandwidth to work with. Additional compression to fit in more total channels is the norm, as is adjusting the quality of more popular programming at the expense of the picture quality of less popular channels. Some providers are better than others, and I'd be very interested to read in the comments how you feel about the picture quality of your cable or satellite provider. … Read more

Lebowski finally coming to Blu-ray

Mark it August 16, dude.

Yes, after a long wait, "The Big Lebowski" is finally coming to Blu-ray on August 16.

Here's the quick skinny on the Limited Edition release:

Available for a limited time with an all-new 28-page companion book featuring an exclusive interview with Jeff Dowd--the real-life inspiration for The Dude--Jeff Bridges' personal, on-set photography, a film timeline, trivia and much more, The Big Lebowski Limited Edition Blu-ray is a must-own addition to any collection. In addition to all-new features exclusive to the Blu-ray release, The Big Lebowski Limited Edition Blu-ray also offers a digital … Read more