Catherine Tate is fairly annoying, but I still, somehow, mysteriously, love it.
And I still haven’t seen any episodes pre: Christopher Ecclestone.
That is all.
Category Archives: Television
Three things to look for when buying an HDTV
I get asked about tech stuff occasionally (once or twice… an hour), and one of the questions I get asked that doesn’t relate to fixing a problem directly with Mr Gates’ software is “what do I need to look out for when buying an HDTV?”. High Definition TV is awesome and is definitely worth buying, but requires some thought.
HDTV LCDs/Plasmas have been around for a few years but there’s a bunch of different elements that consumers need to look into when choosing one which can make it a bit confusing.
First, resolution: The higher resolution of the image is what makes a TV ‘High Definition’ – regular TVs have standard resolution of around 720 by 480 pixels. 720p TVs up this resolution to 1368×768 (TV output is usually at 1280×768). ‘True’ HD TVs output at a mammoth 1920×1200 pixels. The higher the resolution, the better the potential for the ultimate image displayed as you can have twice as many dots defining the picture. For a neat diagram to give you a sense of quite how much the different HD formats add to the picture, check the image on this Wikipedia page. Not all ‘TrueHD’ panels are created equal (most are produced by Sharp and Samsung and developed into their own product lines by other HDTV manufacturers), and there are some very cheap ones on the market which will display a poor quality image even with the highest quality source. I don’t see the point in getting anything other than 1080p at this point — they’re getting cheap enough; but do make sure you get a good enough one for your needs.
Which takes us onto… the Standard Definition Engine. Given the paucity of HDTV content out there (only Sky HD and Virgin have HD channels in the UK at the moment, although future evolutions of Freeview and Freesat will give us new means of accessing content), and even these are only in 720p. There is no ‘TrueHD’ broadcast content. As such, you need to make sure that your HDTV makes standard definition signals look passable. They won’t look as good as proper HD sources regardless, but some normal Standard Definition engines make better work of the signals received through SCART leads et al. If you don’t know whether you have any standard definition sources… well, you do. Your DVD player, VCR, Sky box and Freeview receiver are all most likely working in SD. If you have anything that uses a SCART lead or a composite or S-Video lead, it is working in SD. So test the TVs – make sure they aren’t just showing you Blu-Ray content, which is in 1080p, make sure you watch analogue BBC1 or some such to make sure it’s not pixellated to hell.
The final thing I think is really vital is the connectivity. New, HD sources will output in HDMI (a new cable socket, essentially, about a million times better than SCART). Many new HDTVs come with only one HDMI socket. Even two will start to feel like too few once you’ve got a games console hooked up. I have a lead in from my desktop PC and one from my DVD-PVR and have run out — so when I (eventually) get a PS3 I’ll need to get a switcher box. Which will be annoying. So look for 2-3 HDMI sockets minimum, and make sure you also have VGA in, RGB, sockets as well.
There are other things that matter to some people – plasma vs. LCD, response times, rated lifetime of panel, energy rating, integrated DVB etc. But I think most of this stuff is secondary to the top three. Remember, just buying an HDTV won’t necessarily improve your viewing experience — you’ll probably need to get some HD sources at the same time, so save some cash for a DVD player / freeview box that ‘upscales’ to 1080p (includes clever software making standard def signals look high def).
Anyone think different? Let me know in the comments. Be interesting to see how quickly this advice dates…
Torchwood – S2
Funny. So funny. Spike is about seventeen different types of genius that I can’t even begin to describe. Captain Jack and Captain John? Fantastic.
Gwen Cooper — needs to get more interesting. Ianto — darker every day. Like it.
Puffer fish in a sports car? Still chortling about that one…
Discovering the East End
Since Amanda moved in I’ve discovered a new evening ritual… Eastenders. I’ve always taken a principled objection to soaps — on the basis that I had enough of the mundaneness of everyday life in my life to need anything further from a street in Australia, or the East End of London.
I have to say, whilst not a convert, I’m beginning to see the value. Eastenders, at least, seems to have replaced the Victorian melodrama with people rotating in the part of villain, hero, comic foil etc. Although Max, Ian and Phil Mitchell, as characters go, seem to have few redeeming characteristics.
I don’t know how realistic the scenarios are — I’ve never lived in a neighbourhood where everyone knows everyone else and think I’d probably quite like that at some stage. I don’t know how easy it is for a kid to get a gun in East London (but given that its a core plot element of Arvind’s first film, Sugarhouse, OUT NOW ON DVD, maybe I should…).
Still, I enjoy watching it most weeknights with Amanda, and I’m not (too) ashamed to say it was the first season pass I set on my new PVR. I am, however, much more excited about the imminent launch of the new season of Torchwood… bring it, BBC Wales.
I’m Denny Crane
I’m not really Denny Crane. Actually, I empathise a lot more with Alan Shore. But Alan has speeches, and Denny has the one liners, and they make for better headlines.
In any case… The show is Boston Legal, and, yes, I’m going to evangelise it to you, both my loyal and my Google generated readership. For those who don’t know, it is another show from David E Kelley (you know, Ally McBeal, The Practise, etc.). It is awesome: somehow William Shatner has acquired acting skill, and James Spader… well, he’s as brilliant as you’d expect. The additional bonus of Murphy Brown adds to the overall impact the cast is capable of generating.
As before, we’re in a law firm (Crane, Poole & Schmidt), in Boston (you may have guessed). The action centres, albeit non-exclusively, around Alan Shore, a misogynist, honourable, liberal but callous associate and Denny Crane, a partner with his name on the door, a Republican who loves guns, has seen the best years of his career and is struggling to maintain his legacy in a world that sees him as past his prime. Perhaps its not surprising Shatner does so well in the role.
The thing that makes the show quite so wonderful, apart from the deeply entertaining dialogue, rich with comic moments and classic Kelley politically motivated showboating (Alan Shore presents Kelley’s views on the US and its attitudes to the environment, immigration policy, privacy laws, the war, the Patriot act, unemployment, Katrina, the homeless, Medicaid… it goes on)… is the relationship between Denny Crane and Alan Shore. Both “strictly hetero”, the two men nonetheless develop a deep and profound friendship, punctuated by semi-moralistic epilogues with the pair pontificating on the events of the episode (often with unashamed references to the fact they’re in a TV programme), whilst drinking whiskey and smoking cigars.
There’s something incredibly desirable about that kind of friendship. Huge loyalty, trust, mutual respect, mutual interests (if differing opinion)… and the ability to enjoy it all at the end of the evening with a scotch and a view that makes you feel that the world is a wonderful place.
I should probably add, unlike House, there’s little realistic about Boston Legal’s representation of the US judicial system. I’m sure the stictures and laws cited are technically accurate… but, well, even if there did exist a lawyer as capable of theatrics as James Spader’s Alan Shore, I do think it is unlikely that he would win quite as often as Alan does…
In any case – as well as law, ethics, the US, justice and friendship… it’s a show that revolves around love. The characters’ need for it, its general capacity to bend our perception of the universe, and perhaps even the law. Cheesey, perhaps, but really well done. I am recommending it to you all. Watch it. Now.
I can’t wait for Season 4. What will Alan and Denny get up to?
Photo from ivanovash‘s photostream.
The randomly popular
I love that my “Knife Wrench” blog post keeps getting comments, even though it was just a quick reference to a great moment in Scrubs.
Janitor = Genius.
Sorry for continued quiet. Excuses == poker, house move, cousin’s wedding, busy at work, living much of digital life on Facebook and associated plugins (including book/movie reviews etc.). For those of you who follow me here and not on the all-knowing facebook, yes, I have seen Transformers, yes, it is awesome and life-changing, and no, I don’t have a newfound respect for Michael Bay. It wasn’t that good. Also, you lot, get over to FB and add me. What’s wrong with you?
Addicted to Entourage
I watched through most of the second season of Entourage last night. There’s something about it – maybe the sense of family and friendship that the four principals have – that makes it intensely watchable. I’m not sure how good or realistic or representative it is, but I guess that doesn’t really matter (although I have been made curious and am also reading my way through Wikipedia on it!). For those who don’t know what it is, its loosely based around Mark Wahlberg’s life, where one slightly talented and beautiful male actor from Queens moves to Hollywood and his three friends (try to) help him make it.
The same sort of thing applied to Studio 60 (or ‘West Wing Series 8’ as Ben calls it), which, whilst again bears very little resemblance to anything within the realms of my experience, and probably isn’t representative of reality, has a wonderful on-screen relationship dynamic between the principal characters.
It’s almost enough to make you wish your life was more dramatic. Then you look out, watch the news, see the diverted traffic (Al Quaeda is really annoying) and other craziness going on around town and you realise that there’s drama aplenty already…
CNN debut
Oh, as I wrote, I made it on to CNN on Monday, talking about this blog, and how it helped me get my job. There’s even a close-up of the site! Don’t think I’m allowed to upload the clip anywhere, but suffice it to say that I was *awesome*… well, I was ok. Alright, I was terrible. Awful. Boo!
(No, really, I was ok. But those muppets are great).
Joost vs. BBC TV
I’m bored of Joost. I mean, the principle of interactive TV to that extent is AWESOME, don’t get me wrong. But there are more adverts than I have to watch when I use Tivo, and not enough content or an easy way of searching it. I’ll keep checking, but I’m not too hopeful. It seems to be more about the community than the content at the moment.
On the plus side, the BBC has just emailed me about the BBC TV trial – I got to use BBC iMP last year when they tested that. So that could be exciting – at least the BBC has a guaranteed trove of awesome content. More will follow here.
For those who don’t know what I’m talking about, these are two internet TV services, one launched by those nice Skype people (Joost) and one by the, erm, BBC. You know. Those guys with the funny hats.
More to follow.
Damo on the BBC
Not me this time, but Damo, erstwhile of BBC World in Bolvia, is currently reporting for BBC World TV, amongst other things. Pretty cool stuff: you can see one of his packages here (for the time being… – WMP required).