Blu-Ray High Definition Audio Formats

Blu-ray is rapidly increasing in sales and it’s hard not to be impressed by high definition video when you see it. However Blu-ray does more than just add better pictures, it also adds high definition audio that surpasses that on DVD.

Blu-ray discs have more storage capacity than DVDs (DVDs are roughly 8GB, Blu-rays can be 25GB to 50GB) and as well as using this for better pictures there’s also capacity to increase the audio quality.

DVD audio quality is very good already and was a quantum leap in comparison to VHS Video quality (which was stereo encoding and at best could create poor 3 speaker surround sound effects). Most DVDs were encoded in Dolby Digital (aka AC3) and for the majority of “modern” titles this presented them in 5.1 audio – meaning that you have 2 speakers infront of you on the left and right, another in the centre, and two speakers to the left and right behind you – and to increase the bass power a subwoofer (the “.1″ part of 5.1) could be used. There was also DTS audio which was again 5.1 but was generally considered to sound better by experts. Later on the two standards were expanded to support up to 7 speakers and a subwoofer (”7.1″) however this wasn’t universally provided.

All formats on DVD were “compressed” and “glossy” so sound quality was lost during encoding and playback, this is in contrast to CDs which are uncompressed (and thus are universally agreed to have a higher sound quality and sound better).

Blu-ray provides a number of formats (in order of current quality):

Dolby Digital (aka AC3) – This is the minimum standard and provides audio in the same format as current DVDs (up to 5.1 channel surround sound). “DTS” – The same format as provided on some DVDs today gives up to 5.1 channel audio with higher quality than Dolby Digital (DD). Dolby Digital Plus – Provides up to 7.1 channel surround sound with less loss of quality than standard Dolby Digital “DTS-HD”: The high definition form of DTS allowing up to 8 channels of digital audio with a higher quality than standard DTS encoding “Linear PCM” (”LPCM”) – up to 8 channels of uncompressed audio, providing perfect “CD” quality audio without any loss Dolby “TrueHD” – compressed but loss less audio for up to 8 channels of audio

If you have a current surround sound amplifier/system then it’s unlikely that you will be able to enjoy the new HD Audio capabilities of Blu-ray, and in the same way that you’ve had to buy a Blu-ray player to watch new blu-ray movies you’ll have to do the same with your surround sound system to enjoy Blu-ray quality audio. However, it does sound amazing so if you’re upgrading your system I highly recommend that you get a demonstration of HD audio and consider upgrading your system.

By: Stuart Ewelike

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Of all the elements of triathlon, swimming is the most skill-based sport. We’ve found that an inefficient swim stroke will hurt your progress even more than inefficient cycling or running. And no matter how good your fitness is, if you can’t swim efficiently, no amount of extra muscles or lungs will help you in the water.

But unless you have someone standing on the edge of the pool watching you and giving you feedback, it can be very difficult to know exactly what your arms, leg, head and torso are doing while you swim. This is why a swimming technique video is a crucial element of improving as a triathlete.

For a swimming technique video, you don’t necessarily have to have a fancy underwater swimming camera or a professional film crew. All you need is a friend, fellow athlete or family member to hold a camera, and follow the simple swimming technique video instructions in this article.

Swimming Technique Video Step 1: Have a camera. As mentioned, you don’t have to have an underwater camera, but with so many inexpensive underwater video cameras available today, it’s time to consider adding one to your bag of training equipment. Here’s a short list of some of affordable underwater video solutions that also work very well above the water:

-Casio Exilim EX-G1 12.1 MP Slim-line Endurance Digital Camera

-Flip Video AWC2T Underwater Case for UltraHD and Ultra 2nd Generation camcorders

-Flip UltraHD Camcorder, 120 Minutes – Purchase with the case above, or purchase a waterproof bag to put the camera in

-Pentax Optio WS80 10MP Waterproof Digital Camera

-Olympus Stylus Tough-8000 12 MP Digital Camera

Swimming Technique Video Step 2: Film front overwater footage. You need to swim 25m in a straight direction away from camera while being videotaped. Preferably, have the videographer stop filming at this point, then start filming again as you turn and swim 25m in a straight direction toward the camera while being videotaped.

Swimming Technique Video Step 3: Film side overwater footage. Swim 25 meters while the person beside the camera walks beside you or, if angle is wide enough, simply pans the camera. The person holding the camera should ensure that the video includes a front diagonal angle, a direct side angle, and a rear diagonal angle. This is best accomplished by starting 5-10 meters in front of the swimmer, filming the swimmer until they are parallel to the camera, walking directly beside the swimmer for 5-10 meters, then stopping and filming the swimmer as they pass.

Swimming Technique Video Step 4 (optional): Collect underwater front analysis video. For the underwater front analysis, the swimmer should start halfway down the pool, and then swim directly at the camera, which is held stationary at one end of the pool.

Swimming Technique Video Step 5 (optional): For the side analysis, the video collector needs to be one to two lanes away from the swimmer, and in the center of the pool. Get as wide a pan angle as possible of the swimmer completing a full lap, (so you can see both right and left side views).

Once you’ve collected the video, the next step is to grab a bowl of popcorn, sit down in front of the TV (or just keep hanging out by the pool) and view your swimming technique video. From head to toe, watch your breathing patterns, your hand angle entry, your arm movement, your elbow bend, your torso angle, your hip movement, your knee bend, your ankle angle, and every aspect you can see. You’ll find that there are definitely certain elements that can be specifically inspected in front overwater, side overwater, front underwater, and side underwater.

At the Rock Star Triathlete Academy, we now use advanced online software to allow you to upload your video to us, then have your academy coaches actually analyze the video using voice-overs and angle drawings. This is a quick way to get professional feedback, inexpensively. To learn more, simply visit: http://www.rockstartriathlete.com.

By: Ben Greenfield

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The iPod Nano comes in two models. A 4GB and 2GB, and two color choices – black or white.

It was designed to replace the iPod Mini and neatly fills the gap that the iPod Mini left

behind. It is thinner than a pencil and holds 1000 songs (4 GB).
It features an ultra-portable, lightweight design with a gorgeous color screen, Apple’s

patent pending Click Wheel and the ability to hold up to 1000 songs or up to 25,000 photos.

It can also be used as a photo viewer with its 1.5 inch LCD colour screen and LED backlight

offering amazing clear view of photos. The 1.5 inch high-resolution color screen is gorgeous to look at.

The screen is extremely sharp, with great contrast and allows you to display album art
while playing music, view photo slideshows or play games in full color.

On the top features a hold button to lock out the Click Wheel. This prevents accidentally

skipping to the next song or changing the volume. The bottom holds the input of the earphones

and the 30 pin connector that links it with the computer. Linking is done via a USB 2.0 cable.

When linked up, it is charged by the computer. You must make sure your computer features USB 2.0
because USB 1.1 can’t charge and no separate AC adapter is included.

iPod Nano integrates with the iTunes Music Store and iTunes digital music jukebox including an
Auto -Sync Technology that automatically downloads your digital music collection,Podcasts, photos

onto your it that keeps you up to date whenever you plug it into your computer.

The design of the is very attractive – by far the best looking iPod I have ever seen. At just
just 3.5″ high by 1.6″ wide by 0.27″ thick and weighing just 1.5 ounces, It’s just plain tiny.

But it doesn’t lose any functionality, like the iPod Shuffle does, for being small. All models

include earbud headphones, a USB 2.0 cable and a CD with iTunes for Mac and Windows.

The Verdict

The iPod Nano has a gorgeous, superslim design with a bright, photo-friendly screen. It is easy

to operate and works seamlessly with iTunes and the iTunes Music Store. Apple has definitely
improved the Nano from the iPod Mini.

The only problem with the Nano is the memory capacity. It’s at 2 or 4GB but in the near future
Apple will add much larger capacities to it. I’d like to see Bluetooth built-in as well, so that

it can play music anywhere wirelessly.

I highly recommend the iPod Nano to anyone who is just interested in listening to music and
viewing photos. The iPod Nano is another top win in the iPod family.

Pros:

1. Very small in size.

2. Great for viewing pictures.

3. Holds a lot of music for its size.

4. Best looking iPod on the market.

5. Bright colour screen.

6. Has click Wheel.

7. No skipping thanks to flash memory.

8. Synchronises quickly.

Cons:

1. Scratches very easily (iPod Nano case will do the trick).

2. Blemishes show up more drastically on the black version.

3. If care is not taken can break very easily.

4. No protective cover included.

5. No synchronizing via FireWire.

Here is a link in reference to this article.

Best Buy iPod

By: Daniel Dwase

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Exposure modes come in many different flavors with most digital cameras nowadays. The mode you select affects the control level you have over shutter, f-stop and ISO.

Exposure modes may be selected from your camera’s menu or the camera may have a mode dial. The initials and symbols that represent the various modes vary from digital camera to digital camera.

Regardless of your camera’s exposure modes, they can really be summed up into just a few categories:

Manual exposure – For this mode, you have to specify the f-stop, shutter speed and ISO. After you get some experience setting these controls manually you’ll see that the manual mode is frequently the quickest way to actually manipulate exposure. Not only that, most digital cameras give you a meter of sorts that lets you know whether or not you are hitting the target with your manual settings.

Semi-automatic – This category has two standard modes, namely, shutter-priority autoexposure and aperture-priority autoexposure require you to specify one half of the f-stop/shutter speed equation. Then the camera helps you out by selecting the half.

Automatic scene – The automatic mode is designed to select the right exposure settings automatically for different kinds of subjects you’re wanting to take pictures of. More often than not, scene modes will adjust color, contrast and sharpness according to what you are shooting.

Full automatic – In this mode the camera takes care of everything. As far as using flash goes, that really depends on the camera you have. There are some models that enable flash only if the camera determines that extra light is needed. Disabling flash may or may not be an option as well. If the camera thinks you need flash, there is no way for you to change that.

Your camera may have access to a lot of other variations regarding this subject but for the most part this short article provides mostly everything you need.

By: Derric Goodwin

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While the history of the camera is well documented and can be traced back over one hundred years its digital cousin has had less focus if you will excuse the pun. The history of the digital camera begins with a man called Eugene F. Lally who worked in jet propulsion and the development of artificial gravitational systems. Outside of work however Lally spent a great deal of time studying how to use mosaic photosensors to record images digitally. The use of this technology was not initially intended for the public sphere but was instead to be used by astronauts in order for them to photograph the planets and hence find their position in space.

At this point however the technology was not yet there to realise these concepts. This work went onto the backburner until 1975 when Steven Sasson an engineer working for Eastman Kodak managed to put together some old Motorola components with existing Kodak camera parts and Fairchild CCD sensors. The result was a camera the size of a toaster that weighed almost four kilograms. The images were recorded digitally onto a cassette tape and were viewed with the use of a special screen. This early model had serious limitations however, with the provision to only record in black and white as well as a 23 second shutter lag. However even though the 0.1 mega pixel resolution is poor by today’s standards, at the time it was truly revolutionary. Kodak however did not realise the potential for the device and instead focussed on the development of the film camera.

While a few digital camera models came into existence during the seventies it was not until Sony released the Mavica (Magnetic Video Camera) in 1981 that the digital ball was set rolling. Although the Mavica was not a stills camera in the strictest sense the technology it used was a predecessor of modern variants. At this stage however the device stored images on floppy disks, each being able to hold fifty photographs, the shutter speed had been improved however to a sixtieth of a second and the device was portable.

The eighties saw the true beginning of the digital age, the camera was purely a manifestation of this advancement in technology. Fairchild was once again instrumental in creating the first truly digital camera, named the All Sky; it was used to photograph auroras. What made the device truly digital was that unlike previous devices it also recorded the images digitally. These early cameras however did not go on sale to the mass public, the first device to do so was the Dycam Model 1 released in 1990, it had a CCD sensor, stored the pictures in a digital format and could be connected directly into a PC for image uploads.

None of these devices were affordable however. It was not until Apple released the Quick Take 100 in 1994 that a camera was available to consumers for under the thousand dollar mark. Two years later with the widespread use of media cards that digital technology truly took off. In 1995 however an archetypal device was produced by Casio and bore all of the features and design layout that can be seen on modern cameras, such as an in-built screen on the rear of the device.

Since this time the digital camera has become smaller and more affordable. Its development has not been rapid, but over time it has become a device that is present in nearly every home in developed countries. They are now a convenient and usable way to record imagery and take snapshots of the unforgettable moments in life.



By: Thomas Pretty

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