The Price: $299

The Verdict: I could probably learn to like it more over time, but after using it for a couple of weeks, my general feeling is that I much prefer the Flip.

There are a few reasons: the biggest being the controls. While the Flip Mino HD has one big red button that stops and starts, plus some touch sensitive controls for volume and zoom, the buttons on the PICSIO aren’t quite touch sensitive, but aren’t quite mechanical either. Turning the device on sometimes takes a couple of attempts, and there’s precious little feedback from the buttons, which can be a bit frustrating here.

The second thing that’s kind of frustrating is storage – the PICSIO records to SDHC cards, which means you can never run out of storage, right? Well, a 2GB card means you get about 19 minutes of footage. That’s not a lot. To get a full hour, that means you’d need to get a 16GB card, which aren’t exactly cheap. All of a sudden, your $299 purchase has blown out to around $500 if you get a decent quality card.

The actual video quality though is pretty good. Unless you zoom in. Or shoot in low light. But they’re both issues common to these types of cameras. Still photos also suffer in terms of definition and focus – make no mistake, you’re better off with a dedicated pocket snapper for photos if you want quality shots. If you’re happy with taking photos on your phone though, these are on par, if not slightly better.

Image stabilisation is a welcome addition – it’s a digital stabilisation though, so it’s not fantastic, but it does work.

There are a few areas the PICSIO decimates the Flip – the screen is much bigger and therefore easier to see; there’s an HDMI and AV output rather than just USB, and there’s a macro switch on the side, although the benefit in performance using it is negligible.

Overall though, I think I prefer the Flip for its ease of use and inbuilt storage. The step up to “1080p” with the PICSIO just isn’t enough – the lens isn’t that much better to really benefit from the spec, and ultimately I find the inbuilt storage and ease of use more important for this class of device. But if you’ve got a crapload of SD cards lying around, the PICSIO could be a good option for you.

Their new SP-FT1/FT2 speakers are just 1.2 inches thick, and can be mounted on a wall or set on a table with a built-in stand. The accompanying 20-watt × 4ch amp is nearly just as unobtrusive (.2mm thicker) and supports Dolby Digital/DTS/AAC/Linear PCM formats.

Of course, you’ll still need to run wires.

Sadly, these products are exclusively available in Japan for now. The speaker set runs $US220 with the amp coming in at $US260. [JVC via CrunchGear]

The more-affordable design benefits from lessons learned with the first concept, and new PDP materials and chips were developed to accelerate pixel illumination while maintaining brightness. Of course, the upcoming challenge for 3D (aside from the wacky glasses) is that you’ll need a Blu-ray player and movies that support the 3D format.

The 50-incher will be shown next week at Tokyo’s CEATEC show—Japan’s version of CES. We’ll let you know if Panasonic dish up any more details, or if Sony hits back with something new of its own. You might remember that Sony intends to introduce a 3D Bravia TV and PS3 games next year. [Panasonic via Akihabara News]

Those are mild upgrades, I’ll give you that. At first glance, the camera sounds suspiciously like the Everio X, but I decided to post anyhow. The camera has 32GB of internal memory and an SD/SDHC slot. Slow motion is possible at 600fps, albeit at a ridiculous resolution of 640×72 (yes, seventy two) pixels. It shoots at 300fps at a slightly less filmstrip-like res but the 120fps mode at 480×270 pixels is anywhere close to acceptable.

The HM400 also has 9 and 5.3MP still modes without interpolation, and captures its 1080p video at the AVCHD format’s maximum bitrate of 24mbps. Glass has been upgraded here to use two prisms for optical stabilisation. And the camera has new manual controls that put the camera into aperture and shutter priority modes. It goes for $US1000 to a buyer who hasn’t been seduced by a Flip HD and still needs real zoom and picture quality. [JVC]

It should be noted, all designs require glasses. (More technical background on the types of glasses here.)

Panasonic’s 3D Plasma Concept
The Tech: Plasma with Active Shutter (alternating left eye, right eye progressive frames)
As a baseline reference to get our bearings, I took yet another look at Panasonic’s 103-inch plasma display that we’ve seen twice before. My original impressions stand. It’s decent—and definitely the best technology of the three that we saw at CEDIA. Why? There’s virtually no flicker in the image because of plasma’s instantaneous response times/ability to push legitimate high frame rates. Plus, it probably helps that we’re talking about a 103-inch display (that has its own trailer). The bigger a 3D display, the better the illusion. But glasses aside, it’s not what I’d deem a perfect experience. You see ghosting around some objects. And…OK, I still can’t ignore the damned glasses. It creates an inherent distance from the image inducing an unintentionally ephemeral viewing experience.

Sony’s LCD Concept
The Tech: 240Hz LCD with Active Shutter (alternating left eye, right eye progressive frames)
Even Panasonic will tell you that 240Hz is the baseline speed needed for an LCD to pull off 3D. But you know what? 240Hz isn’t enough. Watching Pixar’s Up, the colour and sharpness are both great, but there’s an absurd level of flicker that’s nominally better than on old timey crank projector. And on this normally sized LCD, it’s incredibly obvious when 3D objects break the illusion by reaching the TV’s frame. Granted, we’re not talking about a final product here, but the specs seem pretty much identical to what consumers can expect to see in the high-end display market next year.

JVC’s GD-463D10 LCD
The Tech: TKTK with Polarized Glasses (two images are interlaced on the screen, each eye sees half the data, glasses don’t need power)
Of the three technologies here, JVC’s is the only final product that’s actually available now. And it costs $US9153. It’s also easily the worst of the three—completely unwatchable, in fact. The interlaced 3D means that the resolution takes a huge hit. But it’s worse than just a 1080i picture. Your brain can almost make out these lines. I could say more about the tech, but I honestly couldn’t stand to look at the screen for more than 10 seconds at once. Oh, and the kicker? For nine thousand bucks, you still only get two pairs of the cheap, polarized glasses. Sorry kids. mummy and Daddy need to watch

There’s no doubt that some home theatre enthusiasts will go out and plop down $US5k or more on a commercially available 3D display when they enter the TV lines of major manufacturers like Sony and Panasonic in 2010. But I’m hoping, really hoping, that the public can resist the gimmick until the technology is perfected. To me, that means when we don’t need to deal with these silly glasses at all. But for whatever it’s worth, plasma is definitely looking like the clear front runner in execution. [Image]

Spewing a 10 megapixel, 4096 x 2400 image onto your wall, the DLA-RS4000 LCD projector could never live up to its cost, but then again, it manages to produce a bright, 3500-lumen image while still maintaining a 10,000:1 contrast ratio (granted, those specs still might be mutually exclusive, each appearing only during optimal adjustments…but at this price, we’re going to give JVC the benefit of the doubt).

So you can watch movies at 4K, assuming you can make a deal with the devil and acquire digital cinema files that hover in the resolution range. Or you could allow your 1080P Blu-rays to be unconverted. Or—and JVC actually endorses this use—you could watch four 1080p signals at once. (4K is 4x the quality of 1080P, after all).

But hey, if you have this much to spend on a home theatre projector, no one is questioning your judgement. They’ve already deemed you crazy.

JVC INTRODUCES DLA-RS4000 HIGH-END 4K
HOME CINEMA PROJECTOR AT CEDIA EXPO 2009
WAYNE, NJ (September 10, 2009) – JVC Visual Systems Division introduces its new DLA-RS4000 Reference Series 4K home cinema projector at CEDIA Expo, September. 10-13 at the Georgia World Conference centre in Atlanta. The system is being showcased in the JVC D-ILA theatre in the Omni Hotel North Tower throughout the duration of the CEDIA Expo. Based on the same projection engine used in advanced simulation systems, it provides the superior imagery as well as installation flexibility required by uncompromising home theatre consumers. This system is ISF and THX* certified.
Three newly developed ultra high definition 4K2K D-ILA devices allow the DLA-RS4000 to deliver a 10 megapixel image with a native resolution of 4,096 x 2,400—more than four times the resolution of HD. Up to four screens with full HD or WUXGA resolution images can be displayed simultaneously .
A new optical design provides 3500 ANSI lumens from a Xenon lamp and delivers excellent colour rendering. Lamp power can be adjusted in eight steps for the ideal brightness for a variety of home theatre settings and screen sizes. In addition, new Wire Grid polarizers in the optical engine that minimize light leakage are combined with new liquid crystal technology and a novel liquid crystal orientation to significantly reduce off-state light, resulting in a 10,000:1 native contrast ratio.

The RSVP4 custom digital video processing unit serves as a signal switching, scaling and processing hub for virtually any video source, including Blu-ray and gaming systems, cable and satellite receivers, and DVD players. The RSVP4 has a special feature enabling certified calibration specialists to calibrate either of two custom gamut memories based on the installation’s specific requirements. This enables each system to achieve an accurate colour space for the source material being shown. Other features include audio delay compensation, and three separate gamma tables for customisation of various image sources and viewing environments. The DLA-RS4000 is shipped complete with a JVC high quality projection zoom lens to maximize performance in almost any home theatre setting.

Despite its advanced performance, the 110-pound DLA-RS4000 achieves a 65 percent reduction in size compared to conventional projectors in the same class. Generous horizontal and vertical lens shift capabilities permit flexible projector positioning, and its stackable design allows for applications such as 3D. Ethernet and RS-232C interfaces allow projector installation and adjustment from a PC-based Web browser for multiple units, plus an e-mail function can send out status messages and lamp replacement reminders.

“The DLA-RS4000 4K projector is the ultimate projector for discerning home theatre enthusiasts,” said Jack Faiman, vice president, Visual Systems Division, JVC U.S.A.. “Not only does it produce amazing images for movies, sports, and video games, but its smaller footprint and incredible flexibility make it the ideal premium home theatre projector for custom installations. Plus, despite all its high-end features, its user-friendly interface makes it easy to sit back and enjoy the view.”

The DLA-RS-4000 projector has a suggested list price

of $US175,000 and will be available October 2009 .

And with a 4000:1 contrast ratio along with a 90% Adobe RGB colour gamut, the picture should be pretty great, too, fed into two HDMI inputs along with a VGA if you’d prefer.

Of course, there’s always a catch.

For one, we don’t know the resolution beyond that it’s “exceptionally high”. That could mean 1080p. That could mean 4-bajillion-K. That could mean…you know, it’s not defined. Plus, it’s $US3000 this November. I’m can’t know the precise amount of satisfaction you receive after inviting friends into your office only to turn your monitor on its side so that your guests can pretend to ooh and ahh at your extravagance, but it can’t be better than what $US3000 can buy you in the recreational chemical and escort industries. Trust me.

JVC Announces Super Slim & Light Flat Panel Monitor

32-inch LED backlit monitor measures just ¼-inch deep

ATLANTA, September 10, 2009 – JVC today announced a super slim LCD monitor for home theatre use that measures a mere ¼-inch (6.4mm) deep across most of the panel and weighs just 12.5 pounds (5.7kg). The new 32-inch class LT-32WX50 will be available in the U.S. in November.

The new monitor’s super slim profile is made possible by the use of JVC’s edge LED backlighting system.
It offers a 4000:1 contrast ratio and wide colour gamut for exceptionally high resolution of both video and still images.

The monitor’s shallow depth makes it ideal for consumers who want the design flexibility such a slim design allows. It also lends itself to a variety of commercial applications. Another attribute is that fewer material resources are used in making the monitor, reducing the product’s environmental impact.

Key features of the LT-32WX50 are:
• Taking advantage of JVC’s unique LCD panel edged-light LED backlight system, the LT-32WX50 is stunningly thin – just 1/4-inch* (6.4mm) deep at its thinnest point, with a slim module inset along the bottom third that houses the monitor’s inputs and other connections;
• Six picture settings: home, retail, movie, monitor, SLR photo mode, game;
• It covers a wide colour gamut – 100 percent of sRGB and 90 percent of Adobe RGB;
• It uses approximately 50 percent fewer material resources and eliminates the use of mercury;
• JVC’s high definition picture engine is designed for reproducing both video and still images;
• It includes two HDMI connections along with analogue RGB (D-Dub, 15-pin); the display can be controlled externally via RS-232C;

* When measured from the front surface of LCD panel to the rear surface of the cabinet.
The JVC LT-32WX50 will be available in November for less than $US3,000.00.

Sony was supposed to win this. The company made magnetic tape out of like paper and mud back in the 1940s, turned out a “pocketable” transistor radio in the 1950s, and invented the “portable” television by 1960. They had their first video tape recorder by 1963. They weren’t the only ones, but they were among the first and best.

The so-called VTR business had a rocky start. The things were hulking bastards, with huge price tags and poor recording capability.

A company called Ampex put out the first “home entertainment” VTR in 1963, only it cost $US30,000 in the Neiman Marcus Christmas catalog, and was nicknamed Grant’s Tomb because the product manager who thought it up was going to be shoved inside by the company’s accountants. (He would have fit, too, the thing was so big.) Sony comes along in the middle of that decade and puts out a $US1,200 “portable” VTR that came with a leatherette case and its own TV. It still weighed 29 kilos.

The worst part about these 1960s VTRs was that they were basically reel-to-reel—you had to thread your own 1-inch videotape through spools and stuff, and by the end of the decade, a one-hour spool of tape was like 8 inches in diameter. Can you imagine your TiVo needing 180 spools of videotape to get the job done?

As Sony toiled on the videotape problem, Matsushita—who we now call Panasonic—and its independent subsidiary JVC weren’t really standing out in the VTR business. Let’s say this: Nobody would have guessed they’d be able to overthrow Sony and kick mecha arse within the decade.

However, these guys were among the biggest manufacturers, dwarfing Sony many times over. Matsushita, known for efficiency, not innovation, tended to focus on big boring appliances—TVs, refrigerators, air conditioners—with a smaller team, branded Technics, devoted to dominating the hi-fi realm. JVC was all about TVs and audio gear, and had decent video know-how.

It was Sony who solved the reel-to-reel problem with—ta daaa!—a video cassette. It was called U-Matic, and at 3/4″ thick, it was smaller than the earlier formats, but still a bit of a chunkster. Since video was a bit of a Wild West, Sony felt like it needed partners to firmly establish a format, and to avoid a format war. It asked Matsushita and JVC, who said “yes” as long as Sony adopted some changes. The key here: The partnership included a deal where everybody shared all the patents. Turns out, probably not the smartest move by Sony.

Sony was right to form a posse, though. Every single electronics maker in Japan, Europe and America was trying to build a video recorder. Some American firms were obsessed with lasers (though ironically it would later be the Dutch and Japanese firms who actually put lasers to good use); other American firms were jazzed about microfilm…for video. None of them had success. Before we get on with the story, here’s a list of totally failed video players and recorders:

• Matsushita VX-100 and VX-2000
• Matsushita AutoVision
• Toshiba/Sanyo V-Cord
• Ampex InstaVision
• MCA DiscoVision/Magnavox Magnavision
• CBS Electronic Video Recording
• RCA HoloTape
• Sears/Cartridge Television Cartrivision

See what I mean? A friggin’ mess it was.

Part of the problem was the message. Nobody knew what the hell this was all about. Sony wasn’t just a pioneer in the technology, they thought hard about how to explain why you totally desperately want something bad. At one point, Sony hired Bela Lugosi to dress up one last time as Dracula, and explain that, since he worked nights, he needed to catch up on primetime shows when he got home. Get it? Vampires—they’re out killing people when Barney Miller is playing! It was a good bit, and there were a lot more like it. Little by little, the public caught on to what VCRs were for.

Anyway, U-Matic, launched in 1971, wasn’t a runaway success, either, but it was the bestselling video recorder to date, and the first successful VCR. In the realm of pro video, it was hot. Sony cashed in by steering from the home market to the businesses but JVC, who kept trying to pitch it for home use, got hosed. Like villains in some Shakespearean play, Matsushita and JVC kinda lurked in the background, planning for the next round when they might one-up that little charmer, Sony. The name of their plot? Video Home System, which you and I call VHS.

Sony was naive. Like, crazy naive. In 1974, it asked Matsushita and JVC to partner up again, this time on a fully baked format called Betamax. They weren’t asking for intellectual collaboration, just a deal to make and sell the things. It was a nice system, with really small tapes, but the problem was, the tapes only recorded for an hour. Sony was like, “That’s not a problem,” but everyone else was like, “Yes, it is.” The would-be partners dragged their heels suspiciously, not signing any deals. Sony kinda thought that was weird, but went ahead and launched the one-hour Betamax box in 1975.

Big mistake.

Not long after Sony went into wide release with the one-hour Betamax, JVC pulled a two-hour VHS out of its butt. And in time for Christmas 1976 no less. Sony had another flash of naivete when it pressed on with the one-hour system for a while, even though it had a two-hour system in the works. In that gap, JVC and its big poppa Matsushita scored sales and recognition.

Some people say Betamax was “better” but that depends on many factors, and could very well be an urban myth. The technologies were so close Sony’s own chairman called VHS a copy of Betamax. What may have looked good in one system with certain settings might not look as good on another with different settings. And by some accounts, Betamax’s more moving parts meant they were more expensive to manufacture and more costly to maintain and repair. It’s not an open-and-shut case of quantity vs. quality. Either way you look at it, there are compromises.

By this point, it wasn’t just some anything-goes contest with a million formats. By 1976, all those above had died or were dying. In Japan, there were just two choices. The Japanese government told everyone to sort it out. Hitachi, Mitsubishi and Sharp joined Team VHS, but didn’t really move forward.

In February 1977, Sony grabbed Toshiba and Sanyo, and then signed the American powerhouse brand Zenith up for an order of Sony-made Betamaxes with the Zenith name on them. Was it going to happen for Betamax after all? Seemed like they’d finally drawn at least a few good cards from the deck.

Sony might not have been totally screwed at that moment, but there were two American powerhouses, and the other one, RCA, was undecided. Ironically, the fate of the Japanese VCR industry relied on how well it could handle the most American of sports: Football. In other words, now that both players could manage two hours of recording time, what RCA wanted was enough recording time to capture a game—three hours would do.

What transpired next is unclear. Even though, at the time, both technologies were limited to two-hour capacity, Matsushita pledged to make RCA tape machines that could record for four hours.

Was this a lie? Was it vapourware? Whatever the deal, JVC engineers pulled off a four-hour capacity six weeks later, and RCA agreed to buy 55,000 machines that year, and up to a million more in the next three years. Better yet, RCA’s SelectaVision VHS decks would cost $US300 less than the two-hour Betamaxes, at $US1000 a pop.

Although Betamax hung on for a bit longer, that, boys and girls, was the end of the competition. In 1979, Sony market share tilted downward, and by 1980, the jig was up for those poor bastards.

Note: I recognise that there are other issues that might have come into play here, including Universal’s lawsuit of Sony, which lead to today’s Supreme Court definition of fair-use copyright law, and the fact that some studios, including Warner, began squeezing movies onto videotape early, with varying degrees of success. However, I contend that none of that changed the outcome—the war above was fought between Sony and Matsushita, and Matsushita won.

SOURCES:
Fast Forward: Hollywood, The Japanese, and the VCR Wars – James Lardner (Special thanks to you, Jim, for chatting me through some of this)
Sony – John Nathan
The History of Television – Albert Abramson
Sony History – Sony Global Website
Made in Japan – Akio Morita
Quest for Prosperity – Konosuke Matsushita
[PDF] Case Report on Betamax – Verardi et al
“Why VHS was better than Betamax” – Guardian UK – Jack Schofield

Gizmodo ‘79 is a week-long celebration of gadgets and geekdom 30 years ago, as the analogue age gave way to the digital, and most of our favourite toys were just being born.

Though I see hints of a protruding buttocks, as is the main issue with the GD-32X1, the set is admirably wispy. And aside from its svelteness and light source, the 1080p TV boasts a few notable features—namely, its 100Hz refresh rate, 4000:1 contrast ratio and apparent support for some kind of direct digital media playback, as evidenced by its built-in SD slot and USB ports. Since it was shown at a British event, pricing and availability are UK-only, but a helpful indicator: £1900 (about $US3000) is the retail target, and it’s landing in October or November. [TechRadar]

Sure, at $1,999 it’s pretty expensive in these times of financial frugality, but being able to record slow-mo in HD totally makes up for it. It’ll hit shelves in July.

Everio X, the personal camera that takes still images and videos to a new level

JVC packs a punch with its new small all-in-one personal camera that’s ideal for capturing both Full HD video and high quality digital stills

SYDNEY, 15 June 2009 – JVC today announced the launch of its powerful new all-in-one personal camera GZ-X900 – Everio X. The robust camera shoots both Full High-Definition (HD) video and nine-MegaPixel (MP) still photos and also features creative shooting functions such as slow motion video and high-speed “motor drive” still photography.

The sleek and compact Everio X is ideal for tech savvy consumers who want to carry one single device to capture both high quality still pictures and vibrant Full HD video. The innovative new camera is small enough to slip into your shirt pocket and at just 298 grams is one of the lightest cameras available so you can easily take it with you anywhere to capture your moments whether it is on the ski slopes, to a business conference or a BBQ.

At the heart of the camera’s superior image quality is the world’s first[1] 10.3 MP CMOS sensor. The high quality 9 MP digital still photos the camera shoots correlate directly to the un-interpolated performance of this CMOS sensor and Bayer array RGB colour filter. For the first time ever, the camera records at a stunning 1000 TV lines of horizontal resolution – the theoretical maximum level of 1920×1080 Full HD.

Ideal for capturing fast moving images the Everio X boasts an amazing 10x slow motion shooting allowing play back of 2.8 seconds of recorded video over 28 seconds. With this camera you can record your team’s rugby match and then play sections back in slow motion to see where the team went wrong in a scrum or tackle.

Everio X has high speed shooting capabilities so that you can capture action shots with ease. Up to six nine-MP stills can be shot at 15 images per second which is faster than some digital SLRs can achieve.

A unique advantage of the Everio X is that you can use two functions at the same time. This state-of-the-art personal camera allows shooting of 1920 x 1080/50i Full HD video and 5.3 MP stills at the same time. While recording video, photos can be shot at shutter speeds as fast as 1/4000 of a second without interrupting video recording.

Unique Design
About the size of a BlackBerry, the slick black camera with silver accents has a modern minimalist design, without the protrusions or indentations found on most camcorders, making it the ideal sleek tech accessory.

Regardless of what scene needs shooting the design allows for plenty of flexibility in how the camera is held – from below, above, or whatever suits the situation. There are top-mounted zoom and record buttons, and a second set next to the LCD screen for additional shooting flexibility.

Advanced technology
JVC’s new clever proprietary optical image stabilisation (OIS) technology applies camera shake compensation optically at the Everio X lens entrance to ensure effectiveness throughout the zoom range and allow high quality shooting without a tripod so you can capture great action shots on the move.

Share your moments
Easy to use and accessible editing software means you can effortlessly edit your pictures and videos captured on the Everio X. With the worldwide explosion of interest in video sharing, Everio X offers easy solutions for distribution.

A One Touch Export function provided by bundled software for Windows makes it easy to export videos into iTunes for playback on your iPod or iPhone, so you can share your special moments with your mates and family when you are in the pub or at work. Also the One Touch Upload function, when used with the included software for Windows, simplifies uploading videos to YouTube™.

The DVD Creation function makes it easy to transfer video to a disc for archiving or sharing with colleagues, friends or family at a later time.

You can create a disc directly from the camera using the JVC Everio CU-VD3 burner SHARE STATION. Other direct storage solutions include third party external hard disk drives from LaCie and Seagate, and an external Blu-ray Disc Burner from LaCie. The GZ-X900 – Everio X will be available in retailers throughout Australia in July.