If you’re shopping for an HDTV, is it worth it to pay more money for a set that supports higher resolution (at the same screen size)?

The latest digital TVs support different maximum resolutions: 480p (853×480), 720p (1280×720), & 1080p (1920×1080). The first resolution (480p) is typically referred to has “enhanced definition”, while the last two (720 & 1080) are referred to as “high definition” (HDTV).

Digital TVs will down-convert higher resolution signals to the resolution that the TVs support. So a 480 set can still display a 1080 signal by down-converting the signal to display fewer pixels.

For the same screen size, higher resolution sets cost more money. Most people would assume that for a given screen size (say 40 inches), a 1080p set would be better than a 720p set. But depending on how far away you are sitting from the screen, you may not be able to see the difference in quality because the pixels will be too small. In that case you’re wasting your money. So at what point are you wasting your money on pixels you won’t be able to see?

Carlton Bale blogged on this question, and created a chart (see below). For a 40 inch TV, and sitting 8 feet away, most people will see the benefit of 720p over 480p. But most people will not see any additional benefit going to 1080p. So if you’re buying a 40 inch TV and watching from 8 feet, it’s a waste of money to pay more for a 1080p set.

Try Chris Spurgeon’s solution:  A flash drive embedded in a regulation 16 pound bowling ball.  Seriously.

http://www.spurgeonworld.com/blog/archives/2006/11/no_more_misplac.html 

[Via Engadget]

Apple is talking to Eneco about using Eneco’s solid-state cooling technology.

One interesting side-effect is that Eneco’s cooling technology generates electricity. This could be especially appealing in laptops.  Two problems laptops must solve are dissipating waste-heat (cooling) and extending battery life.  Laptops could use Eneco’s technology to both cool the laptop, and then use the electricity generated from the cooling to extend the battery life of the laptop.

Update: Slashdot picked up on Eneco’s technology.  Two readers point out a similar technology back in 2002 from Cool Chips.  Unfortunately, Cool Chips seems to be stalled.   Hopefully Eneco will make better progress.

Update: ITWeek reports on a meeting where Eneco presented to potential investors.  Scroll two-thirds of the way down to read about some concerns the audience had regarding the commercialization of the technology. The ITWeek article concludes:

The lack of clarity on such fundamental design issues suggests it is likely to be some time before Eneco powered devices emerge. But if these issues can be overcome – and anyone with any experience of energy conversion technologies will tell you it remains a big if – the company does appear to have a truly disruptive technology that could deliver clean, cheap and efficient power to a raft of different industries.

This Seattle Times article talks about the problems of realistic human faces in computer animation.   The biggest problem facing computer animators is known as the “uncanny valley“.  As animation techniques get better, the tiny remaining errors are magnified.  Paradoxically, this makes the face seem less realistic.  I’ve always believed that the answer to the uncanny valley is to digitize the performance of real actors, then use that digitized performance in computer animation.  (Some directors hope that computer animation will eliminate the need for prima donna actors, but I suspect that that the most cost-effective technique will always involve actors in some form.)

Production companies have been doing full-body motion-capture for several years by attaching a few dozen reflective spots to an actor, then using cameras and computers to track those dots.  These dots are then used to build the digital motion model.  But to get past the uncanny valley for digital faces, thousands of points would need to be tracked.  The current main-stream techniques aren’t practical at these scales.

The Seattle Times article reports on the technology of Mova, a silicon valley startup.  Their solution begins by sponging green fluorescent paint onto a performers face.  They record the actors performance with a set of cameras, then use a program that uses imperfections in the sponged-on paint to build up a detailed digital model of the face for later use in computer animation.  Mova claims their system has sub-millimeter accuracy which will be necessary to get past the uncanny valley.   Their web site has a few movies and Flash presentations, but only a tiny bit of the final product.  That little bit looks very good, so if Mova can deliver large quantities of this type of animation they have an excellent future in front of them.

This site has a bunch of good pics and nice descriptions of the 2005 air show at Edwards Airforce Base.

http://www.richard-seaman.com/Aircraft/AirShows/Edwards2005/Highlights/

One of the premier airshows in the world is held at Edwards Air Force Base in the Mojave desert about an hour north-east of Los Angeles. It’s a show like no other, held at America’s most historic aviation test facility, adjacent to Roger’s dry lake bed which is used as an emergency landing area during flight tests, and for occasional visits by the Space Shuttle returning from orbit. This is the only show anywhere in the world where you’ll hear military aircraft break the sound barrier (twice in one day at the 2005 show, once by an F-16 fighter and later by a B-1 bomber).

Tom Coates post his concepts for Social Software for set-top boxes on his blog.  Similar to the way IM software (like AIM or MSN Messenger) will do a little pop-up showing you buddies comming online, set-top box software could show you what your buddies are currently watching.  It makes watching TV social even if you’re alone in the room.

Mailinator.com is a great way to deal with annoying site registraion, or if you ever need disposable/temporary email addresses. You don’t need to set-up or sign-up with Mailinator. Suppose you are on a registration form for Xyz.com. In the email address field, just make up any old address at mailinator.com, like rtuuug@mailinator.com. Then to get the email, go to Mailinator.com and enter rtuuug (the thing you made up). There’s no passwords, and there is no sign-up.

Of course, you don’t want to use this for email that will contain sensitive data. As their FAQ says:

Q: This sounds pretty insecure. What if I send important emails with sensitive super-secret information in them to mailinator?
A: Then you are a stupid-head. That isn’t what this is for.

They even have an RSS feed for each made-up account, so you can almost use this as a “real” email if you don’t have any privacy/security concerns. You’d use the RSS to get notified when new email arrives.

I first discovered this a few years ago. Looks like there are now others doing the doing the same thing, like myTrashMail.com

Turns out the Toyota Prius can supply 5-6 kW of power at 220 volts DC for as long as you’ve got gas in the tank. PriUPS.com is a guy who is working to figure out the details on how to get this power into his house for power outages. You might also be able to make money by feeding power back into the grid during times of peak demand, but that would depend on the price of gas and the price of power.

The Leaf Aptus 75 is a 38 megapixel (6726×5040) camera back. It’s also captures in 16-bit color (compared to 8-bit color for most cameras). Since it’s just a camera back, you have to bring you own medium-format camera to the party.