If I were ever to go to Disneyland (God forbid), I'd take my PC100, not my XL1s.

I'd never take a big cam like an XL1 to any amusement park. For starters, it screams STEAL ME! And obviously, it wouldn't do a whole lot of good on a roller coaster. Smaller is better in these cases.

WhenDVxFF
 

Glenn,

This is Tom McKay. I don't get in to these forums much and I just noticed your question. DVX focus control is done but not in full production. If you have any questions about the new control you can call me at the office most anytime. It won't be on the site until it is very nearly ready to ship. If I put it on the site now we will get calls for orders we can not fill at this time and that is never much fun for the salespeople.

Best regards,

Tom

Ok, thanks for your reply Tom. I'm in no rush to buy, just curious.

That was kinda my point. The DVX100 comes in at over $4k, a cool grand more than the XL1s. Anyone who's invested the money in either will also invest in the insurance of a cheap and convenient palmcorder for days out...unless they're on a pro shoot or are a twit.

Why composite output in DVD player
 

Strolling through wally world today I was dreaming to find some bargain DVD burner worth a million on clearence for 10 bucks (didn't happen). I did however see a DVD player which purplexed me. A Pioneer DV 250 ($78.64), reads DVD,DVD-R, CD-R, & MP3. It also touted having composite video out. Y-Pb-Pr, the audio was 192 Khz 24 bit. It was only a player. What would be the draw for such a product to have composite out and 24 bit audio? I am a semi techno-nerd (Lord help me the day I reach full nerdship), but things in electronic land take some studying to understand these days. Does the model designation (DV) have any importance?

Most of the Pioneer DVD players have either the designation DV or PDV (portable). An L means LaserDisc. It's just a model numbering scheme.

All the new Pioneer models have component outputs. I don't think it means much (or anything) to the player. However, lot's of high-end TVs now have component inputs. If you own one of those, you're going to be looking for input devices that will match.

And Monster sells more cables this way, too.

I'd go with component, then SVHS and then composite.

"Star Wars 3" HD camera article
 

http://www.starwars.com/episode-ii/f...516/index.html

Bigger / better camera's it seems...

High Resolution Viewfinder
 

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0305/03...laytechevf.asp

Displaytech has announced the LightView 311k Display Module, the highest resolution display produced for digital still camera and camcorder viewfinders. The 311k is a 0.26-inch diagonal FLC on reflective CMOS microdisplay with 432 by 240 pixel display resolution. Each pixel has 24-bit color depth, and it operates at 120 Hz (360 Hz RGB field rate) to provide flicker free, full color video imaging.

They also claim "triad-free" color without "door effect".

What's "door effect"?

Vladimir, that is only about 100K pixels -- a very low resolution.

What is "door effect". I think they just abbreviated screen door effect. Screen door effect makes it appear as though you are looking through a screen door, very noticeable pixels.

DVD "fair use" case goes to court
 

Tiny 321 Studios fights the combined Goliath of the MPAA, DMCA, and a judge who seems to have her mind already made up.

NEWS
Continuing our ongoing coverage of the war between tiny 321 Studios, maker of DVD copying software, and the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), maker of DVDs that consumers want to copy, the case has finally been put in front of a judge. Unfortunately for 321 Studios, the judge seems far from open-minded on the subject of 321 Studios' right to sell software designed to allow owners to make copies of their DVDs.

"I am substantially persuaded by them", said U.S. District Judge Susan Illston, commenting on all previous cases decided in favor of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). MPAA lawyer Russell Frackman stated, "They can't just traffic in anticircumvention devices," arguing that the removal of copy protection, even from a legally owned DVD, is illegal and can be prosecuted under the DMCA. 321 Studios countered by claiming there is no evidence that its software is being used by pirates, but Judge Illston shot back, saying, "But it's marketed to allow circumvention." As the battle raged, Judge Illston consistently cited the DMCA, even going so far as to call a Department of Justice attorney to the stand. The attorney dutifully defended the constitutionality of the DMCA and firmly backed the MPAA.

321 Studios didn't get in many punches, but one argument did seemingly land with effect on Judge Illston. 321 Studios argued that after a copyright has expired the content can legally be copied, but the DMCA statute on removal of copy protection has no expiration date. Thus, material that is no longer protected by copyright could not be copied because removal of the copy protection would violate the DMCA. 321 Studios argued that this is tantamount to a permanent, infinite copyright on all works, something that is clearly in conflict with all existing patent and copyright law. The MPAA lawyer responded by saying that copying the content would be legal because the copyright had expired, but 321 Studios shot back, saying, "But it's encrypted. If it doesn't stop being encrypted, it's still encrypted," and pointed out that the DMCA prevents even non-copyrighted works from being decrypted and copied.

The picture quality of the last Star Wars was not very good. One of the reasons was letterboxing. Rodriguez did not use letterboxing and the picture on his Spy Kids 2 was excellent. The new CineAlta SR will will still need letterboxing for the Star Wars format, but the picture should be excellent. With the introduction of the SR format we'll see major shift of movie production into digital.

Re: "Star Wars 3" HD camera article
 

<<<-- Originally posted by Rob Lohman : http://www.starwars.com/episode-ii/f...516/index.html

Bigger / better camera's it seems... -->>>

Does that mean it'll be a better movie too? ;)