For some time we have in our small home recording studio a mini-PA and some lights. In the lighting sector has in recent years done a lot. Increasingly displace the tried and tested LED lamps PAR halogen headlights. These typically have LEDs of red, green and blue, depending on the model you may have several dozen or even more than 200 such LEDs. The advantages are clear: you can create with just a light almost any color by mixing the three primary colors according to the laws of additive color mixing. In addition, the LEDs consume little power and therefore produce no heat. Moreover, the lifetime of an LED is extremely long, so that the regular renewal deleted more expensive bulbs. Dimming is due to the built control electronics directly possible, one has to buy so no dimmer packs more.
The disadvantages of LED technology: some colors (eg blue) is beyond all doubt, while about yellow or red contribute to the halogen spots warmer. If you look at an LED light, especially when we see few strong lights with LEDs are not a homogeneous solid color, but individual LEDs of the three primary colors. This also color transitions are generated at the shadow edges. The conventional spots are, in many cases, but much brighter - against a 500 - or 1000-watt PAR-Spot only have extreme power LEDs with an opportunity, and this still costs a few Euros more.
LEDs may flicker slightly, which is caused by the switching power supply of the control electronics. Therefore, they are possibly not for filming. Since all colors are mixed from the three basic colors, one never has a broad spectrum, but only three individual spectral. This creates a certain impression of color in our eyes, which for a camera recording may, however, clearly appear different. Some LEDs are considered kameratauglich, such as TRI-LEDs, which sit at each of the three RGB LEDs behind a common lens.
But what happens if we actually tried to film with the LEDs? This I tried during my last Youtube video, my cover of Dire Straits Six Blade Knife songs.
Cause of strong flickering
The first problem was instantly visible: he seemed on the LCD screen of the digicam with some lighting scenes one of the three spotlight not only to flicker, but to pump really is, it must light cone stretched about 2-3 times a second to many times its size out, an effect that was seen with the human eye in any way. These pumps occurred only when the spotlight was dimmed. Apparently he then flared slightly at a rate that produced an interference with the frequency of the video recording. For this purpose, but there was actually a solution: The effect disappeared almost completely when you shut down the option of Super Steady Shot Sony digicam. This is actually a Sony-proprietary advanced image stabilization. Alternatively, it helped to set a slow shutter, ie a closing time of eg 1 / 30 sec will be longer this time, the shadowy but movements are recorded.
Overall, it was thus possible to film the video in an acceptable form. Some colors are sterile as in kind. The finished result can look at it here:
Also featured in a recent article Blu Ray Player LG BD 370 have not we keep the end, although he liked us, in principle well. The reason was, first, that the price at Promarkt (199, - € on sale) is much too high, since the BD 370 is currently only regular 168, - € free on Amazon. On the other hand has recently been with the LG BD 390 has already introduced a newer model, which is the same capabilities as the BD 370, but also can also play media files (videos, music, photos) from the home network using streaming. This feature seems quite sensible, as is anticipated that you are, sooner or later most of its files on a central hard drive (eg a NAS disk) and you want to access it from different rooms of the house, for example in the feature film living room to see, hear favorite songs through the stereo system or desktop PC in the office or organize the photos with the notebook in the garden like so
The LG BD 390 wick looks quite different from the BD 370, the very nice looking enlightened "wheel" of the 370 is gone. Overall, the player acts in his flat black glossy look quite elegant. What I do not like the position of the eject button, that is at the top right (see photo), while the charge for discs is left. Like the predecessors, the BD 390 fanless and altogether quite quiet.
The picture and sound quality - are to be expected with such a device - is excellent, and occasionally in the 370 BD criticized by some users of certain image jerking scenes as horizontal panning, we have seen so far. DVDs are reproduced in excellent quality thanks to upscaling.
The streaming functions either via LAN cable or wireless access to the domestic Netzwek are controlled by a clear menu. The playback of files on a USB disk has been improved, as it is not only possible with the BD 390, on FAT32-formatted drive (USB flash drives access), but NTFS is supported, so that current drives will easily .
To support the formats via network and USB are listed on the manufacturer side only AVI, DivX, PNG, JPG and MP3, it also plays MKV. Pity is that not one of the WAV format support is, as I almost all my music as uncompressed WAV on the hard disk have. In addition, some DivX versions of no-no sound (unsupported codec, such as LPCM) played.
Unfortunately, DVDs are not played via streaming or USB with menu structure, ie the BD 390 directly accesses the VOB file, so that you have no menu and no chapter can control directly. However, this is something to support what only a few eh Media Player.
What is extremely annoying though and so does not of course, is the fact that the language currently being played from a USB or network (ie ripped) DVD does not work. With the audio button on the remote control you can usually zap through the voice tracks of the DVD, but these are without even appear. On many DVDs you have, therefore, only the original English and can not switch this on German (!), Other DVDs remain, however without sound and a DVD with a live concert, which can either be played back in stereo LPCM or DTS 5.1 , you can hear only sound rubbish. How to read in various forums, all users have this problem. Predecessor, the BD worked 370, smoothly this way.
Apart from the problems with the DVD playback, the network streaming function is nice, my PC and its shared folders are detected directly, without a uspn server must be running.
Close Encounters of the Third Kind - The LG-Hotline
So I call the hotline of LG trying to find out if and when is solved with a future firmware update the problem. The Hotliner however, seemed to have never heard of this problem. In fact, it seems after recently browsing through some internet forums about the various bugs of the LG BD to know when the LG-390 support staff. An indictment! He suggested that one einschickt the unit to LG (although it is obvious that there is a general problem of the software).
The Hotliner ultimately took on my information and promised that I would be called back by a technician within the next two days. Perhaps LG would think about it, technically trained staff to put equal to their hotline. The recall was the way to this day (day 6 after call out) ...
Youtube
Like the BD 370 can also play the youtube videos directly, which occasionally is quite nice. You can log in with his Youtube account, so that you have direct access to his favorites. However, one can not assess yet to comment videos. Comments can be displayed without even. Evil is that I need to find a significant offset (perhaps one half to one second) between picture and sound. The same videos are fine on the PC. In addition I must also ask the technician the same time, if because of this me back
Conclusion
As a Blu Ray player itself, the BD 390 OK, the Streaming / USB options contribute but their concept is good, but technically quite immature. Thus, one wonders what one is therefore about 100, - € more paid to the BD 370, which not even some of the issues raised showed.
Theoretically, the problems will be solved quickly by firmware Ipdate, but rather shows the reaction of the Hotline points out that this is tantamount to Waiting for Godot likes.
More information on the BD 390 can be found here at Amazon:
Like many, I flirted for some time with the purchase of a Blu Ray player to benefit from high-resolution videos. Given growing expectant shelves with Blu Ray discs on the shelves of shops and at the same time of falling prices for the players it was now so far recently. Actually I was looking for a media player, thus a device to play music, videos and photos from USB hard drives or over (W) LAN. These various devices were considered, which had all their pros and cons. Then I had problems in the advertising of an electronics market in the description of an actual Blu Ray player, which includes a USB port and one LAN port had. That would be the two-flies-with-a-flap-solution: a Blu Ray player for Blu Ray playback, which can simultaneously take on the role of the media player.
The Samsung BD P1600
So I came to the next shopping trip with a Samsung BD P1600 home. This even has two USB ports (front and back) and a LAN port for a cable network and is also wireless-ready, which means using a USB wireless stick I get wireless access. The seller assured me that the player handles the tasks required of me.
At home I spotted the device and then examined in more detail: The P1600 looks very elegant and appealing, the touch buttons and the front-panel looked very good. The connection to the environment via HDMI and digital audio (Toslink) was easy, so I could jump start the first Blu Ray disc. Just noticed that the Samsung next to the soft whirring of the drive itself still produced a further noise, because he has a fan. The picture and sound were not fully convincing, as was expected.
Now it was because the Samsung BD P1600 to his skills as a media player to test: The USB stick is detected directly and through the menu you have access to the files contained there. When first I tried it with music: the MP3s were running smoothly, but unfortunately it was all my WAV files (I like uncompressed music) at first did not know what was for me a serious minus. It displays photos in JPEG format, which is the other most important format. Then came video: On the USB stick was a ripped DVD, and this he pointed to does not even talk the playback of a DVD from a USB disk is not possible (only AVI / DIVX files). Speaking of disk: All my USB hard drives were not recognized! In the manual there was something in the sense of "oversized hard drives may not be recognized correctly. However, all were tested by me certainly not oversized disks (which may always say that), but had just 160 to 500 GB. The solution was that the Samsung recognizes only with FAT32 formatted media, not those that are formatted with NTFS, but this is again standard for hard drives.
The flop was the next LAN access: It put out that this is only meant to receive BD Live, a service that you can display additional information and bonus material on the films from the Internet. The same applies for WLAN, which incidentally seems to be possible only with a special USB-WLAN-Stick from Samsung (which costs only 69, - €
Conclusion: The Samsung BD P1600 went back to the dealer.
Some research brought out to connect, that most Blu Ray players also USB and LAN, but they too have the problems mentioned in the same or similar form. Unfortunately, we missed the opportunity, Blu Ray look. So I needed another solution. After we had studied various media players, and had been considered instead to buy a Playstation 3 (where we are no computer players and also do not like), but we tried it again with a Blu Ray Player: LG BD 370th
The LG BD 370
This works with its blue-lit control wheel also visually appealing, also has USB, however, (just behind a front flap) and LAN connection. Picture and sound are also convincing, which came in some forums complained about stuttering so far, fortunately not on (perhaps helped the newer firmware). As a media player but he is much better. He also does play WAV can not, but at least DVD playback from a USB stick (although without the menu structure). The on-screen menus also see a lot better. He can also stream files over LAN not really from the network, but you can browse videos on YouTube and watch as a bonus and he has no fan, and finally he was cheaper.
Anyone interested in one of these devices, has further information on the following Amazon link.
Tim got on his last birthday a wave board - this new skateboard on which one to just two wheels balanced and moving forward through body rotation in the s-wave shaped lines. I admit that I was fascinated by this device and immediately felt a certain pleasure, I also try it. However, I did not go elsewhere with rolling, balance, requiring transportation means (apart from the bike) - so I can not roller skate, inline skating, ice skate yet. Accordingly, worked my first test experiments with the wave board - draufstellen easy time in the home and to hold it somewhere - not very encouraging.
By turning of the body pushes it to the wave board in a serpentine
When Tim was then but a week on a school, the opportunity arose quite naturally, the whole thing more intense in peace a try. My wife had also packed the ambition and they soon managed to keep the first few meters down to rolling on the wave board. I, too, this was possible after a few attempts: It's like a bicycle - standing around it falls while driving alone, it remains in balance. Therefore you should try the first few meters down a shallow slope. If you are not alone, you can also on the standing wave board range of a second person with both hands, so that one has to stop first, and then slowly pull the sides can be. Here you can try to let go of the hands in order to find the balance. Did they feel fear or uncertainty, you can always take your hands again.
This first hurdle - the standing balance in downhill - was so taken relatively quickly. Something serious is now decorated the progress in a level road. The wave board is "self-propelled" - ie it is driven by its own motion, without being as in a normal skateboard again and again with one leg off the ground repels to get going. This works by the slight forward tilt of the view from the side obliquely mounted axles in conjunction with the elastic torsion bar connecting the front and rear half of the board.
You have now the whole body from side to side spin, so to get around in zig-zags. At the beginning of this process was very exhausting and I got a little forward momentum. While the whole thing with Tim already effortlessly worked, I fought my way forward in jerky rather square-looking movement. It took some time before these movements gradually smoothed and rounded. This was always the driving effortless. In fact, is the movement of my recent experience, not from a specific starting point of the body, but all body parts - feet, legs, hips, torso, and shoulders are equally involved. This results in the correct technique, even more sore muscles and exhaustion of individual muscles.
This movement corresponds to an astonishing degree the basic movement that I met years ago when Qigong (more precisely one of the basic movements of the Chan Mi Qigong) and Tai Chi. It also came on the relaxed, circular movement of the whole body. An important role is played by the relaxation and letting go - not using force, but allow the development of the movement easy. Designed so the wave board has a fast-driving relaxing and invigorating in a natural way - the nature of the movement mobilized the flow of Qi's, as they say in traditional Chinese medicine. Therefore, I call it in the title Qigong machine.
We now have all three of its own Board and to make regular trips, where we drive several miles along the Ruhr beuspielsweise. Or do we jump some laps in our street or on an empty parking lot on Sundays.
The wave board, by the way in various designs, with me from the original Street Surfing liked much better than cheaper alternatives. More information is available at the following Amazon link:
We had planned for Tim (our 12-year-old son) just buy a phone, namely LG KP500 - the stylish touch-screen design, it had done to him, which is then run on a prepaid card. And when we were shopping the other day in Cologne, it happened: When media market, we looked at this phone and it looked really pretty cool. However, when we chat up us the sellers' survey, noted that that it comparable to an absolute (rather better) model from Samsung - the Samsung S5230 fact - we can offer a special deal: If you close a contract with Debitel / Vodafone (at least 24 months, unit price € 9.95 pr month), so you get the phone for 1, - € (where nothing in particular), for the first 18 in 24 months, however, takes the media market, the full fee, so that ultimately only the last six months of two years (just under 60, - €) himself paid. Added to this was finally ended, a further € per month for any frills-free options such as ringtones, etc. who could not handle, but even then you pay with about 84 - far less than the € 156, - €, the mobile phone alone will cost at least.
And the connection cost for this contract? Be whatever means, the seller, you can insert the SIM just two years into the drawer and use the phone instead, with any prepaid card.
We then continued our shopping first time, taking only once at the Media-issued laptops to market abuse, after googling the phone, where we found but confirmed the good reviews. Finally, we have found no obvious hooks and therefore deeply involved in this deal. We had actually only 1, - € to pay for the phone and for that we got from the media market at the box office receipts on a credit of 180, - €. With these vouchers, we had to return to the mobile phone seller (or more precisely a Debitel employees), the auflud before our eyes so that the contract Acount to 180, - €. Oh yes, there was one condition: you must use the phone at least once every three months (one call or SMS), otherwise a non-fee of 3, - € would be due. On the other hand includes 30 free minutes of tariff (or to the Vodafone Festnez) or optional 30 free text messages.
The mobile phone is now running with a prepaid card from Congstar and the Vodafone SIM is in the closet. The best ever like to cancel no later that one of the forgotten yet. I guess it - or that you simply out of convenience it is - ultimately aims of the strategy Debitel / Vodafone, may be that it is a large number of customers in total pay. Moreover, such a mobile phone purchasing is indeed much cheaper than the retail price. Or is there still a hidden hook, but if such an ultimately makes himself known, he provides material again for another blog article, so stay tuned
The IP-dio has various childhood diseases, but also plays the formats WAV and Real
Recently, I got this Internet radio. However, the possibility was being able to hear tens of thousands of radio stations, only one of the reasons why I grew me such a device. I was looking nd ¤ Mlich also an opportunity to play on the stereo in the living room the entire music library on the hard drive of my PC, which is in a basement - that the so-called audio streaming over a network.
The idea should be clear: Soon you will probably want to have all your music, videos / movies, photos and other files on a central hard drive, and this on different players from different areas of access. This is of course with any other PC or my laptop around with the Netbook , but on the other hand you may not want the notebook next to the stereo system will have constantly, sometimes just listening to radio or can. And as Internet radios are so over wireless or cable network (LAN) to the Internet - and with the home network - connected, it should be possible for music files with them such access. That was the theory ...
The practice
First, I realized that, although almost all Internet radio stations seem to control this audio-streaming, but even at the supported file formats appeared the first problem: most can play MP3 and WMA music, my music is mostly in the non-compressed WAV format (why would you want to also reduce disk ripped CDs in the quality?). WAV and can apparently only a few - such as the various models dnt the German manufacturer.
Their IP-dio style but fell away again, as it has no line-out jack, so as to connect the stereo system (take this, the headphone output, you start to sound an unnecessary losses and noise).
But it did - with a price of 94, - € for Conrad - even better IP-dio mini this, but it has only a small speaker, so that it reproduced music can be heard only mono (which when connected to the stereo plant but no matter).
The start-up was simple in principle: supply (AC adapter, line out switch if necessary), ...
The IP dio mini found my Wi-Fi and asked me for the associated password (this is case sensitive way (case sensitive), as I had to find out after I typed the password several times, as I wheel through the letters from an alphabetical list selected).
The reception of radio stations was not a problem. These can be washed from a list sorted by location or genre ¤ hlt. The sound on the built-in speaker is pretty decent for its size. That way, nearly all Internet radio stations so "loud and mushy" sound is not used in data compression (usually MP3 128 kb / s), but on the dynamics of compression, with every transmitter tries, louder than his competitors sound like.
Now for the audio streaming, the IP-dio mini offers two modes: first direct network access to shared PC and its folder to another on UPnP server, so PCs on which a music administration software such as MS Media Player 11 is running, the playback equipment zuspielt music.
I tried it first with the first mode. First big problem: My laptop was indeed found, but not the PC with the music in my basement. This hurdle has previously not really take, but I have now found out that the PC is found, if your wireless access point acts as a DHCP server - a role that usually takes over my DSL router. However, "losing" it to the PC often, when the notebook was turned around.
Has found the PC, you can see a list of shared folders. If we choose a to - for example, my "Music" folder - so ... crashing the machine - every time! Apparently it comes with the large amount of files in turn, a large amount of subfolders (on several levels according to the scheme / Artist / Album /) can not cope - but that's life now plays - one just has not only 50 songs but perhaps hundreds of CDs or albums!
So I tried it with smaller Happen: Then it fell off, although not, and found all the songs, but it was not the subfolders, so all songs were in one long list. In addition, the titles were not in alphabetical order, but in seemingly random. More than impractical!
In this direction ultimately nothing really worked. So I tried the second mode (UPnP Server), which I twonkymedia software on my PC installed the. In diesem Modus wird der PC gefunden und alle Songs lassen sich nach Interpret, Album oder Playlist ordnen, oder man wählt die Ordner-Struktur des PCs als Ansicht. So macht es Spaß und ich hatte letztlich das, was ich wollte.
Einige bleibende (kleinere) Kritikpunkte:
Man kann mit den Skip-Tasten von Lied zu Lied springen, aber man kann nicht damit spulen (fast forward/rewind). Diese Funktion fehlt völlig!
Die Fernbedienung sieht wenig robust aus und soll laut Amazon-Rezensionen schnell kaputt gehen.
Die Navigation durch verschiedene Menüs mittels der Back-Taste ist umständlich, man kommt manchmal nicht direkt dorthin, wohin man möchte.
Wenn man aber bedenkt, dass manchen Geräte erheblich mehr kosten, ist das IP-dio mini für mich noch in Ordnung. Insbesondere wenn man Formate wie WAV oder auch Real Audio wiedergeben möchte, ist dieses Gerät weit vorne.
Letztlich mag es sein, dass nach und nach alle Kritikpunkte durch Firmware-Updates beseitigt werden, welche sich das Gerät selbst aus dem Netz holt. Die Hotline ist übrigens gut erreichbar und ich sprach direkt mit einem Techniker, der sehr kompetent und hilfsbereit war.
Mehr Infos und Rezensionen findet man zB bei Amazon, wohin man über den folgenden Link direkt gelangt:
