We’re big Guitar Hero/Rock Band fans, but buying a controller so that it can play the songs perfectly so that you don’t have to do anything? That’s taking it a bit too far.
If pretending to rock is so hard that you have to pretend to pretend to rock, you should just go and eat your way up to 800 pounds and give up on life. [eBay - Thanks Ben!]
The two Jabra Go 6400 and Pro 9400 Bluetooth headsets are kinda neat, combining a charging dock for convenience with a touchcreen for showmanship.
The 6400 has a standard Bluetooth range and looks exactly like a Bluetooth headset from Jabra, whereas the 9400 looks like a receptionist’s headset that you can take around your house at up to a 450-foot range.
They both have dual-microphones for noise cancelation and both have the touchscreen to quickly switch between a cellphone, VoIP or landline connections. Both will be available later in the year for $200 each. [Slashgear]
The micro-four-thirds standard created by Panasonic, Olympus and Leica has intrigued us but its mightiest product to date, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH1, leaves us scratching our heads.
Camera Be Still
When it comes to still shooting, there is no difference between the GH1 and the G1 that Mahoney reviewed last November. It has a digital viewfinder instead of an optical one, which takes some getting used to but tends to work. It’s got a huge number of manual and automatic options, as well as some uniquely digital settings, like “film mode” where you can manually adjust the color balance, saturation, contrast and noise reduction of the “film” you’re using. Because the sensor is 4:3 (hence the format’s name), you can change the aspect ratio to 16:9 for a wider view, but of course you sacrifice some pixels in the process.
The camera has many of these novel options to keep track of, but it doesn’t pay a huge dividend to those who do. As Mahoney said in the original piece, its high-ISO shots are a bit more noisy than most DSLRs, and the lens selection is paltry compared to Canon and Nikon. As someone who carries mainly entry-level DSLRs (and generally wants for nothing more), I found myself simultaneously overwhelmed and unimpressed, though I did manage to eek out a few halfway decent shots, which I’ve stuck in the gallery below.
All of the above features and capabilities can be found on the $800 DMC-G1. What I tested, though, was the $1500 GH1, with an “H” for “Highdefinitionvideo.”
It’s Got an H In It
The H makes a big big difference, as David Pogue mentioned, and as Mahoney lamented.
The 1080p video is, in fact, astonishingly good, when you’re shooting in the right light with a decent lens. I used two lenses, the highly functional 14-140mm kit lens, and a playful 7-14mm wide angle lens with a touch of the fisheye.
The video comes in AVCHD format, which some people don’t like. I don’t mind it, though when I previewed it in VLC, it appeared to have a painful amount of compression artifacts. I was going to condemn the camera for that, until I wrangled the video in VisualHub, and found that all of the playback artifacts disappeared in conversion, and probably wouldn’t appear in other software. (Panasonic sent me GH1 software, but it was for PCs only, and I didn’t have a chance to check it out; some of you already know what to do with AVCHD vid anyway, so I wouldn’t make a big deal out of the included software either way.) As you can see in this quick up-close video of Wynona—dropped from 1080p to 500×280 and converted to FLV for your consumption—you can certainly get a lot done:
The rustling you hear is me playing with the camera strap to attract an otherwise lethargic cat’s attention; over the weekend, when I shot video of my family, the stereo mic array worked well, as long as I kept my own stinkin’ trap shut. Its placement, facing upwards, on top of the flash, means that the shooter’s voice is far louder than that of his or her subjects.
Video certainly is the GH1’s coup de grace, as others have proclaimed. Practically speaking, it’s a damn sight better than the video from the Canon T1i and the Nikon D5000, which are fine for quick snips but lack the autofocus necessary for a nice fluid continuous shot (Touch of Evil opener, anyone?). The GH1 dynamically refocuses well enough, though as you can see in the Wynona video, it can’t go super-macro with that 7-14mm lens.
Stupid Money
Still, we’re back to the same dilemma here: If moderately video capable DSLRs are selling for MSRPs around $900 (also with decent kit lenses), how can this baby be worth $600 extra? Still-only DSLRs cost in the $600 range—how can the GH1 be $900 more than those?
It’s a powerful camera, but I certainly didn’t feel as comfortable shooting with it as I do with Canon and Nikon DSLRs, and the video is, after all, video. The argument for video on other DSLRs is their compatibility with all kinds of lenses; here, it’s more like a decent video camera without a huge number of lenses. As Mahoney mentioned in the G1 review, you can get a lens adapter and use some nice Leica lenses, but do you really want to go to all that trouble? We’d be better suited for some a handful of interesting, made-for-micro-four-thirds primes.
Even if we get all that, though, the price remains prohibitive. If you are tempted by the video capability of this camera, you are still better suited to buying a nice DSLR and a true HD camcorder of your choosing from Panasonic or Sony or Canon. I wish I could say that the excellent 1080p video tips the scales, but it doesn’t. [Product Page]
In Brief:
HD video performance is exceptional for a high-end still camera, and notably better than “competing” DSLRs
Lots of manual digital manipulation means a lot to read up on and remember—it’s not easily hidden from the beginner, but in the hands of an undaunted shooter, there’s a lot of potential
The camera’s entry cost is far too high to justify when it’s not a big winner in still shooting, and when HD camcorder prices are dropping
David Fitzherbert was skiing down a glacier in Switzerland when the snow gave out and he dropped 70 feet before being trapped somewhat securely between two rocks…thanks to his Blackberry.
The Blackberry, seated in his breast pocket, added the extra bit of thickness that made the difference between plummeting another 700 feet and waiting 2 hours for a rescue chopper.
While Fitzherbert hardly walked away unscathed—he suffered hypothermia, a broken jaw, nearly “ripped off” nose among other ailments—he was able to call his wife from the hospital…on the very phone that saved his life. [The Sun Thanks gitemstevedave!]
Reading up on this totally fresh neoHD receiver tells me that Yamaha—unlike its competition—is trying hard to keep up with the rapidly changing home theater situation, particularly where HD video is concerned.
Yamaha clumsily calls neoHD a “media connector,” which makes it sound like just part of the home-theater equation, rather than a solution to that equation. What neoHD really is is a streamlined AV receiver with more emphasis on “V” than “A.”
It’s a smallish box with a zillion inputs—3 HDMI, 2 component, 1 composite, both optical and coax digital audio, and a USB port—and a few choice outputs. Straightaway there’s support for media on USB disks, but you can add on an iPod dock or a Bluetooth stereo receiver.
There’s an amp to drive your own 5.1 surround-sound speaker set, or a 2.1 system that you can buy bundled with it that uses a virtual surround sound. There are IR blasters for TiVo, cable boxes and I suppose even Xbox (though not PS3, right?), so that everything can be run and managed through the system. And to do that, it’s got a super-simplified remote, signaling the days of the 14″ long AV receiver remote are finally, possibly, at an end.
As you probably guessed from the picture, it ditches for good this notion that a receiver can be programmed with a tiny LED display and a bunch of abbreviated terms like “PrLgcII.” Instead, it throws everything to an on-screen display that is sadly not pictured here. The core is a natural-language command hierarchy much like the one that made Logitech’s Harmony remotes famous, where you select “Watch” “Listen” or “Play” and a series of commands are set into motion.
The basic neoHD receiver, the YMC-500, costs $600, a little steep, perhaps, but if it replaces a Harmony as well as an AV receiver, it could well earn its price—we’ll find out for sure when we have a look at a review unit. There’s a $200 step-up YMC-700 model that comes with Ethernet and Wi-Fi, which is good for Rhapsody as well as local content (using Twonky Media Server), but something tells me Yamaha may not be able to go as far as Samsung, LG, Sony or Panasonic to secure really good on-demand video. $800 is also the price of the YMC-500 with 2.1 speakers thrown in.
YAMAHA neoHD MEDIA CONTROLLERS WITH SIMPLIFIED REMOTES OFFER INTUITIVE CONTROL OVER ENTIRE HD ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEMS
- Breakthrough Components Deliver HD Audio, HDMI, AIR SURROUND XTREME and Dynamic Full-Color On-Screen Menus for Quick Access to Desired Entertainment -
BUENA PARK, Calif.––Yamaha Electronics Corporation, the innovator in home theater and digital audio and video reproduction, today ushers in the future of home entertainment with the introduction of neoHD. These sophisticated Media Controllers provide the HD audio and video performance essential to true HD entertainment experiences and total control of all home and Internet components and sources connected to a home AV system. Using a simple remote to drive an intuitive menu-driven on-screen display, neoHD makes it easier than ever before to navigate and access all audio and video content in the home, regardless of where it is stored.
Upon touching the power button of the neoHD remote, the Media Controller and connected TV automatically power up and give the user three onscreen entertainment choices: “Watch,” “Listen,” or “Play.” Next, the user is prompted to choose among more specific activities (such as Watch Movie, Watch LiveTV, Listen CD, etc) at which time icons for the appropriate video, audio or video game components (such as Blu-ray players, CD players, cable boxes, iPods, game consoles, etc.) will appear. Once the component is selected, it automatically powers on and is fully operational via the neoHD remote and on-screen interface. All individual component remotes that normally clutter the room can be kept out of sight in a drawer.
neoHD can control up to six other AV components, such as TVs, Blu-ray disc players and set-top boxes, through its remote control and three IR outputs on the Media Controller’s back panel. Remote control codes for the AV components (including TVs, DVD and Blu-ray players, VCRs, set-top boxes, etc.) from most manufacturers are embedded into the neoHD Media Controller for immediate compatibility and control. The codes for components that are not embedded can be quickly learned by the Media Controller.
neoHD is available in a variety of configurations, including neoHD (YMC-500), neoHD WiFi (YMC-700) with WiFi/Ethernet compatibility, and the neoHD System 2.1 (YMC-S21), a complete surround sound and system control solution that matches the YMC-500 Media Controller with two high-quality speakers and a subwoofer.Both neoHD models feature HD quality audio playback (Dolby TrueHD) and three HDMI inputs for connecting HD AV sources, such as a Blu-ray player, digital set-top box or Apple TV. Also provided are two component video inputs for game consoles and DVRs, such as Tivo, and single composite video inputs for a VCR. The YMC-700’s WiFi compatibility allow it to wirelessly play back content from PCs, laptops and audio files stored on hard drives. Even without the computer powered on, the Rhapsody online music service and Internet radio can be accessed directly from the Internet. YMC-700 can also playback iTunes AAC files via TwonkyMedia Server Software that purchasers have access to via a bundled license key.
Both models also allow connectivity to portable devices, such as USB memory sticks, as well as iPods and Bluetooth-enabled devices (including cell phones, PCs or Macs) via optional accessories (Yamaha YDS-11, MSRP $99.95, and Yamaha YBA-10, MSRP $129.95, respectively).neoHD employs several proprietary audio technologies. Users can take advantage of Yamaha’s popular Cinema DSP programs, such as Movie, Music, Entertainment and All Channel Stereo, to optimize movie, TV and sports viewing experiences in systems with 5.1 speaker configurations. Yamaha’s AIR SURROUND XTREME technology adds extra system setup flexibility for a two-speaker stereo configuration, delivering surround sound that clearly separates the audio from in front, behind and either side of the viewer. Yamaha’s YPAO Automatic System Calibration quickly optimizes audio performance in any room, regardless of where the speakers are placed.
Adaptive DRC maintains the maximum dynamic range at all volume levels by continuously monitoring audio content and making low-volume sounds easier to hear as music or movies are playing. Yamaha’s Compressed Music Enhancer restores the highs and lows that are lost when audio files are digitally compressed, such as with MP3 files, to make them sound fuller and more engaging.
Both neoHD Media Controllers, YMC-700 and YMC-500, are currently available for MRP $799.95 and $599.95, respectively. The neoHD System 2.1, YMC-S21 is also available for MRP $799.95.