hdmi

Our present isn't nearly as wireless as our past promised our future would be. (Oh, it does too make sense.)

For example, planning to mount a TV on the wall or a projector on the ceiling? Be prepared for a mess of wires to go with it, what with the cable box, Blu-ray player, game console, Apple TV, and other goodies you'll want to connect.

Ideally, you'd be able to wirelessly beam all your video sources to your video destination, with little to no lag and HD fidelity intact. And you can, with today's deal.

For … Read more

Rewind the clock back five years and Oppo was the "go-to" brand for DVD players, with the Oppo DV-981HD one of the best models available at the time. Then Blu-ray happened, and Oppo saw little initial competition for its first Blu-ray player. But since 2009, the Blu-ray player market has shrunk: titans like Sony and Panasonic no longer make premium players and instead opt for cookie-cutter "wedges" with plastic build quality, yet good performance and cheap prices.

Oppo has stuck to its design and philosophical guns, and has now released its third set of players, the … Read more

Hewlett-Packard is adding a new thin X series monitor -- this time a 24-incher.

The new HP x2401 24-inch-diagonal LED backlit monitor has an 11-millimeter profile encased in a glossy black-piano finish and brushed-metal case.

Sporting a resolution of 1920x1080, it taps MVA (multidomain vertical alignment) to deliver good viewing angles and 5,000:1 and 10,000,000:1 static and dynamic contrast ratios, respectively.

DisplayPort and HDMI ports are built in. And wall mounting is also possible.… Read more

Apple may be adding to its lineup of Lightning adapters.

The company will sell Lightning to HDMI and Lightning to VGA adapters in "the coming months," an Apple spokesman reportedly told The Verge.

The two new adapters would join the Lightning to 30-pin adapter for Apple's new iPhone and iPods.

The 30-pin adapter already will come in two variations: a $39 7-inch adapter cable and a $29 stub adapter. Both are listed as shipping in two to three weeks, which would mean around early October.

The Apple Web site does confirm that the Lightning to 30-pin adapter … Read more

Leaked from today's 404 show:

- 'People' defend Chic-fil-A on Facebook.

- Chick-fil-A cashier fired for racist receipts.

- Old records outsell new ones for the first time.

- Circuit City's in-home TV calibration is a total scam.… Read more

The new MacBook Pro with Retina display has many noteworthy features, from a unique 2,880x1,800-pixel screen to new Nvidia graphics to large SSD storage options. But, the most surprising may be the multiple video outputs -- something not seen on a MacBook before now.

The last several generations of MacBook have had either a mini-DisplayPort or combo Thunderbolt/DisplayPort jack. HDMI has been on our most-wished-for lists for years, so Apple finally adding HDMI (which is found on pretty every other current laptop) is a big move, especially when combined with a second Thunderbolt port.

The initial review of the Retina Pro … Read more

In one sense, Microsoft has succeeded already, by demonstrating that there is a third paradigm: a transformable tablet.

That alone strikes me as a very intentional rebuttal of the Apple argument that a laptop and tablet is a "forced" convergence. (Tim Cook).

And Steve Jobs knocked the idea before that, saying it was "ergonomically terrible" and "we've done tons of user testing on this, and it turns out it doesn't work."

Well, Microsoft showed us Monday that it could work. That's all I (and consumers) need to see. (I had been … Read more

Microsoft did not skimp on specs for its new tablets.

More than any single feature, the 3mm-thick Touch Cover (see photos below) stands out. Using pressure-sensitive technology, Touch Cover senses keystrokes as gestures, allowing faster touch typing than is possible with on-screen keyboards, Microsoft claims.

The Touch Cover attaches to the tablet with a built-in magnetic connector, "forming a natural spine like you find on a book, and works as a protective cover," Microsoft said.

There is also an option for a slightly thicker 5 mm Type Cover that adds moving keys for a more traditional typing experience. … Read more

I hesitated writing this How To. Compared with the olden days of installing and configuring video cards and giant CRT displays, the process of adding a secondary monitor to any modern computer is practically plug-and-play.

But when I sat down to write a tutorial on this that included both Mac and PC, I realized there's still a surprising amount of variables to the process, and plenty of details that I hadn't considered before.

"Is VGA video quality inherently worse than HDMI?"

"Will generic Mini DisplayPort cables work in a Mac's Thunderbolt port?"

I … Read more