glare

CNET Roadside Assistance 011: Can't see through the glare. (podcast)

This is the 11th episode of CNET Roadside Assistance for Thursday, the 5th of May 2011. In this episode we take about trading a Z to a Quest, adjusting the glare on the dash, and finding the perfect car to travel 500 miles a week in.

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• LOLcars (photos)

iPad 2 as e-reader: Glare still an issue

Let's get something out of the way right off the bat. I have an iPad. The original. I use it as an e-reader. I like it as an e-reader. I consider it a very good e-reader. But it's not perfect.

Like a lot of other people, after the lines died down last Friday, iPad 2 launch day, I took a trip to my local Apple store to mingle with the crowds and handle the object that has been getting so much attention. My mission, however, was a little more focused than some people's. Sure, I took the Web browser for a spin and tried to get a feel for how much zippier the thing might be. But I largely ignored the built-in front and back cameras and other new features such as the Garage Band app because plenty has already been written about that stuff.

What I was most curious about was how the iPad 2 performed as an e-reader and whether Apple had done anything to the screen to make the reading experience better. … Read more

Glossy screens on the rise--whether you like it or not

For the record: I hate reflective screens.

In the past, I've written about how I hate them on laptops. And, judging from the reader comments, many of you hate them as well. Unfortunately, it seems like our pleas are falling on deaf ears. Matte screens are becoming harder to find on laptops: you usually have to search out "business" models, which are sometimes lean on consumer-friendly features and pricing. So, if you're not in a totally darkened environment, you're left staring at your own reflection in the screen, instead of at your work.

Now the trend is extending to TVs, as well. Once upon a time, plasma screens had reflective glass, while LCD screens had matte finishes. But as LCD continues to take market share from plasma, the LCD TV manufacturers are struggling to distinguish their products from one another in the marketplace. And with the spec sheets becoming ever more identical--1080p resolution, LED backlighting, 240Hz refresh rate, zillion-to-one contrast ratio--design becomes more important than ever. In addition to ever thinner panels, shiny, glossy, highly reflective screens are becoming the norm in LCD land.

The cynic in me still thinks the manufacturers really prefer the glossy reflective screens because they "pop" on the showroom floor at Best Buy--shoppers eyes are drawn to shiny baubles, even if they're $3,000 big-screen TVs. But, to be fair, the glossy screens aren't entirely cosmetic. Manufacturers claim that the glossy screens preserve black levels by focusing the reflections rather than scattering them in a more diffuse pattern. So, you'll see the light from a window will only take up that much space on the screen, instead of having the larger discolored white blob you'd see on a matte screen.

While that's certainly true, the fact is that I find the diffuse matte reflection to be much less objectionable than seeing a mirror image of my living room staring back at me. On the example above, note the reflection on the screen on the left completely obscures Maggie Gyllenhaal's image; the same window reflection on the upper corner of the TV on the right is, to my eye, much easier to tolerate. … Read more

Panasonic lowers 1080p plasma bar

Despite the fact that the benefits of 1080p native resolution are difficult to discern at the 50-inch screen size, let alone 42 inches, Panasonic has to keep up with the LCD competition if it wants to maintain spec-sheet parity in the eyes of comparison shoppers. That's probably the main reason why the plasma powerhouse announced two new, lower-priced 1080p models today at CEDIA in Denver: the 42-inch TH-42PZ77 ($1799) and the 50-inch TH-50PZ77 ($2799).

These sets trim $200 off the list prices of the formerly least-expensive 1080p Panasonic plasmas, the excellent 42-inch TH-42PZ700U and the ever-popular TH-50PZ700U, making them the most affordable 1080p plasmas on the market, and strongly price-competitive with similarly sized 1080p LCDs. Here are some more items from the press release:

Panasonic TH-PZ77 series key features

1080p native resolution Two HDMI inputs Antiglare screen coating SD memory card slot September release date… Read more

Down with reflective screens

I'm in the market for a new laptop, and I was immediately drawn to the Dell XPS M1330 the minute it appeared in the CNET Labs last week. It's easily one of the slickest-looking Windows laptops I've seen in a long time, and despite its ultraportable size, it still packs all the serious computing horsepower and features I'm looking for, including a slot-loading DVD burner, HDMI output, and a built-in flash media reader. I was seriously ready to budget out $2,000 for this thing--until I noticed the screen. … Read more