Pete's Write

  Toy Story 3 When Pixar first emerged, their first movie was the start of a long string of hits which never seems to stop. With Toy Story I, you had a hit which was a mix of startling animation, lots of fun but mostly important and yet ironical in an animation, the human touch. The story of a bond of friendship between two different personalities, overcoming adversity together, along with genuine chemistry, lots of funny lines and some excitement made an instant hit of the first show. Can they make it 3 hits in a row? Toy Story II was even better and there is a lot to prove almost 10 years after the first release. It also comes in 3D and with a string of duds and some skepticism that 3D is merely a means to squeeze more out of the movie goer, the third installment has a lot to live up to. But trust Pixar to not only live up to expectations, but exceed them, and be able to introduce a whole new bunch of characters, which add a new dimension, but still allow the original dy...

This is to help sieve through the many calibration discs we have on the market.     Too many discs can add confusion to new buyers and newbies to HT.   Firstly, understand the controls on your TV, amp or speakers. Go through the basic terms like speaker placement, SPL meters, color, brightness, contrast etc first before you venture further. Then you will need to see if you use your TV in 2 settings – day and night. Then you may need to use 2 different settings for each light condition.   For video, the main thing is optimising your settings to give you the best picture quality (PQ) and similarly for sound, the ideal setting to make you feel part of the sound.   For video, it should have the basic brightness, colour, contrast and tint sections, then it may have test screens to centre the picture, and further tests of alignment, bleed, interlacing etc, but the first few should be present.   Good test discs also have realistic sce...

  LIFE - BBC series 4 discs - region free.   If BBC's Planet Earth was the aperitif that showcases what High Definition could do, then Life is the tour de force course which reinforces it and more... The picture quality here, the kind of detail on offer is so astounding, you almost feel voyeuristic in your vantage point. Sure the plethora of action movies on offer is plenty, and you can get many CGI scenes but if you want real action accompanied by real gore, and lots of surround effects, look no further.   As for the plot - let’s just say Mother Nature knows how to give you a great story, and you are in the middle of the gripping action watching animals fight for their lives. This is accompanied by Sir Attenborough's wonderful narrative in his natural calm smooth voice - forget the Oprah version chaps, this is the real man.   Life does not leave you short-changed when comes to the ...

Hi Fi Shootout May 2010   The gathering at Francis’ home was more of a chance to catch up with old friends and make new ones, share info and tips and finally listen to speakers which we normally won’t be able to do so in showrooms. Kudos again to Francis, who is the forum’s all round gentleman and friendly bro, for opening up his home to us.   And also to all the bros who brought food, and more importantly their speakers and for wizard for his “human remote” thankless job!   Now a few thoughts on the speakers I heard during the demo:   The thumpers:   PSB – This is a tower of power, and offers a sonic experience not unlike a gale force. Truly this speaker was built for the big moments in music and especially for HT, with a bass that makes you ponder if a subwoofer is still needed.  Much like a V8 muscle car, it does best in showing off the powerful moments, but subtlety and finesse are not its stro...

    There are few people who can be as closely associated with the word “blockbuster” as Jerry Bruckheimer (JB), who has been responsible for producing more summer popcorn hits than almost anyone around. His collaborations with director Michael Bay are the stuff which gets long queues snaking round the block and from Beverly Hills Cop all the way to the Pirates trilogy, Jerry has amassed a wonderful repertoire of summer hits which have enthralled audiences around the world. JB aka "Mr. Blockbuster", has made more than 13 billion in movies and continues to impress with Prince of Persia.   JB has the art of the summer blockbuster down to a pat. POPATSOT will never win any Oscars, and delivers a fun-filled rollercoaster ride which seeks to thrill, humor, and excite young and old all around the world with a simple almost flaky storyline, of a street urchin who is adopted by the king of Persia and is raised as a prince and he sprinkles the oblig...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B001LMSP2Q/ref=oss_product   After one too many movies with just bass, explosions and lots of killing, a change was needed. Something to show off the finer qualities of the home theatre system, and its musical qualities. I chanced across this disc whilst getting a few more of the usual action fare off Amazon UK. This was a blind buy after reading some reviews.   The Vienna New Year Concert is an annual affair and this comes in the Blu Ray format, and is recorded in lossless DTS-MA 5.1 or stereo LPCM. The 5.1 is more immersive and you won’t find your subwoofer going to sleep either. The sound quality is truly fabulous and you can feel part of the audience, and yet you have no difficulty picking out individual instruments but the soundscape is immersive and smooth.   The picture quality is equally breath-taking, even though it is 1080i “only”. Check out the grain on the instrument stands and the floor boards...

Korea has come up with some interesting shows which have been trailer-blazers that have lit up the movie world and have led to sequels, copycats both domestically and remakes by Hollywood. One of their most successful was a show called "My Sassy Girl", a show which appealed to both men and women. It had some romance, albeit in an awkward way where the man was often subject to physical violence by a woman, who was a stranger and somehow love grew out of this. This show was the top grossing movie before the current one came about. For those who know Korean culture, this is quite removed from reality, as men dominate Korean society and you will see women walking a few steps behind or men simply walking to the head of a queue and the women quietly accepting this. My colleague had her butt pinched on a subway train over there too. I guess watching a movie where women wear the pants appeals since it is something the Koreans, and the women in particular can only fantasize ab...

3-dimensional (3D) entertainment, either in the form of video or even print has hit Singapore and the rest of the world in a big way this year. You see ads for 3D movies and for new 3DTVs vying for your attention in electronic stores. However before we surrender our hard-earned money and follow the hordes, only to be disappointed with the results back home, we should take a long hard look at the current state of 3D.   Manufacturers, and movie productions thrive on new technology. It helps to sell TVs, movie tickets and software. This generates revenue for the companies since the newer the technology, the more justification for higher profit margins. However there are some issues with this. Firstly, 3D movies do not always look good. Some animations like Avatar with a high quality computer graphics animation unit, have showcased what the best 3D can look like. Others employ some hurried post-production alterations to cash in on this phenomenon, and look similar if not worse th...