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Saturday, November 19th, 2011
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Since a lot of hours has went into this decision I thought I'd use this post to outline my reasons for settling on this particular TV.
First, the TV is this one: Panasonic VIERA Plasma TC-P42ST30 42" 3DTV
Amazon link Panasonic web site
First, I mostly use a TV for video games. I occasionally watch TV but this is so infrequent that I didn't really consider it heavily.
Second, I mostly use my TV late at night. My significant other works during the day so presumably she'd use it more in the evening as well. I guess we might use it during the weekend days.
Based on what we know about the rooms (I'm moving a lot right now), the living room will be about 12' long, so, after you take into account the furniture, we can sit around 5-6' from the TV. This apparently is a decent range for a 42" TV so that's what I settled on. Unfortunately I don't know how the lighting is going to be, but since my partner is learning to sew hopefully we can use curtains if it's really too bright.
The first decision really was LCD vs. LCD w/ LED backlighting vs. plasma.
A friend of mine really swears by plasma because it has good refresh rates, good colours, and really good black levels. Going to the store, I basically got the same from most of the salespeople, but I have a feeling that people at Best Buy or Future Shop are a little bit bound by selling certain models and thus push particular types of TVs over other ones. Most of the hardcore home theatre Internet forums appear to generally agree that plasma TVs have better colours, better refresh, less ghosting, and better black levels.
That said, LCD/LED TVs are coming very close with respect to black levels, and many have really low refresh - but it sounds like this is a bit of a compromise.
LCD/LED TVs are really thin and they are light. Much lighter than plasma. No argument. They also use less energy. This was a little bit of a factor but not a massive one.
LCD/LED TVs are much, much brighter than plasmas. This was a consideration but considering our patterns of use, I think that we can settle with the darker levels. Apparently plasmas are basically meant to be used in a dark room - having sunlight shine on the screen makes it really really annoying to watch. Most people therefore recommend LCD or LED screens if your living room is very bright. My friend joked that since Corvallis is cloudy all the time, we don't have to worry about that anyway.
Plasma TVs are cheaper than LED TVs and are similar to LCD TVs. This wasn't ever a main motivating issue but it's a nice bonus.
Plasma TVs are somewhat susceptible to burn-in issues. However, I hear that this is mostly a thing of the past, and that newer models of the TVs basically don't suffer from this anymore.
As for colour calibration, apparently, there's about a 100-150 hour break-in period that the hardcore plasma TV watchers recommend that you do when you get the TV - you grab some solid-colour slides and then play them on the TV for 100 hours or more. Then, you can calibrate the set according to this one expert's recommendation (D-Nice's Panasonic Settings). It basically makes the plasma TV look nice and prevents uneven colour settings.
So, the basic summary of LCD vs LED vs Plasma:
0) Note that LCD and LED are basically the same display technology with different backlighting. LED tends to be a little brighter, thinner, and more energy-efficient. They are also occasionally susceptible to "light-bleeding" issues if you're using local dimming, where parts of the screen aren't really as dark as they should be. Still, overall they're really good sets but it's less LCD vs LED and more CCFL LCD vs LED LCD.
1) Plasmas are cheaper than LCDs (usually).
2) LCDs are brighter than plasma and are therefore easier to set up in bright rooms.
3) Plasmas have overall better colour quality, refresh rates, and black levels than LCDs.
4) Viewing angle for both types is a non-issue.
5) Plasma TVs are bigger, thicker, and heavier than LCDs.
6) Plasmas require a 100-hour break-in period to prevent image burn-in.
As a consequence (mostly regarding picture quality) I've decided to go with Plasma.
Once this decision is made the brand and model become relevant. Basically, there are only two manufacturers that you would consider for plasma TVs: Samsung, and Panasonic.
I went with the Panasonic TV because they have a better reputation throughout the Internet, and also a lot of customer support according to forums. They are also reasonably inexpensive. Also, my friend's TV is a Panasonic, and my existing TV is a Panasonic (though my LCD monitor is a Samsung) so I have some brand loyalty going on here.
In the 42" range, there's two Panasonic TVs: the S30 and the ST30. The models are very similar but there are a few differences.
1) ST30 is 3D tv enabled. S30 is not.
2) ST30 has a newer panel, the "Infinite Black 2" panel. This is the same panel that was used in the 2010 VT30 series - VT is one of the premium Panasonic TV lines. Basically, there's a light filter on the front of the TV that reduces glare and reflection and improves black levels. It also has reduced cross-talk, is more energy efficient, and has better phosphors.
3) ST30 has fewer ports
4) ST30 has more calibration settings
5) ST30 is about $50 more expensive than the S30.
6) Both of them are Internet-enabled and have applications and stuff. This isn't really that important, but apparently it's handy to have Netflix built into your TV.
Considering that you get a newer, better panel with the ST30, that was what made me decide to go with it instead of the S30 which is more of an introductory TV set. The $50 overall was really much too small to make a fuss over. I don't know why the ST30 is so cheap. Its MSRP is $1250 or so, whereas the MSRP of the S30 is roughly $800. The percentage discount was something like 43% for the ST30 and about 26% for the S30. I don't really plan to use the 3D feature on the TV so that might end up going to waste (I won't buy glasses) but $50 for a better light filter on the front of the TV to ensure that you have better blacks is probably worth it.
I read recently that with the way that TVs are going now, 2D TVs are becoming entry-level and that you won't be able to get a quality TV nowadays that's only 2D. They're putting all of the new technology into the 3D sets. Therefore, even if you're not going to be using 3D, the 2D image is still going to benefit. Personally, since the difference in price was minimal ($50) I figured that the panel + 3D was worth the price.
So that's what led me to the Panasonic VIERA TC-P42ST30. I'll see how the TV works when I actually get it, I hope I'll be home since I do have a bunch of meetings early next week when the TV is supposed to arrive.
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Monday, October 24th, 2011
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I happen to own the "Rebus Original Soundtrack" (Rebus: The World of Fate, a.k.a. Kartia) and I was listening to it. I still think that the game has some of the best characterization and artwork in a 2000s-era video game. The gameplay itself isn't that great (but at least the battles are super easy) but the characters are excellent, the dialog is amazing, and the story itself, while not particularly unique, is interesting enough to keep you playing. Even though the characters (when you drill them down enough) end up being relatively typical archetypes, the way that they interact with each other is great.
Kartia: I wonder if you can even find it anymore. I still have my original copy but I'm not certain it'll run correctly. 1999 was a pretty damn long time ago. It should be noted, with a bit of amusement, that I bought it (used) in about 1999 soon after it came out and I never actually played it and finished it until some time in 2002 or so. I don't remember when I created this Livejournal (since my name is clearly from the game) but I'm not certain I had actually become a Kartia fan when I named the LJ profile.
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Saturday, October 15th, 2011
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Those of you who have known me for a long time may recall that "Fake Wings" (from .hack//SIGN) has been my ringtone for basically forever, to the point where I have to check my phone if it comes up on my playlist.
Well, today, I've decided to move on and instead my ring tone will be http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7o_T06K8x4
Yeah I'm really really lame.
BTW if you want my phone number mesage and let me know.
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Tuesday, March 15th, 2011
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I thought this site disappeared circa 2000 or so.
A Very (very) Pathetic Web Page
For those of you who don't know the history of the middle-aged fandom Internet, there was once upon a time an artist named Emily Gregg who drew SD fanart. She was quite popular with her fans and gained a bit of a following.
Long ago I asked her for permission to use her artwork in my 12th grade computer science project, where we had to program a video game. I tried to do an RPG. The game never worked or anything though but she gave me her permission to use the art.
There have been a few "Tribute" pages dedicated to her but even those have been taken offline.
So I wonder - who put this web page up? It looks largely intact - the links are still pointing to the old web pages (almost all of them don't exist now), the "last updated" banner still says it was last updated in 1998 (that's 12 years ago). Someone with a good archive and a free hosting subdomain?
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Comments: Read 3 or Add Your Own.
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Friday, September 3rd, 2010
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I'm installing Starcraft 2 now. I found out that, as soon as I installed it, Blizzard also sent me a World of Warcract: Cataclysm beta invite.
WHAT THE HELL I JUST BOUGHT STARCRAFT 2 I'M NOT GOING TO PLAY YOUR STUPID MMORPG
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I am co-directing a music album project. It is an unofficial project being arranged with help from musicians over at OC ReMix (http://ocremix.org)
Project link - http://ocremix.org/forums/showthread.php?t=28263
"Hurry! A Final Fantasy X Impossible Remix Album"
The main idea of this project is that we're taking a single track from Final Fantasy X "Hurry". Someone in YouTube commented that this track was "way too awesome to remix" and so as a consequence we got a handful of musicians to remix the track in all kinds of different musical styles, ranging from electronic jazz to dubstep to trance to New Age to ethnic.
However we do not yet have an artist in this project and I'm looking for someone who can design an album front cover (no inside images required) and possibly help with making a version of the cover for a web site. I can't offer any money or anything but you will get credit and you will be associated with a small album that'll be exposed to thousands of people worldwide!
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Saturday, January 16th, 2010
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I found this Budehuc MUCK related comic in a shoebox the other day. I have no scanner so I just photographed the pages instead.
( Here )
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Thursday, January 7th, 2010
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Monday, January 4th, 2010
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Happy New Year everyone, I'm at work getting re-attuned with my work environment. But yet I'll take time to talk about some technical issues I fixed in EVE Online.
1. Problems trying to run EVE Online on different user accounts
When you install EVE Online, the default permissions for the game are for the user that installed the game only. If you try to run the game using a different user account, you will get an "Architecture not supported" error.
I narrowed this down to a permissions problem. To change this, use your Terminal and cd into Applications/EVE Online.app directory.
Run the following command:
find . -perm -u+x ! -type d -exec sudo chmod g+rwx {} \;
This command changes the game's executable files to be executable by the people in the user group. To run the game be sure that the user you want to run the game on is in that user group. In my case, the game is owned by the group "admin" which means that anyone who has the checkbox "Allow user to administer this computer" can run the game.
Running EVE Online in windowed mode
You cannot select by default to run the game in Windowed mode on the Mac OS version (since they use a layered technology named WINE). You can follow the instructions here http://support.eve-online.com/Pages/KB/Article.aspx?id=403 to change the game to run in a Window.
Or, instead, you can also just set your resolution then press Cmd-Enter.
EVE Preferences
A lot of the EVE settings (ex: ship loadouts, market quickbar, overview settings) are stored locally, which a bit annoying. However, you can export preference settings between user accounts if you copy the contents of the user's ~/Library/Preferences/EVE Online Preferences.
However I haven't tested this personally yet, I just noticed that it existed.
Regards,
- Arcana
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Thursday, December 31st, 2009
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I've quit WoW officially now, quit Aion, and am now playing EVE Online.
However there's another game that I participated in a focus group tester as that I really enjoyed and I'm kind of waiting for that now because it was very fun, quite pretty, and potentially really exciting.
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Comments: Read 3 or Add Your Own.
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Tuesday, December 1st, 2009
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Aww I think I lost all of my backups from the last 9 years. That includes a lot of the stuff I created since 2001.
Of the stuff I do have, it's kind of an assorted list. I still have my music (both the stuff I created as well as CDs I've ripped and music I've downloaded). I have a whole pile of E-mail. I also have all relevant work-related files from the past 4 years.
But stuff like ancient story ideas, my old Linux server images, my old hosted content, and my old web pages are gone. Unlike my Final Fantasy VII web page (which I apparently simply never backed up), this is mostly stuff I had on a single disk image that I put on an external drive. However, there was a problem with that drive and I lost the partition by mistake.
So the sad lesson is that making an external backup on a hard drive isn't foolproof. Good idea to make external, media copies of your stuff at regular intervals.
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Sunday, November 29th, 2009
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Hoping that Google catches this because I actually tried searching for this before looking at the Help.
Usage: ./fbmuck [] [infile [outfile [portnum [portnum ...]]]]
Arguments:
infile db file loaded at startup. optional with -dbin.
outfile output db file to save to. optional with -dbout.
portnum port num to listen for conns on. (16 ports max)
Options:
...
-godpasswd PASS reset God(#1)'s password to PASS. Implies -convert
...
To reset the God password (also called One) on Fuzzball MUCK, you can start the database using its command line option and change it assuming that you have shell access.
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Friday, November 6th, 2009
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Traditional RPG style fun, I haven't played a single-player game like this in a long time.
Other than that I need to polish up my Jane's theme track, fix up my Badass project track, and think about aDragon Quest Remix Project track.
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Wednesday, October 28th, 2009
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Sunday, October 25th, 2009
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Monday, October 19th, 2009
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A project that's been long in the making has finally seen its official release date.
It's another quality fan-made remix album from OCRemix, which, in my opinion, has some of the most strict standards for posting of any fan site on the Internet.
Which means that the stuff you get there is good.
Human and Gears: Xenogears Remixed, bought to you by OCRemix.
For those who want to preview the album, there is a YouTube Trailer here.
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Friday, October 16th, 2009
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Wednesday, October 14th, 2009
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Dear friends,
Please recommend one or more of the following to me:
- crossposting tool from Facebook to Livejournal
- an iPhone/iPod Touch Livejournal app
Thanks all see ya later.
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Monday, October 12th, 2009
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Just thought of this, I read it a while ago (back in 2005 when it was a new phenomenon) but my recent interest in looking into the effects of real money trading (RMT) in multiplayer online games revived interest in these articles.
They're quite long, so if you're interested in social effects of MMORPGs on humans, set aside some time.
The original site is long gone but I found a mirror here: The Great Scam - EVE Online
Gamble your life away on ZT Online
As for the actual topic of real-money trading...
How Organized Crime Begins on Professional RMTs
This is a blog article in 2006... it's funny that his predictions are so casual, actually. The problem is not that people "buy items" and that farmers take mobs away from legitimate players in the game. It's actually a much larger and more expensive problem as elaborated in the video below:
How Secondary Markets Affect Games (YouTube Video)
For those who don't want to watch the whole thing, the main problem with RMT is that it introduces crime into the game. This is not simply in-game theft of items crime. This is real crime, including theft of personal information by installing third-party keyloggers on your computer.
What often happens is that if you purchase gold, or powerlevelling services, or a bot, you merely visit the web site, and when you click to download an executable file, it will install an undetectable program on your computer that logs keystrokes and transmits them back to a central server. This allows the theft of, primarily, usernames and passwords and in turn allows access not only to your MMORPG game accounts where they can strip your character down, sell all of his items, sell all of the guild bank's items, and then transmit them to the gold farmer of choice, but actually can allow access to your personal information.
Finally, if that all wasn't annoying enough, there's simply the issue of spam. On Aion, it's been reported that over 80% of the chat messages that are transmitted on the server are spam messages. That's a lot of junk.
So what we have is essentially a massive spillover from virtual money into an organized network of corporations who make as much money as they can by promising you virtual gold and in-game levels, and in turn scamming you out of your personal information. As anyone who's ever been hacked can tell you, is it really worth it to buy that powerlevelling service? Even if you don't get hacked yourself, chances are you're supporting the chance that someone else will.
Finally, here's a developer blog entry on just how much of an effect banning bots can have on servers.
Effects of Banning Bots from EVE Online
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