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[glynor]

The Tech Report recently posted a poll, as is their custom, on a "tech trend".  Their poll this time is interesting though, if not for the content then for the results.  The poll question is:  "How much of the movie and video content that you watch is played back on a PC?"  Head over and check it out.  With over 1700 votes in a weekend, I think the results might surprise you a bit.

Of course, one could certainly argue that those results are going to be horribly skewed because of the readership of TR.  However, one could easily also argue that the skewing could be a predictor of future trends to a degree because most technology enthusiasts are both early adopters and the "go to people" for their family and friends when it comes to tech purchases (tech trendsetters to no small degree).  Either way, the results were surprising to me!

[lalittle]

Of course, one could certainly argue that those results are going to be horribly skewed because of the readership of TR.

While it is interesting, I think that the poll is indeed INCREDIBLY skewed due to the type of people who read that site.  I actually don't know of a single other person who uses their computer for watching anything other than youtube type videos.

However, one could easily also argue that the skewing could be a predictor of future trends to a degree because most technology enthusiasts are both early adopters and the "go to people" for their family and friends when it comes to tech purchases (tech trendsetters to no small degree).  Either way, the results were surprising to me!

I agree that we are headed in that direction -- I just feel that the poll paints a very inaccurate picture of what's going on in the general public.

Thanks for sharing that,

Larry

[GHammer]

A PC will have to get much better and cheaper before it will replace a DVD player and TIVO for my viewing pleasure. But, for the past 5 years I have watched TV/Movies via my computer because Chinese TV isn't my cup of tea.

[runemail]

The Times They Are A-Changin'

I put my cd albums in storage more than 3 years ago, and a couple of months ago my dvds had to go the same way.
We no longer have a standalone dvd or cd player in our apartment. (I have a drive in my workstation for ripping)

I think a computer under the tv is to much for the general public, but i think something like AppleTv or similar could become mainstream over the next years. I said bye-bye to my dvds because storge is so cheap, and after i got my 22mb adsl2+ lines I can download movies in minutes.

Maybe joost can change things too if they just get some good content.

[lalittle]

I think a computer under the tv is to much for the general public, but i think something like AppleTv or similar could become mainstream over the next years.

My God -- please let it NOT be anything from Apple.

Larry

[Mastiff]

I agree that when you ask people there (a place that's so nerdy I haven't even heard about it before, and I read slashdot!) you will probably get a terribly skewed (if not skrewed...) view. Also I think the more interesting question would be how much those people watch on a computer with a computer monitor! Because if that's a good percentage you know that 80 % of the people answering are from ten years and up to college students... I watch all my movies on a pc, but I really don't find that defining for my movie habits. What's more defining in my eyes is that I watch them with a PC connected to a monster of a CRT projector on an 8' wide screen!

[dcwebman]

Considering I have been living in a hotel for about a month and a half, I've been watching all DVD's on my laptop. I would much rather prefer my 65" TV though.    I was telling my daughter though that back when I went to college, I brought all kinds of things with me like a stereo, TV, etc. Nowadays, I would just recommend a good laptop that can do all that so in that case the viewing of movies and videos on a computer would definitely be higher.

[Mastiff]

I can't even force myself to watch ten minutes of a movie on my laptop!

[glynor]

I can't even force myself to watch ten minutes of a movie on my laptop!

Maybe you need a new laptop.  My MacBook Pro has quite nice video playback, and I really like the nice matte screen.

Of course, it's no Barco or Christie high-end projector.  Of course, you can use it on a plane or in bed on your chest, so it has advantages too.   

BTW:  I spent some nice quality time in both the Barco and Christie booths at the NAB Expo last week.  I wish I had some great pictures to show off (I have some but they're not great) but it was still very nice.  Jealous?

[Mastiff]

Well, since I can't watch more than ten minutes of a movie on my high-end Sony 36" widescreen CRT TV either, I doubt that a MacBook would help. I have developed a strong allergy to watching movies on anything that isn't at least a couple of meters across (my screen is around 2,4 meters)! As for Barco did they bring any of the CRT Reality projectors? The 909 looks gorgeous in a dark room, but I guess finding a dark room at an Expo is kind of difficult... So I'm not jealous at you. But I am jealous at a few guys I know who has Barco Reality 909's!

[jgreen]

I can just picture the country of Norway sinking into the ocean under the weight of all those humongous Barcos!  And as for the collective cost, thank God for oil revenue . . .

As for me, I'm thinking of getting a Barco just as soon as I can build the addition to house it--Sony will do in the interim.  Otherwise, I agree with Glynor's implication, that the laptop is the personal video appliance of the day (and NOT the video iPod).  DVD's look great on the 17" HD aspect screen.  Main falldown, IMO, not enough internal disk space to house a decent DVD collection.  And no, I wouldn't consider lugging optical discs around with me--that's a 'deal-killer", Glynor!

As it is now, I can't even get my full audio library on my laptop, which has me in tears regularly!  250gb  2.5" drives are just around the corner, they say (Dell's taking orders).  Slap two of those in, and I can finally get my music library back together--but still no room for DVD's.

[glynor]

As for Barco did they bring any of the CRT Reality projectors? The 909 looks gorgeous in a dark room, but I guess finding a dark room at an Expo is kind of difficult... So I'm not jealous at you. But I am jealous at a few guys I know who has Barco Reality 909's!

They did actually.

They actually built a little "dark room" inside their booth to show it off in (it wasn't pitch black, but it was quite close -- three full walls and one wall with a little right-angled entry-way).  It was VERY nice.  Inside they had (I believe -- I'm working off of memory here): a 909 (I think it might have actually been an 8" one instead so it'd have been a 908), a DP-2000 2K Digital Cinema projector (it might have been the 1500 though), and there was one of their D-Cine Premiere Post Production projectors in there as well.

Of course, outside the dark room, they had a bunch of their "event venue" projectors set up which were also quite nice.

Personally, I can see why you like the CRT, but I felt it looked quite soft compared side-by-side to the 2K Cinema Projector.  Of course, they're in two very different price classes (and for very different purposes).

[Mastiff]

jgreen, Norwegian CRT HT's are estimated to account for about 97 % of the world's power usage within 2009! But seriously, I actually bought this house because the cellar was mostly bare cement walls, so I could do with it as I liked. So in came the Cinema Inferno, the Silverado bar & pool room, a guest room, my office and a home gym. Having the bottom half of a 3650 sqare feet house to play with has it's advantages!

glynor, I would think they brought their 8" since that's the latest model, and they want to market that to people who can't afford the 909. Very nice projector that one as well, but mine isn't that far behind (with upgraded lenses, RGB amps and tubes it's quite a different beast than a standard Graphics 808. And yes, the CRT looks soft compared to the 2K. But then just about everything does. And if you compare the 908 to for instance a Sony Ruby, you will see that the image looks artificial and artificially sharp on the Sony.

CRT will always look more "organic", more "window to the real world". A lot of that is because a digital projector (at least one anybody except for Bi££ Gate$ can afford) just can't show real blacks and dark details. The light on a digital projector is always on, so in dark scenes the panels, mirrors or whatever is used has to block the light. In a CRT projector it just doesn't paint those lines at all. You haven't seen Underworld or The Mines of Moria part of LotR before you have seen it on a properly calibrated CRT projectors. Those allways make my digital projector visitors sigh or cry...

[glynor]

Main falldown, IMO, not enough internal disk space to house a decent DVD collection.  And no, I wouldn't consider lugging optical discs around with me--that's a 'deal-killer", Glynor!

I agree.  On my recent trip I lugged along one of these:

AMS Venus DS3 SATA/USB2 External Enclosure with a nice big 750 GB 3.5" SATA drive inside.  Of course, the big downside is that it requires an external power connection to power the drive.  Not a big deal in the hotel room, but terrible for on the plane.

They do make a nice 2.5" bus powered enclosure too, which I've considered grabbing one of.  However, the biggest 2.5" drive you can buy right now is  200GB, and they cost some serious cash per GB.  Still, that should let you at least better than double the storage capacity of your laptop, and do it with bus power.  Of course, that's going to further kill your battery life, so it too would be a trade off.

glynor, I would think they brought their 8" since that's the latest model, and they want to market that to people who can't afford the 909. Very nice projector that one as well, but mine isn't that far behind (with upgraded lenses, RGB amps and tubes it's quite a different beast than a standard Graphics 808. And yes, the CRT looks soft compared to the 2K. But then just about everything does. And if you compare the 908 to for instance a Sony Ruby, you will see that the image looks artificial and artificially sharp on the Sony.

Yeah.... After I posted that earlier, I convinced myself that it made a lot more sense that it'd have been the 908 they lugged along since it's brand new (the cost isn't so much of a factor at NAB because they're targeting studio execs and theater owners -- there were actual helicopters available there too).

I actually wandered over to the Sony booth too.  I agree totally.  Not that I'm surprised.  Sony's low-end displays are very nice for the price, and their Production monitors are hard to beat (though the Panasonics were sweet too).  However, a lot of their other stuff just seemed lacking.  Almost all of their lower-end HD cameras (other than the ultra-high-end HDCAM camcorders) were quite "outshined" by the competition.  Perhaps they just need a product refresh, but as it was at the show....