Tag Archives: tvs

Doors Open Season

Toronto

Saturday! Woke early to go to the gym and and a breakfast burrito (yes, quite low fat thank you, when you build them yourself – more later). We grab a tea and make our way to CBC early for Open Doors Toronto 2009. We thought with all the layoffs the Ceeb is facing soon, it would probably be a great time to go have a gander at this government funded media bunker.

And bunker it was. Security was buzzing, trying to keep track of volunteer staff, who bitched and complained to each other on their headsets. I’m sure the level of security you would normally have to pass through is there to protect Peter Armstrong from marauding fans, and not to hide the somewhat extravagant hallway decorations placed there for the general public not to see… We were first for The Hour studio tour and had to endure some poor volunteer’s worker’s utter mental breakdown for lack of organization in her line. We were shunted to an elevator which ironically (?) the doors would not close due to overcrowding. With all of us explaining to the elevator operator that we needed to lose 2 people, the poor volunteer staffer was about shout “I’M JUST A VIDEO ARCHIVIST! I KNOW FUCK ALL ABOUT HOW TO OPERATE AN ELEVATOR!!” when two people volunteered to get the next one.

The studio was pretty flash, even though the seats looked “cheap wedding uncomfortable” so we know that the money going to the Ceeb isn’t going back into the public. No, it’s being spent on huge screen TVs to tart up talk shows only 1/3rd the Canadian public watches. Here Sharkboy and I are playing George Stroumboulopoulos and Jean Chretien:
Kylie Shows Up

We took the next tour of the radio department and had an interesting run of various sound proof rooms. Quite interesting.

After that we went to Osgoode Hall and wandered the dusty hallways of justice.
I'm Channelling Gregory Peck

We then tried to get to the Don Jail but they turned us away due to a 4 hour wait, which was too late past the closing time. I thought to myself “Who would wait four hours to see an old jail?” Disclaimer: I use to manage a traveller’s hostel in Ottawa that was converted from a 165 yr old jail.

We Arrive... Early?

Me apparently. Sunday we were back there at 945am and in line. Warned that the line was 4-5 hours long, we stuck it out. And stuck it out. And braved line-jumpers and fidgety kids.

ALL IN THE NAME OF GETTING READY FOR DISNEY!

Bored, in-line video:

The jail itself was probably not worth the 4 hours wait due to the state of the building. But it did remind me of the use to live in the jail/hostel I managed and it just brought back memories of impossible maintenance hoops our staff had to jump through every so often. Pipes bursting, kids falling off bunks, flooding, etc.
Stairs Up

After 5 hours in the sun, SharkBoy’s neck looks like an ad for an S&M Red Lobster outlet. Being red-green colourblind and able to see the shade should let you know how bad he got it across the back of his neck.

On the upside, my Wii is no longer calling me Obese. At 214lb, I have moved into the realm of Overweight. Yeah! I made my Disney weight goal with a few days to spare!

Last night I dreamed of O Boy’s Ribs on West Colonial Dr, Orlando. Oh yes, there will be binge and purging…

Full Flickr Set Here.

Ya Burnt! Or How I’d Donate My Own Plasma For This Damn Thing

Tech

Now, Dead Robot, don’t step out into the street or you’ll be hit by a bla bla bla mer mer mer.

Don’t stick that in the toaster, you’ll fry your blee blee blee!

Catch this sharp free frew fraw!

It’s apparent that some days I don’t listen. When faced with a big shiny thing in my face, the world drops away and my eyes become saucers. Cherubs anoint my forehead with myrrh and lyrical lutes can be heard over the choir of (hunky) angels.

Just like the day we decided to purchase a plasma TV.

You’ve heard the #1 downfall of plasma TV: Image Burn In! The current level of technology for plasma is that it’s a “manageable” risk, meaning if you read the instruction book, you should have no worries at all. Of course, as a guy, I ripped open the box and started licking the remote in anticipation.

In the days we were researching which TV to buy, I didn’t hear (or chose not to hear) was that for the first 100 hours you must do all you can to avoid stationary images on your screen: No CNN, no Logo branded channels more than 30 min, no 4:3 aspect tv viewing (all the sites recommend viewing a squished image for this period!).

I am sure the sales agent said that nugget of information while we were in the store but all I heard was “Bler bleg bloo!” while I was saying to myself “HolymotherofbabyjesusLOOKATTHATSCREEN!” Of course, we took care when we started to watch but we weren’t diligent, apparently.

Last night while watching You Only Live Twice, during the helicopter duel, we noticed dark lines in the sky, next to James Bond’s head. Uh oh. Closer inspection of the screen on an all white channel we found this bizarre hieroglyph:

Oh. My. God. It’s the “Position #1” icon from Mario Kart! Has SharkBoy been playing it THAT much?

Number 1 from Mario Kart Wii (image enhanced)

Number 1 from Mario Kart Wii (image enhanced)

Quick! To the internet!

After a ton of reading on various web forums, including the Samsung sponsored CNet Gadget forums, I’ve en massed a few tips:

  1. The first 100 hours are critical. Do not leave anything sit on the screen longer than 30 minutes. We’re talking games, 4:3 Aspect black bars on the left and right of the video(some TVs have a “gray” option – choose that), Widescreen bars on top and below the video, any news channel with feeds. Even our Rogers Channel Guide is culprit. Note to SharkBoy: No more surfing the guide and then absent-mindedly start watching the PIP image of live TV, leaving up the guide!
  2. Check for firmware upgrades. It might be a pain to root around the back of the TV with a thumb drive, but it’s worth it.
  3. Most TVs (plasma or LCD) ship with their contrast rate blasting so that if they become floor models in stores, they look sharp and good. Surf to your settings and turn this down. Check out the brightness/sharpness too. Sometimes they’re jacked up so high your eyes bleed in oblivious bliss when you first turn on your new TV
  4. Our model (and most new plasmas) come with a few tools to prevent burn in. Scope them out as soon as you open the box. Ours comes with a nifty option that every 1-2 minutes shifts the screen around in random directions by 4 pixels. It also comes with the option to display a whole white screen or a scrolling black to white gradation bar. Samsung recommends running that for an hour at least. Don’t have any of those? Choose a blank static screen, but make sure menu items, like channel displays are turned off.
  5. There are “screen savers” out there that claim to wipe out burn in, but depending on the length of burn by the age of the TV, they might not be any help

This whole ordeal hasn’t turned me off my TV choice (ha! make funny me!). I did the research and knew the options, I just didn’t heed them, so I have no one to blame but myself really. The way I see it is that it’s new technology and sometimes you make concessions as an early adopter. With that said, this TV is still my most favorite gadget in the house.

iPhones don’t count. They’re mobile.