Understanding the technology behind Pocket Camcorders

Since they were first introduced in 2004 by a company called Pure Digital introduced the Flip Video, pocket camcorders have become innovative products that have become common place in the electronics industry. There was a good reception of the first pocket camcorder, the Flip Video which still dominates the pocket camcorder although some critics had predicted the Flip pocket camcorder would become a flop. The Flip Video camcorder actually opened up a totally new segment in the then dying camera industry at a time when most thought that cell phone cameras would replace more traditional cameras. Since then to till now, pocket camcorders have grown and resurrected the industry and many big name camera brands like Sony with its Sony bloggie series, Kodak Zi8 and other makers as well. If you have ever wondered about how pocket camcorders and mobile phones are similar then read on:

Pocket Camcorders have been misunderstood and sometimes overlooked for their small size and some consumers have favoured mobile phone cameras over pocket camcorders. While most high end phones can compete with pocket camcorders, the technology that is used in pocket camcorders is actually similar to that used in mobile phones and is helping drive the cost of camera parts down thus allowing for lower priced camcorders and mobile phones as well as encouraging the smaller gadget sizes that are becoming widely available.

It is hard to imagine that camera lenses have shrunk over the years to a size where the average 5 Mega pixel lenses can fit into something as small as a packet of cigarettes which was impossible just several years ago. On average to achieve full HD picture resolution, you need a 5+ mega pixel camera lens. 5 mega pixel mobile phones that were considered bulky a few years ago would not have become as slim as they are today if it wasn’t for the development of the pocket camcorders. While the first pocket camcorders recorded DVD quality video, today HD video recording is standard on most pocket camcorders and is becoming commonplace on mobile phones as well.

Over the years, the camera developments of mobile phones and pocket camcorders have been on par, progressing along together and often advancements have been shared and been adopted between the two segments. It is like having inseparable twins in some ways but since each is unique in its own function, neither a pocket camcorder nor mobile phone camera can really replace the other.

MSN NEWS：Dear Bloggy: Digital diaries tell all

When Amelia Zatik-Sawyer of Cleveland, Ohio, is having an issue with her husband’s long hours or morning moodiness or annoying affinity for stuffed animals, she turns to a third party to unload. But it’s not a therapist or marriage counselor or even her mother who patiently takes it all in.

It’s her blog.

“It can definitely be like a digital marriage counselor at times,” says Zatik-Sawyer, 29, who blogs about her life as a mother, wife, writer and restaurateur at ChefsWidow.com. “It enables me to express how I’m feeling without yelling at him. Instead, I can collect my thoughts and write about it and he can respond to me in person. It’s 100 percent helped us out.”

While there’s long been evidence that writing about personal experiences, thoughts and feelings can be therapeutic for individuals, some people have discovered that blogging about their relationship can actually be therapeutic for their marriage.

“My blog has always been my therapy,” she says Zatik-Sawyer.. “I’ll write about something, he’ll read it and then he’ll call and we’ll talk about it. It pushes us to communicate.”

It also helps keep two very busy people in touch.

“We’re not your normal 9-to-5ers,” she says. Her husband works 15 to 17 hours a day in preparation for the opening of his new restaurant while she takes care of their two small kids and writes.

.“We don’t see each other that often so it’s how we keep the lines of communication open. It’s not about being negative about the relationship; it’s about me using the blog to let him know how I’m feeling.”

Britt Reints, a 29-year-old marketing executive from Orlando, Fla., who blogs about her marriage at Miss-Britt.com, says blogging also helps smooth out the rough patches that can result when two people with different communication styles fall in love.

“I’m a very verbal person and he’s not, so when we have arguments it can be overwhelming for him,” she says. “But words on a page aren’t as intimidating as your wife in your face puking her feelings all over you. He can sit and read it and think about it. It gives him space and he’s not overwhelmed with the pressure to respond right away. Several hours later, he’ll bring it up and say, ‘By the way, I understand what you were trying to say.’ ”

Digital dirty laundry?
But while bloggers tout the benefits of their online journals as a way to help them navigate the twists and turns of the relationship road, experts point out one big potential pothole: blogging is public.

“I think it can be helpful, but it is a very indirect communication tool,” says Dr. John Grohol, founder of PsychCentral.com and author of “The Insider’s Guide to Mental Health Resources Online.”

Facebook survival guide for awkward adults

“Most people communicate directly — talking to each other (face to face) or on the phone or through e-mail. But with blogs, you’re not just putting it out there for your significant other, you’re putting it out there for everybody else. You’re making all of this — what we’d typically refer to as dirty laundry — public.”

How public are these journals? Reints says her blog typically gets about 1,200 hits a day and Zatik-Sawyer says ChefsWidow.com pulls in around 1,000 readers daily.

Craig Bridger, a 34-year-old freelance writer from Brooklyn says his blog, NakedPicturesOfMyWife.Wordpress.com, averages only about 100 hits a day — perhaps because the “pictures” he posts are strictly metaphorical.

“There are a lot of blogs out there that are virtual diaries, but I have strict rules about that,” he says. “I would never sit down when I’m furious at her and write an entry about how I can’t stand her. I would never reveal anything that would be painful or hurtful to her. That just wouldn’t be fair.”

Others are quick to acknowledge their blogging boundaries, as well.

“I try to be really careful and never say anything that I think would humiliate my husband,” says Gail Konop Baker, a 48-year-old author from Madison, Wis., who blogs about the “Secret Lives of Doctors’ Wives” at GailKonopBaker.com.

“I don’t think he’s my No. 1 reader but I know people that know him are reading it. I always have that in my mind.”


Reints says the fact that her blog is public is what makes it more effective than, say, writing her husband a private letter or e-mail.

“Because other people are going to read it, I’m less likely to say something hurtful,” she says. “In a letter that I’m only giving to him, I’m not thinking about what the rest of the world might think. You don’t have the same accountability.”

Some bloggers say their readers even help keep them in line.

“One time I talked about how my wife pees with the bathroom door open and some of my coworkers were like, ‘You’re in the doghouse tonight!’ ” says Bridger.

But knowing there’s a large readership out there poised and ready for another juicy post can also be a temptation.

Matt Meltzer, a 29-year-old graduate student from Miami, says he used to write a blog that averaged about 2,500 hits a day and began blogging about his girlfriend without her blessing (or knowledge) because he didn’t want his blog to “go soft.”

Facebook survival guide for awkward adults

“Knowing that she wasn’t reading it, I started writing about things in our relationship,” he says. “It started out with generalized posts, but then I got more bold. I posted a story about wanting to cheat on her with someone else. Then I blogged about how we got along really well, but sexually it just wasn’t happening.”

After his girlfriend’s roommate spilled the beans about the blog, though, the jig was up.

“She read it, called me, and we broke up in about 13 minutes,” says Meltzer. “We were on the way out anyway, but her reading even some of the milder stuff I’d said was enough. In retrospect, I don’t think it was really fair to her, even though it was therapeutic to talk about my problems with such a large audience. But her side was never put up, and I said some things that were not complimentary.”

Be upfront
In order to avoid this scenario, Manhattan psychologist Dr. Paulette Kouffman Sherman advises bloggers to first lay their cards on the table.

“It’s a good exercise to discuss it and feel like you’re both on board with the decision,” she says. “You’ll also want to dig deeper and ask if there are areas your partner doesn’t want you to blog about, ask if they want you to show them the blog first. If your objective is to improve your relationship, you don’t want to do something that’s going to be out there in cyberspace that’s detrimental.”

One other thing to keep in mind: Love can be temporary but the Web is permanent.

“Once you put information online, even if you take it down or delete it later, there could be copies floating around for years and years to come,” says psychologist Grohol.

“I can’t say one way or the other whether there are benefits to blogging about one’s relationship, but I think some caution is in order. Don’t say anything you wouldn’t want your significant other — or your mother — to read.”

Diane Mapes is a Seattle freelance writer and author of "How to Date in a Post-Dating World." She can be reached via her Web site, dianemapes.net.

Source from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29920588/

HD TV: Understanding how HD TV works

HD TV is a term that refers to video images with a higher resolution or quality than standard TVs. As a consumer electronics category, HDTV
has driven new sales for many electronics companies as consumers rush to benefit from the new technology that has been used in HD TVs.

HD TV explained:
HD TV has about twice the linear or horizontal resolution of a standard definition TV (SDTV), and it provides more picture quality than a regular DVD disc. Most broadcasting standards of HDTV can handle the 16:9 aspect ratio which is one of the factors that determine picture quality on an HD TV. 16:9 Aspect Ratio allows the HD TV to display images with stretching the picture or using what is called letterboxing to fit the picture and this create a more detailed picture quality.

For broadcasters and media companies, the recording medium is what determines the image’s characteristic. Also because HD TV broadcasting is broadcast using digital or computer code, a higher bandwidth or transmitter signal is needed although most HD TV broadcasters can effectively use the analogue signal to produce this signal required.
With HD TV, there are 3 factors that determine how well the picture quality is displayed:

The first of these factors is the frame size, which is similar to a computers’ native resolution defined as the number of horizontal pixels x the number of vertical pixels. Frame sizes on HD TVs come in several sizes, the most common are the 1366 x 768 resolution and the 1920 x 1080 or Full HD resolution. Often times the horizontal pixels are omitted and the vertical lines are used to imply image quality as in 720p and 1080p
The second factor is the HD TV image processor’s scanning system often either using progressive scanning or p as in 1080p or interlaced scanning abbreviated by the letter I as in 1080i. These two scanning methods determine how the image is displayed on the HDTV.

The third and final factor is the image frame rate which is the number of video image frames that can be displayed per second. On most interlaced scanning HD TVs, there is another method of determining how many frames can be displayed per second. On most film productions, the standard frame rate is 24p or 24 frames progressively.

HDTVs use completely new technology and methods to produce the clearer and excellent pictures that they do. As their popularity becomes more widespread, it is safe to assume that they will eventually become more common place in many consumer homes.

A Brief History in High Definition Adoption

HD televisions are a popular TV electronics category that is being adopted and adapted by people around the world. It was first introduced at the turn of the century although broadcasters and researchers have been testing and developing it for much longer than that. The main emphasis and marketing hype of HD Televisions are the superior image quality it offers over analogue television.

While most analogue televisions were able to make the switch to digital television, the introduction of digital television set the stage for better more superior picture quality and a new TV design.

To be able to take advantage of the ability to produce superior images, most broadcasting and film producers made the switch to DV or digital video before HD Televisions were formally introduced. Movies such as Start Trek were produced in HD long before the format because widely available.

Broadcasters and media companies wanted to be able to produce content that made the TV viewing experience more exciting and could be viewed in any home without the need for extra equipment. Although it is still a far-fetched dream to be realised, most consumer electronics companies have been pushing for cheaper prices and making HD TVs as low as possible. To be able to enjoy what is being displayed on an HD TV, there are some factors that influence the quality. These include the screen sharpness, the refresh rate and screen size. Most of the technology used in HD televisions is from computers and in particular LCD monitors. Some experts have described HD Televisions as oversized LCD monitors. While this is partly true, for HD TVs to realize the image quality that they produce, most have built in image processing engines or units. With analogue TVs, the image processing/display engine was large and made the TV extend behind, making them unable to fit into certain spaces. With HD TVs, the size is shrunk down and widened so much so that there are HD TVs that are up to 72 inches in diameter.

Overall HD television viewing experience is superior than analogue but there are many other factors that enhance the viewing experience and while HD Televisions are a popular electronics category, there is a need for comprehensive knowledge of the different formats and screen types before making a purchase.

HD TV’s Picture Display Explained

Most people have in the last 6 years been introduced in one way or the other to HD Television or HD TV. The marketing appeal and excitement of High Definition TV (HDTV) in regards to its ability to display excellent picture clarity over that produced by most Standard Definition or SD TVs is one of the main significant reasons most consumers are purchasing HDTVs and upgrading.

Although HDTV sounds so 21st century, it actually had its roots and introduction in the early 1940s, long before there was even color television. There are some important things that make HD so appealing and exciting. Most TVs and broadcasting has been done in what is known as 576p or 576 lines of progressive color across the TV screen. These lines were used to make up the pictures that were displayed and the speed at which pictures moved. Because most of the television technology of the last century was analogue, it was impossible to provide a realism that would allow the human eye to see the picture on TVs more detailed although most consumers didn’t really mind this at first. When the first HD television broadcast took place in the last 1990s, it opened up a world of possibilities and offered a glimpse into the future of television. LCDs or Liquid Crystal Displays also paved the way for HD television to become a reality because the technology used to make LCDs was on par with that needed to produce clearer and more detailed pictures and the fact that LCD was digital friendly, it made it a suitable platform for the next generation of television. In addition with most broadcasters switching their equipment and requirements to a digital platform that made it easier for them to manage their content, most analogue TVs began to look out-dated.

For big technology and consumer electronics manufacturers such as Sony and others, the lines were clearly written in the sand. Today with HDTV becoming widespread and widely adopted, consumers are able to view up to 1080 lines of progressive color on their screens, producing a level of realism that some have described as ‘being there’. Also since most analogue TVs were not environmentally friendly to dispose of because of their largely harmful inside parts the adoption of HDTVs made of LCD materials does good for the environment.

Governments worldwide are making it mandatory for consumers and manufacturers to make the ‘digital’ switch and HDTVs are clearly on the skyline of the next generation of TV viewers.

My favorite Cat

Thanks to the technology that catches every moment. It's my favoriate cat "Loudy". He comforts me when I'm unhappy.