Tech Talk

May 5th, 2007 -
We discuss technical news topics, and take listener's questions. The main topic of this show was HDTV and focused on what makes a show High Definition and explains the terms you may come across when buying an HDTV. We also discussed the differences between HDTV and Digital Broadcasting. Pete stands up for Windows.

- Show Notes -

Main Topic:
High Definition Television – At the end of 2006 a little over a quarter of US households own HDTVs. It is predicted that by 2011 this percentage will increase to 70%. With everyone adopting this new technology, we wanted to clear up some of the terminology surrounding HDTV.

DTV Vs HDTV – Digitial television is a method of broadcasting a television signal. In the past, all TV broadcasts have been analog. The FCC has mandated that by February 17, 2009 all TV broadcasts must be digital. They are doing this to free up bandwidth for other uses. An added benefit is that by changing over to digital broadcasting the broadcasters have come up with a new standard called ATSC (the analog standard is referred to as NTSC) that allows for the support of widescreen and HDTV shows.

Resolution – High Definition Television is a higher resolution image. Resolution in television is normally referred to as the number of vertical lines that can be displayed. You may have heard the terms 720p, 480p, and 1080i before. These are all standard TV resolutions. The “p” and “i" are abbreviations for progressive and interlaced respectively. Interlaced means that for each frame displayed on the television only half of the lines are drawn. First the even lines are drawn and then the odd ones. Progressive means that all lines are presented at the same time. The minimum resolution of High Definition TV is 720p.

Support Calls:
Benny in Phoenix Arizona called looking for advice on buying his first home computer. Pete advised that he use free time on his work computer to read reviews online. Kevin chimed in to offer 5 to 9’s services to build a computer for him to save the time of research, and to end up with a higher quality computer than anything he could buy online. Benny also had questions about the differences between Macs and PCs concerning ease of use.

Ivy from Phoenix called about a slow computer. He tried a registry cleaner (we don’t recommend them…) and that didn’t help. Most likely he either has too many programs running in the background, or he may have a rootkit. The easiest and surest way to solve both problems is to backup and re-install Windows. We advised that he could try and uninstall programs to speed up the system, and run RootkitRevealer to see if he has a rootkit. If that doesn’t solve the problem, re-installing Windows is really the only course of action.

News Stories:
New spyware legislation a mixed bag
Crackdown on HD DVD Key Sparks Widespread Web Revolt
Dell to choose Ubuntu
Apple makes money on iTunes
'$100 Laptop' to Cost $175
Internet Radio Equality Act would overturn decision on webcasting fees

Pete’s Rant:
Pete defends Windows. He points out that Microsoft is the “big guy” and as a result everyone picks on them. Because they are big they get targeted by viruses and security exploits. He also reminds us that every time a new version of software is released there are going to be bugs, and Vista is no different.

Weekly Website: Del.icio.us
Software Spotlight: Inline Search for Internet Explorer 7
Hardware Highlight: Linksys WRT54GL

Music: Optimus Rhyme