LED monitors and televisions are beginning to become cheaper and more budget-friendly. They typically promote much higher contrast ratios and lower power use than traditionally lit LCD screens, but they may not be the best option for video editors. Why is that? What is the difference between LCD and LED screens?

The difference between the two technologies actually lies in the way the screen is backlit. All LED screens are LCDs, but not all LCDs utilize LED technology. With an LED-based monitor, backlighting is spread across a grid of tiny lights (LEDs) that is spread from one side of the screen to the other. Unlike the fluorescent lighting behind a common LCD screen, LEDs cover the entire space in order to provide even lighting from end to end. The extra contrast comes from the ability the monitor has to detect areas that are intentionally darker and dim or turn off the tiny LED light directly behind the dark points. This creates what’s called a dynamic contrast which can create much darker blacks as the screen is essentially off in areas that are intentionally dark. This can become a problem in cases where you have a starry night sky and tiny white points of light need to be lit brightly while the surrounding mass is pitch black. Because of this, the stars may appear dimmer than they normally would as the tiny light is dimmed to compensate for the majority of the space being black.

Another advantage to owning an LED-based television or monitor is the ability for the screen to have wider viewing angles. With normal LCDs, you will notice a much sharper change in contrast and clarity as you look to each side. LEDs still drop off as you move to each side, but the change is noticeably different. This is due in part to the complete coverage of backlighting that isn’t present through fluorescent lighting schemes.

The typical lifespan of an LCD monitor or television before the lights start to dim and go out is 4-6 years. LED technologies last quite a bit longer, giving an expected 100,000 hours of light versus 60,000 hours provided by fluorescent lighting.

For the majority of users, an LED screen is a brilliant solution to that offers higher contrast ratios with a significantly lower energy usage. If you do movie editing or a lot of color-accurate detailed work, you may prefer to go with a more traditional LCD monitor.

What is the Difference between LCD and LED Screens?

Video tutorials are very popular on YouTube due in part to how much easier it is to learn something if you actually see it done in front of you rather than just reading about it somewhere. Some tutorial videos absolutely shine above others because they approach the process in a way that is slightly more refined than others. Here are some tips on how to make a great video tutorial:

Identify a Problem Early in the Video

In order to keep the attention and help your audience determine if they’re watching something that can be of use to them, it’s important to identify a problem your tutorial helps solve early in the video. In some ways, this could be thought of as a tease – and rightfully so. Information-heavy shows (especially in the tech realm) often start by asking the audience a few questions in a way that identifies a problem and tells them that the solution is ahead. Problems can range from a lack of understanding about a subject to overcoming difficult obstacles during a complex process.

Plan Ahead

Doing a tutorial on the fly is extremely difficult and rarely a good idea. Make sure you know exactly what you need to say before you hit the record button. Having a set of bullet points written out and displayed in a place off-camera is a great way to keep your speech and your thought process on track while walking people through the process.

If possible, you can even script everything out word-for-word and use it as a script. This is a great way to combat frequent uses of “umms” and “ahhs” while speaking.

Use Editing Tools to Enhance the Experience

When editing your video, you should consider utilizing some of the tools of the editor to help you when need be. Clipping out spots where you get confused or need to repeat a step, speeding up the video through long and otherwise boring tasks, and adding descriptive text to the video can help enhance the experience for the user and make your video more entertaining to watch.

In the video below, Oliver from TheGeeksPlace goes over the process of speeding up segments of video for this very purpose:

Name your Video Appropriately

Naming your video is one of the most important factors in bringing people to your page. If you give it a gimmicky name that really doesn’t have much to do with the problem or solution presented in the video, the chances of someone finding it in a search are slim. Keep the title simple, and directly related to the most important part of the content.

Consider what people are searching for when you title your video. If you’re making a tutorial on cooking spaghetti, a title like “How to Make Spaghetti” has a much bigger chance of being noticed than simply calling it “Spaghetti”.

Speak Clearly

Nothing will kill an otherwise useful tutorial faster than inaudible or difficult to understand speech. If the audience can’t hear or comprehend what you’re saying, they’re far more likely to turn your video off and move on to the next than rewind the clip over and over to try to understand what you said.

Take your time and speak clearly. While it’s a good idea to be quick and to the point, it’s never advisable to rush through a tutorial at a pace that makes it hard to understand. This information is generally better received at a steady pace than rushed, anyway.

Video tutorials are extremely helpful tools for your community. They can draw new people in to the rest of your content and provide a useful service as well. If they’re done right, they can provide a great incentive for viewers to take a look at your blog, social media pages, and other content. In addition, adding them to your blog posts can do a lot to help the overall value of your content.

How to Make a Great Video Tutorial

Composite and component video cables are far too often confused with one-another due in part to their slightly similar name and purpose. LockerGnome’s Brandon Wirtz sat down with me recently too break through the confusion and explain exactly how different they really are.

Composite cables typically have a yellow RCA connector on either end that carries a video signal from source to destination with a single connection. Unlike component, the composite cable carries a single line-level signal that contains all of the video information in one go. You can often see composite cables paired with audio cables as they don’t carry an audio signal.

The signal composite cables carry is a combination of three source signals that are commonly referred to as YUV (or Y’UV). Y stands for luminance which carries the brightness settings as well as the information needed to synchronize the picture. For monochrome displays, this is all that’s really required. The U and V carry hue and saturation information which defines the color of the image displayed on the screen. The maximum resolution on a composite cable is 480i NTSC, which is commonly referred to as a standard definition image.

Component cables carry a significantly higher resolution image allowing for 1080p signals to run across them without issues. The types of signals they carry can vary depending on the scheme used by the equipment. For example, RGB connections refer to red, green, and blue signals being sent through the three associated wires that make up the component cable. In some cases, the green wire carries brightness information (Y) while the red and blue wires share the responsibilities of transferring the color information. This scheme is known as YPbPr and is commonly used in consumer electronics today.

To simplify things, one yellow connection is composite and three colored connections is component. Neither of them carry audio signals and you may see an audio cable attached in some cases for the purpose of saving you from having to run an extra cable from point A to point B. Component is capable of higher resolutions, and is used more widely today as most televisions sold are HD capable.

What is the Difference Between Composite and Component Video?

Taking one HDMI signal and bringing it to two screens sounds difficult, but it isn’t very hard if you have the right splitter. Sewell makes a self-powered 2 port HDMI splitter that allows you to successfully split a HDCP signal and send it to two destinations, simultaneously.

The difference between a splitter and a switch in relation to HDMI is based on whether you’re using it to split an output or double an input. A switch will allow you to go between two sources going in to a single destination, as mentioned in a previous blog post. A splitter, on the other hand, gives you the ability to take a single source and feed it to two destinations. The 2 port HDMI splitter made by Sewell is HDMI standard 1.3b compliant and capable of feeding both audio and video of up to 1440p resolution to two places.

Because the hub is powered by its own 5v power supply, the standard 16 meter HDMI cable barrier between source and destination is thrown out the window. Sewell’s site features a video boasting a 100-foot range from source to screen while feeding the same HD signal to another screen at 56 feet, without the aid of a separate booster. Whether or not this is a typical occurrence is yet to be seen.

The metal enclosure appears solid enough to withstand anything normal home usage would entail. In professional environments where use and abuse are part of everyday life, this may work in a fix, but a more professional-grade solution would be in order.

Because the splitter is HDCP compliant, both devices need to be HDCP compliant as well in order for it to work. Reviews at Amazon have indicated that standard definition signals require a little tweaking on the monitors to get right. This splitter can carry a 3D signal up to 24 FPS, so it doesn’t work with all 3D content.

Overall, the Sewell 2 Port 1×2 Powered HDMI Splitter is a standard HDMI splitter at a reasonable price. Available for under $25, it should be capable of filling the needs of any home user that would like to have two televisions carry the same audio and video. If you’re looking for something a bit bigger, you might want to look in to their 1×4 model.

Sewell 2 Port 1×2 Powered HDMI Splitter Review

So, you’ve got two devices with HDMI out and only one HDMI in port on your projector or television. What do you do? You could go out and buy a new TV, but that isn’t very practical. It could also be a pain in the neck to have to unplug one device and connect another each time you switch between them. Fortunately, you don’t have to.

The Pelican HDMI Quick Switch allows you to plug both devices in to a single HDMI input at the same time by splitting the connection. The Quick Switch automatically detects which device is giving a signal and switches between them. A manual switch allows you to direct the signal to one device or the other should they both be on at the same time.

Unlike more expensive alternatives, the HDMI Quick Split is a simple 2-1 solution (compared to common 4-1 switches) targeted to gamers. You can find them at retail outlets including Best Buy and Game Stop.

Signal quality is clean, delivering great audio and video with little to no noticeable signal loss. Everything from 480p to 1080p can be fed to each input and the result should match appropriately.

One bonus included with purchase is an extra 3-foot HDMI cable that allows you to quickly connect your extra device without having to make another run to the electronics store should you forget to pick up that extra cable.

Overall, the Pelican HDMI Quick Switch gets the job done and doesn’t bother you with any hassle or complications. At $49.99, this cable can put a dent in your monthly entertainment budget, but it certainly wouldn’t make it one of the more overpriced solutions in its class. In any case, it certainly beats having to fiddle with various cables each time you want to play on your Xbox.

Pelican HDMI Quick Switch Review

For quite some time, I’ve been spending time and money attempting to discover a way to record HD video with a webcam on the Mac. While it seems like a simple enough request, Logitech has repeatedly taken the stance that it can’t be done. Well, they were either incompetent or dishonest. I’ve long been a fan of Logitech webcams for their overall build and image quality. I currently use the C910 for its HD capability and image clarity. Their software, on the other hand, has been a dismal departure from anything that could be even remotely considered quality.

Thankfully, CamTwist has come to the rescue with a free solution that allows you to view your webcam in a preview window and set it at a desired size. Once the window is up, all you need to do is use screen capture software (Camtasia, Screenflow, etc.) to grab the video. If you’ve ever operated under the false assumption (portrayed by certain manufacturers) that you can’t capture HD video from a webcam, this is the workaround to make it happen for you.

What makes me most upset about the whole thing is the fact that I’m only one of many Logitech customers that have spent a considerable amount of time attempting to relay possible improvements in their software that would take their current product and make it outstanding. Unfortunately, each software update appears to do nothing more than further the point that their interest isn’t in providing software capable of filling basic requirements on the part of their customers.

Honestly Logitech, if you would just remove your software from the equation altogether and provide basic drivers to your customers, the user experience would improve ten-fold. Your hardware is good, and there isn’t a single reason why it shouldn’t be counted among the best in its class. The software has, unfortunately, been anything but.

How to Record HD Video on OS X from a Webcam for Free

Video is a tricky subject that some spend their entire lives studying and never truly master. The technology behind compression and editing is constantly evolving and there are new things to learn every day. Fortunately for most budding video enthusiasts, there are plenty of easy-to-use video editing programs out there to make the job of mastering and publishing your work without a lot of knowledge in the technical aspects of video much easier. Here are five tips for better video:

White Balance
If there is one thing that any photographer or videographer can tell you, it’s that cameras aren’t nearly as good at adjusting to different lighting situations as the human eye is. Lighting is a constant hassle for photographers and a nightmare for anyone taking video in a constantly changing environment.

By white balancing your image either on the camera or in post (or both), you can create a more true representation of what it is you captured. This is especially important in cases where your image appears washed in a color such as yellow, blue, or green.

Use an Intermediate Codec when Editing
Without going into the technical aspects of codecs, the use of an intermediate codec your editing program works with natively can make a world of difference in the process. For example, Final Cut Pro requires you to render video each time you make an adjustment through editing if it doesn’t recognize the intermediate codec of the source. By encoding it in a lossless codec such as Apple Intermediate Codec, you can utilize all the features and functions of Final Cut Pro without having to wait for a render each time you make even the slightest change.

It’s recommended that the codec you use for editing be lossless rather than lossy so your final product does have two, or even three levels of encoding over it resulting in a degraded and potentially pixelated image.

Lighting
Lighting is key to good video. Without the right lighting, your source material can appear dark and unwieldy to the editor. If an image is captured too dark, you may not always be able to lighten it in post as the darkest darks will crunch together and become one big black pixelated mass upon brightening. The same goes for video that’s too bright. The digital camera will see objects lit too brightly as being the same as the white light behind it and create a giant white mass that can’t always be corrected in post. Someone’s alabaster skin (like me) will easily blend in to a white wall if lit too brightly.

In some cases, good lighting can actually improve a system’s ability to maintain a desired frame rate. This is what I discovered with the MacBook Pro as it dropped my frame rate down to 15 when the room wasn’t properly lit.

Framing
Frame your subject properly. Having a space above your head that’s larger than your head is never really a good thing, unless what you’re talking about is above you. Ideally, you want the top of your head to end with only a small sliver of space between it and the top of the frame. Should your video become newsworthy, news programs will often put a lower-third over your video to give you credit and describe what their audience is seeing. Making sure the lower-third of the screen doesn’t have anything necessary to the shot can be a big help in this case.

Focus
Focus the camera on your subject and lock the focus in place unless you have a cameraman. If you’re using a camcorder without a focus adjustment option, make sure that you’re the object in the shot making the most movement and taking up the most space. Some cameras focus on the center point of the frame, so you may want to test out various different ways of positioning yourself to make sure the autofocus is on you as much as possible.

Blurry video, especially during unboxings or other macro-specific shots can ruin the viewer’s experience. Make sure the camcorder you’re using is capable of handling an extremely close shot before depending on it to. The same goes for subjects far in the distance. Filming a runner going around the field can make a great establishment or action shot, but make sure you have the ability to maintain the focus on them all the way around the track.

Video is a tough subject to master, though by keeping a few key points in mind, you can achieve stunning results without all the technical know-how or high-end software. Some of the most popular video on the web is shot with $140 pocket camcorders and edited on free video editing software (such as iMovie and Windows Movie Maker).

Five Tips for Better Video

Home theaters have evolved by leaps and bounds over the past ten years. They’ve gone from a simple television with maybe a VCR (videocassette recorder for you youngsters) and a game console to full-blown high-definition multimedia centers with Internet access and more components than you could ever hope to fit in the TV stand. This is the reality of home theaters today, and there are ways to make them more manageable and easier to use. Here are five tips for setting up your home theater:

The Right Television
If your home theater is a body, then the television is the head. No matter how good your DVR, gaming console, DVD or Blu-Ray player is, your television set is the one place that has the potential of creating a disappointing overall experience. On the other side, many televisions made today have apps and other programs that enable you to experience media directly from the Internet without the need of an external device. When building your entertainment center, it could be argued that the most important thing to get right before anything else is the television. Make sure the television you’re looking for has decent picture quality, built-in support for services such as Netflix, if you haven’t been driven away by their recent price change, and plenty of connection options in the back. After all, we have more devices than we used to, shouldn’t it make sense that your television has enough ports to support them?

The Right Speakers
Having more watts doesn’t mean having louder and/or better sound. Plenty of entry-level speaker systems boast having an all-in-one solution at a low price and frequently display their amplifier stats on the package as if they meant something. The best rule of thumb is to find the biggest and best sound solution and taking a look at what’s two or three levels down from that in terms of price. If what you find there looks like it might be good enough, then it probably will be.

There’s no substitute for hearing things for yourself. When it comes to televisions and sound systems, the best way to make sure you have something that looks and sounds right is to visit an electronics store with them on display and give them a try. Stores such as Fry’s Electronics, home theater specific retailers, and others usually have a small sound room with everything they sell available for you to try out before you make your purchase.

Whatever you do, don’t buy the DVD player / speaker system combo you see at major superstores for less than $50. These are ripoffs and will make you regret your purchase faster than you think. A good quality home theater sound system has an amplifier separate from the disc player. Yes, I’m sure there are exceptions, but we’re talking budget market here, not prosumer.

Get the Cables Right
Whatever you decide to do, don’t spend too much on digital cables. Home theater geeks love to brag about their $200 Creature cables that have gold plating on the connectors and spacecraft materials from the planet Krypton laced throughout the cable and blah blah blah. Look, when you have a digital connection, the extra nonsense that goes in to a cable is just that…nonsense.

Analog cables are slightly different. In some cases, better quality cable will cut down on signal interference to a degree. While there is certainly no reason to pay hundreds of dollars for cables, make sure you do your research before making a purchase. If there is a digital option available to you, and you’re not dead set on using an analog signal – consider going that route instead.

If you have some devices that send video out in through a component connection, there are options available for you to go from component to HDMI, allowing you to free up your component ports for other uses (such as some cable company’s DVR units).

Things to Watch Out For
In addition to digital cable and all-in-one systems, it’s important to keep your eyes peeled for anything that looks suspicious. The home theater market is full of companies and brands that want nothing more than to get you to spend piles of money on something that nearly worthless. If you come across home theater equipment that carries a brand name you’re not familiar with, it’s ok to check for reviews online. Brands like Vizio, Sony, Panasonic, Toshiba, etc. are all major names that have proven time and time again to make products that have predictable quality, at least most of the time.

Cables are one exception to this rule. The brand name of a cable doesn’t matter as much as the overall quality of the cable itself, no matter what Creature or any other brand tells you.

Computer vs. Set-Top Box
If you have an old computer laying around, and it doesn’t make a whole lot of noise, you may already have the perfect addition to your media center. Adding a computer to your home theater setup can make a big difference on what you’re able to do. You can surf the web from the couch using a wireless keyboard and mouse, install third-party set-top software such as Boxee or Hulu and use the computer just like a Boxee Box.

Set-top solutions can save you the space the typical computer takes up and a few dollars if you don’t have a spare system laying around the house. The Roku Box, Boxee Box, and others are a great solution if you frequently subscribe to web shows or have decided not to pay a monthly cable bill for your television entertainment. Online services such as Hulu Plus and Netflix can give you access to many of the shows and movies you would otherwise be missing. If you’re an Apple user, the Apple TV is also a good choice, especially if you have shared iTunes libraries that you’d like to access from your home theater.

Five Tips for Setting Up Your Home Theater

There are times when you don’t want related videos playing in a YouTube video embed. I know, because a few minutes ago I had that very need!

It’s actually quite simple to embed a YouTube video by way of their on-site forms these days – and they’re bound to change the options by the time I post this how to article. The good news is: if you’re having problems trying to get your YouTube video to embed without displaying any related links, please leave a comment below and I’ll be sure to respond with updated directions (and update this description, too).

Don’t worry – if you’ve already embedded the video, you can very easily turn off the related videos from showing up. This might be important if you only want a page’s visitor to see that single video. Take a look at the HTML code you copied from YouTube originally.

So, in essence, you’ll want the end of the video to look like this screen shot – giving the viewer no other option other than to replay without seeing related videos (from you or any other YouTube viewers):

You’ll see a couple of “youtube” URLs in there – the links which tell the web page which video needs to be played. To the end of these URLs, we need to add a simple parameter:

&rel=0

So, for example, if you see a URL like this:

http://www.youtube.com/v/X1Wn-iKadvE?version=3&hl=en_US

And turn it into this:

http://www.youtube.com/v/X1Wn-iKadvE?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0

This way, when someone goes to view the video, no related videos will show up. You can see a living example of this code in action on our current business services site. You could also click on the YouTube links above to see the differences between viewing a video with or without the related video option.

Good luck with your embedding. If you have any questions about YouTube, don’t hesitate to ask!

How to Embed YouTube Video Without Related Videos

VGA has been an active video standard for personal computers for a very long time. DVI and HDMI (along with the new display port standard) are making a tough case for the aging analog port, though you might be surprised to find out that VGA is still superior in some ways.

Because VGA is an analog standard, you are able to push through a much high resolution at a greater range of signal bandwidth than is possible with DVI or HDMI in their present configurations. The reason for this is the flexibility of analog vs digital video connections. Compared to digital signals, analog is capable of pushing more data through a smaller connection due to an increased signal density. One analogy would be comparing a glass of water to a glass of ice cubes. The cubes are very defined pieces of information that take up more space than the equivalent amount of water.

The downside to analog signals is their capability of receiving interference from outside sources. If you were to sit an active VGA cable next to a transmitter sending out singlas at the right frequency, this would introduce noise to the connection that can result in a distorted signal. Longer VGA cables often present a more distorted image than shorter ones due the increased area exposed to potential noise. One solution to this problem is better shielding and thicker cabling which helps to block these outside influences. For this reason, buying a quality VGA cable is actually recommended over a budget option in settings where video quality is a must.

Even with DVI and/or HDMI connections available on most machines, you will still find VGA ports on many business computers. The reason for this is the continued wide-range use of VGA connections in common business applications such as conference room projectors. It’s also a smaller port, making it easier to work in to the design of a compact notebook than the larger DVI equivalent.

That said, digital connections have a strong case going for them. The signal is crisper and generally free of any noise or distortion thanks to the bit-specific nature of digital. You don’t have to worry about buying the highest quality cable to achieve a quality video connection. Professional environments aside, just about any standard DVI or HDMI cable (free of obvious defects) should give you a clear image regardless of how much signal noise is present in the room.

Another advantage to HDMI (and yes, even DVI) is support for audio. While DVI cables currently don’t support audio, many modern video cards are beginning to support an audio component which can be tapped in to using a DVI-D to HDMI cable or adapter at the card. You can get a cable or adapter that directly connects HDMI to VGA, but audio will not transfer through this connection.

When DVI was first introduced, it featured a backwards compatibility to VGA. This allows a DVI cable to communicate between the DVI port of a computer (or monitor) and a VGA port. Currently, there are three major types of DVI connections (not including dual and single link). These connections include:

• DVI-A – This is an analog-only standard that does not appear very often in modern cables.
• DVI-D – This is a digital-only standard. Connections made with this come from digital sources to digital destinations.
• DVI-I – This is the best of both worlds and one of the most common connections used today to carry either digital or analog signals between points.

The debate between digital vs analog will go on for quite some time. It’s very easy to assume that VGA, because it is older, is inferior and obsolete. Thankfully for analog enthusiasts and professionals, this isn’t exactly true just yet.

Analog VGA vs Digital HDMI and DVI Video Connections

Should you go with HDMI or DVI when connecting to your television and/or monitor? Recently, Brandon Wirtz of LockerGnome sat down with me to go over a multitude of video cable solutions to determine how to solve many problems facing users as they consider connecting their computer to the television in their living room. Having a media center PC as part of your home theater can be a great thing, especially if you enjoy online video services such as Hulu and Netflix. So, HDMI vs. DVI; which is better?

A lot of this depends on what your video card supports. The original specification of DVI did not include audio, however, that has since changed and audio is available through many modern video cards allowing you to connect your computer to your television (or some compatible speakered monitors) with a single cable.

The downside to HDMI is that you don’t have the ability to secure the connection with screws available on the DVI standard. These screws allow you to move the computer and screen without having to worry about the cable slipping out. For this reason, connecting a computer to a monitor where sound is not needing to be transferred from one to the other is best done through a secured DVI cable.

HDMI and DVI are compatible in that they are both basically the same connection with a different form factor. Until recently, DVI ports did not support audio. Now, with the help of a special DVI to HDMI connector and supported graphics card, you can actually transfer both audio and video to your television with a single cable from the DVI port.

In terms of versatility, HDMI is probably the best option as both the cable and the ports generally support both audio and video with no additional adapters needed.

How do you connect your computer to your monitor? How about to your television?

HDMI or DVI: Which is Better?

The cable industry is a racket. Some manufacturers charge a reasonable price for their products while others boost their price to the moon while boasting qualities that just don’t make sense considering the very nature of digital cables. So, which HDMI cable should you get?

HDMI cables range in price from a few bucks up to well over $100. The differences between a cheap HDMI cable and an expensive one is based on a combination of variables including materials, brand, and marketing. Thankfully, the difference in actual overall quality of signal is pretty much a non-issue.

Digital signals are very different from their analog counterparts. A digital video signal is either present or absent with no significant range in quality in between. You may notices some flaws in the signal if your HDMI cable is defective or going out, but the vast majority of cables should deliver a perceivably perfect image no matter what the actual build materials may be.

Plating your connectors in gold doesn’t do anything to improve the quality of a digital signal. It can act as a barrier against oxydation, but at the premium price you could buy a handful of non-gold cables to replace a single premium cable with gold plating and still have money left over.

Snag protection and thicker coating can be useful in applications where your wires being used in a way that requires movement. For the vast majority of consumer uses where the cable will connect two devices and not be in frequent motion, pretty much any cheap HDMI cable will work just fine. If you’re in a professional environment where your cables are being connected and disconnected on a near-daily basis and/or transported from place to place, an investment in a cable with better protection against knotting or snagging may come in handy.

Interference isn’t much of an issue with digital signals. Any marketing you see that targets interference should be regarded with suspicion as the real benefit to thicker coating is in avoiding damage to the delicate wires within the cable during twisting and/or wrapping.

Finding the right HDMI cable is a matter of looking past the marketing terms and finding a solution that transfers information from one port to the other. My best advice would be to find the cable that is the length you need and a price you’re comfortable paying. Cables should never ever cost more than the equipment you’re connecting them to.

How to Find the Right HDMI Cable

In a highly anticipated announcement today, Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook is teaming up with Skype to introduce the ability for users to have video calls with each other. Unfortunately, this feature lacks some of the fundamental perks that makes Google+ Hangouts so interesting.

Jake Ludington, a member of the LockerGnome team, joined me for a quick test of this new feature. During the test we were almost immediately made aware of some flaws present in the service which Facebook will need to improve upon if they hope to make a strong case against Google+ Hangouts.

The first barrier to entry (for Mac users) is the required installation of a Java file (not JavaScript) that allows you to make a call. Windows users have a slightly more convenient executable file. Google’s integration requires an installation as well, but the process is almost completely automatic in comparison.

Video quality isn’t great at all, at least not during our test. Jake appeared extremely pixelated when his connection should be more than sufficient for clear video. This may be due to the heavy traffic on the service closely following the announcement, though there was no sign of this clearing up at any point throughout the call.

Audio fed back constantly. This is a common problem with Skype that is only solved by requiring both parties to wear headphones. Ideally, the program should duck anyone except the loudest speaker while they are talking, and this didn’t appear to be the case during the test.

It was nice to be able to move the video window around and place it in a location that didn’t immediately disturb any work you may be doing at the time of the call. The convenience of having it integrated with a social network 750 million users are already a part of is also a big potential draw for this service. Even as frustrating as the initial installation may have been, knowing that the majority of your contacts are more likely to be on Facebook than any of a dozen other social networks counts towards this system’s likelihood for success.

Overall, this new venture between Facebook and Skype doesn’t seem as impressive as Google Hangouts, especially given the lack of group conferencing and virtually echoless audio. If this is Facebook’s answer to Google+, I have a feeling they are facing a competitive and difficult road ahead.

Facebook Skype Calling vs. Google+ Hangouts

iTechnologyz, a member of the LockerGnome community, asked, “Do you think YouTube is causing piracy?”

To me, the answer is both yes and no. It would be foolish of anyone to state that YouTube is either completely original or pirated content. Pirates will find a way around algorithms one way or another. YouTube has taken strong steps to combat piracy, though it is certainly not free of it quite yet.

It does, in the sense that YouTube has made it so simple to upload media to the web and share it with the world without any actual costs involved. This process is pretty simple, whether or not you actually own the content you’re sharing with the world. The ease of use, in terms of sharing this media, has certainly contributed to piracy.

Does this mean YouTube is causing piracy? People have been pirating media since the means of doing so have existed. Long before the days of digital bits and even the printing press, people have been copying other’s works and distributing the copies outside of the control of the content creator. YouTube isn’t the cause of piracy, but it does have a hand in making piracy easier to do.

Piracy, in this case, isn’t limited to content sold on retail shelves. This also includes someone downloading original content off one channel and uploading it to their own. This can lead to loss of income and control over something someone has created. For many content creators on YouTube and other content sharing sites, their work is their primary source of income. That income allows them to keep doing what they do.

Recently, YouTube has started allowing for Creative Commons licensing to be added to original content. This means that you can mark your videos as creative commons, which will allow other users the freedom of taking your content and reposting it on their channel.

If you would like to do something with our content, please feel free to drop me a line through my email address or you can contact me on Twitter, Facebook, and Empire Avenue. You’d be surprised at what we’ll say yes to, just as long as we know what you’d like to do.

Does YouTube Make Piracy Easier?

Robert Rodriguez, an Austin-based filmmaker and founder of Troublemaker Studios is no stranger to technology. In fact, he makes a point of stretching the limits of his equipment on each film by utilizing as many features of the technology as possible. Recently, he sat down to talk technology and movie making at an AMD event.

He sat down for a surprise interview at an event held by AMD in Seattle, WA to launch their new APU (Accelerated Processing Units) line of processors, which combines a standard processor with a graphics processor on the same chip. As he explains in the interview, his partnership with AMD is based on a need for a “bigger gun” in the wild west known as the cloud.

Having the right amount of processing power in a movie studio is very important. As movies have evolved, so have the demands of the technology. Video encoding, rendering, and various other high-priority tasks need to be done as quickly as possible during the process of filmmaking. A clip is created, rendered, tested, and remade sometimes dozens of times over as the editor works towards that perfect take. As Rodriguez notes, everything he does has to work absolutely perfectly on a multitude of formats, and that takes a lot of testing. Faster and more powerful processing can make this process much easier.

On his first film, “Bedhead”, Rodriguez took a wind-up camera (obsolete by today’s standards) and thought of ways to use what may have been considered a downside of the technology as a feature in his film. The idea of introducing telekinesis to the film was the result.

To Rodriguez, technology is a tool (much like a paintbrush) that can be used creatively.

He attributes being based in Austin, as opposed to Los Angeles, for much of his ability to think outside the box. Being away from the bulk of the industry can appear to be a setback to some, but not to Rodriguez. This separation can give you more room to expand, and think outside the box. Where Hollywood has a tendency to be slow to adopt to new technologies, an independent filmmaker has the freedom to try things in their own way.

Robert Rodriguez was one of the pioneers of digital and 3D filmmaking. He promises to expand his technological and creative horizons even further with an upcoming film that features “4D”. What that will mean for the future of cinema, only time will tell.

Robert Rodriguez Talks Tech and Movies at AMD Event