Sunday, June 14, 2015

Evoluţia telecomenzii

   Începând cu lansarea lor în anul 1952, telecomenzile au devenit parte integrantă a vieţii noastre de zi cu zi. Sunt împrăştiate pe mesele de cafea, înghesuite în sertarele din bucătărie sau în spatele canapelelor şi le folosim pentru a controla totul de la televizoare la sistemele de încălzire.

   Telecomanda a fost prima invenţie care a definit cu adevărat importanţa experienţei excelente a utilizatorului în ceea ce priveşte tehnologia. A fost o soluţie simplă la o problemă care i-a stresat pe mulţi dintre deţinătorii de televizoare şi care, prin urmare, le-a simplificat viaţa acestor oameni. Dar perfecţionarea acestei soluţii s-a realizat în timp.

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   Prima telecomandă de televizor, „Lazy Bones”, era o piesă costisitoare care se conecta la televizor prin intermediul unui cablu de care era imposibil să nu te împiedici. Copia sa fără cablu, „Flash-Matic”, funcţiona prin emiterea unei lumini pe patru fotocelule - una în fiecare colţ al ecranului televizorului. „Flash-Matic” funcţiona aproape perfect, dar inventatorul său, Eugene Polley, nu s-a gândit că lumina solară va interfera cu fotocelulele, aşadar, utilizarea într-o zi deosebit de însorită putea face televizorul să se comporte ca un copil care a consumat prea multe băuturi acidulate.

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   După efectuarea mai multor experimente,  Dr. Robert Adler a inventat „Zenith Space Command”, o telecomandă care putea să comunice cu televizorul prin intermediul tehnologiei cu ultrasunete, care s-a dovedit a fi cu mult mai eficientă. Ultrasunetele au devenit standardul în industrie pentru următorii 25 de ani, până când a fost introdusă tehnologia prin infraroşu şi a preluat controlul la începutul anilor 80. Până în prezent, tehnologia prin infraroşu continuă să fie alegerea ideală pentru producătorii de telecomenzi din întreaga lume.

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   În prezent, telecomanda trebuie să facă faţă unor provocări noi. Popularitatea televizoarelor inteligente înseamnă că le folosim în egală măsură pentru a naviga pe internet şi pentru a prinde ştirile de la ora şase, aşadar telecomanda trebuie să se adapteze pentru a răspunde acestor noi obiceiuri de vizionare. Cine e dispus să aştepte zece minute căutând ceva pe Netflix cu butoanele acelea grosolane?

   Din acest motiv am inventat One-Flick Remote. Păstrând întregul design al telecomenzilor clasice, am realizat o telecomandă mai mică şi mai subţire, iar butoanele au fost înlocuite cu un touchpad intuitiv care simplifică deosebit de mult navigarea între aplicaţiile şi meniurile de pe televizor.

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   Dat tehnologia este în continuă dezvoltare, într-un ritm uluitor, iar noi continuăm să inventăm, menţinându-ne mereu în top. Anumite modele din gama de televizoare BRAVIA® 2015 sunt echipate cu Android TV, o platformă cu totul nouă care transferă puterea telecomenzii către telefonul mobil. Android TV este construit în jurul sistemului de operare Android de la Google, care este extrem de popular şi de uşor de navigat, iar funcţia inteligentă de căutare vocală vă permite să căutaţi filme sau să căutaţi pe Google orice vă trece prin cap. Trebuie doar să vorbiţi cu televizorul, ceea ce reprezintă un plus pentru experienţa dvs. de utilizator.

   În 50 de ani am trecut de la controlul televizoarelor cu telecomenzi grosolane cu cablu la smartphone-urile subţiri şi chiar la propriile noastre voci. Cine ştie ce va deveni rutină în următorii 50 de ani?


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sursa: community.sony.ro

Friday, June 12, 2015

Samsung brings augmented reality to retail with new mirrored OLED displays (eng) (ro)
















You can complain about the lack of jetpacks all you want, but more and more, it’s looking like we’re really living in the future. Case in point: the new transparent and mirrored OLED displays that Samsung unveiled today in Hong Kong.


Last year Samsung put OLED aside in its consumer televisions in favor of Quantum Dot LCD technology, and that might still be the case, as these new displays are meant more for commercial use. While looking at your TV only to find yourself staring back might not be convenient, these are perfect for retail applications, looking like something plucked out of a shopping mall from the future.

The new displays integrate Intel Real Sense technology which enables users to control interfaces via gestures rather than traditional tactile input. Combine this control with the new clear and mirrored designs and there are a whole lot of possible applications, but Samsung is currently focusing on “making the consumer purchasing experience more visually engaging,” according to a press release issued today. 

One possible use outlined is a “self-modeling” wardrobe which could allow shoppers to see how clothes might look on them without actually having to try them on. Walking through a store, shoppers might even look into a mirror and find themselves wearing a different shirt without any effort on their part.


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In the future, Samsung says that this type of mirror could eventually replace mirrors in your home as well, “providing digital information services to sophisticated consumers in the same space where they now just have a traditional mirror.” Time for a haircut? Your mirror lets you know. There’s no word yet on whether or not it will tell you if you’re the fairest of them all, however.

For the transparent display, Samsung has more traditional tasks in mind — replacing traditional LCD signage, for example — but it certainly is still impressive to behold.



Both models shown were 55 inches in size and offer some impressive specs. Samsung claims both the mirrored and transparent models show an increased color gamut over comparable LCDs (100 percent vs 70 percent of NTSC), and the mirrored model is said to have both better contrast and a faster response time than mirror LCDs. Since OLED displays don’t require back lighting, they’re more versatile when it comes to integration with new types of designs, and can also be remarkably thin.

While Samsung might not be focusing on OLED for consumer use right now, this latest showcase  — perhaps a response to a similarly futuristic OLED demonstration from LG a few weeks back –proves that the company is still very hands-on with OLED display technology. These panels are ready to appear in retail locations right now, but there is currently no indication of how widely available they will be.

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Samsung demonstrează ecrane OLED semi-transparente


   Continuând demonstraţiile de forţă, menite să arate superioritatea tehnologică în faţa producătorilor rivali, Samsung a prezentat la o expoziţie din Hong Kong un nou tip de ecran OLED capabil să redea imagini color pe o suprafaţă ce poate lua aspect transparent sau de oglindă, în funcţie modul cum este privită.
   Ecranul recomandat pentru panouri publicitare şi prezentări va suporta în cele din urmă integrare cu tehnologiile Intel RealSense, intrând în componenţa unor sisteme de prezentare interactive, spre exemplu cabină de probă virtuală. Practic, sistemul prevăzut cu camere video şi senzori de mişcare va putea urmări mişcările persoanelor aflate în faţa ecranului cu aspect de oglindă, imaginea afişată simulând articole de îmbrăcăminte, bijuterii şi coafuri extravagante pe care aceştia le pot încerca înainte de a trece la fapte.
Samsung demonstrează ecrane OLED semi-transparenteSamsung demonstrează ecrane OLED semi-transparente

   Ca şi panou publicitar interactiv, ecranul OLED augmentat cu tehnologiile RealSense dezvoltate de Intel va putea interpreta mişcările spectatorilor şi ajusta corespunzător conţinutul redat.
   Potrivit Samsung, ecranul OLED cu aspect de oglindă semi-transparentă oferă claritate, contrast şi timp de răspuns superior panourilor LCD folosite în prezent. Compania are însă de înfruntat competiţie serioasă atât în piaţa panourilor publicitare, cât şi în nişa nou apărută a cabinelor virtuale de probă, rămânând de văzut dacă noul ecran va avea sau nu succesul sperat




Thursday, June 11, 2015

ULTIMATE SURROUND SOUND GUIDE: DIFFERENT FORMATS EXPLAINED (eng)



It was the summer of ’69. We’re not talking about the Bryan Adams song here; we’re actually referring to first time surround sound became available in the home. At the time, it was called Quadraphonic sound, and it first came to home audio buffs by way of reel-to-reel tape. Unfortunately, quadraphonic sound was very short-lived. The technology, which provided discrete sound from four speakers placed in each corner of a room, was confusing — no thanks to electronics companies battling over formats (sound familiar?) –and it ultimately failed in the consumer market.
The idea that one could immerse themselves in a three-dimensional sphere of audio bliss was not to be given up on, however. In 1982 Dolby Laboratories introduced Dolby Surround, a technology that piggy-backed a surround sound signal onto a stereo source through a process called matrix encoding. Not long after, Dolby brought us Pro-Logic surround and has since done its part to advance the state of surround sound in the home to the point where as many as eleven speakers can be used to put listeners right smack in the middle of the action, be it a concert or a battle in deep space.
Unfortunately, surround sound, for many, remains a confusing technology. Though most understand the concept of using multiple speakers for theater-like sound, many don’t understand the difference between all the different formats. There’s 5.1, 6.1, 7.1, 9.2, Pro-Logic IIx, Pro Logic IIz, Dolby DSX and more. It’s a lot to wrap your head around.
With this guide to surround-sound formats, we hope to provide a little clarity as to what separates these different surround-sound versions.

Matrix

For the purposes of this discussion, “matrix” has nothing to do with the popular film series featuring Keanu Reeves and Lawrence Fishburn (aside, perhaps, from the fact that the movies still make for a pretty effective surround sound demo). In this case, matrix refers to the encoding of separate sound signals within a stereo source. This approach was the basis for early surround-sound formats like Dolby Surround and Dolby Pro Logic, motivated in part by the fact that there wasn’t enough space for discrete information on early audio-video media, such as the VHS tape.

The Speakers

Surround sound, at its most basic, involves a set of stereo front speakers (left and right) and a set of surround speakers, which are usually placed just to the side and just behind a central listening position. The next step up involves the addition of a center channel: a speaker placed between the front left and right speakers and primarily responsible for reproducing dialogue in movies. Thus, we have five speakers involved. We’ll be adding more speakers later (lots more, actually) but for now we can use this basic five-speaker arrangement as a springboard for getting into all the different surround formats.

Pro Logic

Using the matrix process, Dolby’s Pro Logic surround encodes separate signals within the main left and right channels. Dolby was able to allow home audio devices to decode two extra channels of sound from media like VHS tapes, which fed the center channel and surround speakers with audio. Because of the limited space on VHS tapes, matrixed surround signals came with some limitations. The surround channels in basic Pro Logic were not in stereo and had a limited bandwidth. That means that each speaker played the same thing and the sound didn’t involve much bass or treble information.

Dolby Digital 5.1 / AC-3: The benchmark

Remember Laser Discs? Though the medium was first invented in 1978, it wasn’t until 1983 when Pioneer Electronics bought majority interest in the technology that it enjoyed any kind success in North America. One of the advantages of the Laser Disc (LD) is that it provided a lot more storage space than VHS tape. Dolby took advantage of this fact and created AC-3, now known better as Dolby Digital. This format improved on Pro-Logic in that it allowed for stereo surround speakers that could provide higher bandwidth sound. It also facilitated the addition of a low-frequency effects channel, adding the “.1” in 5.1, which is handled by a subwoofer. All of the information in Dolby Digital 5.1 is discrete –no matrixing necessary. With the release of Clear and Present Danger on LD, the first Dolby Digital surround sound began to hit home theaters. Even when DVDs came out in 1997, Dolby Digital was the default surround format. To this day, Dolby Digital 5.1 is considered by many to be the surround sound standard, and is included on most Blu-ray discs.


sursa: digitaltrends.com