Shane Buettner

Fox' Blu-ray Blame Game Not Driving Consumers to HD
Shane Buettner  |  Oct 13, 2007

As many of you are undoubtedly aware, Fox recently jumped back into Blu-ray Disc, which is certainly welcome news. But as many are also aware, Fox' participation was apparently contingent on BD+, which to our knowledge is used for additional layers of copy restriction. Among other titles the day-and-date-with-DVD release of <I>Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer</I> and <I>Day After Tomorrow</I> came out, which also feature some BD-J encoded interactivity features. And that's where the problems started for owners of standalone Blu-ray players.

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More Spin in Next-Gen Disc War
Shane Buettner  |  Oct 05, 2007

The advent of Blu-ray and HD DVD isn't the first time I've covered a format launch- DVD was still pretty fresh and new when I started in this biz in the late 90s. Things have changed a lot since then, especially in the way that the PR machines are operating and interacting with the online community. And what better evidence of that is there than the fact that esoteric technical details like "yield rates" and "cycle times" are a frequent water cooler topic among the uninitiated?

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The Lost CEDIA Blog: Marantz VP-15S1 and VP-11S2
Shane Buettner  |  Sep 25, 2007

Getting back from CEDIA after being out of the office for a week is like traveling to a hurricane and finding out an earthquake happened while you were away. After two weeks back, I can actually see the top of my desk in spots, under all the receipts, press releases, mail from last week, bills and everything else that piled up on me over here.

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Blu-ray Interactivity Blog
Shane Buettner  |  Sep 19, 2007

Alright, this is the least interesting Blog I've posted in some time. But I thought some of you might want to kick around the piece that posted today on Blu-ray Disc interactivity. So, here's a spot to ask me any follow-up questions you wish. Fire away!

On The Outside Looking In With HDMI
Shane Buettner  |  Sep 13, 2007  |  Published: Sep 14, 2007

Sometimes we say as much by not reviewing one component as we do by reviewing another. There are some components, often made by smaller, high-end manufacturers, that lag behind with technologies that become so essential that lacking them precludes a recommendation for that component by this publication. When we know a recommendation is precluded from the get-go based on a lack of essential technology, there is no point in acquiring the product for review.

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Sim Audio: Fly Me To The MOON
Shane Buettner  |  Sep 10, 2007

To those of us chasing the Nth degree of performance from our home theaters, it's always exciting when a truly audiophile company like Sim Audio attempts to define the state-of-the-art.

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The Dark Lord In 3D
Shane Buettner  |  Sep 10, 2007

No, I'm not referring to myself with that title. TI's booth had the funnest demo of the show, to be sure, a 3D demo on a Samsung DLP RPTV with the attractive and active 3D goggles shown above (modeled by yours truly). A little ballyhoo is good for this industry.

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Black Wing Up
Shane Buettner  |  Sep 09, 2007

Every show has a surprise, and for me CEDIA's 2007 surprise was the demo I saw from the St. John Group, the importer/distributor perhaps best known for handling the Cabasse line of loudspeakers. This group has picked up Screen Research for distribution, and now has a projector line to shine on those screens: CineVERSUM.

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Pioneer Super AVR Amp Section
Shane Buettner  |  Sep 08, 2007

Here is the amp section of the below mentioned, super cool Pioneer Elite AVR.

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The Mother Of All AVRs?
Shane Buettner  |  Sep 08, 2007

Pioneer Elite has an AVR coming that aims to wipe clean all that came before it. Don't believe me? I'm going to need to post two pictures to even try to do this thing justice. This is an all-out assault on the state-of-the-art, and in reality is more like conjoined separates than an AVR. Lemme 'splain.

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