2002 Holiday Techno-Wish List
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Gateway Tablet PCCertainly you've heard of these new clipboard-sized units by now, and are probably thinking there will be some creative uses for them, if somebody would just step forward and make it all happen. Right after we mused about some such use on this Web site, a highly respected director here in the Midwest hinted at a product (just in the idea stage at this point) where a tablet PC could be hooked up to capture video with time code for some nifty wireless video-assist functionality. We can't wait to see where this is going. A good candidate to host that new idea would be Gateway's latest tablet PC, a $2799 powerhouse offering a 40GB hard disk, WiFi 802.11b wireless networking, an Intel Pentium III-M 866MHz ultra low volt processor and 256MB of RAM. Imagine if you could feed four camera shots to the tablet, and use the screen as a multi-cam switcher by pen-pointing at each camera's shot at the opportune moment. Is this science fiction? Yes, but that could all change very quickly.
Intel 3.06GHz P4We had to include this technology on the list, because if you have a 3.06GHz Pentium 4 under the hood, you're going places, fast. We were impressed with the hyper-threading (HT) technology inside the new chip from the Intellians, where the processor can work on two separate threads at the same time -- great for multitasking, and significantly faster than a single-threaded chip on our After Effects tests. We also liked the way its up-to-date architecture makes for balanced, top speed data flow throughout the Wintel boxes it haunts. So, if you can stand the Windows XP interface and its lack of uber-hip cache (how's that for using two languages in one poseur comment -- whoops, there another one), then the 3.06GHz chip is the one to specify. And, the prices of these boxes are getting to be so low, it seems that soon the computer manufacturers will be paying us to take them off their hands.
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Sharp L1820 LCD Flat PanelHere's a 18.1" flat panel ($1200) that's especially hard to resist, particularly because it's so well-suited to dual-screen digital video editing. Look at how thin the frame is on this monitor. That means when you're using two of them side-by-side, there won't be a big black space between them, dividing your timeline into two far-away regions. And, this monitor is just like its brand name implies -- sharp. Beyond that, it can actually display 16.77 million colors at 1280 x 1024, so if you're extremely color-sensitive, you won't be disappointed. Best of all, it's not so expensive that you can't get two. Plug it into your Mac, PC or Sun workstation, where its interface accepts both DVI and analog RGB inputs. By the way, once you go to editing with two monitors, you'll never go back to just one. But hey, make it easy on yourself by spending less for two of these babies than you would on one wide-screen LCD panel. Come to think of it, if you're spending three-and-a-half grand on one big wide display, might as well go for three of these new Sharp jewels for the same money.
Samsung 63" Plasma DisplayNow we float up into the stratosphere of our holiday wish list, where the only plasma HDTV that's good enough for us is the biggest one in the world. For a cool $17,800 ($24,000 list price), you can have the privilege of plunking down a tremendous 63" Samsung PPM-63H1 plasma display into your living, uh, Media Room or HD edit suite. With a contrast ratio of 600:1 and 1366 x 768 resolution, this monster lets you see what true HDTV really has to offer. I was once in an edit suite where this monitor held court, and let me tell you, you can really get an accurate impression of what your 1080i or 720p final product will look like with this huge window to the world stretched out in front of you. Its pictures are as clean as any plasma display can produce, but it would worry me to spend so much money on an item that could be obsolete by the time there are enough HDTV programs either in production or broadcast to make having such an expensive monitor worthwhile. And heck, a year from now these baubles will probably be selling for half the price they are now. The technology to watch: Large-screen LCD flat panel displays, which will be sharper, lighter, cheaper and last longer than plasma. So for now, fantasize about this huge plasma display, but save your money for its giant-screen LCD successor.
Charlie White has been writing about new media and digital video since it was the laughingstock of the television industry. A technology journalist and columnist for the past eight years, White is also an Emmy-winning producer, video editor, broadcast industry consultant and shot-calling television director who has worked in broadcasting since 1974. Talk back -- Send Chazz a note at cwhite@digitalmedianet.com.Prev 1 2
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