We are entering a new era in sound and vision, the “High Definition era”. Everything these days is HD, 1080p, 1080i, High Contrast….etc, etc. But what does it all mean? And what does this mean for the future of the age old projector?

If you look back in history the Projector was here first, before the TV, the Games consoles, the HD this and that…it was first. It was how man first learnt to project moving images onto a viewing platform. And it is still here today. Albeit in it new improved, all singing and dancing versions.

So you’re ready to move into the HD era; you’ve got your Playstation 3, your Xbox 360 and/or your Blu-Ray player. You plug it into your TV, and “voila!”… or maybe not. The picture is fuzzy, unclear, or not what you had been expecting. Why? Because the TV set you are using is not HD Ready. What does this mean? Well, it’s a bit like putting a Ferrari engine in a Ford Fiesta. The Playstation 3 is producing a powerful flow of information (images and moving picture) and passing them down the cable to your TV set. But your TV set doesn’t have the capability to handle this amount of information. So it discards 90% of it and does it’s best to produce a half decent image. This is why you need a HD Ready TV, or even better a HD Ready projector to produce a High Definition image in its full glory.

Gone are the days of closing all the curtains to be able to wince at a feint image on the living room wall. These days, HD projectors have power, clarity and precision. They are capable of producing images which are equivalent, if not better than the best HD Ready TV. The projected image is clearly viewable on any white surface. No need for closing the curtains or dimming the lights!

So your ready to take the HD plunge, you have cash in hand, and your ready to buy your HD projector…..hmm…which one?!! There are so many choices!!

Ok, we are going to try and make it as straightforward as possible.

The first and most important factor is the native projector resolution. The most common resolutions are 480p (WVGA), 720p (WXGA) and the latest 1080p (UWXGA). The “W” means widescreen. Basically the higher the resolution, the sharper and clearer the picture is. Also a higher resolution ensures future compatibility with the latest products, such as the Playstation 3 or HD TV broadcasts. This is an important issue when making such a large purchase.

It is recommended to purchase a HD projector with at least a 720p resolution or if you can afford it a full HD 1080p projector as this will last for years into the future. Having said this, if you only intend to watch a DVD player on the projector, then a 480p projector is perfectly adequate and is much cheaper!

The next thing to consider is Contrast Ratio. This is the difference between the White and Black parts of the images. So, if you have a contrast ratio of 20000:1 - then the black is 20000 times darker than the white part of the image. Again, this will make the image clearer and more life like. The best way to explain this is this….imagine you sit down to watch the latest All Blacks Game, but the All Blacks Kit is actually a slight grey rather than a sheer black. This would mean the TV or projector has a low contrast ratio, the black is not completely black, you get the idea?

Another very important factor is the life of the lamp. Typically the lamp life will be between 2000 and 4000 hours. And Lamps are expensive, around £100-£250 depending on the model of the projector. The stated lamp life is actually its half-life not its full life to the point of failure. The lamp is tested to the point where it starts to lose brightness (usually half way through its life) and this is stated on the specifications as the lamp life. Also, you can prolong the life of the lamp by good usage. Powering down the projector, rather than just removing the power, and cleaning the filters regularly all help in prolonging lamp life.

Another thing that most people don’t consider is screen size.

How much size do you have available? Bigger is not always better. There is nothing worse than proudly setting up your HD projector and then realizing that the picture engulfs the whole room! Check the screen size you have available and the throw distance (how far you have from the front of the projector to the wall) and you can then decide which projector is best for you.

Also, you will get the best from your investment with a projector screen. They are specifically made for the job and with return a clearly sharper and all round better picture than any wall will no matter how flat or white the wall may be. There are a full range of electric retractable screens available today, which, with one click of the remote, you can look like James Bond in the comfort of your own home!!

What is the difference I hear you say? Why are some phones Sim Free and some unlocked? And why does it matter at all?

Well, I’m about to explain.

When a mobile phone is sold by a particular network provider, such as T-Mobile, Orange or O2 they will lock the phone so it can only be used on their network and nobody else’s. This means, if you bought the new Samsung Soul from T-Mobile the chances are that it would have some form of network branding or logos on it such as a big T-Mobile logo on the front of the phone. As if this wasn’t enough, the network provider will usually add there own software to the phone. So there will be T-Mobile logos all over the menus. And finally they will lock the phone to only be used on T-Mobile. If you want to use this phone with your Vodapone sim card it will not work, however, it can be unlocked. This will allow you to use the Vodapone sim card (or any other sim) but it doesn’t get rid of the network branding logos or software from the phone. So you will have a phone with a Vodaphone sim card but T-Mobile logos and branding all over it!

One more important point, to unlock the phone the software has to be tampered with. This then voids the warranty so if you have problems with the phone at a later date, the manufacturer will know it has been tampered with and will not fix the problem under the warranty.

So what is best? The best way is to buy a Sim Free Mobile Phone. This is a phone which has never been locked to a network and has no network branding. These phones come straight from the manufacturers. They have full warranty and will work with any sim card you wish to use, regardless of which network provider it is from.

Another advantage of having a sim free phone is when you come to sell the phone, they tend to be more valuable than an unlocked phone. This is because the warranty is still valid and the phone can be sold to anyone on any network to use with any sim card

At Elite Gadgets we stock the full range of sim free phones available in the marketplace today. All our phones are fully sim free with no network branding and full warranty.

Today at Elite Gadgets we unwrapped the Canon HF100 Camcorder with a little hesitance. The first flash-based camcorder from Canon. Now, this isn’t a new technology but it is Canon’s first stab at a flash memory camcorder. And from what we have seen, they have hit the nail on the head.

Unlike it partner, the HF10, it doesn’t have any built-in memory, all footage is recorded straight to a removable SD Card.

Apart from this and the colour (the HF10 is Black and the HF100 is silver) it is exactly the same camcorder.

It is tiny for a horizontal based camcorder, weighing in at a measly 380g and measuring 73mm x 63mm x 129mm in size. Being a flash memory based camcorder cuts down drastically on size as it doesn’t have to house an internal hard drive or tape mechanism.

It packed with features. Camcorder enthusiasts will value the 25p cinema shooting mode, a microphone input and a headphone input. It also utilizes a very nice 1/3.2inch, 3.3 mega pixel image sensor to provide full HD 1920 x 1080 resolution images. These images are recorded directly to the memory card thanks to the new AVCHD compression system. We hooked this up to our Samsung Full HD 1080p LCD and the footage was quite simply breathtaking.

As with all HD camcorders we wanted to know how big a memory card we would need. Well, we managed to fit 2hours of HD footage on a 16GB memory card, so it’s not too bad at all. But is you are desperate for space it has three lesser quality record setting to get the most from your storage space albeit with a compromise on picture quality.

All in all, we were not disappointed with the HF100 in fact we were very impressed. It is as good as you can get in the camcorder market at the moment. The HD footage is superb when viewed on a Full HD TV, or even on a CRT monitor via the AV Connectors. The 2–channel Dolby Digital sound is brilliant, its looks and feels just great.

This new boy from Canon gets the thumbs up from Elite Gadgets!!!

This is no normal camera. If James Bond was a camera, this would be it. If Clint Eastwood carried a digital camera (and he doesn’t, he’s far too cool for that) then he would carry an Olympus 1030 SW.

You can…..smash it, bang it, soak it, or even freeze it, and it will still emerge a winner. It’s like the Navy Seal of digital camcorders. Damn….this solider will even survive a nuclear holocaust… (Well, maybe not, but you get the idea?)

Here are the statistics. It’s waterproof to 33ft, freeze proof to minus 10, and crushproof to 220 LBF. If you’re an adrenalin junkie who wants a camera that can withstand all you throw at it, or even if you’re just that little bit clumsy, then this is the camera for you.

As well as being extremely robust it really is a nice bit of kit. It utilizes the latest technologies to provide you with perfect pictures every time. With its 10.1 mega pixel CMOS sensor and a 3.6x wide angle lens it will give your shots in super clear definition and a great field of view for them action shots.

It uses face detection technology for taking great family snaps and a beautiful Hyper crystal II LCD screen to display them in there full glory.

If you going to use this digital camera for action shots on the slopes it is perfect as it incorporates anti-blur technology and digital image stabilization to ensure perfect shake free shots every time.

In a nutshell, it is a great digital camera in a protective case which will withstand the tests of time.

Here it is, the new Epson EMP-TW2000 Projector. When we first unwrapped this beauty at Elite Gadgets we were astounded by its sheer beauty. What a sleek piece of kit!!! With its smooth lines and sultry black exterior it is as beautiful as a projector can be!!

But as with most things in life, real beauty is more than skin deep. This really is the ultimate in home cinema. It is a full HD projector which projects a 1080p image onto any surface. It is very, very bright, emitting a full 1600 lumens, which produces a nice clear picture whether the room is light or dark (gone are the days of shutting the curtains!) Furthermore, it produces a contrast ratio of 50000:1.

Now, this may seem like a lot of technological jargon anyone who is not a complete techno nerd. So let us put this in perspective….Most of the better LCD screens on the market at the moment will boast a contrast ratio of 10000:1 or maybe even 12000:1 but this little beauty produces an image with a 50000:1 contrast ratio!!! We never thought we would see the day when a projector is shaper and clearer than an LCD screen, but we have been proven wrong, that day has now come….

The Epson TW2000 is taking high definition entertainment to another level. With its C2Fine LCD Panels and Deepblack Technology you really will stand in awe of its magnificence, just as we did and still are doing.

It is a complete home entertainment system. You can connect TV, DVD, Blu-ray, set top box, games console and even a digital camera to it through its two HDMI v1.3 interfaces which give true 1080p HD signal processing.

Here at Elite Gadgets, we see new technology come and go every day of the week. But this is something different, something a little bit special.

If you’re going to buy a projector for your home, you want one that is at the cutting edge of today’s technological advancements so it will stand the tests of time. The Epson EMP-TW2000 is here to stay.

There’ a new guy in town, it’s the HDC-SD9 from Panasonic. Very similar to its younger brother the HDC-SD5, the all new HDC-SD9 has got everyone here at elite gadgets very excited.

Although the HDC-SD9 has the similar basic specification to the HDC-SD5, Panasonic have come up with some groovy new features to keep all camcorders aficionados keen.

Sporting Panasonic’s Trademark 3 CCD’s which in the case of the HDC-SD9 are in 1/6 units with 560,000 per unit. These have a fantastic effect on colour fidelity. Panasonic have also partnered with Leica to provide the Leica Dicomar lens. The HDC-SD9 also has a full image optical stabilization system rather than an electronic one which you would usually find in a camcorder of this size.

The new HDC-SD9 records in the AVCHD Mpeg-4 H.264 AVC format, which is the same as its sibling the SD5, however, Panasonic have now included a new video processor so the HDC-SD9 can records in FULL HD, unlike the HDC-SD5 which provided a 1920x1080 image but in an interlaced signal. The SD9 is superior in technology advancement as it can shoot this same resolution but this time with a progressive signal. Furthermore it offers two compression schemes in this mode – 17Mbits/sec HA and 13Mbits/sec HG. The HA Mode boasts the highest bit rate of any AVCHD camcorder currently available.

The HDC-SD9 is firmly aimed at more novice camcorder enthusiasts by providing an intelligent shooting mode which provides handy tips to improve the quality of your footage. For example, if you move the camera to fast it will tell you….which we thought was a nifty little idea. It will also tell you if the low light mode has be enable when it does need to be.

However, it will also keep the veteran enthusiasts happy to with its myriad of functions and superb picture quality.

Another new function of the HDC-SD9 is Face Detection Technology. The HDC-SD9 can detect faces and will adjust exposure accordingly. This mode is available when shooting video as well as still shots.

There is also a fantastic Digital Cinema Colour recording mode which gives your footage very very vibrant colour intensity, however, you do need a Panasonic Enable TV to benefit from this.

Now lets hear about the Panasonic HDC- SD9 – or what does the SD9 hear?? It records in 5.1 surround sound which is very unusual for a camcorder of this size. How does it do this? It utilizes five separate microphones which are arranged in a way that it can calculate noises coming from in front of you and behind you. Also, quite amazingly, it has a Zoom Microphone Function, where the sound recording is focused to whatever is in your frame at that particular time. Wow!!! Dont you just love technology!!!

We’ve had this camcorder in the Elite Gadgets office for over a month now, and we are still astounded at what it can do! It’s a perfect camcorder for all occasions and will keep all camcorder nuts happy whether they are new to the hobby or seasoned professionals.