Home video

One of the biggest shortcomings of the otherwise excellent Roku 3 is its lack of an official YouTube channel, although savvy users can get around that limitation with a variety of workarounds, including the "private" VideoBuzz channel. Or at least used to be able to.

VideoBuzz reported on its Facebook page yesterday that it "received a notice from Roku management asking us to close down the channel as we don't own the content which is being streamed by VideoBuzz channel." The channel is set to go offline April 17; VideoBuzz says it's looking into … Read more

Despite countless reviews and articles proclaiming plasma TVs as having better picture quality, and costing less money, LCDs continue to dominate sales charts.

So the question is, why did you, or will you, choose LCD (or LED LCD) over plasma?… Read more

I've had a projector as my main display for more than 10 years. I don't for a second believe they're for everyone. However, I do believe that more people could enjoy projectors than currently do.

From other articles I've written on CNET, though, there's a lot of push-back and negativity with projectors, and I'd like to find out why. … Read more

The Epson Moverios are heavier than my regular glasses. I'm not sure I mind. Since I first got glasses in the fourth grade, I dreamed about them having some sort of built-in head-up display, feeding me real-time data about the world around me. Two seconds into the Google Glass launch video, and I said, out loud, "SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY."

Turns out, Epson has been working on similar "iGlasses." Like Google Glass, these are an early entry into the technology. So if you're hoping for a snarky review about early tech, you'll be disappointed.

If you want to know what it's like having something like this, what it can and will be, and a shocking lack of jokes about me wanting Geordi La Forge's barrette thing, read on.… Read more

A hotel near Apple's headquarters in Cupertino, Calif., is now using some of the iPhone and iPad maker's home entertainment technology in its rooms.

Starwood Hotels' Aloft Hotel has put an Apple TV in all 123 of its rooms, the company said today.

Of note, the hotel is located on the same block as one of Apple's external campus buildings, and just two blocks from its headquarters on Infinite Loop.

"Guests can choose among thousands of movies and TV shows from iTunes, connect to Netflix for films, Hulu for television shows, MLB.com for sports, and … Read more

A common complaint I get via e-mail or in comments on other articles involves a picture that breaks up into what look like little blocks.

Often, people incorrectly refer to these as "pixels," or blame their TV settings.

In fact, this artifact is in the source, and unfortunately, there's not much you can do about it.… Read more

All so-called LED TVs are really just LCD TVs that use LEDs for their backlight. This backlight creates the light that allows the LCD to create an image. However, there are multiple ways these LED backlights can be arranged, and that arrangement can have a dramatic effect on picture quality.

So here's your guide to all the different versions, with some funky illustrations, too.… Read more

Roku streaming boxes can now be used as cable boxes for Time Warner Cable subscribers.

The feature upgrade comes courtesy of the free TWC TV app, which went live in the Roku Channel Store earlier today. The app was first announced at CES in January.

Once installed, the app provides access to hundreds of live channels, including most major broadcast and cable networks. The only requirement is a valid Time Warner Cable username and password; that security feature verifies that you're a current paying customer, and that you're accessing the stream from within your own home via your … Read more

BARCELONA, Spain--Announced on Saturday at Mobile World Congress, the Samsung HomeSync is a home theater media hub that aims to inject a little Android OS into your TV via your Galaxy handset. Slated for April, the device can stream videos, games, and other media from your Galaxy phone to your big-screen TV through Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. Think of it as an Apple TV for the Samsung faithful.

Design The Samsung HomeSync is packaged in a minimalistic glossy black box, and it's about the size of three DVD cases stacked on top of one another. When placed on a flat … Read more