leds

UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif.--So you've finally got your mitts on that 42-inch LCD TV you've been lusting after since last Christmas. Congratulations. The major television manufacturers would like to thank you for your business by finding ways to make your shiny new display look old and out of date very quickly.

It's nothing personal, of course. But such is the nature of a commoditized and maturing industry like high-definition televisions. There are more than 70 TV brands on retail shelves competing for your dollars and eyeballs, and the only way to differentiate themselves is to keep tweaking … Read more

It's such a common problem: There you are, wearing your best pair of night-vision goggles, and you can't see the damn keyboard. What's a clandestine operative to do?

iKey claims to have the answer with a LED keyboard that it says is "compatible with NV goggles, featuring filters that remove unwanted light interference" such as halo glows, according to Ubergizmo. It's kind of a version of Stacco Switch's rugged M779 that provides the necessary discretion you won't get with an LED piano lamp. Unfortunately for amateur spies, it seems to be aimed … Read more

Would you pay $1,185 for the LED headlamp pictured here? Would anyone?

We've seen a whole range of illuminated headgear, from baseball caps to alien-wear, but this one has it all: Not only does it have an absurd price tag, but it also has all the dork factor of a "Light Head Magnifier." OK, maybe that's going too far. We're all in favor of safety, but there's no question that this is effective date-repellant fodder.

The "Betty" (Betty?) head lamp from Lupine Lighting Systems of Germany produces such a powerful light--as … Read more

CHIBA, Japan--Dolby, the sound company, is getting into TVs.

The company is at Ceatec, the large Japanese trade show taking place here this week, to promote Dolby Contrast and Dolby Vision, two technologies (one currently real, one on the drawing board) to extend its reach into digital TV and cinema.

Both Dolby Contrast and Dolby Vision are essentially ways to apply the dimmer switch concept to light emitting diodes. LEDs are being increasingly used as the backlight in flat panel LCD TVs. Dolby Contrast allows the TV to dynamically adjust. One LED could go completely black while its neighbor could … Read more

Like many other suburban American males who grew up in a certain era, I [hearted] Led Zeppelin. And while my ardor's diminished considerably since adolescence, they're one of very few bands I discovered decades ago that I still enjoy today. (In contrast, I can't believe I actually own a half dozen Doors LPs.)

So when Led Zeppelin announced a one-show reunion (with their original drummer's son on drums) to celebrate the life of Ahmet Ertegun, the Atlantic Records cofounder who signed them, I expected it'd be popular. But apparently the registration site for tickets got … Read more

Wow. This one ranks right up there with the "Light Head Magnifer." If you thought the iPod hat cited yesterday was dorkworthy, you'll probably want to avert your eyes from the "BrimLight."

As its name indicates, this battery of five LEDs attaches to the brim of your hat, according to Book of Joe, lighting a 120-degree radius with a range of up to 30 feet. Those stats may be impressive, if you're really into lights, but they come at a rather brutal price of fashion victimization.

If you really need a coal miner's light … Read more

The New York Times reported today that three of the four original members of Led Zeppelin--Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones--will play a charity concert in London on November 26. Jason Bonham, son of Zep's original drummer John Bonham, who died in 1980, will fill in for his father.

The show will be a tribute to Ahmet Ertegun, founder of Atlantic Records. Zeppelin sold 100,000,000 plus records on Atlantic, so it's kinda nice the guys are showing respect for the man who believed in them from the start. The single performance show also includes … Read more

The latest testament to the geek appeal of blinking pixels are two handheld electronic musician interfaces called the Monome and the Tenori-On. Both are slated for a new release in the next few months and while they have a lot in common conceptually, there are a few key differences between the two that I'll explore here.

Even if you couldn't care less about electronic music, these products demonstrate stunning interface design (not to mention eye candy). Remember, it was an obscure music interface company named Jazz Mutant that pioneered the multi-touch screen interface long before the iPhone came to town. (Videos after the break.)… Read more

Among last week's digital music news was the item that seminal hard rock band AC/DC has taken a tentative step on the information highway (as opposed to that other highway). AC/DC's deal with Verizon was notable because the band chose to bypass industry leader iTunes, and because the band is selling only complete albums (for $12 apiece--higher than the current price of their CDs on Amazon!) rather than individual singles. Another oddity: most of AC/DC's catalog will be not be downloadable over-the-air to Verizon phones; instead, users will have to download the albums to … Read more