Panasonic’s 3D Experience

Last night I was invited to hang out with a bunch of people, have a few drinks, some great food, and watch TV. Apart from the fact that I didn’t know anyone else in the room I had a great time.

It was a Soup event. Soup is Australia’s first Word of Mouth Marketing Agency and last night they were marketing Panasonic’s range of Full-HD 3D Plasma Televisions. There were several Panasonic experts on hand who gave us a very comprehensive understanding of how the 3D experience works and how Panasonic is at the forefront of developing 3D technology. (By the way, if you want to become part of the Soup community to sample products and have great nights out like I did, you can click here to sign up for Soup.)

The idea of 3D TV hasn’t really grabbed me in the past. I guess my previous experience of 3D is of clunky effects and dull colours. Not bad for an occasional experience but I’ve had my doubts about regular programming in 3D. It’s all seemed like too much of a gimmick. It’s OK to see objects flying towards you and people reaching out beyond the screen but if that’s all there is I can do without it.

I was pleasantly surprised watching the Panasonic VIErA Full-HD 3D Neo Plasma TV. The eyewear does reduce picture brightness a little but nowhere near as much as my previous 3D experiences. There was still plenty of colour and the 3D imagery was incredibly sharp, not like the slightly fuzzy images I’ve experienced in the past.

The content we watched wasn’t full of junky effects, instead it was a well shot slice of reality. The 3D effect was so good that it didn’t need gimmicks to shout out, “Hey, look at this”. We also saw a demonstration of 3D gaming. While I’m not a big gaming fan I could see that this would add so much to the gaming experience. It gave the user a much greater sense of being part of the action.

One of the things that really impressed me is that the eyewear and 3D vision didn’t leave my head spinning or feeling nauseous like other 3D experiences.

These plasmas are not only great 3D televisions, they’re excellent 2D TVs. They perform brilliantly with regular content with the added feature of going 3D when the content requires it.

So I guess I’m a convert. 3D TV isn’t simply a junky gimmick.

I’m not the only one who enjoyed the experience. You can check out more Panasonic 3D TV reviews here.

I can’t see our family affording a 3D television anytime soon but I would certainly recommend that you check them out. I’m sure you’ll enjoy the experience.



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Masterchef Breaks Australian Television Records

If you’re in Australia it wouldn’t be too hard for me to guess what you were doing last night. It’s very likely that you were watching Channel Ten’s final for Masterchef … like a massive chunk of Australia’s population.

We didn’t see all of the show but we got home from church in time to see the final challenge and the naming of this year’s winner. The final became the most-watched non-sporting event ever shown on Australian television. A peak of 4.348 million viewers across the five capital cities tuned in to watch Adam beat Callum to win $100,000 and a cookbook publishing deal.

Callum seemed very likable and a more than able cook but I’m glad that Adam took out the title. I was also very impressed by Callum’s reaction to Adam’s win. While the runner-up on most reality shows will give the winner a hug and smile a lot, you can often tell that they’re trying to stay in control while battling deep dissapointment (and who could blame them) but Callum appeared genuinely thrilled for Adam. I’m sure he would have preferred winning but his reaction showed a real maturity and great character.

Did you watch much of the series this year? Who did you want to win?

So Masterchef is over for another year and huge amounts of time will now be freed up for Australians as we no longer have to sit glued to the box each night for the next installment.

Mind you … Junior Masterchef is set to start soon. 🙂



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A Real Masterchef Challenge

If you’ve been watching Australia’s Masterchef you’ll love this video put together by the team at Compassion Australia.

Enjoy the video …. but don’t just leave it there. Find out more by visiting the Challenge Website.



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ITV kills The Bill

For many it’ll be like losing a good friend or a member of the family. ITV has decided to close down Sun Hill Police Station and call the end to long running police drama, The Bill.

Around 90 people are expected to lose their jobs and cast members past and present are in shock at the sudden news of the show’s axing after 26 years.

While blaming falling ratings as the reason for closing the programme, the most recent episode to show on British TV won its timeslot with a huge 4.5 million viewers. Last year The Bill won its first Bafta for Best Continuing Drama.

A number of Facebook groups have already been set up trying to save The Bill and there is expected to be a continuing push by fans to keep the programme running, but it’s not likely to convince ITV who have messed with the show for years, making radical changes which have not been popular with diehard viewers.

During its 26 year run The Bill has featured appearances by such names as Keira Knightley, David Tennant, Spice Girl Emma Bunton, The Who’s Roger Daltrey, Robert Carlyle, Hugh Laurie and many others.

We are devastated that after 26 successful years on ITV, The Bill will be coming to an end. One of the show’s strengths has been its ability to evolve over the years as can be seen with the latest challenge of transforming itself into a 9pm primetime show.

We are incredibly proud of what the show has achieved. It is a credit to everyone who has worked on The Bill that the series will be signing out on a creative and editorial high with both critical and industry-wide acclaim and a loyal fan base who have supported the show throughout. – Lorraine Heggessey, CEO talkbackTHAMES

The Bill has always been very popular in Australia and many of the cast members have visited Australia for promotional visits, theatre shows and even book readings.

A few years ago I had the privilege of talking by phone to Graham Cole who played the role of PC Tony Stamp for 22 years before being sacked by the show’s producers when they wanted to change the style of the long-running drama. You can hear our conversation from February 2007 by clicking the play button on the audio player at the bottom of this post.



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John Piper and Television

piper.jpgJohn Piper seems to be beating himself up about an answer he gave at Advance ’09. While I don’t see the problem, I’m glad he decided to explain his position more clearly.

His post, Why I Don’t Have a Television and Rarely Go to Movies, is a thoughtful explanation of why he is very cautious of trivial entertainment for entertainment’s sake. He tackles the issue I touched on in my recent post, Get Naked for Success. He talks about preachers trying to remain relevant by immersing themselves in popular culture through the latest movies.

There are, perhaps, a few extraordinary men who can watch action-packed, suspenseful, sexually explicit films and come away more godly. But there are not many. And I am certainly not one of them.

I’d have to say that I’m not one of them either.

I love Piper’s explanation of why nudity in films is not acceptable.

I have a high tolerance for violence, high tolerance for bad language, and zero tolerance for nudity. There is a reason for these differences. The violence is make-believe. They don’t really mean those bad words. But that lady is really naked, and I am really watching. And somewhere she has a brokenhearted father.

I’ll put it bluntly. The only nude female body a guy should ever lay his eyes on is his wife’s. The few exceptions include doctors, morticians, and fathers changing diapers. “I have made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I gaze at a virgin?” (Job 31:1). What the eyes see really matters. “Everyone who looks at a woman to desire her has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:28). Better to gouge your eye than go to hell (verse 29).

Whether we like to admit it or not, John Piper is right.

It’s not just sex and nudity in flims and on TV that bother Piper.

But leave sex aside (as if that were possible for fifteen minutes on TV). It’s the unremitting triviality that makes television so deadly. What we desperately need is help to enlarge our capacities to be moved by the immeasurable glories of Christ. Television takes us almost constantly in the opposite direction, lowering, shrinking, and deadening our capacities for worshiping Christ.

Even if you’re not a Christian, you’d have to admit that a lot of television tends to glorify the trivial and that can’t be good for any of us who want to enlarge our vision of the world and what we’re capable of achieving with the precious life we’ve been given.



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