Video Archive

If you’re like a lot of people, you might have some old mini DV or VHS tapes laying around. That’s only natural. VHS was the standard video format for a long time, and many VHS tapes still exist. But they’re not actually all that convenient to use. Unless you’re a serious movie aficionado, you probably don’t have a VCR ready to go. Most people’s VCRs, …

Projectors are one of those technologies that’s simultaneously vintage and popular. Like vinyl records, they almost went the way of Betamax and laserdiscs. And like vinyl records, projectors are now making a comeback. In both cases, this has been due to changes in technology. With vinyl, the format lost popularity with the advent of CDs, which are more compact. But with streaming services and MP3s, …

When you’re setting up a new TV, game system, or set top box, you need to figure out the wiring situation. And depending on where your devices are located, this might mean making a long run. For example, your cable jack might be in one room, but your TV is in another. Unless you want to run coaxial cable across the house, you’ll need to …

Your parents or grandparents probably told you that you shouldn’t watch TV with the lights out. And for taking care of your eyes, that can actually be sound advice. Failing to develop a soft contrast between your screen and the environment around it, your eyes probably aren’t going to suffer a bunch of permanent damage. But they will be strained. It might even contribute to …

Like most types of cable, HDMI has a limited range. Unlike most varieties commonly in use, it’s fairly short. The theoretical range of an ordinary HDMI cable is 50 feet, but that’s only theoretical. For one thing, the range for a 4K, 60Hz signal is much shorter. Not only that, but HDMI cables are finicky. They’re highly sensitive to interference, so their range is easily …