Now my TV is freaking sweet. Notice a trend here?

Featured Girl

Hoshino Aki

きょ にゅ好き？ This is such a fun question. Ask a foreigner this and laugh to yourself if they say yes. My answer, of course, is also yes, but I definitely cannot ‘ski’. ^_~

I’ve been pondering some license plate names. “NIHON” is cool, but is probably taken, so I’ll probably find some variations on that. I rearranged me and Esmond’s room two nights ago. It was hard work, from start to finish. Even now, there’s still some more things to re-sort, but for the most part, it’s done. So, why did I decide to do some rearranging? Because of what I bought that same afternoon (see below).

Acer AT3201W 32″ LCD TV

The desks are now side by side (they used to be in opposite corners).

The whole 32″ sha-bang.

I tested several examples after tweaking the screen resolution to 1280×800. First test run – Amuro Namie’s WoWa PV, MPEG2 PDTV rip, 4:3 aspect ratio. This video was a direct capture from standard cable. Not bad, a bit of mosaic during the tough spots. Due to the 16:9 resolution I set for the TV, the picture stayed in the centre of the screen with two black bars on the sides. I can live with it, since the entire TV frame is black like the bars.

Second test run – Keroro Gunsou, episode #1, XviD PDTV rip, 4:3 aspect ratio. The 4:3 anime is better quality than the 4:3 PV, which is to be expected, since anime doesn’t require much resolution or frames to view at high quality. However, once again, native 4:3 keeps its aspect ratio and isn’t anamorphic, which is still fine by me.

Third test run – Hana Yori Dango, episode #2, XviD PDTV rip, 16:9 aspect ratio. Damn Americans still haven’t started broadcasting programs in 16:9 resolution, but the Japanese have been doing it for a couple years now. The view is much better, now that the video is taking full advantage of the entire screen. However, since it’s PDTV, there’s still some mosaic in spots, but hardly noticeable.

Fourth test run – Shakugan No SHANA, episode #2, XviD PDTV rip, 16:9 aspect ratio. The animation quality of this show appears to be subdued and soft, unlike the sharpness of Keroro Gunsou. However, widescreen resolution is cooler to watch. Although it feels like low quality, when you see the clear Japanese text in the OP, you realize that it’s just the art style and not the picture.

Fifth test run – INITIAL D fourth stage, episode #14, XviD DVD rip, 16:9 aspect ratio. OMG. The quality is insane. Super sharp lines and almost no mosaic makes me feel like throwing my HDTV away. This is the quality I’m looking for!

Sixth test run – Tommy february6 – EVERY DAY AT THE BUS STOP (Live at POP JAM), MPEG2 HDTV rip, 16:9 aspect ratio. If I thought that a DVD rip was sick, this is even sicker. Captured from a true HDTV broadcast in Japan, this entire video has NO MOSAIC. The sharpness is so clear, I thought I was looking at the real Tomoko-chan!! HDTV broadcasting makes a difference compared to DVD, but both are clearly the superior types of vidcaps suitable for showing off this LCD TV.

I had some TS HDTV caps from Japan of more live J-Pop performances at an insane 720p resolution, but these are so high-quality that they won’t play on my slow PC. Talk about insanity.

ANIMAL Yokochou
Episode #2

Let’s bake a cake!

Cake of death.

A carnivorous rabbit?

Don’t let that fish get away, Kenta.

Didn’t think that Aniyoko could get more zany, but it did. The first story focused on Ami-chan baking a cake. It turned out alright, with several disasters along the way. The second story had Ami-chan do homework on animals in their natural states. You already knew where this was going. All in all, great episode!

Not much time for J-Media recently. In between work and playing WoW (I knew it would be the death of me), my time gets sucked away. Well, with the LCD TV in our room now, it shouldn’t even be an excuse, since I didn’t particularly enjoy watching on the HDTV downstairs because it required a bit of work (and the picture quality was subpar, but the couch was comfy). With the western futon in our room, I can be just as comfy, and enjoy excellent picture quality. Now, if I could just have a remote for my PC, I’d be set. Maybe I should upgrade to a Media Centre PC.

Current Music: HITOE – I Got You

When SPEED broke up, everybody had some great singles and solo albums (even Imai Eriko, who was the worst singer in the group), but HITOE was nowhere to be found on the scene. After studying in America, she came back and released some singles and an album. However, this single is my most favorite of hers. Her album, I’ll Do It My Way, was good, but it was released back in 2002. I’m hoping she makes another album.