The unimportant news thread

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Gen Xers are next in line for retirement. Many haven't saved nearly enough.



https://edition.cnn.com/2023/09/27/success/gen-x-retirement-savings-boomers/index.html

[DavidW]

Gen Xers are next in line for retirement. Many haven't saved nearly enough.



https://edition.cnn.com/2023/09/27/success/gen-x-retirement-savings-boomers/index.html

That will just get worse as we proceed through the generations.  Boomers were very well off, Gen X are but not by as much, Millenials struggle and the prospects are frankly dour for Gen Z.  If you can't even buy a house, how you can save for retirement?  It is becoming the norm for people to live at home through their 20s because they can't afford to even move out and rent an apartment.

The article is frankly bad because while there is no finger wagging, putting out links for common sense savings suggests it anyway.

Personally the article doesn't apply to me because I will be able to draw a pension, I'm no longer renting and I'm saving for retirement.  But many are not so lucky.

[T. D.]

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/09/28/mick-jagger-rolling-stones-discography-inheritance.html

'[My] children don't need $500 million': Mick Jagger says Rolling Stones have no plans to sell music catalog

[Todd]

Rwanda's veteran president Kagame to seek re-election in 2024

Democracy, Paul is thy name.

[drogulus]

    The Sony A95L QD-OLED won the 2023 TV shootout held by the TV saints at Value Electronics.

    I'm not surprised. Thing is, the smallest QD-OLED panel is 55" and the ideal size for me is 48-50". None of the manufacturers produce their premium level sets at my preferred size.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

US Senate unanimously votes to reinstate dress code.



https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-66951076?xtor=AL-72-%5Bpartner%5D-%5Bbbc.news.twitter%5D-%5Bheadline%5D-%5Bnews%5D-%5Bbizdev%5D-%5Bisapi%5D&at_link_origin=BBCWorld&at_link_id=8DC6C96A-5E15-11EE-81EA-6C33FE754D29&at_ptr_name=twitter&at_link_type=web_link&at_campaign_type=owned&at_format=link&at_bbc_team=editorial&at_medium=social&at_campaign=Social_Flow

[DavidW]

The Sony A95L QD-OLED won the 2023 TV shootout held by the TV saints at Value Electronics.

    I'm not surprised. Thing is, the smallest QD-OLED panel is 55" and the ideal size for me is 48-50". None of the manufacturers produce their premium level sets at my preferred size.

The problem for me is the Sony tax and lack of features.  For normal oleds, LG makes the panel that Sony uses.  With their own video processing and tuning they are slightly more accurate out of the box which translates into winning awards but paying $1k+ more is not worth it to the consumer. (fyi lack of features is hdmi 2.1 ports and specific gaming settings and vrr)

As for qd oled, Sony is using Samsung's panel.  But again there is still this ridiculous Sony tax.  My problem with qd oled is that being such a new technology and pushing that peak brightness so high it is not clear if burn in will be an issue.  But a mature LG woled while lacking the color saturation on hdr specular highlights will not burn in.  Early adopters got burned, but latecomers are fine.

I can't imagine a world in which it is worth spending the extra money on a flagship Sony oled (unless you're Harry!).  Even calibrating my sets to dE less than 1.0 on all grayscale steps, primaries and secondaries the difference is subtle.  Some consumers will pay $$$$ and then use normal mode, throwing away what they paid for!

This is really not new.  Back in the day there was a Pioneer Kuro tax.  But it would have been really hard for non-professionals to differentiate a Pioneer from a high end Panasonic.

[drogulus]

The problem for me is the Sony tax and lack of features.  For normal oleds, LG makes the panel that Sony uses.  With their own video processing and tuning they are slightly more accurate out of the box which translates into winning awards but paying $1k+ more is not worth it to the consumer. (fyi lack of features is hdmi 2.1 ports and specific gaming settings and vrr)

As for qd oled, Sony is using Samsung's panel.  But again there is still this ridiculous Sony tax.  My problem with qd oled is that being such a new technology and pushing that peak brightness so high it is not clear if burn in will be an issue.  But a mature LG woled while lacking the color saturation on hdr specular highlights will not burn in.  Early adopters got burned, but latecomers are fine.

I can't imagine a world in which it is worth spending the extra money on a flagship Sony oled (unless you're Harry!).  Even calibrating my sets to dE less than 1.0 on all grayscale steps, primaries and secondaries the difference is subtle.  Some consumers will pay $$$$ and then use normal mode, throwing away what they paid for!

This is really not new.  Back in the day there was a Pioneer Kuro tax.  But it would have been really hard for non-professionals to differentiate a Pioneer from a high end Panasonic.

    I don't give a damn about the Sony tax. I set up my TV to watch movies from gigafiles then take the consequences for other content. Usually with Sony this involves plugging it in and turning it on. They are the OOB champions. The most common adjustment I make is for the occasional movie that's too dark. Then I'm done.

[DavidW]

I don't give a damn about the Sony tax. I set up my TV to watch movies from gigafiles then take the consequences for other content. Usually with Sony this involves plugging it in and turning it on. They are the OOB champions. The most common adjustment I make is for the occasional movie that's too dark. Then I'm done.

Okay but that has nothing to do with the tv shootout which is only comparing picture quality.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Pardon, but what do you mean about "the Sony tax"?  And what is "oleds"?

PD

[AnotherSpin]

The problem for me is the Sony tax and lack of features.  For normal oleds, LG makes the panel that Sony uses.  With their own video processing and tuning they are slightly more accurate out of the box which translates into winning awards but paying $1k+ more is not worth it to the consumer. (fyi lack of features is hdmi 2.1 ports and specific gaming settings and vrr)

As for qd oled, Sony is using Samsung's panel.  But again there is still this ridiculous Sony tax.  My problem with qd oled is that being such a new technology and pushing that peak brightness so high it is not clear if burn in will be an issue.  But a mature LG woled while lacking the color saturation on hdr specular highlights will not burn in.  Early adopters got burned, but latecomers are fine.

I can't imagine a world in which it is worth spending the extra money on a flagship Sony oled (unless you're Harry!).  Even calibrating my sets to dE less than 1.0 on all grayscale steps, primaries and secondaries the difference is subtle.  Some consumers will pay $$$$ and then use normal mode, throwing away what they paid for!

This is really not new.  Back in the day there was a Pioneer Kuro tax.  But it would have been really hard for non-professionals to differentiate a Pioneer from a high end Panasonic.

I have a big screen Sony (have no idea what model) for about 15 years. I use it as a monitor for my mac mini, watching films too. I think the picture quality is great and it hasn't gotten worse over the years. Black colour and motion reproduction is very natural. Anyway, it degrades slower than my eyesight. If I will buy a new tv, Sony would be at the top of the list.

[Spotted Horses]

Pardon, but what do you mean about "the Sony tax"?  And what is "oleds"?

PD

I believe that the "Sony tax" refers to the fact that their unit costs more than a unit sold by another brand using a similar or identical display panel. In the past I've found it worth paying because Sony produces a well engineered product which may have less support for user tweaking, but which requires less user tweaking. "OLED" is a fancy display technology (organic light emitting diode). I could say a little more than that, but only what I read on wikipedia, and they say it better.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OLED

[Todd]

Man known for duping sexual predators online killed in confrontation

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

[DavidW]

I have a big screen Sony (have no idea what model) for about 15 years. I use it as a monitor for my mac mini, watching films too. I think the picture quality is great and it hasn't gotten worse over the years. Black colour and motion reproduction is very natural. Anyway, it degrades slower than my eyesight. If I will buy a new tv, Sony would be at the top of the list.

I also have a Sony tv (an lcd) and love it.  But I couldn't justify the huge markup when I bought an oled.  I didn't see why it had to be half again the cost.

[DavidW]

Pardon, but what do you mean about "the Sony tax"?  And what is "oleds"?

PD

PD to add to what Spotted Horses said oleds can render perfect blacks because individual pixels can turn off.  This is something that other flat panels (lcds and plasmas) could not do.  It results in not just better contrast, but richer colors and a more detailed image.  Oleds also have much better motion resolution than lcds and plasmas.

[drogulus]

Okay but that has nothing to do with the tv shootout which is only comparing picture quality.

    I was responding to what you wrote. The relevance of PQ for me is not only quality compared to rivals but quality out of the box. I find that skin tones look right with no adjustment for color at all, so I only need to adjust for brightness/contrast. This is the Donnie Darko test, using a scene in that film which is very dark as the torture test case.

    The shootout result confirms that all of the models I consider up to the top one are suitable for me. This includes the x90l, a90k, a80l and a95l. The questions left to be decided are 1) do I want an OLED and 2) am I willing to go up to 55".

[Pohjolas Daughter]

PD to add to what Spotted Horses said oleds can render perfect blacks because individual pixels can turn off.  This is something that other flat panels (lcds and plasmas) could not do.  It results in not just better contrast, but richer colors and a more detailed image.  Oleds also have much better motion resolution than lcds and plasmas.

Cool!

PD

[drogulus]

Cool!

PD

    One thing I look for in reviews of OLED sets is if they crush near black detail. Because Sony has outstanding processing they tend to perform well in this regard. If you are a movie-centric viewer like me this is an important consideration.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

@drogulus  I don't know if you were a Game of Thrones fan?  If so, do you remember all of the flack that they received for "The Battle of Winterfell" episode?  It so darkly lit that it was hard making out what was going on.  Wonder how that would have looked on one of these t.v.s?

PD

[drogulus]

@drogulus  I don't know if you were a Game of Thrones fan?  If so, do you remember all of the flack that they received for "The Battle of Winterfell" episode?  It so darkly lit that it was hard making out what was going on.  Wonder how that would have looked on one of these t.v.s?

PD

     Pretty much any TV can be adjusted for dark scenes. What high quality TVs do is let you solve the dark scene problem without messing up everything else. I did the Darko adjustment on my Sony 900e without harming PQ in brighter scenes.