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Neova

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    Ed209 By Hot Toys

    in Anime or Science Fiction

    Posted · Edited by Neova

    I have the Hot Toy's Alien Vs Predator - Predator "model kits" and let me tell you they are BETTER than MOST 1/6 scale "action figures".

    You're kidding yourself if you pass up on these cuz its a "kit" and you're a toy collector / fan.

    If the price was cheaper, I would consider buy it asap.

    Anyone Here Uses A Widescreen Monitor On Their Pc?

    in Anime or Science Fiction

    Posted · Edited by Neova

    I'm also thinking about getting a new monitor also. I had hauled a hand me down from my friend's cafe business in the states all the way to HK.

    There are three other things you should look for that is overlooked when you're about to drop some serious coin on a big 20" + wide or normal (4:3) aspect ratio monitor:

    Brightness Rating

    Contrast Ratio

    Color Bit Depth

    Brightness = how bright the monitor is. Simple concept. 50% or 500 cd/m2 is what a Halogen (pretty damn bright) level is. 100% or 1000 cd/m2 is like looking into the sun.

    A high brightness level or the ability to do so is good to consider. You can see this with cheap monitors when they look too dark or blurry or the colors are washed out.

    Contrast Ratio = the level between black and white or the ability to show hues. A high end monitor today is at 1000:1 ratio, while middle end is 500-600:1

    The higher the better as you will get better color clarity, better color defination, better greys and for movie and horror game guys, much better BLACK levels.

    Black looks like black in real life, not a dark grey. Makes a world of difference when you watch movies or play something like Doom 3.

    A top end LCD TV or monitor is 800:1 to 1000:1.

    The new NEC monitor is 1400:1 with digital enhancement!

    Plasma TV is even better at 10,000:1!!

    Color Bit Depth = amount of colors the monitor is able to produce.

    6 bit LCDs can produce up to 262,144 colors (6 bits for red, blue and green)

    8 bit LCDs can produce up to 16,777,216 colors or 16.7 MILLION (8 bits for red, blue and green)

    10 bit LCDs can produce up to 134,217,728 colors or 1.3 BILLION (10 bits for red, blue and green)

    Some LCDs can produce up to 14 BITS of color (Eizo!!!) and those are special monitors designed for hard core graphics use.

    Cheap but FAST LCDs are usually 6 bit.

    Good high end LCDs (Dell's 20" and 24", Apple Cinema displays) are 8 bit LCDS.

    Top gear high end for graphics (LaCie) are at 10 Bits.

    The Eizo is rated at 14 bits of colors with a special chip built into it.

    Now tell me how many colors or shades of grey if color blind your eyes can see in the real world? You would really see in between 6 and 8 bits so you should get at minimum, an 8 bit LCD monitor.

    But then again, it is impossible to see 16.7M at once right cuz you don't have that many pixels so why spend the dollars? Well correct but the more colors the monitor can produced, the better and smoother the color (or grey) transitions can be.

    This is assuming your source material is at a high color level such as 24 bit pictures or HD DVD. If you wondered why you see BANDING from an original DVD on your cheap TV or Monitor, its cuz its the display can't display all the colors. Or your monitor is setup wrong or your PC is set to the wrong color depth level.

    BTW: FYI - Good LCD TVs are all 10bit (Sony Bravia, Samsung, Pioneer and other top end brands).

    Will a 10 bit be better? For games, no. For movies and hard core graphics, or if you can appreciate better color gradiants, 10 bit color is where you want to look at (not cheap). If you do not need a HIRES desktop or more than 16:10 ratio (1366x1144 or 1366x768 resolution), consider a high end LCD TV. It has DVI input, 10 bits of color and maxes out at 1366x1144 or 1366x768. You get a HUGE screen with awesome color capability and at a good native resolution for PC work.

    I doubt most gamers have the system to push their monitors beyond 1280x1024 with 6x/8x Anti Aliasing, 24 bit color depth and max eye candy at a REASONABLE frame rate in the first place.

    I personally would consider spending up to the same amount for a monitor as my pc's price. The monitor is one of the FEW items you would keep with you across mulitple upgrades yet you will use that one component the most. Spread it across 5 years, you really do get your money's worth with a good monitor.

    My top picks right now are the new Nec20WGX2 S-IPS panel (waiting for 24" version), the LaCie 321 LCD Monitor without blue eye color calibrator, the beautiful Eizo 14 Bit LCDs, a Sony Bravia LCD TV or a Samsung Plasma Monitor.

    Too bad I can't afford any of the above but once you have demoed those with a reference DVD, everything looks like crap. I have not demoed the Dell 20 or 24" but I've heard those are up there with my reference list.

    Visit this website for more info. A great resource for this specific need:

    http://www.widescreengamingforum.com

    Distinguish Between 1/48 Version

    in Toys

    Posted

    Reisues by my counts, but I could be wrong so correct me:

    VF-1S Roy - 5 re-issues

    VF-1A Hikaru - 3 re-issues (3rd issue was super short release. 4th one coming in Mid April)

    VF-1A Max - 1 or 2 issues ... this was such a large issue it may actually be one

    VF-1A Low Visability Limited Edtion - 1 issue

    VF-1S Hikaru - 2 re-issues (3rd was planned as 2nd issue was sold out quick but was not released yet or will be with the 4th VF-1A Hikaru).

    VF-1J Hikaru - 2 re-issues

    VF-1J Hikaru Super - one issue

    VF-1J Max Super - one issue

    VF-1J Millia Super - one issue

    VF-1A Cannon Fodder - one issue

    New VF Variants:

    VF-1A Low Visability 2.0 - 1 issue

    VF-1J Stealth - 1 issue

    VF-1J Stealth Super - - 1 issue

    Sousei no Aquarion.

    in Anime or Science Fiction

    Posted

    Damn, I'm starting to lean towards buying the attack version. Somebody persuade me to save my money.

    Graham

    382771[/snapback]

    uhh... BUY IT! And tell me if it's good enough to buy myself!

    I mean.. don't buy it!

    Well one reason I can think of not to is its head still looks ridiculous. it looks like a bucket with a plate on top.

    382813[/snapback]

    The main reason I bought these two Aquarion toys was because they're flashy, stylistic, sleek anime mecha. They look agile and I just plain like the cool design.

    I still haven't had time to thoroughly inspect the toy, but my conclusion is that this is more of a display piece and not so much a toy due to the weak joints in humanoid form, but this is caused by the back pack which is made up of one of the three Vectors. The back pack attachment is optional, and without it, the robot can stand and pose, so that is the only drawback.

    The cool thing with this Chogokin is that it's like a complex puzzle. It's got lots of moving bits and pieces that opens up for various modes of transformation (see my unofficial robot mode pic). When I picked this thing up, there's just so much you can do with it, that that might turn off those who don't like to mess with something for a long time. That's something I don't have time for, but it's always a worthy play value to fiddle around with a complex toy and be amazed by it's many intricacies. That might be worth the money to some people.

    The bucket head as you put is actually more detailed than you think. I took some photos to show you the head is not as one dimensional as you thought.

    Side view of head

    Top view of head

    Rear view of head

    It's pretty detailed, more so than a 1/48 Yamato Valk's head :p . The other two heads are just as nicely done, although I'm not going to bother transforming it into everything as it's too much work :p .

    I think it's worth the money due to the complexity and vast number of parts put into this thing. Hey, it's packed in styrofoam, has metal parts, and looks great (to me anyway).

    That's all I have to say since I'm not good at reviewing stuff I've very little knowledge of so I'll leave you off with another large photo for size comparison:

    The Line Up!

    The big guy in the back is Primus, and that is a 1/48 Yamato Valk standing next to the Aquarion. You can get an idea of how big the Aquarion is compared to the 1/48 ;) . If you want to see some more images, you can visit my page HERE. I don't have a lot of photos, but that's a bit time consuming to do for the moment.

    383512[/snapback]

    Nice pictures... Now I know I must get it but its selling out here! I can't even find it around the local stores anymore! Must get both!

    Would You Participate?

    in Toys

    Posted · Edited by Neova

    or the promotion Stealth valkyrie.

    380935[/snapback]

    What's that? The FAST pack version?

    380960[/snapback]

    The JBC Credit Card promotion valkyrie. ONLY 3 in the world exist.

    380966[/snapback]

    I was corrected on this the other day. There are supposedly 5 in the world!

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