If It Is Not Broke

There are several ways to finish the title of today's post that begins with, "If it is not broke . . ." Some will respond with, "Then don't fix it," while others will say, "Then break it." Both are valid continuations of the phrase. Use the first if you are trying to avoid creating more work for yourself and the second if you are looking to improve something. The trick is knowing which philosophy to subscribe to for a given situation.

When it comes to computers, you may often feel you don't need to create more work for yourself. You know how to use your specific program and how to get it to do what you want. Then the only time you need to fix something is when it actually breaks. The only downside is that there may be a better way and you just don't know it.

As you spend time on your phone, tablet, video game console, or computer, think about how long it takes you to do a specific task. Things like responding to an e-mail or looking something up on the Internet should not take more than a single step. If you go to look something up on the Internet and first go to Google, you are adding an extra step. Simply start typing keywords into the URL bar and your browser will perform the search for you. If you are working in a specific program and find yourself spending a large amount of time on a single task, do an Internet search and see if it can be streamlined.

Unfortunately there are a number of cases where the designers of software want you to jump through hoops and there is no way to speed up the process. Recently my wife was working through a State of Utah application to get help for her aging mother. First she had to fill out a 25-page application online. Then she had to print out said application and initial or sign each page. Then she had to scan each page and attach it to the original application. Talk about a hassle. How many 82 year-old women do you know that have the technical skill to do that? Fortunately my wife filled out the application and submitted it successfully. Now I just wish the State of Utah would figure out they have a problem and fix it. Right now, it is definitely broke.

The Importance of Television Refresh Rates

My new 85-inch television is awesome! Friday night we got everything configured correctly and then watched the latest version of the movie Dune. Having read the book and also having met Frank Herbert when I was very young, I am always interested in any movie about it. I have to say that this movie did not disappoint. It is very methodical in the storytelling and does a great job sticking to the book, at least as how I remember it. Should you wish to see the movie on HBO Max like I did, make sure you see it on a really large 4K television and also have an awesome sound system. I don't think my subwoofer has had that much of a workout since I bought it many years ago. If your house isn't rattling, your sound isn't loud enough.

One of the things that makes my television so great is its high refresh rate. Understanding the importance of refresh rate is very important to know why I setup my home theater system the way I did. So let's begin.

In the early days of movie making, industry pioneers discovered that the human eye sees pictures in motion at 24 frames per second. That means if you are shown a series of pictures at less than 24 per second, they will look like individual pictures. If you are shown at 24 or higher, it will look like smooth motion. Up until recently, all movies have stuck to the 24 frames per second refresh rate.

When television came along it used alternating current for power which, in the United States, is regulated at 60 Hertz or cycles per second. Rather than come up with complex circuitry to match the movie frame rate of 24, the engineers just divided frequency of the input power by 2 and set the television frame rate to 30. Besides 30 is more than 24 and shouldn't be noticeable to the viewer right? For the most part, that is true but it does create some difficulties when encoding a movie to be shown on television.

Now let's add video games and computers to the mix. The original home computer monitors were just televisions. As higher-end graphics cards and monitors emerged, 30 frames per second was no longer the best picture you could get. Kids raised on television could tell the difference between 30 frames per second and 60. Given about 5 minutes watching the two different signals, most people can and they prefer the higher frame rate. It actually turns into an advantage for those playing video games and so console makers started increasing frame rates. The current generation of video game consoles like the PlayStation 5, support 120 frames per second.

That higher frame rate comes in handy for video enhancements. My old 3D television used the higher frame rate to show the left-eye image followed by the right-eye image in the next frame. The glasses you wear block the right-eye image in the left eye and the left-eye image in the right. So even though the TV is showing the movie at 60 frames per second, you are only seeing the movie at 30 frames per second. If you want to see the movie at 60 frames per second, the TV needs to bump up to 120 Hz.

There is also another very important reason for having higher frame rates. While working on the PlayStation VR, we discovered that virtual reality glasses need to have the highest frame rate possible. VR allows you to move your head around and a low frame rate introduces lag into the picture. If you move your head slightly, the image doesn't quite match with what you see in real life. This induces motion sickness. We knew we were getting the right frame rates when we could do a short demo to a room full of executives and nobody threw up.

High frame rates are now very important at amusement parks. A few years ago, I attended a developer's conference put on by Sony PlayStation. One night we rented out the Hogwarts section of Universal Studios in the Los Angeles area. With only a few hundred people in the park, we had no lines and could ride the Hogwart's Castle ride over and over. If you have never been on it, it is a giant VR ride coupled with a roller coaster. Unfortunately they use a very low frame rate and most people are rather sick after the first go around. I rode it 3 times in a row and came very close to blowing chunks. I don't normally get motion sick as I am a sailor and have even sailed a boat from Hawaii to California through 2 hurricanes. When I get sick, that is bad. Several other coworkers were not so lucky and spent part of the night hunched over garbage cans clearing their stomachs.

Television frame rates keep getting higher and higher and there is a reason for it. As we enhance our entertainment experiences more and more, our televisions will need to keep up. Now if we can just get our high-end amusement parks to keep up, we won't find ourselves with motion sickness.

A Case for a PlayStation Vita

It is no secret that I am a PlayStation fan. Ever since my brother gave me a PS2 for my birthday complete with SOCOM II, I have been a fan of the PlayStation consoles. When the PlayStation Vita came out several years ago, I picked one up and purchased a few games for it. Unfortunately it has sat in my home office for almost a year without anyone picking it up. That may change next week.

One of the problems with the Vita is a lack of good games. Most video game companies have a limited number of resources and trying to put their games on all of the consoles, including the PS Vita does not always make sense. As someone that plays games, I would much rather buy a game for my PlayStation 3 or 4 than my Vita, so I understand why there is a lack of content.

Fortunately for me, there are a number of free games I am given all the time. Some games are good while others are not. This afternoon I was going through my library of games and noticed I have "The Walking Dead: Season 2" for the Vita. Now I know I said I wasn't going to play it in my last review. However the Vita has one thing that will make me change my mind: it is portable. I spend a lot of time on airplanes and in airports. The Vita is a perfect platform entertaining me in those situations.

Next week when I fly to the Bay Area, I will bring my Vita with "The Walking Dead: Season 2" and see if I can't continue the game. Naturally I will provide a review.

Console Games vs. Mobile Games

When people find out I work for a video game company, the first question they ask is, "What is your prediction for console games?" This is because everyone seems to be playing mobile games and the mobile market has turned the entire video game industry on its head.

If I look at my own video game habits, I spend much more time playing mobile games than I do playing console ones. I always have my phone with me and so whenever I have five minutes to spare, I pull out my phone and play a quick game of Risk or some other casual game.

However for the past two weeks I have gone back to Bioshock: Infinite and it has been a lot of fun. Instead of watching television on my boat, I have put in a couple of hours every night playing on my PS3 console. It is tough to stop for the night and so I have a self-imposed hard-stop every evening at 10:30. Otherwise I will continue playing and never go to sleep. This isn't an every night occurrence but accounts for 5 or 6 hours a week of entertainment. If I were to add up all of the 5-minute mobile game sessions in a week, I am probably only at 2 or 3 hours total.

Mobile phones are getting much more powerful and we are beginning to see some complex games that far surpass early generation consoles. While it is possible that full-featured games will appear on mobile platforms, I think that Triple-A titles like Uncharted and Bioshock: Infinite are best experienced in the luxury of your living room with a comfortable chair or couch, large screen TV, and plate of nachos close by. Therefore I don't see console nor console games going away any time soon.

The XBox One

One of the nice things about working for a video game company is that you get to take time out of your busy day and watch press release announcements about new gaming consoles. Today Microsoft unveiled their XBox One, which is the follow-on to the XBox 360. Sony made their announcement of the PlayStation 4 back in February and so it is nice to be able to compare the two new consoles.

Microsoft was able to do something at their release that wasn't done by Sony, they actually showed what the new console will look like. It wasn't sexy or pretty as I thought it looked like a black box. As far as technical specifications go, the PS4 and XBox One look to be very similar. They both use 8-core CPUs, have 8GB of RAM, and come with BluRay players. I like the looks of the Sony Controller vs. Microsoft's, but then I am a fan of PlayStation and so that makes sense. Microsoft's new console will also come bundled with the next version of the Connect. I've never used the Connect but can't really say there is anything groundbreaking with this new version. Perhaps I am wrong.

Missing from both announcements are pricing and release dates. I think both companies are waiting until E3 to make those announcements. The software announcements made by both companies looked very similar, but Microsoft will include Windows with the XBox One. While Microsoft may see that as a benefit, I really hate Windows and that is enough to keep me from buying one. You may feel differently.