If you have been enjoying photography for more than a few years, you probably have plenty of slides taken with analog cameras. Before digital photography, slides were a great way to view photos en masse. They were very small, making them light and portable and perfect for slide shows in homes, classrooms, and auditoriums. However, with the advent of digital photography and digital projectors, slides have lost their popularity and are slowing becoming obsolete. There are three main methods of digitizing a library of slides: Hire a professional to transfer Read More

An M4A file (MPEG-4 Part 14) is an audio file developed for QuickTime and other MP4 players. Essentially, an M4A file is the same as an MP4 or MOV file, but specifically defines MPEG features and stores audio rather than video. M4A files contain file compression algorithms that allow them to be much smaller than other audio formats, such as MP3 and WAV, while maintaining high quality. They are specifically designed to be used with QuickTime and other Apple products, but a wide variety of media players can also use Read More

YouTube is one of the most popular video-sharing websites on the Internet. The company was founded in 2005 and acquired by Google in 2007. YouTube is focused on hosting user-generated content such as video blogs, video and movie clips and original content. YouTube also hosts material from major media companies such as BBC, CBS, and VEVO. File Formats Supported by YouTube YouTube states they can accept most video file formats. However, some formats are preferred. The following are a few of their most popular file types: WebM Files .MPEG4, 3GPP, Read More

The Video Home System (VHS) format was first developed by the JVC Company in the 1970s as a successor format to Beta Max. At the time, the format featured a longer playback time, faster video forwarding and rewind, and a simpler tape storage mechanism. The format would eventually become the predominant video format in the marketplace prior to the widespread adoption of DVDs. A common task that arises for owners of legacy content stored in this format is to convert VHS to DVD. Steps to Convert VHS to DVD Step Read More

Most satellite television is encrypted using conditional access systems such as: DigiCipher II VideoCipher II RS Nagravision VideoGuard Irdeto Mediaguard Viaccess Conex To watch these encrypted television channels, you need a box which can decrypt them. This box is sometimes referred to as a satellite television descrambler. Satellite Television Descramblers Most satellite television descamblers are legal boxes which are provided by legitimate resellers. These descramblers require valid subscriptions from the satellite television broadcasters. A few people sell “hacked” satellite television descramblers which are designed to provide satellite television service without Read More

With the expanded use of 3G and 4G wireless technologies over the past several years, the popularity of Internet radio has continued to increase. Not only can one listen to their favorite radio station(s) at home or work on the computer, but now they can also be accessed through Internet-enabled smart phones. Internet radio differs from on-demand video or music casts in that the programming is streamed live but does not have the ability to be paused like on-demand services. Internet radio also differs from podcasts in that it does Read More

A computer TV tuner is a computer hardware device that converts the standard analog TV signals it receives and demodulates them into their digital form. Sometimes the TV tuner capability is provided on the graphics card itself, for example, in the All-in-Wonder series manufactured by ATI Technologies. Such graphics cards are higher priced. TV Tuner cards are excellent for users wishing to simultaneously browse the Internet and catch favorite TV shows. Most TV tuner cards allow users to pause, rewind and save television programs onto their hard disks. TV tuner Read More

Apple TV is a streaming digital media receiver that Apple Inc. markets. The first mention of the design was in 2006 at a press conference held as the iTV project in San Francisco. It was debuted as Apple TV in March of 2007 and was shipped to users who had pre-ordered the device. In September of 2010, the 2ng generation of the Apple TV device was announced. Both Apple TV generations were designed to work with the Apple iTunes store and for the user to share content from his/her computer Read More

Surround sound is a term used mainly in conjunction with a home theater system, where sound has been digitally processed and sent to multi channels, giving you the effect of being enveloped by sound. In order to experience surround sound, you must have a few components including a home theater receiver that includes digital signal surround sound processing, surround sound speakers and media that is encoded with surround sound data. Usually the media that have surround sound data are DVD movies. Surround Sound Receivers A surround sound receiver is the Read More

The WAV (Waveform Audio File Format) audio format is based on a format standard designed by Microsoft and IBM designed to store audio bit streams on personal computers (PCs). The format is the primary one used on Windows computers to store uncompressed or raw audio using the linear pulse-code modulation (LPCM) format. A common task that arises for consumers is to convert WAV to MP3 format in order to use the audio file(s) on portable music players that do not read the WAV format. Steps to Convert WAV to MP3 Read More