Making television easy again. By Phillip Swann
Q. I think Blu-ray discs have a better picture than streaming. By far! But I sometimes get error messages when I put a disc in or it might eject for no reason at all. Do you know why this happens and how it can be fixed, if it can? Loyal reader. — Burke, New Bern,
Q. I’ve been thinking about giving my parents some Blu-ray discs for Christmas. But I’m worried about the discs not being able to play when they try to use them. Is there a quick fix I can show them if they have a problem with the discs? — Ted, Seattle. Ted, Blu-ray discs normally work
Q. I love watching Netflix and Hulu on my new Smart TV, but I’ve noticed that I sometimes lose my WiFi connection. I didn’t notice this when I used to watch Netflix on my Roku player. Is there a reason why my Smart TV would lose the WiFi connection? Can this be fixed? — Brenda,
Q. I love watching Blu-ray movies. The picture is just awesome! But sometimes when I put in the disc, a message on screen says ‘disc can not play,’ or ‘no disc” or ‘disc error.’ Is there anything I can do to eliminate this? — Ellie, Boise, Idaho. For starters, make sure the disc is compatible
Q. I would like to watch more Blu-ray movies, but I can’t seem to rent them anywhere. There’s no Blockbuster, or anything! So I’ve been thinking about Redbox. But how does Redbox work? How do you get the discs from them? — Chi Chi, Marina Del Rey, California. The Redbox kiosk looks basically like a
Q. I love watching Blu-ray movies. The picture is just awesome! But sometimes when I put in the disc, a message on screen says ‘no disc” or ‘disc error.’ Is there anything I can do to eliminate this? — Ellie, Boise, Idaho. For starters, make sure the disc is compatible with your player. Some older
Q. I like renting discs from Redbox, but it irks me that they don’t have 4K Blu-rays. It’s impossible to rent 4K discs so it would be great if Redbox would. Any chance of that? — Ed, San Francisco. See an update on this story. Ed, I have some good news and some bad news.
Redbox, the kiosk disc rental service, will add 32 new DVD and Blu-ray movies in April, the company has announced. The new titles will include Phantom Thread, the critically-acclaimed drama about a fashion designer (Daniel-Day-Lewis) who becomes obsessed with a young waitress. Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson (Boogie Nights, There Will Be Blood), the film
Q. I keep seeing ads on TV and at my local Best Buy for Smart TVs. What exactly is a Smart TV and how do I connect it if I buy one? — Sara A., Laredo, Texas. Smart TV is a term used for a television or set-top box that can connect to your home
Q. I know this may sound dumb, but I recently moved and I need to reconnect my TV to my basic equipment — my satellite DVR and my Roku player — and I don’t have a clue how to do it. I always get confused over what cable goes where and so forth. Help me,
Q. I have been thinking of building a Home Theater in my Man Cave, but I was wondering if I should get a projector with a big wall screen or just a big-screen TV. I hear a projector doesn’t offer as good a picture as a regular TV because the picture is not as sharp.
Q. I love all the new technology available to us today as TV viewers. I have a Smart Blu-ray player, a Roku, a Smart TV in another room and a DIRECTV Genie HD DVR. But one thing kills me. It seems like I have to re-set the boxes and even the TV itself quite often.