hdtv

Sony buffs Bravia LCD lineup

Although Toshiba's 20-model announcement takes the cake for sheer flat-panel LCD quantity so far at CES, Sony's surprise decision to divulge details on its own Bravia LCD sets at the show--17 in all--come pretty close. Usually "The Big 'S'" waits until its dedicated Las Vegas line show in February to announce anything substantive regarding its television plans for the year, but for whatever reason the big Bravia news comes early. While Sony did deign to announce an availability of "spring," unlike Toshiba it did not see fit to mention any pricing.

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Sony to introduce first OLED TV in U.S.

Although Sony introduced its 11-inch OLED HDTV in Japan already, the company's big splash announcement at the 2008 CES is that the model, dubbed XEL-1, is now available stateside, for the cool price of $2,500. While the relatively tiny, exorbitantly expensive HDTV itself won't attract many buyers, it represents an important milestone by shepherding in the latest flat-panel TV technology, which may eventually replace plasma and traditional LCD.

OLED, short for Organic Light Emitting Diode, promises better picture quality, smaller size (the XEL-1 measures just 3mm thick) and more efficient operation. Sony claims a contrast ratio of … Read more

Toshiba to launch 20 new LCD flat panels in the spring

A lot of people walked into Toshiba's 2008 CES press conference expecting a train wreck in the light of Warner's pre-show Blu-ray bombshell. But after a quick obligatory mention of it being "a difficult day" for the godfather of the HD DVD format, it was back to business: namely, highlighting the company's 2008 line of LCD flat-panel TVs. The company touted five new series of models, all of which will be released this spring. Full details after the jump.… Read more

Samsung touches LCDs with color, shine

Samsung's design for its second-highest-end series of LCD TVs announced at CES 2008, the LNA650T adds a colorful accent along the edge of the panel, called "TOC" for Touch of Color, for a look that's a slight departure from the all-glossy-black look of 2007. Red (pictured) will be the first color available, although a company rep said purple and blue, among other colors, will follow.

These models otherwise seem very similar to the LN-T71F series from 2007, of which we reviewed the 46-inch LN-T4671F. They include 120Hz technology processing and similar panel specs (4ms response time, … Read more

Samsung entry-level LCDs hit the matte

Samsung's flat-panel LCD introductions at CES 2008 comprise four series of televisions, namely the entry-level 4 (720p) and 5 (1080p) series models and the higher-end 6 and 7 series displays. One of the major differences between the two groups of two series is that the screens of the entry-level models have a matte finish, while the screens of the more expensive models use the same kind of shiny screen--albeit an updated version--that we complained about with last year's LN-T4665F and other high-end models.

Aside from the screen, the Samsung press release mentions a 178-degree viewing angle (the same … Read more

Samsung brings another dimension to flat HDTV

In the race to find that tiny inkling of a feature to differentiate one product from another, the lure of an easily recognizable term, like, oh, say, "3D," can overwhelm such petty concerns as actual real-world usefulness. Samsung introduced its first 3D-ready HDTVs last year in the form of a few DLP-based rear-projection models, like the HL-T5687S, but the company's 2008 PNA450P series are the first flat-screens to get 3D readiness. The series includes two models, the 42-inch PN42A450P and the 50-inch PN50A450P.

To get the extra dimension out of these models you'll need to purchase … Read more

Samsung's interactive LCDs provide recipes but not firmware updates

Ever been watching a football game and wonder exactly how to prepare tonight's pot roast? With Samsung's new lineup of LCD HDTVs, "interactive content such as cooking recipes, children's entertainment, HD artwork and more" along with "customizable RSS feeds, capturing the latest news, weather, sports and more" can be displayed (and more?) on the big screen, courtesy of 1GB of internal flash memory, a built-in wired Ethernet connection (no wireless capability), and an optional (price TBD) Digital Media Adapter that interfaces with the Internet and network-attached PCs in your house.

That's all … Read more

New 46-inch size tops Panasonic plasma news

Panasonic is expanding its selection of plasma screen sizes this year, introducing a 46-inch model that splits the size (and price) difference between the company's 42- and 50-inch plasmas. We'll tackle the whole announcement, which includes 11 new models, in this post, starting with the entry-level models. All of the panels are scheduled to debut in spring, and pricing was not announced.

One note first, however. We liked the company's antiglare screen from last year, found on the TH-50PX77U for example, but for 2008 Panasonic dropped it in favor of a new antireflective screen that's used throughout the line. We're anxious to test one of these models to see how the new screen performs.

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JVC Procision LCDs tout superior video processing

JVC has announced a new line of LCD HDTVs, the Procision series, scheduled to come out his summer. The press release focuses on a gaggle of new video processing technologies, including Inteliigent HD processing, x.v.Color-enabled signal processing, 36-bit image processing, and Clear Motion noise reduction. That's a lot of high-tech mumbo-jumbo, but it doesn't tell us much about how the Procision series will actually perform. Intelligent HD processing dynamically adjusts picture settings and we generally recommend leaving those types of settings off; x.v.Color-enabled signal processing isn't worth much considering there are no announced … Read more