TVs

Recently we took a poll where we asked "What's stopping you from getting a plasma?" A majority of voters rebuked my premise, picking "I love my plasma." The other responses were fairly evenly split among the choices.

However, there was a surprisingly common reason given in the comments that baffled me, and it's so bizarre it's clearly worth debunking, or at least shining the light on the facts.

So how much do TVs weigh?… Read more

Today's HDTVs are packed with Smart TV suites, fancy picture processing, and other extras that add functionality and/or affect picture quality. For a serious gamer, none of that matters compared to the responsiveness of the TV, and often the extras just get in the way.

The culprit is input lag. That's the term for the delay, in milliseconds, between a TV receiving a signal and the results of that signal appearing on the screen. Those milliseconds are irrelevant for TV shows and movies, and they don't even matter for most games -- the majority of gamers probably wouldn't even notice if their TV was laggy. But if you're an attentive, skilled gamer, especially one who plays "twitch" games like Call of Duty, Halo, or fighting games, especially in online multiplayer environments, input lag can mean the difference between virtual life and death.

CNET just started testing for input lag, and so far we've corralled a handful of 2013 TVs. Here are five of our favorites so far, in ascending order of lag in Game mode--or the least laggy picture mode, if Game isn't an option. For reference, we grade under 40ms of lag as Good, 40 to 70 as Average, and more than 70 as Poor.

… Read more

If you look at CNET's lists of best TVs this year, or any recent year, chances are good there's a plasma TV made by Panasonic at the top. That's because they consistently offer excellent picture quality for the price.

Sure, Samsung's plasmas also do very well, and for that matter we've lauded a number of LED LCD TVs by Vizio, Sharp, Sony, and others. We've also given plenty of flat-out bad reviews to Panasonic's LCD TVs, and even to the cheapest Panasonic plasma last year (this year's version, the X60, just started shipping). But no combination of brand and technology has done as well in our reviews over the last few years as Panasonic's plasmas.

So if you're thin-slicing the hopelessly confusing and BS-riddled TV market in search of your next set, you could do worse than simply asking yourself the question in this article's headline. The breakdown below, arranged in ascending order of price (prices current as of press time), should help with the answer. … Read more

ESPN has confirmed it will cease broadcasting its 3D channel at the end of the year and will focus on new technologies such as 4K.

Rather than making an official announcement, the first news came in the form of a tweet from an ESPN employee this morning.

ESPN 3D was great at home but due to low adoption of 3D to home, we are discontinuing to focus on other products for fans and affiliates

ESPN has since confirmed to CNET the service will cease by the end of the year.… Read more

Last year Panasonic introduced intrusive advertising in the form of pop-up banner ads on its Smart TVs, and unfortunately the company has decided to continue the practice this year.

But that's not the only potentially annoying thing about the new interface. When you first turn it on the TV also defaults to a new Home screen filled with apps you'll mostly never use, like a calendar. Your actual TV show is relegated to an inset window until you actively select and expand it.

Banner ads are the way of life for Web sites and many apps, as advertising … Read more

If you've done any research into TVs, Blu-ray players, or Blu-ray in general, you've likely seen the alphanumeric 1080p24 (or 1080p/24).

Understanding what it is, and keeping a lookout for products that can take advantage of it, can result in smoother, more natural-looking movie and TV show playback. I'm not talking about the artificially hypersmooth look of the Soap Opera Effect, but instead the correct cadence of motion at which the film or TV show was shot.

All the judder reducing -- and causing -- awesomeness after the jump.… Read more

TAIPEI -- Size matters for a display, and this Asus monitor caught our attention with its huge 39-inch screen size. Spotted at the company's Computex booth, this panel also features an ultra high-definition (UHD) resolution packing 3,840x2,160 pixels. However, it's still in prototype stage and will not be ready until early next year.

There are limited details about this 39-incher, except that it is based on a VA-type LCD panel … Read more

You just got a new TV, and the picture looks great. Then, when you pop in your favorite shooter, you notice your kills going down, your aim a step slow, and your sterling record taking hits like a noob wandering through the kill zone.

Do you all of a sudden suck at COD? Maybe. But perhaps your newfound lack of feel is caused by input lag introduced by your otherwise awesome new TV. Input lag is the delay, in milliseconds, between a TV receiving a signal and the results of that signal appearing on the screen.

Those milliseconds don't … Read more

Google TV, the ambitious living room operating system often maligned as slow to update, difficult to use, and less focused than alternatives like Roku or standard Smart TV suites, will finally get a major operating system upgrade later this year.

LG announced today at Google I/O that its Google TVs will get the update to Android version 4.2.2, aka Jelly Bean, in the third quarter. LG is the only manufacturer still selling actual televisions with Google TV built-in, although a few set-top boxes are available, too. LG's models, including the 2013 GA7900 and GA6400 and the … Read more