Last year saw the introduction of the XF range, which wrapped decent size panels in cases with unbelievably slim bezels. The result was a 40in LCD TV with a physical size that was considerably smaller than many rival 37in models. On paper this was great, but the reality left a lot to be desired. You see inconsistency wasn’t the only problem with last year’s range, Toshiba’s sets also suffered from quite poor black level response. The disappointing black levels were something that I was willing to let slip slightly back in May 2007, when I reviewed the Regza 42X3030D, but by the end of last year Toshiba was still putting out sets with very disappointing black levels that simply couldn’t compete with rival models – the Regza 40XF355D highlighted this problem when I reviewed it.

Another problem with the XF range was that it injected a degree of schizophrenia into the Toshiba range – while the XF looked like it was the flagship model, with its slim bezel and catwalk looks, it lacked the features of the Z series, which sported 100Hz processing and 5:5 pulldown for 1080p 24Hz playback. The result was that many consumers wanted the features of the Z series, but in the chassis of the XF series; an option that simply wasn’t available to them. So, it was with some trepidation that I unboxed the new 40ZF355D, which is set to pick up where the 40XF355D left off. The good news is that before I’d even switched on the 40ZF355D, the specification sticker informed me that some of the problems with its predecessor had been addressed. Continue Reading…

Samsung has showcased an ultra-high definition, (3,840 x 2,160 pixels), 82-inch LCD panel for 120Hz television sets at the Society for Information Display (SID) 2008 International Symposium, Seminar and Exhibition which is running from May 18 to 23 in Las Vegas.

The world’s largest LCD panel supplier said the panel uses a red/green/blue LED backlight, which has been added to raise true color saturation to 150 percent, based on the NISC standard of 100 percent. It displays ultra-definition (UD) resolution at 120 frames per second, minimizing the blurring that is sometimes experienced at 60Hz.

• The 82-inch LCD panel was among a raft of future plans for Samsung also announced at SID 2008. These included:
• An 82-inch “e-board” with a multi-touch screen, which is destined to replace whiteboards and beam projectors. It was created using a 60Hz LCD panel with built-in UD resolution and is the largest panel of its kind with a multi-touch screen.
• A multi-view digital information display (DID) that delivers 3D images without requiring special glasses. The company is confident that this display can establish a new niche market apart from other DIDs previously introduced.
• A 40-inch full-HD LCD TV panel that operates with only two source driver ICs, instead of the normal combination of six source drivers and three gate drivers, which lowers production costs and will hopefully make LCD TVs more affordable.
• Finally, Samsung will introduce a 15-inch LCD with a “blue phase mode,” and 2.3-inch e-paper that uses electrodes made from carbon nanotubes for enhanced “fold-ability.” Visitors will be able to view these and other products, such as a multi-tasking monitor with a 16:9 aspect ratio and environment-friendly panels for TVs, at the Samsung SID booth.

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Philips new range of top-end 1080p LCD sets will launch in the UK later this month, offering new features and improving on its Ambilight technology.

The 9603 series, which features sets from 32″ up to 47″, will retail between £999 for the smallest of the range, and £1,999 for the largest.

The 9700 series is also set to hit UK shores soon in sizes ranging 42″ up to 52″, although there have been delays in organising the retail aspects, so no prices have yet been announced.

“There’s not been a firm decision on which supplier will offer the [9700] range yet,” said a Philips spokesperson. “The sets haven’t been delayed. There was initially talk of just one set from the series being released, but want to have the whole range out.”

The new range will include dynamic contrast ratios up to 55,000:1, which helps make the blacks look blacker and the whites look whiter. This is achieved by dynamic contrast, essentially the management of the LCD backlight being switched on and off in response to the image displayed.

“By using this system, we can achieve dynamic contrast on up to 95% of the picture, compared to 25% before,” confirmed the spokesperson. This means extremely dark scenes with spots of light will become even more pronounced with less power consumption.

Both ranges will use Ambilight Spectra LED lighting around the edges of the sets, which helps reduce eye strain and improves the image quality. The Spectra aspect actually introduces a delay into the frame’s colour changing, so if an image moves off-screen, the colour frame picks up the transition in real-time.

The Spectra technology will be used on both vertical edges of the 9603 series, and on the top as well for the 9700 range.

SoundFood brought you the full list of specifications for the high-end TVs earlier this year, which you can read here.

This isn’t the first outdoor TV we’ve covered – and it’s unlikely to be the last. The new 4610HD from SunBrite is a 46-inch all-weather LCD television which, like previous models, is designed with a corrosion resistant, powder-coated aluminum exterior that protects the internal TV components from rain, dirt, insects, and extreme temperature ranges. Now hammock potatoes can enjoy their outdoor viewing in full HD as the 4610HD is SunBrite’s first full 1080p full-HD model. It also features a baffled and filtered dual-fan airflow system to quietly keep the unit cool in temperatures up to 122 degrees F while, in extremely cold climates, the internal thermostatically-controlled heater activates automatically when the TV’s internal temperature dips to 32 degrees F, allowing the TV to safely remain outdoors in temperatures as low as -24 degrees F.

SunBriteTV’s innovative watertight cable entry system and cable pass-through design ensures quick and easy hook-up to a wide selection of video inputs, including two HDMI cables, component, VGA, S-video, composite, RF, RS232 serial, and discrete IRcontrol. The operating controls are also sealed against rain and moisture and the 4610’s high-definition LCD screen displays an extra-bright 1920 x 1080 pixel image with 2000:1 contrast ratio. The screen is also protected by an anti-reflective, impact and scratch-resistant window that is built into the exterior, ensuring any birds crashing into any screenshots of a pristine sky get more than they bargained for. Continue Reading…

LG, it’s fair to say, is getting sick and tired of being perceived as Korea’s ‘second’ AV brand after Samsung. There was a time not so long ago where the two brands’ public perceptions seemed more or less equal, but recently Samsung has surged away in terms of both image and cold, hard sales.

So this year LG claims it’s determined to claw its way back towards parity with its neighbour thanks to a new range of TVs that look set to deliver a truly killer combination of feature choice, opulent looks, high performance standards and strikingly affordable prices.

We’ve already seen LG get off to a fine start in realising this dream with the impressive 50PG6000 50in plasma TV. But now it’s time to see how the ambition holds up with a shift to LCD technology and a step down one rung of LG’s TV range ladder, in the shape of the 32in 32LG5000. Continue Reading…

Toshiba on Wednesday announced the launch of four lines of high-end LCD TVs; the ZH500, ZV500, RH500 and CV500, all under the company’s REGZA line. The ZH500 and RH500 series come with a built-in 300GB hard drive for recording videos or TV programs, while all four offer a recording option to a Toshiba Qosmio media-oriented notebook via USB. Furthermore, the ZH500 and ZV500 TVs feature built-in LAN and DLNA network support, as well as Bluetooth connectivity to sync photos with cell phones.

In addition to Toshiba’s latest Full HD video processing hardware, all models feature automatic image quality adjustment software that takes into account the room brightness via sensors on the front panel and the type of media being viewed, among other factors. Toshiba’s research found few of its customers bothered to optimize settings themselves.

The top-of-the-line ZH500 sets can be had in either 52-inch (52ZH500) or 46-inch (46ZH500) versions, and their hard drives are good for up to 29 hours of HD recordings. An SD card slot offers a quick way to transfer photos to the TV.

The ZV500 is offered with a 42-inch screen (42ZV500) or 37-inch display (37ZV500) and can record to a networked computer via its LAN connection.

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Sim2 is well known for it’s DLP technology but they have now teamed up with Dolby to produce a LCD using high-dynamic-range(HDR) technology. The prototype 46 inch LCD uses HDR technology for backlighting images using a backlight copy of the image to increase brightness where it is needed.

And in a statement late Monday, it is claimed that the TV can deliver a “picture quality that matches real-world visual perception of depth, detail, and color.”

Dolby and Sim2 showcased their TV as a high-dynamic-range-enabled LCD TV that is capable of reaching extremely high levels of brightness and contrast. The 46 inch model uses BLU (BackLight Unit) made by Sim2 with 1838 LEDs and maintains a resolution of 1080p (1920×1080p) in a 16:9 aspect ratio.This prototype sports a contemporary and stylish design, befitting the most diverse of home interiors; it is a new masterpiece by the award-winning designer Giorgio Revoldini.

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If you haven’t heard of Planar before, don’t worry; it’s not one of those fly-by-night dodgy Far Eastern brands that turns out some cheap piece of tat and then disappears again as fast as it arrived. In fact, Planar is a very well established brand in the US, and now it’s decided it wants to get itself known over in the UK too.

Regular readers may recall that the 42in PD420 is not the first Planar product we’ve reviewed. We’ve previously checked out and been very impressed by a couple of entry-level DLP projectors and one of the PD420’s bigger siblings, the 47in PD470. But with its approachable £1,800 price tag and living room friendly dimensions, it somehow feels as if the 42in PD420 could really be the product that puts Planar on the UK consumer map.

That said, the PD420 isn’t exactly designed for the mass market, for it ships with neither a built-in tuner – digital or analogue – or speakers included as standard. In other words, it’s ‘merely’ a screen rather than a fully fledged TV.

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This year, as last, Sony held its annual line show at the Paris hotel in Las Vegas. While it is intended primarily for dealers—which explains the introduction of everything from televisions to digital voice recorders, computers, cameras, cell phones, and alarm clocks (in short, everything you’ll see featured in Sony movies later this year)—the press was brought in to have the first look.

The biggest news for home theater fans is the introduction of two new Sony Blu-ray players, both of them capable of BD-Live (Profile 2.0). The BDP-S350 will be BD-Live-ready (with an optional firmware update). It has an Ethernet port for interactive Internet content and firmware updates and a USB port for local storage. In addition, it supports both 1080p/60 and 1080p/24. Most importantly, it will not only output Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio in bitstream form, but will also decode both of them internally to multichannel PCM. It does not, however, have multichannel analog outputs. The projected price will be about $400 when the player ships this summer. Continue Reading…