Sharp has added three new screens to its Aquos range of televisions. All three place an emphasis on compact dimensions for added versatility.

First-up is the LC-19D1E, which is unsurprisingly a 19in set. Selling itself as ideal for movies and games – kid’s bedroom, perhaps – the TV has HDMI and PC inputs, alongside a claimed 7500:1 contrast ratio.

There’s a 1366 x 768 resolution panel packed in to the ultra-compact frame, which stands just 36cms tall including the stand, as well as a digital Freeview tuner.

Next in line are two additions to the XL8E Series, the LC-32XL8E and the LC-37XL8E. Both TVs sport 100Hz technology, 1920 x 1080 resolutions and three HDMI inputs.

The 19in will sell for around 690 USD, the 32in looks set to retail around the 1,780 USD and the 37in at 2,170 USD.

A little while back we looked at and were impressed by Toshiba’s HD Ready 32CV505DB, finding it a mighty fine 32in budget TV. So now we’re more than a little intrigued to find on our test benches the 32XV505DB: another Toshiba 32in LCD TV which brings a Full HD resolution to the table while adding less than £100 to the price.Aesthetically the 32XV505DB – part of Toshiba’s strangely-named Regza TV range – looks identical to the 32CV505DB, so far as I can tell. Which is no bad thing, as the combination of a slender gloss-black bezel, silver outer trim, and thin ‘speaker strip’ jutting out along the bottom make it one of the better looking small LCD TVs in town.

Connectivity is good for the money, too, particularly thanks to the inclusion of three v1.3 HDMI inputs, a component video input, a D-Sub PC port, an optical audio output, and even a subwoofer line-out should you feel inclined to add a powered bass speaker to your setup.

As we made clear at the start of this review, the absolute key specification in the 32XV505DB’s make-up is its 1,920 x 1,080 resolution – in fact, it’s Toshiba’s first ever Full HD 32in TV. This resolution is joined, as with any Full HD TV worthy of the name these days, by a pixel-by-pixel mode for showing the UK’s 1080-line HD sources without any image scaling involved to mess things up. Continue Reading…

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…

Sezmi unveils the “First Complete TV 2.0,” featuring traditional TV and movies, DVR, and internet video. It’s been optimized for on-demand viewing. Viewers can watch what they want, when they want, and organize content.

There are three sources of content: major broadcast networks (NBC, ABC, CBS, Fox) through a DTV receiver (the box in the photo resembling a subwoofer), private broadcasts (via satellite), and broadband.

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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…

Last December Sony launched its first TV using OLED technology, the XEL-1. Having seen it first hand both Riyad and I agree that it is something truly special, but judging by OLED panels shown off at Display 2008 in Japan, we haven’t seen anything yet.

The party piece was the next-generation XEL-1, which boasts the same 11in screen size, but has a thickness of a mere 0.3mm (0.01in). As with the previous model this is due to the actual ‘TV’ parts being kept in a separate control box, but nonetheless it’s a staggering feat.

Add to that the same 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio, which is actually believable, and 940 x 540 resolution and you have arguably the most desirable kitchen or bedroom TV ever created. Hopefully this won’t be a Japan and America-only product like the first XEL-1.

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