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Netflix hitting internet-capable Sony BRAVIA sets today

by Paul Miller posted Nov 14th 2009 at 3:52PM

Good news for folks who against all odds don't have a home theater Netflix streaming option yet, and yet inexplicably own an internet-connected Sony BRAVIA TV: Netflix just went live. It just takes applying the latest software update and you're in business. BRAVIA owners were promised the update back in July, and let us be the first to point and laugh insensitively at PS3 owners who have use a "DVD" to get Netflix working on their Cell-powered supermachines.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Sony's 2010/2011 OLED and flagship XBR series LCD roadmap leaked?

by Thomas Ricker posted Nov 13th 2009 at 3:24AM

Ready to dig deep, really deep, for a tiny but magnificent OLED television? You'd better be 'cause some purportedly leaked Sony documents are showing a new "KDL-ZX Series OLED" on the 2010 / 2011 roadmap. All the sets are listed as prototypes so they may or may not make it to market for retail. But with Sony's two year old, 11-inch XEL-1 OLED TV now dwarfed by LG's new 15-inch OLED TV and a 20-incher promised for 2010, well, we expect Sony will want to regain its leadership in the new year. The docs also show updates to Sony's flagship XBR series with the XBR11 LED W-backlit LCD and XBR12 Advanced LED RGB-backlit LCD sets coming in sizes from 32- to 60-inches featuring 240Hz Motionflow, a new Bravia Engine 3 PRO with HD Video processor, and UV2A panel technology. Unfortunately, some of the XBR information (the most important, presumably) is blacked-out and we're only looking at 2 of what appear to be 24 pages of leaked content. Boy would we love to peak behind that curtain. XBR11 spec sheet on display after the break.

[Via OLED-Display]

Continue reading Sony's 2010/2011 OLED and flagship XBR series LCD roadmap leaked?

Samsung SyncMaster P2770HD has built-in TV tuner, sex appeal

by Vladislav Savov posted Nov 11th 2009 at 8:39AM

Remember the Samsung P2370HD monitor? Well, this is it at 27 inches. How's that for concision? Oh, you want more -- well, Samsung must've expected you to, because it's also added a TV tuner and a HDMI input to its latest Full HD display, to go along with a 5ms response time and a 50,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio. There's also a pair of 3 watt stereo speakers that can simulate 5.1 channel sound -- good for emergencies or if you just can't stand speakers cluttering up your desktop. Filling out the goodie bag are Picture In Picture and Picture By Picture modes, which should make good use of the extra real estate on the screen by combining, for example, your desktop with a TV source. The price is set at 549,000 Won (or about $473) for Korea, though global availability looks imminent so don't rush to import it just yet.

Read - Samsung Korea press release
Read - Product page

Bang & Olufsen's BeoVision 7 LCD grows to 55-inches, makes room for Blu-ray not frugality

by Tim Stevens posted Nov 11th 2009 at 6:19AM

Bang & Olufsen's BeoVision 10 LCD grows to 55-inches, has room for Blu-ray, none for frugality
Willing to pay anything for your home entertainment system so long as it's Danish? There's a good chance that Bang & Olufsen's BeoVision 10 40-incher just wasn't enough for you. If you're dropping the kind of dough that thing costs ($8,700) you want something impressive, right? Enter the BeoVision 7, shipping in a few weeks. Despite having a lower model number it receives a 15-inch boost, up to 55-inches total, but drops the refresh rate to 120Hz from the 10's 240Hz. It's LED-backlit with local dimming to boost contrast, has not one but two different motorized stand options, and manages to make room inside for a Blu-ray player. The cost? $18,700 with (non-motorized) stand and the custom-tailored center channel speaker you see above -- roughly twice the BeoVision 10 and a good bit more than this was originally supposed to launch for. Consider this the recession-buster cousin of the $93,050 BeoVision 4.

Spears & Munsil High Definition Benchmark Blu-ray mini-review

by Ben Drawbaugh posted Nov 10th 2009 at 3:06PM Featured Story

Spears & Munsil High Definition Benchmark Blu-rayIf you're like us and you don't think it's possible to own enough HDTV calibration discs, then you've probably already bought the Spears & Munsil High Definition Benchmark Blu-ray Disc. Otherwise you might be looking at all the different options and since you only want to buy one, you're trying to figure out which one. Well, we've played with most of them and although we're hard pressed to decide on which is our favorite, we really like this one. To find out why, click through.

Continue reading Spears & Munsil High Definition Benchmark Blu-ray mini-review

ITC rules Samsung infringed on four Sharp patents, bans import of some LCDs

by Donald Melanson posted Nov 10th 2009 at 11:52AM

The US International Trade Commission already ruled in June of this year that Samsung had infringed on one patent held by Sharp, but it's now back with another ruling that finds Samsung violated no less than four LCD-related patents held by its rival. Once again, the ITC has also barred Samsung from selling the infringing LCDs in the US (still not clear on exactly what's affected), but Samsung seems more than ready to comply with the ruling, saying that there will be "no impact on our business and our ability to meet market demand." For its part, Sharp simply says that the ruling has "made it clear that ITC has consistently supported Sharp's claim that LCD products of Samsung violated Sharp's patents" -- Samsung, meanwhile, says it has no plans to negotiate with Sharp on the issue, so let's just hope its workaround is more than a quick fix.

LG's 15-inch OLED TV now blowing minds in South Korea

by Darren Murph posted Nov 9th 2009 at 9:33AM

Call Daegu home? Just over in South Korea to visit and / or infiltrate the DMZ? Regardless of why you're there, you're probably interested in picking up LG's latest, which has been tempting our retinas since IFA. Just as we'd heard back in late August, the aforesaid firm's 15-inch OLED TV is reportedly now on sale in South Korea, and it's packing a price tag of around ₩3 million ($2,598). By our count, this is just the second major, mass-produced OLED TV to hit store shelves anywhere in the world, but we're hoping to see a lot more action in this space come CES. You TV makers are listening to our requests demands, right?

[Via OLED-Display]

Epson concocts world's first 4K HTPS panel, 4K 3LCD projectors closer to reality

by Darren Murph posted Nov 9th 2009 at 9:09AM

Oh, the beauty of progress. Just a few months back, Epson seemed fairly content showing off an HTPS panel with a WUXGA (1,920 x 1,200) resolution, though today that very product just seems lackluster. Up until now, 4K x 2K projectors were reserved strictly for cinemas, businesses and consumers with a) more money than sense and b) room for a 200-pound beamer in their basement. The planet's first 4K-compatible high-temperature polysilicon (HTPS) TFT liquid crystal panel for 3LCD projectors measures just 1.64-inches and supports displays with resolutions as high as 4,096 x 2,160. Your guess is as good as ours as to when this stuff will actually hit the market in a functioning product, but yesterday is as good a day as any to start saving up.

[Via Akihabara News]

Sony streaming Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs free to new customers, expensively to existing ones

by Tim Stevens posted Nov 9th 2009 at 7:16AM

It wasn't long ago that Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs was packing theaters, but given how quickly things hit DVD and Blu-ray these days we're surprised to learn this one won't be flinging vermicelli to disc until just after the holidays. Fear not carb-lovers: similar to the Hancock deal last year, new purchasers of internet-capable Sony TVs and Blu-ray players will be receiving one free stream of the film starting on December 8; that's nearly a full month ahead of the retail release. The stream will be in 720p and will allow full control during 24 hours. What if you've already purchased your Sony setup? The company is happy to extend the streaming offer to you as well -- so long as you don't mind paying a mere $24.95. Yes, a one-time 720p rental that costs as much as a Blu-ray. That's value.

VUDU brings Pandora, Picasa and Flickr to connected HDTVs, promises more apps soon

by Darren Murph posted Nov 5th 2009 at 12:00PM

And you thought HDTVs were made for watching TV. VUDU has today slung its (admittedly paltry) library of applications over to its television partners, making both Picasa and Flickr access possible through LG and Mitsubishi sets with integrated VUDU software. Of course, all of this was already available to those relying on one of VUDU's dedicated set-top boxes, but it's always nice to have everything wrapped up neatly within the display itself. In related news, Pandora streaming is also available on VUDU-infused Mitsubishi panels, though for whatever reason, LG has "requested that only free TV and games be available on their devices." All bummers aside, the company has asserted that even more internet apps will be released to VUDU customers in the coming months, so make sure hold 'em to their word.

Bang & Olufsen's BeoVision 10 orders up the 'hands-on special'

by Darren Murph posted Nov 3rd 2009 at 3:24PM

Bang & Olufsen may be irrelevant to those with annual salaries having fewer than six digits to the left of the decimal (or comma, if that's how you roll), but even the laypeople can't help but drool at a spectacle such as this. The BeoVision 10 has just landed down across the pond at Electric Pig, and they were kind enough to snap a few shots and show 'em to the world. The £6,000 price tag is definitely a stunner, but those lucky enough to lay eyes on it have said that it just might be worth it -- if money ain't a thang, you know.

HDI's laser-driven 3D HDTV hits production, should ship next year

by Darren Murph posted Oct 30th 2009 at 4:28PM

When we first caught wind of HDI's "world's first laser-based 3D HDTV," we were cautiously hopeful that it'd be ready to go (at least as a prototype) at CES 2010. Looks like we may actually get our wish, as the company has today announced that its magical set has reached the manufacturing stage. What's it all mean? It means that the set is being fast-tracked for release in 2010, meaning that you're just months away from having stereoscopic 1,920 x 1,080 content in your living room... provided there's actually any programming to view, that is. Of course, it'll handle the 2D stuff too, and the twin RGP LCoS micro-display imagers in there ought to provide plenty of crisp imagery regardless of the source. We're still not sure if the Woz-approved 100-inch version that's being shown to curious onlookers is the size that'll be pumped out to the mainstream, but we're hoping for at least a few smaller siblings for those of us with last names other than Kennedy, Gates, Buffet and Ellison.

Gallery: HDI's laser-driven 3D HDTV hits production, should ship next year

Continue reading HDI's laser-driven 3D HDTV hits production, should ship next year

LG roadmap predicts 'OLED panels will cost less than LCD panels in 2016'

by Thomas Ricker posted Oct 30th 2009 at 6:31AM

Speaking at the FPD show in Japan, Won Kim, VP of LG Display's OLED sales and marketing group laid bare its OLED plans for the future. Pretty significant as LG is one of only two players currently manufacturing production OLED TVs; though unlike Sony, LG has yet to ship anything -- that bit of consumer magic begins in November. So here's the deal: LG will release 20-inch and larger OLED panels in 2010, 30-inch and larger in 2011, and 40-inch and larger OLED panels in 2012. While 40-inch OLEDs will still be "fairly expensive" in 2012, Kim predicts that "OLED panels will cost less than LCD panels in 2016." We'd love to believe that but it sounds overly aggressive to us considering the enormous investment panel manufacturers have made in LCDs (they'll be milking profits just as long as they can) and new push towards 3D televisions. Besides, LG's been all over the map with its OLED dates so let's not go carving anything in low-temperature polycrystal silicon just yet.

[Via OLED-Display.net]

Sony and VIZIO ditch the courtroom, clear up licensing issues

by Darren Murph posted Oct 29th 2009 at 9:14AM

VIZIO sure ends up in a whole lot of legal battles, but one way or another, it always seems to find its way out in the long run. Such is the case once again today, as the current LCD TV king has apparently said all the right things to Sony. If you'll recall, Sony (along with a slew of others) filed suit against Vizio awhile back over patent licensing concerns, but now it seems the two have reached a mutual agreement to use each other's technologies without bickering over who owns what. The release on the matter states that Sony "has become a licensee under VIZIO's patent portfolio," and that "VIZIO now is a licensee under Sony's color television patent portfolio." Who knows how much under-the-table cash and shaky promises had to be passed along in order to make everyone happy, but hey, a problem solved is a problem solved.

[Image courtesy of TooMuchNick / WireImage]

Update: Sony's response to all of this is after the break, courtesy of a company spokesperson who pinged us directly.

Continue reading Sony and VIZIO ditch the courtroom, clear up licensing issues

VIZIO brings the LED party to 19- and 23-inch models

by Ben Drawbaugh posted Oct 28th 2009 at 8:50AM

VIZIO Razor LED
Unless you've been under a rock for a hot minute, then you know that LED backlit LCD HDTVs have been all the rage, though so far no one has brought those benefits to the smaller TVs. Well today VIZIO added a 19-inch and a 23-inch model to its LED lineup. Only the 23-inch is 1080p, but both have very thin profiles and the improved contrast and color you'd expect. The interesting twist is that both models will work as a picture frame, which someone (as in, literally one person in some random corner of the globe) might appreciate. The 19-inch model retails for $349, and the 23-inch will set you back another $50, but there's no word on when you can expect these to show up on a store shelf near you. More pictures and the full release after the jump.

Continue reading VIZIO brings the LED party to 19- and 23-inch models





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