HDTV
Latest
Now certain 2019 LG TVs have the Apple TV app too
Late last year LG started to add AirPlay 2 and HomeKit to its TVs with firmware updates. Then at CES last month the company announced it would add the full Apple TV app that adds all of the video bits from iTunes, as well as access to the Apple TV+ service. Now, if you have one of its 2019 OLED TVs or high-end NanoCell LCD TVs then you should start seeing the app, while "select" other LCDs (UM7X and UM6X series) should get access later this month. This way, you don't have to add an Apple TV device, or use the AirPlay features to watch Apple's various video offerings, and of course many of the shows are mastered in Dolby Vision HDR. Last year the app was exclusively available on Samsung's TVs, but in 2020 it's coming to a much wider selection of screens. For LG's 2020 TVs it will be available at launch, and the company reaffirmed that 2018 TVs will also get the app via a firmware update later this year.
Sony's 'super-large' 8K TVs are coming home this year
This year at CES Sony is one of the TV makers jumping into 8K with two "super-large" Z9G displays that are big enough, at 98- and 85-inches, to make use of the format's 33-million pixel resolution. According to Sony, these screens have "completely new" full array LED backlighting, plus a Picture Processor X1 Ultimate to manage the signal and upscale any lower-res video, which is important since 8K content will be hard to find for a while. Sony didn't mention much about content, but they are ready for IMAX Enhanced content, which will be available via the Privilege 4K service in the spring, and all of its TVs have support for Netflix Calibrated Mode. Plus, like so many other TVs we're seeing this week, all of the Sony models announced here will get support for Apple AirPlay 2 and HomeKit later this year. That high-res screen is surrounded by four speakers, with two at the top and two at the bottom, which Sony says can deliver an experience similar to its OLED TVs that deliver "Sound-from-Picture"reality. Assuming you have a home theater speaker setup (and for TVs like these we'd expect you would), it can also make the TV a center channel. It didn't call out support for HDMI 2.1 in the press release, but with 8K, as well as home theater equipment supporting features like Enhanced Audio Return Channel (eARC), we'd bet on having it.
Samsung spills some details on its 2018 QLED TV lineup
Sure, Samsung showed off its MicroLED wall and 8K consumer TV at CES this year, but what about TVs for the rest of us? Those details were scant in Las Vegas, but now the company is ready to talk about its QLED lineup. There are some similarities across the entire range, like Ambient Mode where the display will mimic the wall color or pattern behind it (like a chameleon) so the TV blends into your living room rather than looking like a black mirror when there's no programming running to it.
Sony's 2018 4K TVs keep the focus on OLED, HDR and Android
Last year Sony kicked off the year by adding OLED and HDR to its lineup, then later pushed Google's Assistant AI as an upgrade for its Android TV platform. In 2018 the company is sticking to those basics on its latest 4K TVs with a few tweaks. It will once again offer OLED TVs in 55- and 65-inch sizes, this time with an updated version of its technology that broadcasts sound directly from the display itself. Now dubbed "Acoustic Surface," this A8F series appears to pack the upgraded version of Crystal Sound that LG Display is showing off, with support for 3.1 channels of audio instead of the A1E's 2.1. There's no word yet on price, but last year's models launched at $5,000 and $6,500, and currently sell for around $3,000/$4,000.
Live from Samsung's CES 2018 press conference!
Samsung press conferences rarely disappoint, and we're hoping that'll be the case today -- the company's big CES 2018 keynote is about to kick off, and we'll be bringing you all the news live. Samsung hasn't made too many pre-CES announcements, aside from a couple laptops, so most of what's coming here should be a surprise. But we know we'll see some massive, beautiful TVs as well as some home appliances that are "smarter" than they have any right to be. But the story will likely be how all of Samsung's devices play well together and make up an ecosystem throughout your home. And who knows, we may even end up with a Galaxy S9 sneak peak. Stay tuned -- the event kicks off at 5PM ET / 2PM PT, and we'll bring you all the news right here.
Philips' kitchen-friendly TV packs Google Assistant
A voice assistant can't help you chop vegetables, but it can talk you through how to make your own produce look like it was sliced by a professional. It's one of the reasons that Philips has crammed Google Assistant into its new Android TV for kitchens, the 7703. The 24-inch Android TV comes on a large plinth that is also a 16-watt Bluetooth speaker to fill your kitchen with tunes. The unit also has Chromecast integration, letting you push content from a mobile device to the display with very little fuss.
Best Buy plans to send sales consultants to more homes this fall
Best Buy, the company that'll sell you overpriced HDMI cables and charge a premium for making basic adjustments to your TV, wants to put its sales people in more houses. The Associated Press reports that the expanded service will be free, and this fall will move beyond the five test cities where it's currently available. The retailer says that in its tests, customers spend more when a sales person comes to their homes versus what they do in stores.
Sharp will reportedly start building OLED TV panels next year
Now that Sharp is under new ownership by Foxconn, it may have big plans for a return to TV prominence. In a move that could explain a sudden push to recover the use of its name from Hisense, the Japanese company apparently has a plan to add OLED TV production lines at one of its plants next year. The Japan Times reports that at a cost of 57.4 billion yen ($515 million US), it could have production operation at two plants in the spring of 2018. While one would work on small and medium screens for phones (like, maybe a new iPhone?) and laptops, the other would focus on TVs, where LG dominates the segment, producing OLED panels for its own TVs as well as other brands.
Sony's $300 Ultra HD Blu-ray player will arrive in March
Last month we got our first look at 2017's best electronics, in the next few months some of them will start hitting shelves, and in between, we're getting pricing information. Sony's taken the wraps off of details for much of its XBR TV lineup (with the exception of that high-end A1E OLED model), which all pack Android TV and Google Assistant for control of other smart home devices and multiroom audio. They're also ready for all kinds of HDR, with support for HDR-10 out of the box, plus Hybrid Log-Gamma (HLG) and Dolby Vision coming later in the year.
Sony upgrades its 4K line with Dolby Vision ... and OLED
If you can't beat 'em, use 'em. That seems to be the logic of Panasonic and now Sony, which is announcing its first OLED TV. The XBR-A1E Bravia uses a trick we just heard about from LG Display, which embeds a sound system within the screen itself. That's thanks to the thinness of the OLED panel, which Sony claims makes for an "unmatched visual and aural experience" called Acoustic Surface. The OLED TV will be available in 55-, 65- and 77-inch models.
What to expect at CES 2017
It's easy to be cynical about CES. Every year, hundreds of companies head to Las Vegas to hawk their wares to the tech press, which gulps them down like fast food. The big companies mostly spend their time showing off untold numbers of TVs that look excellent but aren't all that different from what we saw the year before. True innovation is hard to find, buried under the piles of commodity gadgets -- but when you find it, it's worth the trouble.
Samsung's 2017 TVs will keep track of your favorite sports teams
CES is nothing if not a show about TVs -- every year, Samsung, Sony, LG and many more parade out incremental upgrades meant to get us to open our wallets and upgrade our screens. In advance of next week's show, Samsung is announcing a piece of its strategy for the year: the company is planning three "Smart TV services" to help people find the all-important content they want to watch. The creatively-named services are "Sports," "Music" and "TV Plus" -- you can probably guess what types of content you'll find in each.
Panasonic's OLED-fighting LCD is meant for professionals
Panasonic's salad days in the consumer TV space are in its past, but today the company announced a new IPS display technology that might help it win back some of the professional market. Essentially, it's making an LCD panel with the precision backlighting capabilities of an OLED. Thanks to a new backlight technology, these panels can turn off the backlight on a per-pixel basis, granting them an advertised " over 1,000,000:1" contrast ratio. Meaning that blacks will be absolutely black while whites could be eye-searingly bright — within the same image — and HDR and colors should look incredibly life-like.
Engadget giveaway: Win an HD DVR package courtesy of Plex!
So you've cut the cord, but want to catch a few shows on major networks without adding a new paid TV subscription. If you splurge on a digital tuner (or cable card) and antenna, you're free to enjoy uncompressed HD broadcasts from most of the majors like ABC, NBC, CBS and more -- at no charge. Add to that Plex's recent DVR feature, which lets you record shows when they air and save them to your Plex server. It's the perfect pairing, allowing you access to both your own media and Plex DVR content anywhere you want using the app. To help celebrate this recent addition, Plex has given us two complete setups for pulling in free HD TV, recording shows and streaming them. That includes an HDHomeRun Connect dual digital tuner, an HD antenna and a free lifetime Plex Pass, for unmitigated access to all of Plex's best features. Just head on down to the Rafflecopter widget below for up to three chances at winning this economical HD TV package! Winners: Congratulations to Tom B. of Waterford, VA and Jonathan S. of Bellevue, WA!
The PS4 Pro, as explained by the man who designed it
Sony really wants to clarify a few things about the PlayStation 4 Pro: First, the Pro doesn't signal the end of video game console generations, even though its specs and launch window fit a pattern that resembles PC or smartphone upgrade cycles more than traditional console releases. Second, the Pro is valuable even if you don't have a 4K TV. Third, though most games on the Pro won't actually be rendered in true 4K, they're still much improved over the standard PS4. Sony probably feels the need to clarify these points because after it revealed the PS4 Pro in September, there was some confusion over the capabilities and identity of the new console. It was pitched as a mid-generation upgrade that would usher in an era of 4K gaming, but after the scripted presentation, it became obvious that 4K was still out of reach for most developers. At the launch event, we found just one game on the demo floor that actually ran in 4K (that would be Elder Scrolls Online) while others took advantage of the Pro's upgraded guts in other ways. Impressive ways, but not 4K. After the reveal, it was unclear who the PS4 Pro was built for and what it signaled for the future of gaming consoles. It joined Microsoft's Project Scorpio in blurring the generational divide, and with all of this talk about 4K, its benefits for HDTV owners were uncertain. That's when Mark Cerny stepped in.
Engadget UK giveaway: Win an LG G5 and HDTV courtesy of Virgin Media
Of all the new smartphones launched this year, LG's G5 is by far the most audacious. With two rear-facing cameras and a wacky, removable bottom bezel that can we swapped out for LG's "Friends" accessories, the G5 is nothing if not different. And thanks to Virgin Media, we've got one to give away this week, with the added bonus of a 32-inch LG LED HDTV if a free flagship wasn't enough. In fact, it's the same deal currently available on Virgin Mobile right now: Pick up an LG G5 on any pay-monthly contract before May 31st, and get a free TV to boot. As per usual, you can enter the competition via the Rafflecopter widget below... after you've read the rules, that is.
CES 2016: TVs are finally taking a backseat
Where are the TVs? In my ten years of attending CES I've never had to ask this question, and to be fair, this year they were still front and center in a few booths. But Sony pushed TVs and projectors to the fringe of its spacious CES booth (ceding space for headphones and... turntables?) while Panasonic could only spare a couple of tables for the latest Ultra HD TVs. In the same space where Darth Vader stood in front of dozens of flat panels to announce a Star Wars Blu-ray, now Spartan Race athletes wearing action cameras took on obstacles, and electric scooters showed off fast charging. Instead of riding high as the primary electronics device on show, TVs, set-top boxes and Blu-ray players are settling in with wearables, VR, drones and the rest as just another thing that look to your phone for advice.
Vizio's high-end 4K TVs are on sale at (some) Best Buy stores
After more than a year of waiting Vizio finally opened up orders for two models from its "Reference Series" line, and now it's expanding the rollout. At Best Buy's Magnolia Design Center locations (they're a bit more limited than the regular Magnolia in-store units you're probably used to seeing, here's a list), well-heeled buyers can order up a $6,000 65-inch Ultra High Definition TV packing Dolby's HDR tech, or go big with the $130,000 120-inch model. Of course, at that price, some of you may want to window shop before making a purchase, and a rep told one AVS Forum poster that they may have in-store samples coming. This close to CES you may want to wait for what 2016's TVs have to offer, but Netflix has that ultra wide color tech, 384 LED lighting zones plus UHD apps from Netflix, Amazon and Vudu.
Vizio IPO plan shows how its TVs track what you're watching
While the past few years have been tough for many TV makers (Panasonic, Pioneer, Toshiba, Sony, just to name a few), Vizio has continued to grow its business, and now it's ready to go public. Vizio has made its name with impressive value-priced TVs that don't skimp on features (it's also a leader in the soundbar market, and has made attempts at selling tablets and phones too). According to the filing, Vizio has sold more than 15 million smart TVs, with about 61 percent of them connected as of the end of June. While viewers are benefiting from those connections, streaming over 3 billion hours of content, Vizio says it's watching them too, with Inscape software embedded in the screens that can track anything you're playing on it -- even if it's from cable TV, videogame systems and streaming devices.
WSJ: Apple shelved its HDTV plans last year
Ever wondered what happened to that Apple HDTV we've been hearing rumors about for years ? According to The Wall Street Journal, those rumors weren't baseless speculation, as the company did work on a television set for nearly a decade. Unfortunately, you won't be seeing one anytime soon: the project's reportedly been shelved since last year, because Cupertino couldn't come up with anything to make its television different enough from competitors'. Apple apparently toyed with the ideas of 4K TVs, using a transparent laser-powered display and even adding sensor-equipped cameras that can move to capture the speaker's face during FaceTime calls. In the end, none of those seemed "compelling enough" for the company's bigwigs.
