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Samsung's 2010 3DTVs priced from $1,700 to ridiculous and everywhere in between
Enjoy your CES peek at Samsung's ultrathin 9000 series LED-lit LCD HDTV, with its touchscreen, video displaying remote control (also available as a $350 add-on for the 7000, 8000,and 750 series televisions) and 3D capability? That's good, because bringing the 55-inch UN55C9000 home in April will cost you a cool $6,999 (the thrifty can slum it with the 46-inch version for $5,999.) Still, if you're just looking to jump in on 3D without spending the max money, the cheapest model available at first will be the standard LCD LN46C750 available in May. In between, there's all manner of LED (most of them listed above, both with and without 3D capabilities) or old-school CCFL backlit LCDs plus a healthy lineup of plasmas arriving over the next few months, so with a note that grabbing 3D Blu-ray player and display at the same time will net a couple free pairs of active shutter glasses and a copy of the Monsters vs. Aliens 3D Blu-ray, check Samsung's site for each type to see what your budget can handle.
Samsung 65-inch LCD observed in its unnatural habitat at CEDIA
Just when you thought it was safe above 60-inches, Samsung's showing off a new LCD at CEDIA with the best old-school CCFL tech has to offer. It may not have the sexy side profile of its edge lit-LED brethren or the cachet of certain plasmas but with the sheer size of the LN65B650, even shrouded by foliage in Samsung's booth setup, we're more than ready to catch a game on this baby.%Gallery-72627%
Samsung's LN65B650 LCD takes a 65-inch bite out of CEDIA, no LEDs harmed
Plasma TV's have been retreating from LCDs to the safety of sizes larger than 50-inches, but emboldened LCDs are striking into that territory as well. Embarking on recon from CEDIA is Samsung's LN65B650, a 65-inch behemoth sporting a 4ms response time, 120-Hz Auto Motion Plus frame interpolation, Medi@2.0 connectivity, and Samsung's Touch of Color treatment in grey. All the latest wizardry, you say? Not quite -- it's CCFL backlit; but even without LEDs -- the LN65B650 is probably too big for edge-lighting to cover, and would take roughly a gazillion LEDs to backlight directly -- the real plasma killer here might be the little check mark in the "Energy Star qualified" box. The $6,000 price (and we'd guess ultimate picture quality, too) means that biggie-sized plasmas are safe for now, but we know how prices and performance go with time. Full details on this beast after the break.
LG unveils new slim design LCD HDTVs due this fall
Sure it's summertime in New York and not January in Las Vegas, but that didn't stop LG from rolling out a couple new lines of LCD HDTVs today. The new SL80 and SL90 models don't bring new high water marks on the spec sheets, but feature LG's take on the "borderless" design trend that's the rage these days, built from a single edge to edge piece of glass with a slim bezel and Invisible Speaker design. The top of the line SL90 is due later this year for an unspecified price range in 42- and 47-inch sizes with LED backlighting contributing to its 3,000,000:1 claimed contrast ratio and 1.15 inch depth, plus 120Hz TruMotion processing. The SL80 line has 240Hz processing, but older CCFL backlighting means a 300,000:1 measured contrast ratio and 1.8-inch thick design, but the 42-, 47-, and 55-inch models will be available this August for $1,599, $1,899 and $2,799, respectively. Want a closer look at LG's new global flat panel design platform? The gallery is right here.
Poll: Best LCD backlighting choice?
Last week we took a peek into plans for future HDTVs, but it's 2009 and for buying an HDTV in the here and now there's only a few flat panel choices - while plasma definitely has its fans, facts are gentlemen (and most buyers) seem to prefer LCDs. As seen at CES, every manufacturer has kicked the competition for backlighting and image quality up a notch, with higher quality CCFL backlighting and even LED trickling to lower end brands, most notably Vizio's planned $2,000 55-inch HDTV due later this year. Further confusing things, though Samsung will also have an updated local dimming LED backlit line on shelves later this year, it's currently touting slim, energy efficient edge lit LED models, despite their slightly lower picture quality, while some top of the line LCDs with older CCFL lighting keep pumping out high quality pictures. So we bring the question to you, of the technologies currently on the market, which one has you convinced it's a good buy?%Poll-30182%
Samsung properly introduces Series 6 / 7 LCD TVs
You knew Samsung wouldn't pull up in Vegas without a few new sets to clutter up your living room, and sure enough, we're being treated to a fresh pair of CCFL-backlit displays. The Series 6 ranges from 19- to 55-inches, while the Series 7 is comprised of just a 40-, 46- and 52-inch model, and the latter three (along with '09 Series 6 650 40-inch and above) sets feature the Yahoo!-driven Internet@TV functionality. Furthermore, the Series 7 is Sammy's first ever 240Hz CCFL-backlit display, while all Series 6 sets 32-inches and up tout the 120Hz Auto Motion Plus technology. All the nitty-gritty details (save for pricing and availability) are tucked away in the read link. %Gallery-40656%
Sony's 1,000,000:1 contrast BRAVIAs launch in Japan October 10
Sony's XBR6 / XBR7 / XBR8 models are still waiting in the wings for their U.S. debut, but along with HDTVs that push the extremes in thin and fast, the company announced these more conventional models it's deemed "the highest quality BRAVIA HDTVs in history." The XR1 (read: XBR8) series will feature a 1,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio (3,000:1 static) courtesy of those new TRILUMINOS three-color LEDs, 10-bit BRAVIA Engine 2 processing and Motionflow 120Hz technology. If you can live without 240Hz or WHDI, the 1080p 55-inch edition runs ¥750,000 ($6,489 U.S.) with a 46-inch for ¥600,000 ($5,479 U.S.). The next level down is the X1 (read: XBR6 / XBR7) series, based on old school CCFL backlights limited to a 3,000:1 contrast rating, ranging in size from 40- to 52- inches and in price from ¥530,000 ($4,866 U.S.) to ¥320,000 ($2,922 U.S.) when they go on sale October 10. Digital Media Extender support, DLNA connectivity and all the other high end feature's make their expected appearance across the lineup. With fears of watered down technology effectively quelled, Sony wouldn't make us wait until October to find out when we can buy an HDTV in the U.S. or Europe from this lineup -- somehow we doubt it.
Toshiba announces availability of new Regza lineup
Shortly after dropping prices across the board on its HD DVD player lineup, Toshiba is now announcing the availability of a myriad of Regzas. The 46-, 47-, 52-, and 57-inch Cinema Series sets are all set to hop on the shipping truck and head to consumers momentarily, and they'll be packin' a ClearFrame 120Hz anti-blur system, 1080p capability, PixelPure3G 14-bit digital video processing, DynaLight dynamic backlight, and Tosh's SoundStrip speaker system. Similar to Hitachi's newfangled Reel60 system, Toshiba is incorporating its own Motion Vector Frame Interpolation (MVFI) technology in order to eliminate blur and make images silky smooth. The new sets have expanding Toshiba's Regza lineup to include sizes ranging from 26-inch to 57-inches in size, and if you're interested in picking one up, be sure to visit the read link for the full rundown of prices.
Samsung poised to introduce white LED-backlit displays
Samsung believes that by 2010, 30% of all LCD televisions will include LED backlights instead of the conventional flourescent used in most sets now. What's different from the LED units we've seen before is that Samsung wants to use white LEDs, with single diodes custom-coated to produce the same backlight previously requiring combinations of red, green, and blue bulbs. Samsung recently invested in Intematix, which produces custom phosphor coatings for LED bulbs to create uniform color -- required in a television to faithfully reproduce colors. Until recently costs have been higher for LED backlight units, keeping them relegated to higher-end models. Samsung claims the single bulb process reduces costs by 40%, but time will tell whether white-only LEDs are truly better or cheaper than tri-color LEDs, or if they are just the next "Reveal lightbulb" marketing gimmick.[Via I4U News]
Proton bringing LED backlit LCDs to CES 2007
Even though Toshiba's SED technology will be a no show at CES this year, Proton let us know that its LED backlit LCDs will be on display. The last time we saw these HDTVs (the 42-inch 1080p P42L1 and 32-inch 720p P32L1) at Computex they were expected to hit this year but now are slated for a second quarter 2007 release. In case you've forgotten during the long wait for this technology to reach reasonable prices, LED backlighting (like SED) promises more accurate color reproduction than current CCFL-based LCDs. We'll have to wait until next year to see which one actually delivers.
JVC's LED backlit LCD at CEATEC 2006
LCD TVs using LEDs for backlighting aren't exactly new -- Sony's high-end Qualia line has had this feature for a while -- but getting them down to a price affordable for most consumers has still proven to be an unattainable goal. Samsung had a 40-inch 10,000:1 contrast ratio beauty on display at IFA 2006 last month, and now the good folks at JVC are showing the model pictured above at CEATEC 2006. No deets on pricing, specs or even size are available yet, but if plasma isn't a good fit for your wall or budget -- and waiting around for SED is too much of a bore -- LED backlighting is the best bet for improved color reproduction and black levels in LCDs.
Sony unveils new Bravia LCD, LCoS HDTVs for Japan
Sony rolled out some new HDTVs for the Japanese market this winter, some of which have already been announced in the US, the rest we hope soon will be. The biggest new news appears to be that their advanced Digital Reality Creation (DRC-MFv2.5) circuitry is moving downmarket, into the cheaper A2500 series of LCoS HDTVs. The two new RPTVs announced are the KDS-60A2500 and KDS-50A2500, 60- and 50-inches respectively. They'll accept and display 1080p just like their American A2000 cousins, but now with enhanced upscaling technology for non-1080p inputs. At an estimated 600,000 and 500,000 yen respectively, that would give them about a $500-US price bump over the previous 50- and 60-inch LCoS HDTVs and are slated to ship September 15th. Of the nine new LCDs, five are identical to the Bravia LCDs already announced in the US, but they have added the 52-inch KDL-52X2500 at the top of line, and three new S-series LCDs (46-,40- and 32-inch) at the bottom. The KDL-52X2500 includes the aforementioned DRC technology, WCG-CCFL backlighting (1500:1 contrast ratio), Live Color Creation, 1080p resolution and 1080p inputs. The cheaper KDL-46S2500, KDL-40S2500 and KDL-32S2500 are 1366x768 (720p) LCDs with the older Bravia Engine image processing, a 1300:1 contrast ratio on the two large TVs and 1700:1 ratio on the 32-inch. All four LCDs share a 450cd/m2 brightness, feature one HDMI and two D4 inputs (as compared to the three HDMI jacks for the US-specced TVs) and are due to ship in Japan October 20th.
AUO promises CRT quality from an LCD
AUO is showing off their new LCD technology this week at the FPD Taiwan 2006 show. They already improved conventional CCFL backlighting, but their new HiColor Technology with RGB LED backlight ups the available NTSC color gamut from 72% to 105%, eliminating one of the major complaints about LCDs. Their new Simulated Pulse Driving technology improves gray-to-gray refresh rates to 4ms, giving what they claim is CRT-level image quality. Advanced MVA technology provides a 1200:1 contrast ratio that will also improve the color washout typical of LCD screens, and improved image processing for better detail. Better yet, all this technology is ready for the 1366x768 and 1920x1080 panels of the future.It all sounds great, now we just need to find out who will be slapping their sticker on all this shiny new technology when it hits the shelf and how much it will cost. Hopefully we can get a picture or two once the show starts tomorrow.
Westinghouse LVM-47w1 47-inch 1080p LCD for less than $3k
After being up on their website for a while, Westinghouse has finally officially announced the 47-inch addition to their line of 1080p LCD panels, the LVM-47w1. They have long been one of the few 1080p sets to include support for true 1920x1080 input. The set has 6 HD inputs (1 HDMI, 2 DVI w/HDCP, 1 VGA and 2 Component) a nice 6.5ms refresh rate and 1200:1 contrast ratio. One of the few knocks on the Westy line remains, with only 75% of the NTSC color gamut available, as opposed to 90% from other backlighting technologies. All the same if that isn't a problem, the estimated price comes in at an entirely reasonable $2,999, no release date yet.
Mitsubishi HDTVs all over the place: 1080p, LCD, DLP oh my!
Mitsubishi has had a busy weekend, announcing a whole bunch of new sets. The best news is "Tru1080p" makes a big showing, meaning they accept 1080p inputs, no down-and-up conversion necessary. 73" DLPs - Tru1080p, NetCommand IEEE1394 connectivity, CableCARD support, dual HDMI slots and multi-card readers are standard on the WD-73732 and WD-73831 52", 57" & 65" DLPs - No model #s, but they feature 1080p input support plus a new 6-primary color system that they say adds color and brightness to the picture. All include dual HDMI inputs as well as DVI-I hookups 52" & 62" 720p LCDs - WD-52531 and WD-62531 have 132-watt lamps, SmartShutter LCD technology for improved black levels plus two HDMI inputs and two component inputs 37" & 46" 1080p LCDs - Tru1080p again for 1920x1080 input, 4D video noise reduction, Full Spectrum Color CCFL backlighting that covers 90 percent of the NTSC color gamut, an upgrade from the 72 percent of previous models No price or ship dates on any of these, but if you're in the market for a new 1080p television, it might just be worth the (undetermined) wait.
CCFL backlighting is still in
Cuz all the cool kids are doing it for at least the next year or so, much unlike the mullet. Despite all the hubbub about LEDs, CCFLs are likely to continue backlighting your LCD panel, even as manufacturers ramp up production to meet demand. When will light emitting diodes and flat fluorescent lamps become a part of the flat screen TV landscape? Who knows but Kumho Electric isn't looking to find out. I still wanted my HDTV t-shirt though.
Flat optic fibers = cheaper HDTV's?
That's what this Israeli firm says. They claim that they can create LED's for screens that are flexible, consume less power, and have better light dispersion. This way they could work their way into everything from your T-shirt to your HDTV.Of course this could be a ways off as LED's haven't replaced CCFL in LCD screens yet but an HDTV that you can wear? Sounds good to me.
The next step in LCDs is LEDs
Everything has a downfall. LCDs are notorious for being backlit too much causing bad black levels. Plasmas, on the other hand, do not suffer from this. Nether will LCDs though if manufactures starting using LED (light-emitting diodes) instead of conventional backlighting. This process will cost a tad more then the current method, but I believe that there is enough of people like us that will pay a bit more in order to achieve plasma like colors. Right?
