HDTV Reviews

Philips 42PF9831D LCD widescreen flat HDTV with Pixel Plus 3 HD and Ambilight Full Surround.
Enjoy the ultimate viewing experience of this Philips Cineos Flat TV with Pixel Plus 3 HD, Ambilight Full Surround and Clear LCD technology. The Digital Media Reader with PC link gives you full access to multimedia content.

* High definition LCD WXGA display, resolution 1366 x 768p
* Integrated Digital Tuner for DVB-T reception
* HD ready for the highest quality display of HDTV signals
* Pixel Plus 3 HD for the most vivid and sharp HDTV images
* Clear LCD for sharp, fast and vibrant images
* Ambilight Full Surround for immersive viewing experience
* Matching stand with elegant design included
* Access your photos, music and movies via PC-link
* Wireless prepared for connection to your PC
* USB and Memory-Card slot for instantly playing multimedia
* HDMI for full digital High Definition connection
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Zandar Technologies will be introducing the enhanced HDTV capabilities in its MultiViewer range to the UK broadcast and production community.

Addressing the challenges of HD monitoring, all MultiViewers are enhanced to support genuine HD output resolutions (1080p), automatic aspect ratio management and auto-sensing of HD and SD signals.

Hot off the press, and newly announced at NAB is the extended range of Predator HD solutions. The popular compact HD4 and HD8 MultiViewers are now complemented by the higher capacity Predator HD12 and Predator HD16 solutions to offer unprecedented image quality that is synonymous with the Zandar MultiViewer brand. The new 2RU systems accept 12 or 16 inputs to offer a comprehensive product range that is ideal for HDTV monitoring in a variety of applications.

All Predator HD MultiViewers include support for HD-SDI and SDI inputs and drive high resolution displays up to 1080p. With an extensive feature set, as standard, including audio and video monitoring, UMD & Tallies, clock display, and LAN control, the HD MultiViewers have numerous control options including the intuitive Z-Configurator layout editing software, On-Screen Display, GPI, and ZRP remote panel.

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Singapore will launch a six-month trial in June to test the local market for high-definition television (HDTV), Channel NewsAsia reported Wednesday.

A large number of HDTV programs, featuring sharper resolution and better sound quality than traditional ones, will be transmitted to some 2,000 households on both cable and terrestrial platforms.

The report quoted industry players as saying that it is the right time for Singapore to introduce HDTV on a trial basis as broadcasters are ready with ample content, and consumers have bought an estimated 200,000 flat panel HDTV sets, which is about one in every five households.

StarHub, Singapore’s sole cable TV operator, plans to launch its HDTV service by the end of this year, while a full roll-out of HDTV programs on the six terrestrial channels of MediaCorp, the city state’s major broadcaster, will be decided later, the report said.

It is estimated that the adoption of this new technology costs at least 100 million Singapore dollars (about 63 million U.S. dollars).

Inventors at NHK, Japan’s largest broadcaster, have developed a wireless High Definition TV camera.

NHK develops professional broadcasting equipment for its own use, as well as licensing or selling technology to other broadcasters.

The camera uses multiple antennas and a proprietary transmission protocol in the 60GHz radio frequency band to provide the high data rate necessary for uncompressed broadcast-quality HDTV images, Nikkei Business Press reported.

Maximum data rates are as high as 160Mbps, although the technology also allows for motion JPEG2000 compression to improve the range and reliability by reducing bandwidth requirements.

Samsung’s sleek 57″ LCD leads the industry in realistic home entertainment. With its 4000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, over six million pixel resolution, Cold Cathode Flurorescent Lamp, S-PVA Panel and 10-bit processor with 12.8 billion colors, the LN-S5797D delivers a picture of startling clarity that rivals real life.

4000:1 Dynamic Contrast

While viewing either very bright or very dark scenes, it can be difficult to distinguish main images which blend into the background. Dynamic Contrast dramatically mitigates this problem by adjusting the backlight intensity, providing up to a 4X improvement in contrast.

Wider Viewing Angles (S-PVA)

Left side, right side or upside-down, whatever your LCD TV’s location, Samsung’s new innovative S-PVA (Super Patterned Vertical Alignment) solution allows you to see any display clearly due to the 178° wide-viewing angle. Horizontally and vertically, your LCD TV will always be well placed to enjoy the entertainment no matter what your angle of view is.

SRS TruSurround XT

Samsung LCD TVs are equipped with the best that technology can offer in sound quality. Even when viewing regular broadcasts, our 2 speaker surround sound makes you feel as if the theatre has been brought to your living room.

DNIeâ„¢

Samsung’s revolutionary DNleâ„¢ technology offers digital perfection in naturally presented, Read more

Samsung’s 46″ Wide HDTV with Integrated DCR Tuner
Samsung’s sleek 46″ LCD leads the industry in realistic home entertainment. With its 7000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, over two million pixel resolution, Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamp. S-PVA Panel, and 10-bit processor with 12.8 billion colors, the LN-S4696D delivers a picture of startling clarity that rivals real life.

7000:1 Dynamic Contrast

While viewing either very bright or very dark scenes, it can be difficult to distinguish main images which blend into the background. Dynamic Contrast dramatically mitigates this problem by adjusting the backlight intensity, providing up to a 7X improvement in contrast.

Wider Viewing Angles (S-PVA)

Left side, right side or upside-down, whatever your LCD TV’s location, Samsung’s new innovative S-PVA (Super Patterned Vertical Alignment) solution allows you to see any display clearly due to the 178° wide-viewing angle. Horizontally and vertically, your LCD TV will always be well placed to enjoy the entertainment no matter what your angle of view is. Read more

Siemens set-top boxes deliver HDTV quality to the screen.

Siemens Home and Office Communication Devices is presenting a family of IP set-top boxes (IP STBs) for digital television over the Internet (IPTV). The devices also enable many other applications, such as video on demand, time-shift TV or surfing in the Internet. Both Gigaset IP STBs support high-definition television (HDTV), thanks to new compression standards such as H.264.

The greater compression of video data thanks to standards such as H.264 (MPEG-4 Part 10) and VC-1 reduces the bandwidth required for transmitting data and optimizes utilization of network capacity – something that is necessary for transporting broadband-hungry services such as HDTV over the existing network infrastructure. The conventional standard format can also be received.

The Gigaset HD360 IP and 860 IP are designed on the “system on a chip” concept, in which all the main components of the IP set-top boxes – including the main processor, video and audio decoding units and peripheral components – are integrated on a single chip.

A hard disk with a capacity of up to 250 GBytes, a smart card reader or two DVB tuners can also be built into the Gigaset HD860 IP. This creates a Read more

Some of you may think that I call the LVM-42w2 a “true HD monitor” because I’ve finally acquiesced to the HDTV conspiracy theorists who insist that only 1,920-by-1,080 displays like this one should be labeled HDTVs. Don’t worry—I plan to support 1080i and 720p a bit longer.

No, I’ve used the description “true HD monitor” for two reasons. For one, the LVM-42w2 is indeed a monitor, not a television. This LCD has neither an ATSC nor an NTSC tuner, so don’t bother looking for an RF connection or onscreen program guide. They are of no use here. It also lacks a CableCARD slot or any bonus connections, such as a card reader or USB port. At least the monitor has built-in speakers and a subwoofer, discreetly hidden within the small frame, and they’re capable of surprisingly robust audio.

Secondly, this monitor isn’t meant to ease you into the HDTV era the way some TVs do. It was built for HDTV, and its input panel reflects that. The LVM-42w2 has a mere two entry-level video inputs (one composite, one S-video), but it’s loaded with HD-capable inputs: one HDMI, two DVI, two component video, and one VGA.

The remote control has pseudo-dedicated buttons for the various inputs. By that, I mean it has dedicated buttons for VGA, S-video, and composite, plus one to toggle through HDMI and DVI and another to toggle through component video. It also has up/down buttons to scroll through the sources and an input button to move through them sequentially. I’d say that pretty much covers the input-selection process. There are only two screen sizes (standard and fill) to choose from and no automatic aspect-ratio detection.

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Xinhua China Ltd. (OTC Bulletin Board: XHUA) announced today it has acquired leading Chinese High Definition Television text-editing software company Bear Technology. The acquisition expands Xinhua’s presence in the rapidly expanding digital
media industry in China. Founded in 2002, Bear Technology offers multiple proprietary solutions
for rendering and editing text in High Definition. Bear text-editing software is an essential component in the production of HDTV content, which require on- screen text to be rendered in HD for enhanced visual fidelity, according to Xinhua China. Some applications for Bear’s software include personal and commercial HD cameras, televised language translation, closed-captioning, and news and entertainment programming. Currently, Bear Technology customers include leading HDTV and camera manufacturers such as Sony and Panasonic, Xinhua China said.

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Samsung showed off some new TVs for the summer slump.
We got a peek at ‘em, including their LN-S4696D, LN-S4096D, and LN-S3296D (priced at $4,000, $3,300, and $2,200), the 46, 40, and 32-inch versions of their 96 series of LCDs.
The 40 and 46-inch models are 1080p sets, but all include USB 1.1 and FireWire connections, and a 6000:1 contrast ratio. Also introduced were their new 32-inch LN-S3251D, and 26-inch LN-S2652D and LN-S2651D LCDs, all with integrated ATSC, as well as their 67-inch HL-S6767W and 61-inch HL-S6165W 1080p DLP HDTVs.