Archive for the ‘LCDs & HDTVs’ Category
Hope you weren’t too attached to the idea of “medium to large” sized OLED HDTVs coming from Sony this year, according to the Wall Street Journal’s sources, the company’s slipping share of TV sales mean profitability takes precedence over sweet, super slim new displays. Surprised by its inability to sell truckloads of $2,500 11-inch versions CEO Howard Stringer decided to put the project on the back burner, apparently more focused on things like competing in Wal-Mart and implementing cheaper LED technology for its LCDs. With LG also on a timetable that puts us a year or more away from seeing one of these on store shelves in decent sizes, things are up to Samsung to bring it home — we’re waiting.
We firmly believe that the all-too-popular ‘green card’ is flailed about far too haphazardly these days, but whatever the case, BenQ’s sure doing its darnedest to explain just how much Ma Earth adores its latest duo of V Series monitors. The 24-inch V2400 Eco and 21.5-inch V2200 Eco are both outfitted with LED-backlit 1080p panels, comically inflated dynamic contrast ratios (5,000,000:1, if you can even believe that) and a shell constructed from 28 percent recycled plastic. Meanwhile, we’re told these panels can suck down around 30 percent less power while in Eco mode, and overall, they consume approximately 36 percent less power than CCFL displays. If you’re onboard with everything, look for these to land in your neck of the woods soon, with China getting ‘em first in a week or so.
We’ve always loved the Roku Video Player, and it’s getting even more flexible over time — in addition to Netflix and Amazon video rentals, the $99 box can now play, pause, and rewind live HD baseball games in 720p from MLB.TV, as well as play archived games from the previous week on demand. You’ll have to pay the one-time MLB.TV subscription fee of $35, but that’s not terrible, especially if you’re an out-of-market fan looking to catch your favorite team without having to trek out to a bar. Now if only the NFL would let anyone but DirecTV carry Sunday Ticket, we’d be all set.
TG Sambo is all set to refresh its display line with four new models, three of them proudly pimping full 1080p panels and making your 4:3 display look all the more tired and washed up. The 24-inch TGL 2400A, 23-inch 2300A and 21.6-inch 2250A all have an integrated digital TV tuner, 2ms response time, 20,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio (which probably means real contrast is around 500:1), HDMI, DVI, VGA, and menu presets for internet, movie and gaming use. There’s also a similarly outfitted 2000A version, which alas loses the 1920 x 1080 resolution. Only the price for the biggest ‘un is known at present: 449,000 KRW ($336), but the PR indicates “the second half of the market strategy is to attack,” so we’ll go ahead and assume availability is coming shortly.
So, Sharp, you introduced the world’s first HDTV line with integrated Blu-ray players last year, what are you going to do next? Only naturally, the Japanese lineup of DX2 series one-ups the original DX by adding Blu-ray recording as well. It doesn’t appear that these pack the LED backlighting of the new X-Gen based displays headed our way this fall, so for now buyers will have to make do with the 15,000:1 contrast ratio shared with the other D-series televisions. Still, the big deal here is that the 1080p (52-, 46- and 40-inch) and 720p (32- and 26-inch) displays will burn up to 30 hours of HD video on dual-layer Blu-ray discs, by way of transcoding and compressing to MPEG-4 format without any messy external boxes or wires. The price range from ¥170,000 ($1,740) at the low end to ¥480,000 for the largest size when these ship September 15 but don’t count on seeing them on this side of the Pacific (or the Atlantic.)
As has annoyingly become the norm with Dell LCDs, the outfit has seemingly just thrown three new ones onto the world’s platter tonight with nary a peep from its press line. Up first is the 23-inch ST2310 (shown above), a slick widescreen panel with a Full HD (1,920 x 1,080) resolution, narrow bezels, a curved rear, DVI / VGA / HDMI inputs, 250 nits of brightness, a useless 50,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, five millisecond response time and audio in /out ports for good measure. The 22-inch E2210H and 20-inch E2010H (shown after the break) both tout an all-business motif, with the former pushing a Full HD native resolution and the latter handling just 1,600 x 900 pixels. The whole trio looks to be available right now, with retail marks set at $229, $199 and $139 in order of mention.
Having recently refreshed its G-series of monitors, BenQ is back for more with an update to its pricier E-branded panels. The pair of new models come with the SensEye 3 auto-calibration sensor, which corrects contrast, color and clarity according to the mode you choose. Set for worldwide availability this month, the 21.5-inch E2220HD and 24-inch E2420HD both come with 1920 x 1080 resolution on 16:9 displays, 300 nits of brightness, 1,000:1 contrast ratio, and a “class-leading” 11 ports that include four USB, two HDMI, a DVI and a VGA input. The external redesign is highlighted by a side-mounted power button, sure to appeal to — well, just about anyone. Click through for higher resolution shots, including a close-up of that Vaio TT-inspired button.
DisplayPort may still have some ways to go before it’s widely accepted as the next HDMI, but with more and more outfits now pumping out panels with these very sockets, we reckon that wide market recognition is nigh. Take NEC’s MultiSync EA231WMi for example, which boasts a 23-inch LCD, four-way swivel stand, a two-step ECO mode for showing Ma Earth some love, a three-step ambient light sensor for automatically adjusting brightness and DisplayPort / VGA / DVI connectivity. Further specs include an integrated four-port USB 2.0 hub, built-in carry handle, down-firing speakers, a headphone socket, native 1,920 x 1,080 resolution, 270 nits of brightness, a 1,000:1 contrast ratio and a 3-year warranty to keep your mind at ease. Catch it later this month for $379, but good luck scoring that bodacious frog wallpaper.
HP’s just announced its new 27-inch, 16:9 display, the 2709m. This giant puts out a native 1080p picture, and boasts two HDMI inputs, one DVI and one VGA port. With a 30,000:1 contrast ratio, we can expect the display to be nice and vivid, and it’s got two built-in 2-watt speakers, and a reported response time of 5ms. The 2709m is available from HP now for $499.
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.
