Category: TVs

Men getting into interior design – so their lovely new LCD TVs match the curtains

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The trend of replacing ugly old CRTs with fancy new LCDS has lead to men getting all worried about the insides of their houses.

A survey from fancy LCD maker LG found that 6/10 Brits believe their TV’s design is important to their homes, with an even higher percentage saying that the TV is “an integral part of their interior design decisions.”

Men, in fact, are now so worried about how their growing home cinema setup looks…

Gary Cutlack HDTV, Home cinema, TVs

Panasonic rolls out a bevy of Viera Plasma TVs, three series' worth: the PZ85, PZ80 and PX80

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A slew of new flat-screens from Panasonic have been announced in the past 24 hours, with a bunch of Plasmas being the first port of call.

Let’s get the most exciting news over with first – the manufacturer has announced their first 46″ model, alongside three new model series, the PZ85, PZ80 and PX80.

Firstly, the 1080p PZ85 will come in a 46″ model (TH-46PZ85B) and 42″ (TH-42PZ85B), from March. They’ll have a contrast ratio of 30,000:1 along with a VIERA Link and 24p Real Cinema technology. Another significant…

Katherine Hannaford Home cinema, TVs

At 0.7-inches, the bezel on NEC's MultiSync LCD5220 TV is thinner than Toshiba's

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For those who judge the quality of their consumer electronics by how expensive they are, this NEC MultiSync LCD5220 TV costs a cool $8,150. UK pricing hasn’t been mentioned as yet, but you can bet your bottom dollar (and you’ll have to, if you want one) the exchange rate will make it even pricier for us.

It’s a 52-incher, and is supposedly the market’s first professional-grade panel display. It’d have to be, at that price. Thankfully it supports…

Katherine Hannaford Home cinema, TVs

Sony applauds Ofcom, extols BRAVIA TV's built-in Audio Description technology

audio_description_logo.gifIf you’ve watched any TV over the past few weeks, you’ve probably already seen the new push for awareness of Audio Description (AD) technology. AD is, effectively, the aural equivalent of subtitles / signing, allowing partially-sighted and blind people to access TV shows through a descriptive commentary.

The UK leads Europe in adoption of AD, with legislation that requires broadcasters to make a certain proportion of their programmes AD-compliant. The BBC must audio describe at least eight per cent of its programmes.

Both Ofcom and Sony believe that the rest of Europe should be catching up, and have called for similar legislation to be imposed that requires broadcasters to invest in the technology.

Andy Merrett TVs

The Toshiba ZF series – with 23mm wide bezel

I do realise this is the third glossy black TV I’ve put up in the last hour, which is why I’ve included every camera angle possible for them so far – had Toshiba launched a fourth series of TVs, I probably would’ve included a bird’s eye shot or even reverse upside-down. Got to keep it fresh, yanno?

With the largest price-tag of the three new series, the ZF is their new flagship series under the REGZA umbrella. They’re sporting those ultra-thin bezels we saw at CES, at just 0.9″ wide, and with three sizes…

Katherine Hannaford HDTV, Home cinema, TVs

More Toshiba REGZA tellies, the XV series with full 1080p

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Another series for Toshiba presented this week, the XV series is housed under the REGZA brand, and carries some new technology, including audio description, game mode and Active Vision LCD Picture Processing.

With the usual 32″, 37″ and 42″ models available, they’ll each have 1920 x 1080 resolution (that’s full 1080p), three HDMI sockets, a digital tuner, and contrast ratio of up to 30,000:1.

All of Toshiba’s new series debuted this week – the CV, XV and ZF, will carry the aforementioned Game Mode, which gives 1:1 pixel mapping using Exact Scan, and increases response time dramatically. Not only…

Katherine Hannaford HD DVD, Home cinema, TVs

Sony Europe introduces "Product, Process and Planet" environmental commitment

sony_product_process_planet_initiative.gifSony Europe has just recommitted itself to lessening its environmental impact, with the introduction of the “Product, Process and Planet” initiative.

The “Product” part of the initiative relates to Sony’s efforts to make its consumer electronics goods more environmentally friendly.

TV products currently account for around 76% of Sony’s overall CO2 emissions, but the company has reduced the power consumption of its LCD TVs, and in recognition of this was awarded the Sustainable Energy Europe Award by the European Commission and the EISA Green TV Award last year.

Andy Merrett HDTV, Home Appliances, TVs