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What’s the Difference Between Different Television Screen Types (and Why Should I Care)?

Administrator — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 03:02:04 +0000

The different kinds of flatscreen panels used in televisions are a detail that most people don’t think too much about because, when shopping in an electronics store, it’s pretty hard to notice any real difference. Nonetheless, there are a few things worth considering with each type of panel. Let’s go over the most popular and the pros and cons of each.

Plasma Panels

Plasma panels are on their way out because they have a couple of serious downsides. Primarily, they generate a lot of heat because they burn phosphors to display images. More heat generation means more power consumption, so they’re not as eco-friendly as other panel types. Also, static images on plasma panels can cause a screen-burn effect if left for too long. Earlier plasma TVs used to have shorter lifespans than LCDs, but this has since changed and only something you need to worry about when buying used. Either way, you can expect a minimum of 30,000 hours of use.

On the plus side, because plasma panels are used less and less their prices are down. If you buy plasma, you’ll generally be able to get a larger television for less money—you just might make up that cost with your electric bill. Plasma panels are also known for their better contrast ratios, rendering of rich colors and deeper blacks, and little to no ghosting effects when displaying fast-moving images.

LCD Panels

LCD panels are the most commonly-used type of panel in flatscreen televisions today. They offer a lot of benefits, such as low heat generation, no static image burn (like you might encounter with a plasma-based display), and a greater brightness over plasma. LCD panels tend to be lighter in weight (than plasma), and you have a choice between active shutter and passive glasses when purchasing a 3D-capable model.

On the other hand, LCDs have never been great at rendering blacks or avoiding the ghosting problem with fast-moving images. Although the 120Hz and 240Hz refresh rate modes can help with this problem, this can make the motion in films look kind of like they were shot with a consumer video camera. If you’re okay with switching between these modes when you’re switching between sports and film, this isn’t much of a disadvantage. LCDs are also prone to dead pixels, and it’s fairly common to purchase a TV with at least one dead pixel. Generally many pixels have to die before a warranty claim can be filed, so if you have one or two dead pixels and it bothers you a lot you should exchange the TV before your exchange period runs out.

In-Plane Switching

LCD panels with In-Plane Switching (IPS) offer an advantage over standard LCDs and plasma panels. You may have noticed that when you walk to the sides of a flatscreen television the picture becomes lighter and, in some cases, begins to invert. This is because of the viewing angle is rather narrow on most TVs. LCD panels that offer IPS, however, generally have a viewing angle of 170 degrees. As a result, you can watch your TV from a greater angle and the picture will look about the same. If you’ve ever seen a recent Apple monitor, iMac, or iPad, you’ve seen a LCD panel with IPS.

LED Backlighting

A standard LCD display is backlit by CCFLs, which aren’t as efficient or effective as LEDs. Not all LED backlit displays are created equal, meaning the evenness of the backlighting can vary, but that’s easy to see by displaying a pure black image on the television. This will allow you to see the evenness of the backlighting. That aside, LED-backlit displays offer quite a few advantages. They make thinner displays possible, consume less power, provide added brightness, and—what’s probably most important to LCD buyers—offer better contrast levels. They’re better at dissipating heat, too. You will, of course, pay more for LED backlighting, but it’s generally worth it.

OLED Displays

OLEDs are organic LEDs are pretty great. They’re thin, light, and don’t require backlighting. As a result they’re capable of very deep blacks and can offer a superior contrast ratio. OLED displays tend to offer images that look closer to reality because of their contrast capabilities. Where an LCD panel may look a little washed out with white when displaying dark images, you won’t see that problem with an OLED panel. Overall, the only real disadvantage of OLED is its higher cost and scarcer availability.

But How Do I Choose?

When choosing a type of panel, you really have to choose which kind offers the biggest advantages. If many people are going to be watching in a wide room from various angles, you’ll probably want to pick up an LCD with IPS. If you’re primarily watching sports, a plasma display or LCD with a faster refresh rate (of 120Hz or 240Hz) will serve you well, but a plain old LCD might not be the best option. Of course, if you can afford an OLED panel and can find a suitable television with one, that’s probably your best bet. But in the end, you’re going to need to figure out which features matter most for you and choose based on that.

LCD TV Buying Guide Announces the Best 2012 LED Televisions 55” to 60” and Under $2000

Administrator — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 02:59:58 +0000

Atlanta, GA (PRWEB) February 14, 2012

Editors from LCDTVBuyingGuide.com Jack Burden and Robert Wiley choose from LED-LCD TVs introduced early in 2012 by manufacturers such as Sony, Sharp, Samsung, LG, Panasonic, Vizio and Toshiba. “There is no secret to us where the best value plays will be in the under 60 category,” states Robert Wiley. “We review so many TVs and know the manufactures so well that we know where the best deals will be. But for simplicity sake we have limited this selection to only LED-LCD TVs and excluded plasma technology from the comparison.”

One of the top models selected for the list is the Samsung UN55ES6500 LED TV about which editors state, “Samsung is very proud of the vast array of Apps they are now providing and the Samsung UN55ES6500 has access to them all. There are over 1500 Apps – most of them small and priced between .99 and $2.99. Aside from that the usual premium channels options are also incuded. There is a new Search All feature to allow you to find videos via Apps or other connected devices as well. Social media hookups like Facebook and Twitter are of course present.” Editors note the price should also be very good as this model sheds a few of the more expensive ones.

Another model from the authors selection in the 55” size range is the LG 55LMG860 55” LED TV which includes Google TV.. “The G in LG new LMG860 series stands for Google, more specifically it indicates that alongside the Smart TV feature found in other LG televisions the new LMG models also add the functionality of Google TV and it’s search, web browsing and other features.”

LG had another entry into the list with the LG 55LM6700 for which the authors comment, “The LG 55LM6700 also has the modernistic avante-garde design that leaves nothing but the picture image in front of you. That’s due to the .2″ (5mm) depth and virtually no frame. You will not have to worry about reflection from the TV bezel – something that has annoyed us especially from black gloss bezels of the past. We hate to mention another manufacturer, but it’s similar though less deep to the D8000 series LED Televisions by Samsung last year.”

The Sharp LC-60LE745U Review series was the only 60” size TV to make the list while a second Samsung UN55ES6100 LED TV Review also made this list. According to the reviewer, “The incumbent clear coat screen technology that the UN55ES6100 contains is one of our favorites for 2012. We enjoy the depth perception it creates and black levels and contrast while allowing whites to really peak out. Brightness and peak whites are also exceptional traits.”

TV tech in 2012: voice control, OLED and 4K

Administrator — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 02:52:44 +0000

This year, 3D is taking a backseat. Upcoming developments in television are more varied, and offer a lot more mainstream appeal.

In 2011, 3D technology sparked the most HDTV buzz at the International CES trade show. At this year’s industry gathering, however, 3D definitely took a backseat. Upcoming developments in high-definition TV are more varied and more interesting, and they offer a lot more mainstream appeal.

Big, beautiful HDTVs earned the most accolades at CES this year. Most notable were superslim OLED displays, voice- and gesture-control interfaces, and ultrahigh-resolution sets.

Sure, 3D is still around: Many of the new sets unveiled at this year’s show will have passive, active, or glasses-free 3D viewing when they come to market. However, 3D has moved significantly down the list of marquee features, even though we’ll see more 3DTVs in 2012 than ever before.

Some of the most interesting TV technologies we saw at CES are too content- or price-prohibitive to make a splash in 2012. That said, they offer an intriguing look at the near future of HDTVs. Here’s a quick roundup of some of the best of the show.

OLED stunners

Judging by the initialisms alone, LED and OLED may seem similar–but when it comes to TV tech, they’re entirely different animals.

A traditional LED (light-emitting diode) set is actually an LED-backlit liquid crystal display television–in such a set, LEDs illuminate an LCD screen from behind or from the edges. But in an OLED (organic light-emitting diode) TV, the source of illumination and of the resulting image are one and the same; with no backlighting needed, OLED allows for superthin, energy-efficient sets that produce deep blacks, sharp contrast from pixel to pixel, vivid colors, and a stunning picture overall.

At this year’s CES, companies showcased the promise of OLED beautifully. Gorgeous, 55-inch OLED TVs from LG and Samsung–as well as a Crystal LED prototype from Sony that uses similar technology–stole the show. What’s more, these sets are as razor-thin as they are razor-sharp: The thinnest, LG’s OLED model, measures less than 0.16 inch thick and weighs just 16.5 pounds.

Alas, while the LG and Samsung OLED sets are both slated to be available by the end of the year (Sony’s is strictly in prototype form at this stage), they’ll cost a pretty penny. Although neither company has announced pricing or release-date specifics just yet, the OLED HDTVs are expected to cost anywhere between $8000 and $10,000 when they arrive.

Voice- and gesture-controlled TVs

In 2012, even couch potatoes might get a workout, and quiet nights in front of the tube may involve a lot more talking. If CES was any indication of what’s to come, hand gestures and voice input may soon replace the standard remote control.

At CES, LG demoed sets that users can control with a Wii-like, movement-sensitive device, as well as remotes holding built-in microphones for voice control. Samsung, meanwhile, moved its gesture- and voice-control functions inside the HDTV, showing off a set that lets users change channels, control the volume, and perform other tasks with gestures and spoken commands. An embedded camera drives a face-recognition system that can log you in for customized features, parental controls, and access to social networking sites.

Numerous other tech companies are developing voice and gesture products that sit outside of the television itself. For instance, voice-recognition company Nuance announced Dragon TV, an app that adds speech controls to HDTVs, set-top boxes, and remote controls.

Will any of these alternative inputs supplant the tried-and-true analog clicker? That remains to be seen, but 2012 should be a testing ground for voice and gesture input, especially given the number of Web-connected sets that would otherwise require a keyboard to control them.

Super-high resolution

Want to see every pore, blemish, and cosmetic surgery scar on actors’ faces? Finding 1080p to be insufficiently detailed? Good news is on the horizon.

At CES, LG demoed a so-called 4K TV that displays more than 8 million pixels at a resolution of 3840 by 2160–four times the pixel count of a 1080p HDTV. Samsung, Sharp, and Toshiba also showed 4K TV sets. And Sharp upped the ante by showing an 85-inch display with 8K, 7680-by-4320-pixel resolution (16 times that of a 1080p set).

In demos, these very high-resolution sets had notably better image quality, sharper lines, and finer detail than a 1080p set, even when upconverting 1080p footage from a Blu-ray player.

However, this is a TV technology best enjoyed up close, which seriously limits its potential for in-home viewing. From a distance, the 4K and 8K sets appear only slightly sharper than a 1080p set; but once you draw nearer, the extra detail and resolution are remarkable. For example, in a huge crowd scene on an 8K TV, you can see the facial features of people far in the back–about 80 or so yards from the camera–but spotting such detail requires getting very close to the screen.

Beyond that issue, not a whole lot of 4K or 8K content is available for these behemoths–there’s even less than the paltry selection of 3D content available right now. In the short term, this TV tech will be limited to sports bars and digital signage, as its most logical current application would be to display four separate 1080p signals at full resolution on a single screen.

Sony BRAVIA KDL-55HX925 3D LED TV

Administrator — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 07:50:02 +0000

The Sony BRAVIA KDL-55HX925 is, surprisingly, the smallest model in the company’s top range of LED-backlit LCD televisions. Despite being a 55in panel it’s dwarfed by the gargantuan 65in KDL-65HX925, which hasn’t been released yet but will command a price tag even higher than the 55in’s $4499.

The BRAVIA KDL-55HX925 has every feature Sony has built into its 2011 range of LED TVs, so gadget geeks will be spoilt, but the HX925’s glossy design — attractive and stylish though it is — means it is not appropriate for watching in a bright room.

Sony BRAVIA KDL-55HX925: Design, connectivity and setup

Let’s get this out of the way early — the Sony BRAVIA HX925 has a very glossy screen. Sony’s product page for the HX925 talks up its high quality Corning Gorilla Glass screen finish and the supposedly reflection-reducing OptiContrast panel, but if the HX925 is an example of a screen with low reflectivity we’d hate to see what Sony considers a highly reflective one — a mirror, we’re guessing.

If you’re watching in a room that has no light sources in front of the screen, it’s not a problem. If you’re in a room that has ceiling lighting that’s not especially bright, or if there’s lighting behind the screen, it’s not a problem. But if you’re in a room lit by daylight, even diffused through curtains, you’ll be able to see your own reflection in the HX925’s panel. It is simply inappropriate if you’re going to be using it in anything other than a dim or dark room — or if you don’t care about reflections disrupting your viewing.

Setting up the Sony BRAVIA KDL-55HX925 is a painless process. The stand only connects to the television with a few small hex bolts, and we thought it was a bit flimsy — if you swing the HX925 from side to side through its swivelling range, the screen itself wobbles slightly. If you’ve got the option we’d recommend wall mounting as a permanent solution. We had the TV connected to a Apple MacBook Pro and Sony BDP-S480 Blu-ray player over HDMI for our testing, as well as a TiVo HD PVR to compare digital TV quality.

When the BRAVIA KDL-55HX925 is powered on for the first time, you’re prompted to run through a digital TV channel scan and to set up the television’s networking features. As befits the most expensive and feature-packed model in Sony’s line-up, the HX925 has inbuilt Wi-Fi and integrated Ethernet networking, so you can opt for whichever is more convenient. We chose Wi-Fi to cut out having to connect another cable to the back of the TV — it’s 802.11n so there are no problems with streaming high quality video through Sony Internet TV or downloading content through the TV’s BRAVIA Internet Video service.

Toshiba 46SL417U LED HDTV Review: An All-Around Average TV

Administrator — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 07:44:50 +0000

Toshiba Consumer Electronics Toshiba 46″ SL417U LED HDTV, 120Hz 46SL417U Review, by Yardena Arar July 26, 2011

With a decent 46-inch 120Hz LED-backlit display, a pretty good media player, and support for Yahoo Widgets, Netflix, Vudu, and a few other top-tier commercial on-demand Web services, the Toshiba 46SL417U enters the midsize connected-HDTV fray in style. But the field is tough these days, and with a street price of just under $1100 (as of June 9, 2011), the 46SL417U faces stiff competition from highly rated models (some with 3D support, which this set lacks) at a similar or somewhat lower price.

It’s not so much that this set has any major problems. It’s just that the 46SL417U has a slew of design annoyances, and while nothing in our juried image-quality tests raised a huge red flag, nothing in the results made this HDTV particularly compelling, either. It scored pretty much straight down the middle, earning average ratings of Good for contrast, color tones, and handling of motion and detail. Judges generally liked the way it handled our recorded high-def video clips, but a few found its DVD and Blu-ray videos a tad oversaturated, and they remarked on the loss of detail in a test clip from the Blu-ray version of The Dark Knight. And while it aced our motion benchmarks, we saw considerable stuttering in our diagonal-panning test.

The 46SL417U is very energy efficient: In our tests it consumed 63.6 watts per hour when turned on, and registered no noticeable consumption when powered down, earning a green score of 87 percent, which we rate as Very Good.

With a shiny black bezel and pedestal, the set’s design is fairly typical, although the top edge of the bezel is significantly wider than that of most current sets. For some reason Toshiba placed a turquoise blue Energy Star sticker on the lower-left corner of the bezel, and it’s a bit distracting there.

Ports sit along two sides of a recessed area in the back, facing either down or sideways, a design intended to facilitate cable management for wall-mounted panels. However, the arrangement can also make it difficult to line up and insert a thick cable, especially with the downward-facing ports, which include coax (for cable or antenna), ethernet, digital audio out, PC (RGB) video and audio inputs (the latter can double as a component-video or DVI-audio input), and an HDMI port.

The side-facing lineup, from the top, includes two USB ports; one component-video input (requiring use of an included adapter cable); two shared audio/composite-video inputs, which also use provided adapter cables (you choose the appropriate AV source–component audio, composite AV, or DVI audio via one of the HDMI ports–in the set’s software menu); an analog stereo-audio output; and three HDMI ports.

Obviously the use of adapter cables for component and composite hookups can be confusing, especially since you also have to take the extra step of specifying the input type through the HDTV’s software menu, but it is a way to help minimize cable clutter if you want to mount the 46SL417U on a wall. Toshiba provides a helpful printed manual, along with a small but useful quick-setup sheet showing how to connect the various cables.

A fairly standard first-time wizard guides you through the usual setup routine in which you specify language, time zone and Daylight Savings Time status, location (home versus store), and the video source for the coax cable (cable TV versus antenna), after which the channel-scanning process starts.

The first-time wizard does not address image quality or network setup, however. For those items, you must go into the on-screen menu using the 46SL417U’s remote–a long, snazzy-looking curved affair on which most of the buttons are set into a shiny black surface slapped on top of a silvery base that sticks out at the bottom. Unfortunately, the remote suffers from several usability issues: Some buttons, including the color-coded context-sensitive buttons (a fixture on most advanced remotes), are way too tiny; the remote has no backlight; and the button for changing inputs isn’t conveniently located.

The 46SL417U’s remote can control up to three additional devices via buttons labeled Cable/Satellite, DVD/BD (Blu-ray), and Auxiliary. By default, the first two buttons are programmed to control, respectively, a Toshiba satellite dish and a Toshiba Blu-ray Disc player, while the last button is set to control an Onkyo home theater audio system. You can reprogram all of the buttons to control other devices.

Toshiba’s menu system is well organized and easy to follow, with five top-level categories (Network, Media Player, Wallpaper, Timer, and Settings). The largest menu item, Settings, contains submenus for Picture, Sound, Applications, and Preferences (a catchall that leads to parental controls, the aforementioned shared port settings, setup for Netflix and Vudu, channel-browser editing, and so forth).

The Picture menu provides a fair number of user controls for image quality, starting with seven presets: sports, standard, two movie settings, game, PC, and something called AutoView, which is supposed to adjust brightness, contrast, and the like based on content and ambient-lighting conditions. Toshiba’s on-screen menus don’t provide any explanations for these controls and other settings (how the two movie settings differ, for example), but the HDTV does do something that may be even more helpful: It moves the menu item to the bottom of the screen and lets you see what the setting does to the image.

Beyond basic image controls, Toshiba provides two additional submenus for more fine-tuning. Under Advanced, you get a slew of options including an edge enhancer, dynamic contrast adjustment, a couple of settings for improving black tones, a couple of controls to address motion artifacts, noise adjustment, backlighting controls (including one based on ambient-light conditions), and color-adjustment controls.

The Expert settings, meanwhile, include a test pattern (which some owners might prefer to use instead of TV video when making other adjustments), a fairly sophisticated set of controls for white balance (including the ability to copy your final settings to all inputs), and color-temperature controls. You’ll notice, however, that many picture controls are grayed out for certain inputs or if certain presets are in use.

The set’s audio controls are fairly basic, although they do give you a volume leveler that addresses the problem of some content (ads, for example) playing at much higher volume than other content. The 46SL417U has no specific control for simulated surround sound, and although the manual says that two other controls labeled Voice Enhancement and Dynamic Bass Boost accomplish the same effect, I was generally unimpressed by the audio that the set’s integrated 10-watt stereo speakers produced. The sound just didn’t seem loud or immersive, even when turned up to full volume.

Network setup is fairly easy. In addition to its ethernet port, the 46SL417U has built-in support for both 2.4GHz and 5GHz Wi-Fi networks. (A wired connection is best, but if that’s not possible, I strongly recommend 5GHz Wi-Fi for use with Web services since the more heavily used 2.4GHz band suffers from limited bandwidth; in my tests of this HDTV, YouTube videos were pretty much unplayable over 2.4GHz Wi-Fi.)

The 46SL417U’s support for Web media isn’t the most extensive I’ve seen, but it does hit the high points, with support for Blockbuster, Cinema Now, Netflix, Pandora, Vudu (HD movies on demand), YouTube, and other assorted services via the ubiquitous Yahoo Widgets. Additionally, the set lets you play music, view videos, and watch still images, stored either on a USB flash drive or on a DLNA server on your home network. File-format support for music and video is pretty good; interestingly, the set supports more formats for playback from a DLNA server than from a USB thumb drive (for example, you can play a Windows Media video from a server but not a thumb drive). As for still images, the HDTV supports only .jpg files, but you can set up a slideshow with background music.

Overall, the Toshiba 46SL417U 46-inch HDTV shapes up as a decent midrange set, with a midrange price, good (but not great) image quality, and satisfactory (but not outstanding) Web and media-player features. It’s the kind of HDTV you may want to snap up if you encounter a good sale; otherwise, you’ll want to look closely at competitors that might offer superior image quality, better design, or more features at a similar price.

Samsung Smart TVs to make life smarter

Administrator — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 09:59:18 +0000

The pioneer in the electronics industry in Oman SARCO has launched the full range of interactive Samsung Smart TVs to make ‘smarter life’ a reality!
With this latest innovation in TV technology, Samsung presents never-before-seen ‘Smart’ functionality, enhanced 3D capabilities and breakthrough product designs.
Ajay Ganti, CEO of SARCO says, “With the launch of the new Smart TV line-up across the LED and Plasma platforms that seek to provide a smarter, more connected viewing experience to consumers the new series
from Samsung will fill the long felt void among top-end TV viewers.
Available across the LED D5500, D6000, D7000 and D8000 series as well as the D8000 Plasma series, Samsung Smart TVs allow viewers to easily search for movies, TV shows, browse the web, explore Samsung applications, chat with friends and find many other types of new interactive TV content. ”
Samsung Smart TVs now feature the convenience of Samsung’s Smart Hub — offering an easily accessible gateway to favourite music, games, movies, TV shows, pictures and virtually any content online or on a network connected storage device.
Now viewers can download various Apps to search for TV content while watching live TV, to surf the web on their TV, stay connected with friends and family, find movie recommendations and so much more.
Features include Your Video — which delivers recommendations based on a user’s viewing history; Search All — which makes it easier to search for desired content on your TV and other DLNA-certified connected media storage devices, networked PC and mobile devices, and Internet and video-on-demand services; Web Browser, which offers full web browsing right from your TV; Social TV — which makes it easier to chat with friends and family in real-time while watching the same TV content; and Samsung Apps — the world’s first HDTV-based application store offering about 400 paid and free apps globally that help people connect to their various passions — whether in sports, entertainment, information, games or social networking, thanks to
integration with social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and Google Talk.
The new LED and Plasma TVs sport new, ultra-thin bezels alongside richer connected entertainment options and Smart Hub functionality. To provide a minimalistic, more immersive viewing experience, Samsung’s LED-D8000, D7000 and D6600 series are virtually edgeless.
Featuring a super narrow bezel, the TVs offer a larger screen size without increasing the overall size of the TV, and blend more harmoniously with their surroundings when turned off.
In addition, Samsung’s new Plasma TVs feature the company’s cutting-edge Plasma +1 design, which add 1” of additional viewable screen — giving consumers access to a larger viewing area without increasing the size of the TV.
Further on the new Samsung Smart TV range, Ajay Ganti said, “Samsung has launched a range of 12 Smart television models in the screen sizes between 40” to 60” across Series D5500, D6000, D7000 and D8000. The D8000 Plasma is available in 64” screen”.

Samsung Series 8 LED TV review

Administrator — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 09:58:03 +0000

If we had one gripe with the Samsung Series 8, it would be that its price is too high and the screen sizes on offer are limited. The Series 8 plasma looks almost as good, is a bit cheaper and offers larger screen sizes. Considered on its own, the Samsung Series 8 is one of the best LED TVs we’ve seen.

The Series 8 is Samsung’s top-tier LED TV, with all the features of lesser TVs like the Series 7 and Series 6 as well as boosts to picture quality and video processing. If you can afford to pay for it it’s an excellent TV with no crippling flaws — the few problems are mainly restricted to the TV’s Web features. However, its Series 8 plasma rival has almost equal picture quality and offers larger screen sizes.

Samsung Series 8 3D LED TV: Design

The Series 8 looks just like its Series 8 plasma sibling, apart from a much thinner bezel around its 55in screen. The 5mm thick chromed bezel blends into the space behind the television, so in a dimly-lit room the Series 8’s screen stands out. It’s a very modern-looking TV — times have changed since chunky piano black LCD TVs dominated the market two years ago. The Loewe-esque four-legged stand is a feature we have liked on Samsung’s TVs since 2010, so we’re happy to see the trend continuing here.

At 29.7mm thick the Series 8 is a reasonably slim TV. It’s not as stunning as the Series 9 LED TV from 2010, which was thinner than a pencil, but we think the Series 8 would look great mounted against a wall with Samsung’s thin picture-frame wall mount.

The Samsung Series 8 is bundled with a novel remote control, which has a standard remote control layout on one side and a QWERTY tactile keyboard on the other. The QWERTY keyboard makes entering Web addresses or router passwords much easier than the traditional remote control keypad, and we like its inclusion even though we think it’ll get minimal day-to-day use. We did have some trouble getting used to flipping it over when a text-friendly prompt came up, and we found we had to be within a few metres of the TV to use it.

Samsung Series 8 3D LED TV: Connectivity

Just like the Series 8 plasma, the Series 8 LED has four HDMI ports, a couple of USB 2.0 connectors, Ethernet, built-in Wi-Fi, digital audio out, VGA and break-out ports for component and composite video. The TV’s active shutter 3D glasses sync up through an inbuilt infrared transmitter.

We don’t think there’s anything major missing here, but a couple more USB 2.0 ports on the Samsung Series 8 would be nice — then you could attach a USB hard drive permanently to the TV to store a music or movie library.

Samsung Series 8 3D LED TV: Features

If you get hung up on what extra features you get with your high-end TV, Samsung’s got you covered. The Series 8 has, by our reckoning, the best Web features of any TV on the market at the moment. Sony’s Internet TV beats out the Samsung setup in the sheer number of video services on offer, though.

The iOS-like grid layout of Samsung’s Smart Hub is easy to navigate, and Samsung’s App Store equivalent lets you pick and choose what services you want your TV to access. Like any marketplace there are bad eggs (Twitter and Facebook are much easier to use on a real PC) and good ones (Google Maps is fun on a big screen, and BigPond Movies on Demand is convenient), but the freedom to add or remove apps is excellent — if this ‘smart TV’ trend continues, we think it’s something all manufacuters should do.

The Series 8 is one of only a few Samsung TVs with a built-in Web browser. Used in conjunction with the QWERTY remote, it’s serviceable enough if you’re too slothful to get up off the couch and go to a computer. It also supports a variety of rich Internet protocols like HTML5 and Flash, so you’re not going to have a gimped browsing experience. Microsoft’s Silverlight protocol is missing but we didn’t find this an issue. At the end of the day, you’re still going to get a better Web browser in a PC.

Samsung Series 8 3D LED TV: Picture quality

Samsung’s high-end TVs have always impressed us with their excellent detail and colour, especially the LED models and especially when displaying High Definition content. The Series 8 LED TV continues that trend and takes it slightly further than last year’s Series 7. The changes aren’t mind-blowing, but we didn’t expect them to be considering Samsung was working from such a high quality template.

The Series 8 is the only LED model in Samsung’s 2011 LED TV range to feature local dimming, where the TV’s LED edge-lights can dim individually to control the brightness in different areas of the screen. This theoretically allows deep blacks alongside bright whites and while it doesn’t have the same pin-point lighting accuracy as a plasma TV, the system works well. It’s only a problem when there are small areas of bright white light against a dark background, like rolling movie credits.

After running through Terminator: Salvation and The Dark Knight a few times and adjusting the TV’s settings from the Cinema preset (it’s the best preset, but you can still make it look better by lowering the brightness to suit your room and dropping sharpness slightly), we were consistently impressed with the picture quality and detail that the Samsung Series 8’s 55in panel displayed. It’s the most detailed TV we’ve seen when viewing Full HD video — Blu-rays look excellent.

Standard definition up-scaling of DVD and YouTube and other low resolution content is reasonable, but it’s not as clean or as sharp as the pictures we saw from the Sony BRAVIA HX820. This means that day-to-day digital TV looks marginally better on the Sony than the Samsung.

The one fault we could find with the Samsung Series 8’s picture quality was some bloom in the lower left and right corners of the screen on a black background — patches of extra brightness where the TV’s LED edge-lighting sits. We’ve seen this before on edge-lit LED TVs of all brands and all sizes, so it’s not an issue confined to this particular TV. If you want to avoid it, buy a plasma.

3D viewing is, to our eyes, marginally improved from last year’s TVs. There’s less cross-talk, where each eye sees a slight double-edge on 3D surfaces, and the effect seems to be stronger overall — perhaps a function of Samsung’s newer, lighter, brighter 3D glasses. We played through Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs and some ocean documentaries and found the 3D effect to be generally acceptable. We’ve never experienced nausea while watching 3D TV and the Samsung Series 8 didn’t start our stomachs churning.

Building on its success in LED-backlight TVs

Administrator — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 09:56:44 +0000

Vizio, a leading supplier of LED-backlit LCD HDTVs, announced it will enter the LED lighting market with a series of replacement lamps using LEDs supplied by Epistar and Seoul Semiconductor.

Vizio’s LED lamps are recyclable, and feature a glass-free design to prohibit shattering. The LED lamps are designed to give off a warm hue of light, reminiscent of a natural source. The LEDs product line (see table) will feature triple the lifespan of compact fluorescent bulbs, with up to 25,000 hours of usage. Vizio plans to enter the market in late Q4 of this year.

Model	Type	Replacement Wattage (W)	Power Consumption (W)	Light Output (Lm)	Lumen per Watt (Lm/w)	Color Accuracy (CRI)	Light Color (K)	Rated Life (Hr)	Dimmable
LRB40A19	A19	40	8.5	450	53	90	3000	50,000	Yes
LRB60A19	A19	60	12.5	800	64	90	2700	25,000	Yes
LRF90PAR38	PAR38 Flood	90	18	980	54	90	2700	25,000	Yes
LRF75PAR30	PAR30 Flood	75	15	850	57	90	2700	25,000	Yes
LRS50PAR20	PAR20 Spot	50	8	320	40	90	2700	25,000	Yes
LRS35MR16	MR16 Spot	35	10	420	42	90	2700	25,000	Yes

Vizio high-efficiency LED lighting product collection

Vizio’s partners in the LED lighting space include Epistar and Seoul Semiconductor, two of the world’s top-ten suppliers of LED lighting. “This is a natural progression for Vizio beyond consumer electronics. We look forward to Vizio applying its innovation, marketing and distribution channels to save American consumers even more with its new line of LED lighting,” said Donald Leo, Vice President of Seoul Semiconductor.

“Vizio’s expansion into the LED lighting market stands to challenge the convention in the same way that it has had in the flat-panel television market,” said B.J. Lee, Chairman of Epistar.

As North America’s largest shipper of LED-backlit HDTVs, Vizio realized a 2000% growth in total shipments year over year, with over 2 million units shipped in 2010. From 2009 – 2010, the company’s contribution to energy savings (based on power consumption of 2009 vs. 2010 Vizio HDTV models at an estimated savings of 280,000 MWh/yr) could be viewed as equivalent to the energy needed to power the city of Las Vegas for more than a year.

According to the US Energy Information Administration, the residential sector general service light (A19 type) bulb purchase rate of LEDs will increase approximately 300% between 2010 and 2015 to 100 million units.

LED driver IC sales in future

Administrator — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 09:52:04 +0000

LED driver IC sales will reach nearly $3.5 billion in 2015 from nearly $2 billion in 2010, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12%, according to Mountain View, CA-based market research firm Strategies Unlimited.

These are among the findings in Strategies Unlimited’s new report “LED Driver ICs – 2011.” Sales for LCD backlights will dominate through the period, with growth from edge-lit TVs and monitors. LED lighting applications will be the “next big thing” for LED drivers and driver ICs, beginning with LED replacement bulbs, as a response to improvements in technology and the phase-out of incandescent bulbs.

LED driver IC revenues are threatened, however, by continued integration into fewer ICs, as well as by competition from organic LEDs (OLEDs), compact fluorescent lamps, and other technologies.

Severe price erosion for driver ICs will limit the revenue growth as volumes increase, but new, higher-priced ICs are appearing that reduce the overall bill of materials and also help maintain the average price of the ICs.

Also, AC-LED products minimize the driver and some eliminate the driver IC, but will not have a significant impact on overall revenues through the period, and may even help accelerate adoption of LED lighting.

Lighting market

The production value of drivers for lighting will see strong 40% compound annual growth through the period. The driver is defined as the entire LED circuit, including the driver IC but excluding the LEDs. Innovations in driver design will help take LED lighting mainstream, but the market will quickly shake out those who cannot meet strict goals for dimming, efficiency, power factor, and price.

To meet these goals, large and small companies are bringing innovations to market, such as digital control and novel high-voltage designs. Industry and government are moving toward more standardized specifications that will reduce manufacturing costs and accelerate adoption.

The top 10 LED driver IC suppliers hold more than 55% of revenues, with about 30 IC suppliers and captive manufacturers sharing the other 44%. With the acquisition of National Semiconductor by Texas Instruments, TI is now the number one supplier of LED driver ICs. Winners will be those who can keep delivering innovative products at competitive prices. Fabrication with leading-edge, high-voltage BCD processes and 8-inch (or larger) wafers will play a key role.

Report details

“LED Driver ICs – 2011” is the latest in a series of reports from Strategies Unlimited on LEDs and LED lighting. It takes a fresh look at the LED driver electronics market, with more than 300 pages of detail on technology and application trends. It is a revision of an earlier report, with perspectives on the LED applications, driver technology, requirements on the drivers and driver ICs, and findings on suppliers and market shares. It provides unit, price, and revenue forecasts to 2015 for all LED driver IC segments, and for the overall driver for LED lighting.

A cheap 24in Full HD LED TV with good picture quality

Administrator — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 09:50:07 +0000

Grundig’s Vanto GLED2407HDC LED TV is reasonably priced for a small-screen TV, and has good picture quality as well as a slim design and good energy efficiency. Unless you have a pressing need for the Internet features offered by new TVs from big brands like Samsung and Sony, we can’t see any reason not to buy this TV if you’re looking for a small screen in the bedroom or office.

Grundig Vanto GLED2407HDC LED TV: Design, features and power

The materials the Grundig Vanto GLED2407HDC are constructed of feel slightly cheap — the plastic bezel around the screen is a bit tacky and easily picks up fingerprints, for example, and the base of the TV’s stand is a simple square of glass — but the TV is solid and doesn’t feel flimsy when standing. The stand swivels over a small range.

We don’t think you’ll be using the Vanto GLED2407HDC with a huge range of digital TV devices, but there are single inputs for HDMI, composite, component and VGA. You can also connect a home theatre system via coaxial digital audio. A USB port also allows a small range of media files to be played back, with support for MP3, WMA and JPEG. If you’ve got a large enough USB memory stick you can also record digital TV and play it back later through the Vanto GLED2407HDC.

The Grundig Vanto GLED2407HDC is very light on power — it has the enviable combination of a small screen and efficient LED edge-lighting. According to Grundig, running the Vanto GLED2407HDC for ten hours a day for ten years would only cost $204. At 40W max power consumption it’s more efficient than even a laptop computer or incandescent light bulb, so we doubt you’d notice a big impact on your power bill. When we tested the Grundig Vanto GLED2407HDC on a power meter and took an average power reading over an hour of TV, it sat at 37W.

Grundig Vanto GLED2407HDC LED TV: Picture quality

The Grundig Vanto GLED2407HDC is a Full HD 1080p 24in panel, and Grundig quotes a 1000:1 contrast ratio. In practice this means when you’re playing a Blu-ray movie or watching an HD digital TV channel, the amount of detail you can see on-screen is impressive. The screen does need a fair bit of tweaking from its default settings to display the best picture quality — we dropped sharpness significantly, as well as lowering brightness and contrast. When we ran through our test Blu-ray movies of The Dark Knight and Terminator: Salvation, we were happy with the amount of detail that could be seen and the colour and contrast of the movies.

The screen did struggle a little with the opening scenes of The Dark Knight where pin-pricks of bright white light are contrasted against a deep black background — but this is common to almost all LCD and LED TVs. Apart from this one foible, the Grundig Vanto GLED2407HDC does a good job of displaying video. Only a small amount of detail is lost in especially bright and especially dark areas of the screen.

Grundig Vanto GLED2407HDC LED TV: Conclusion

When we tested the Vanto GLED2407HDC, we thought it had good picture quality as well as good power efficiency. It is reasonably cheap even at its recommended retail price, so if you can find it discounted it’s an even better deal.