Category: HDTV
Sky+ HD box sold every 30 seconds, claim Sky
Sky has seen subscriptions to its HD service rise to 1.6 million.
Ofcom okays wireless HD for UK TVs
Goodbye expensive HDMI cables, hello even more expensive TVs. Ofcom has agreed to free up some of the UK electromagentic spectrum to allow us to stream high definition content wirelessly in our homes.
What this means for you and I is that we’ll no longer have to have cables between our TVs and BD players/set top boxes. Instead there’ll be really expense transmitters and receivers buried in our already expensive hardware and, although I’m not willing to pay to rid my house of a few short ties, I do like the idea of streaming downloaded HD content straight from my PC. Plus any system that allows me to use the Asus Keyboard would make me a very happy mangeek. Oh, and just in case you’re worried, there’s no compression involved.
What I like best about this story, though, is how Ofcom has done it. They’ve basically just made an announcement and then said they’ll free up the small 57GHz-66GHz part of the spectrum by the end of the week. Seems pretty quick. I wonder if I could get myself a couple of GHz of airwave real estate? Sounds like Ofcom might have some down the back of the sofa.
(via Digital Spy)
Virgin Media takes its HD channel count up to five
Sky has held the HD monopoly for all too long now but, as of this month, Virgin Media is hitting back. Today, Branson TV has announced four more channels in high definition in the shape of FX, National Geographic, Living and MTV Networks to sit alongside BBC HD and all their HD on demand viewing.
Now, on the surface, these don’t sound like the most scintillating additions but it means Grey’s Anatomy, Dexter, the Wire, CSI, True Blood and Family Guy in HD as well as the intriguing prospect of Next Top Model. I’m not sure exactly how many of these programmes were shot in HD in the first place and I doubt you’ll get much out of a hi-def version of Family Guy but I’m sure the nature broadcasts on Nat. Geo. will look great.
If you’re a Virgin XL customer, then it’s all available at no extra cost from the end of July and there’s also a very good chance that they’ll be adding Good Food HD shortly too.
Still a long way to go before they catch up with Sky but not a bad offering all things considered.
Virgin XL
REVIEW: LG 42LH5000 – 200Hz 42-inch LCD TV
Over the last month or so, I’ve had the pleasure of having LG’s 42LH5000 television in my living room. There’s plenty to like about this, LG’s first 200Hz LCD, so read on for the full review.
First of all, let’s talk styling. The 42LH5000 will fit comfortably in pretty much any living room, unless it’s bright pink with “Hello Kitty” curtains. A transparent plastic ‘halo’ around the screen suits it nicely, with only a slight dip that indicates where the power button is to spoil the lines.
Although you can tilt it 20 degrees or so left and right, you can’t tilt it up or down. Happily, I didn’t have any issues with viewing angle, so that wasn’t an issue, but if you’re planning to mount it high or low, it might be worth some consideration.
A sensor on the front will adjust the brightness of the display to match ambient light, which works well. I only had one issue with the feature, on a stormy day when the television kept adjusting up and down, having difficulty working out the strange light of just before a thunderstorm.
The UI, luckily, allows you to turn this feature off if you want to. It’s a good UI too – clearly laid out and sensible. You can generally find what you’re looking for without having to resort to the manual.
The TV is also packed with environmentally friendly features. The fact that it consumes 210W typically while running isn’t that great, but a physical on-off switch, easily dimmable display, and even the ability to turn the display off entirely if you’re just listening to the radio, are all very welcome.
The built-in freeview tuner looks exactly how you’d expect it to – fine for soaps or documentaries, but a little lackluster for news, sports, action movies or anything else with fast-paced action going on. Plug in an HD source, however, and all that changes.
In HD, the picture is bright, clear and vibrant, even before applying any scene-specific image processing. The contrast is perfectly acceptable for most applications, but more muted scenes suffered a little from a lack of definition. There wasn’t quite enough detail in the shadow for my liking.
Beware if you’re wanting to plug in a Wii or a similar 480p source. The upscaling that the TV has to do to get it to fit the screen means that there’s horrible lag between your input and the image. It’s most noticible in rhythm games like Guitar Hero (which thankfully lets you compensate in the game’s settings), but this TV is very poor – even in game mode – at rendering the Wii’s signal on the larger resolution display.
I also encountered a little bit of picture corruption from time to time when turning it on. Vertical lines would appear, on all input sources, maybe one in 10 times that we powered up. They disappeared within sixty seconds, but it was still a little unnerving.
One of the 42LH5000’s best features is its USB port. You can plug in a portable hard drive or flash memory stick and watch any music, video or photo content that resides upon it, with minimal worries about codec support. I only encountered one video that wouldn’t play, and a quick bit of conversion on my PC sorted that out.
The sound is acceptable. Punchy stereo speakers give more than enough volume, though there isn’t an audio-out, so you’ll need to use the headphone socket if you want to plug it into a stereo.
On the whole, though, some minor picture quibbles aren’t enough to stop me from recommending the 42LH5000 to an average buyer. If you’re plugging in an HD source, expect it to look fantastic, particularly with the 200Hz refresh rate. Beware if you’re a heavy Wii gamer, because the lag proved irritating, but the majority of buyers would be very happy with LG’s latest effort.
You can pick up the LG 42LH5000 for £899 from Currys or about £100 pounds cheaper from somewhere slightly shadier.
Freeview HD gets launch date
The launch date for Freeview HD has been revealed as 2nd December. That is the date in which Multiplex B – the multiplex that is being utilised for HD transmissions goes live at the Winter Hill transmitter. Put simply, this means that Freeview HD will be available to the Winter Hill areas of Liverpool and Manchester.
The plan is to increase the Freeview HD transmissions in the first half of next year. The Crystal Palace transmitter, which covers much of London, may also be upgraded in December – even though the proposed date for this, according to Ofcom, is 2012.
Graham Plumb, head of distribution technology at the BBC stated that Ofcom’s dates were merely a “backstop contingency”.
Earlier this month we told you how Five had been added to the Freeview HD line-up alongside the BBC, ITV and Channel 4. Users will need a HD Freeview box to receive the channels as the HD content will not be decoded by existing Freeview equipment. Some TVs, such as the Sony W4000 and the Loewe Connect, already have the hardware in order to do this though, without the need for a box.
(via BBC blog)
Asus Keyboard streams HD video to your TV
While Asus was busy launching every laptop under the sun, their marketing executive, John Swatton, confirmed to Tech Digest (me) when the infamous Asus Keyboard will be landing and what it’s actually for.
The self-sufficient computer-in-a-keyboard conundrum is supposed to be a controllable media centre primarily for your living room but, in practice, could be as portably useful as you want it to be.
It will stream HD content, stored on its 32 GB SSD, via a wide-band HDMI standard to your TV, a monitor or just about anything else with a panel. At the same time, you can use the built-in 5-inch touchscreen to do your e-mails, your shopping or whatever else you like in front if the box.
It all sounds quite fun and the main reason it’s taken since CES to get the product to market is because Asus hasn’t been too sure what it was all about either and to create another niche – as they did with the Eee PC – you’ve really go to have some idea of the best environment to put your innovation.
Seeing as no-one else is sitting on anything quite like the Keyboard, the Taiwanese tech master has had the luxury of time to perfect their latest product but the company memo seems to be that the end of August is the date we’ll all be getting a look. Can’t wait.
Asus Lamborghini VX5 preview:
CEDIA 2009: JVC shows off GD-463D10 Full HD 3DTV
JVC uncovered a protoype of a 46″ psuedo-high definition 3DTV at the CEDIA exhibition today called the GD-463D10. Cacthy. The set uses polarized light to create a steroscopic image with each alternate line of pixels emitting light in a different direction.
What then happens is that your glasses – yes, you do have to wear them – decode the half the set of pixels with the right lens, producing one angle of the image, and the other set of pixels with the left lens, producing the same image from a different angle. The two images together then give you a 3D perspective of the broadcast/playback.
Now, I call it pseudo-HD because if all 1080 horizontal lines aren’t forming the exact same image, then it’s not quite authentic but once you get the googles on – as modelled here by by Kat from T3 and Marc from Tech Radar – you’ll be too busy thinking about the depth than you will the exact perfection of the resolution which is very good all the same.
The set itself, strictly a monitor, offers a static contrast ratio of 2,000:1 (10,000:1 dynamic) and a very normal viewing of 178 degrees. JVC is only going to make 2,000 of them for sale and they’re likely to cost and an appropriately 3D eye-popping £8,000. Don’t worry, though, you’ll have some time to save up while JVC waits for the Blu-ray 3D standard to be decided before bring the TV to the market.
REVIEW: Philips Cinema 21:9 LCD TV
Short Version
Name: Philips Cinema 21:9
Type: 56″ superwidescreen LCD TV
Specs:
- Dynamic contrast – 80,000:1
- Resolution – Full HD (2560 x 1080p)
- Response Time – 1ms
- Frame Rate – 200Hz
- Viewing Angle – 176º vertical and horizontal
- Connectivity – 4 x HDMI 1.3, 2 x Scart, USB, Ethernet, Wi-Fi 802.11g
- Speakers – 2 x subwoofers, 2 x dome tweeters
- Features – Net TV, Ambilight, Pixel Perfect Engine, Anti-reflective glass
How much does it cost?: £4,500
How much should it cost?: £3,500
Should I buy it?: The short answer is yes. It doesn’t represent great value and the picture isn’t as perfect as the money sounds but it’s an awesome TV. You’re paying the extra for the unique design and the swaggering step of an early adopter.
Long Version
First Impressions
This was one of those reviews that a blogger/journo gets very excited about. It’s not everyday you get to take a private, close-up look at a potential game-changer – particularly in the TV world.
The first thing you notice is that it’s big. It’s really big, and it looks even bigger because it’s such a long, narrow shape. Think carefully before you buy it because it takes a special room to accommodate it properly. A dedicated cinema room will probably be the home of the bulk of Philips Cinema 21:9s sold.
You get used to the shape in minutes and when you turn back to a standard widescreen, it’ll look boxy as hell.
The Cinema 21:9 is just that. It’s a cinema screen and once that’s in you head, it’s a very comfortable watch.
Picture
There’s only one way to test out a cinema screen and that’s with blockbuster Blu-rays. So, first up stuck on the beginning of I Am Legend for some fast paced action to test out the frame rate and response time and later the Dark Knight for the colour and light levels.
The level of detail of the picture you get is frightening. The expression of the Full HD resolution is unbelievably real, the edges of objects and actors so sharp that they almost seem to bend out at you as if in 3D. It’s apparently an optical illusion or so I hear.
The second point about it is that some films almost look like they’re home movies. Now, I know that sounds like a bad thing to say but it isn’t. It’s not a poor fuzzy picture quality I’m talking about. It’s a stripped down Hollywood laid bare feel. There’s little glossiness and softness left. Pictures are raw. Actors looks like real people in that way that Tyra Banks famously complained about High Definition. You can see every blemish and, on this TV, in such size. It takes a little getting used to but it’s part of the whole wonder of the experience.
The 200Hz frame rate and 1ms response time are perfect. Not a blur, ghost nor judder in sight and nor would you expect one on such a premium panel. The hunting scene at the beginning of I Am Legend was spot on. I was right into the fast-paced chase from start to finish.
Again, the Dark Knight was a joy to behold but there were two problems that arose when watching this film. The first is that the Dark Knight is shot in both 16:9 and true cinema 21:9 which meant that from scene to scene the Philips auto screen size sensor would flip in and out to adjust to the correct size.
The idea of the 21:9 is, of course, that you don’t get any black bars at the top and bottom of your picture. That’s fine when something’s shot in 21:9 but at other sizes, the sensor will fit the image to the screen sometimes with a very slight cropping of the image.
I didn’t find the cropping a problem with 16:9. You really don’t notice it, but it frustrates me to say that, at the time, I didn’t think to try it out with a normal 4:3 television broadcast.
I’d be disappointed if Philips hadn’t figured out an algorithm to make that work and, at the least, you can always watch TV without the sensor off and black bars to the left and right – big chunky ones might they be.
The other issue, and the reason it’s always worth testing with gothic look films, is the black levels. This is the one real thorn in the side of the 21:9. They’re not great. This isn’t an LED TV, it’s relatively tradiontal tube backlight technology and there is a degree of light spill when we’re talking about such big bulbs.
It’s not something you’d nornally have a problem with but in dark scenes, of which there are many in Batman films, the blacks tend to look a little unform and flat. You could see the folds on Comissioner Gordon’s dark suit on the nighttime roof tops when you know that they should be there. It’s a bit of a shame but it won’t ruin your experience.
Features
The best, and most Philipsy, feature of this set is the Ambilight Spectra 3 system. For those unfamiliar, it’s a system of LEDs at the back of the panel that projects the colour of whatever it is you’re watching onto the wall behind. Philips says it extends the picture. I’m not sure about that but it is a really cool effect and I’d opt for a TV with an Ambilight if you can. It really brings a sense of atmosphere.
The anti-reflection glass and the eight-day EPG are worth a mention while we’re here. The former works. There’s not a lot more you can say about it. I was never aware of a reflection problem. No glare at all. The latter is smooth, clear and well implemented.
The whole menu system on the Cinema 21:9 is in line with the same house style of all Philips products. There’s a Symbiam 60ness about it. It’s straighfoward and easy to navigate around all the menus of the set and it’s largely icon based; on the friendly side but without going too far into the relams of cartoon. You’ve paid too much money for this to look childish.
The last point I’ll mention is the sound. Now, it’s unlikely that anyone buying this TV isn’t going to go the whole hog and invest some more cash in a proper home cinema set up, but if your amp goes on the fritz or your surround sound speakers pop, you’ll be perfectly happpy with what the Cinema 21:9 can offer while you get it all fixed. It’s got good clear top end and nice, rich, heart-pounding base.
Conclusions
There’s no two ways about it. The Philips Cinema 21:9 is a great TV. The picture is excellent apart from the blacks issue and if it weren’t for that I’d call it a must. All the same, what you’re buying into is something altogether unique. No one else you know is going to have anything like this, at least not for another year and half.
The time will come when more manufacturers make their own version of this orginal cinema shape and when that time comes there’ll be better panels and cheapers ones too. Philips themselves will doubtless improve on what they’ve already done. But until that time, you’re going to have to pay a premium for this luxury item and, for now, that premiums worth it – even if the picture does have its faults.
Philips Cinema 21:9 Video Preview
Should I buy an OLED TV or stick with LCD and plasma?
There’s a new display technology in town — OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) — and it could be coming to a large TV near you very soon.
Plenty of big-name manufacturers have already produced OLED TVs, and others are promising to have sets available within the next couple of years.
OLED has a lot of very attractive characteristics meaning it can has the potential to power large, bright, thin, energy-efficient televisions. Then again, LCD and plasma TVs currently rule the roost and are no pushovers when it comes to features.
Should you buy an OLED TV? Let’s take a look…
CHEAP DEAL: 42" Full HD LCD TV at Tesco for under 500 quid
I’m not going to tell you this is the world’s best TV. It isn’t. It’s got a pretty modest contrast ratio of 1,300:1 and a lot of people will tell you that contrast is the most important feature of any panel. However, it’s very hard to complain when the 42″ Technika LCD42-910 only costs you 500 pounds.
It’s a stylishly slim 6cm deep, without the stand, which is probably where you’re getting the best value, but don’t ignore the fact that it’s got a very healthy 100Hz frame rate and a response time time of just 8ms, so you’re unlikely to suffer from ghosting, blurring and juddering picture problems.
It is a 1080p resolution picture, so provided you’re watching through an HD box or Blu-ray or such, you will be getting Full HD viewing. Technika doesn’t’ even stiff you round the back either with four HDMI sockets.
Tesco has reduced the set by 200 pounds and, so long as you can live with the compromised colour palate, then it could well be time to get your wallet out.
Buy it here
