OLED now up to 55” thanks to LG, to be teased at CES 2012
Posted Monday, December 26, 2011 at 6:32 pm by Jason Cartwright
LG have done it, the world’s first 55” OLED HDTV. The technology that one day could replace LCD, has been a long time coming and is usually limited to around 20” at best. The technology provides superior power consumption, ,thinner, better black levels, and better response times, but with a screen that’s better in almost every way, price is the barrier.
Most of us are familiar with the the early adopters tax, but this one doesn’t even come with a price tag. The equation is probably best summed up by an Engadget commenter – “I would buy a 100-inch LCD TV over a 55-inch OLED TV for the same price.”
That statement probably isn’t far from the truth, you’d be talking tens of thousands of dollars for this set, but hey that 42-55” HDTV in your living room once cost that. The price will come down as manufacturing techniques evolve and are refined along with increased demand.
LG’s 55” OLED HDTV will be shown off at CES early next month, if you get a chance to see it in person, your eyes are likely to tease that credit card from your pocket. You have been warned. LG have been touting their ability to make OLED at 55” for some time now, but this announcement marks the readiness to take it mainstream.
It’ll also be interesting to see if there’s been any scientific breakthroughs with Transparent LCD displays, one of which was on display at CeBIT earlier this year.
More info @ Engadget
The technology behind delivering a HD Bathurst 1000
Posted Saturday, October 8, 2011 at 3:01 pm by Jason Cartwright
Image credit: V8 Supercars
The most passionate V8 Supercar fans will be punishing their livers while braving the rain at Mount Panorama this weekend. The next level of supercar fan will be parked in front of a HDTV. This year one of the biggest events on the motorsport calendar, Bathurst 1000, will be broadcast in HD for the first time.
It is amazing that HD has taken this long to reach Australia’s most famous race, especially considering HDTVs reached affordability for the masses many years ago. By comparison F1 has been broadcast for some time in HD and looks absolutely stunning. A visually interesting sport like racing lends itself really well to the extra clarity and sound available in a HD broadcast.
The technology behind the HD broadcast provides some amazing statistics.
More than 77 cameras will capture three days of racing action:
• 33 HD track-side cameras, including flycam and aerial views from a helicopter camera
• Six cameras supporting domestic and international hosting and commentary
• Six wireless radio frequency cameras for pit lane coverage
• Four crews with portable cameras capturing behind-the-scenes footage
• More than 28 in-car cameras
• More than 40 kilometres of camera cable and in excess of 100 microphones will be used.
The 2011 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 will air live on 7MATE in Australia and in the US on SPEED. Tomorrow’s broadcast runs from 7am-6pm (AEDST), just remember to adjust your DVR’s V8 to record on the new channel.
More @ TV Tonight.
Strap yourself in, looks like 21:9 HDTV is here to stay
Posted Tuesday, January 4, 2011 at 8:53 pm by Jason Cartwright
This time last year I thought Philips were nuts for creating the non-standard 21:9 ratio HDTV. Well this year’s pre-CES announcements/leaks seem to indicate the craze is catching. Hot off the heels of their VIA tablet and phone announcement, now comes news that Vizio are also entering the 21:9 HDTV market.
Watching IronMan 2 recently I concede the black bars top and bottom of a movie is incredibly annoying. Something that would indeed be fixed by increasing the screen ration to 21:9 and screen resolution to 2560×1080. This mirrors the aspect ratio a lot of films were originally shot in and shown in cinemas.
That’s all well and good for movies, but what about TV, or games, they are all being developed for 16:9. This means black bars at the sides instead of the top and bottom. Sure a solution for the benefactors of Bill Gates’ fortune could just buy both 16:9 and 21:9 sets, but for average Joe, he’s got a decision to make.
The Vizio sets will be available in both 50 and 58” for that true cinema experience. More details will emerge during CES, hopefully including price.. how’s that spare kidney?
What do you think ? Is this a trend that will take off ? Would you buy a 21:9 HDTV ?
Update
Turns out a quick Bing search reveals that Vizio actually had a VERY early version of the 21:9 TV at last years CES.
Update 2
Looks like JVC are getting in on the 21:9 party as well.
More @ Engadget
Internet connected TV’s start supporting Win7 Play-to feature
Posted Friday, April 2, 2010 at 6:58 pm by Jason Cartwright
For what seems like an eternity, home users have had to search for ways to get content from their computers to their TV. Interim solutions have often been via set top boxes or game consoles, but ultimately this solution was only a workaround to what should have arrived years ago.
Toshiba will be the first manufacturer to ship a TV with a ‘Compatible with Windows 7’ logo. This means the network port in the back of their UX600 Cinema Series LED HDTVs will allow users to stream content directly from a Windows 7 PC to the TV. Making use of the ‘Play-to’ feature in Win7, getting content on your biggest screen in the house is finally a simply process.
Other TV manufacturers take note, this is the new benchmark, make this standard across all sets as soon as humanly possible.
More @ The Windows Experience Blog
