TV Articles

Sony crams 6 million LEDs into prototype Crystal display

LAS VEGAS--Forget what you know about those "faker LED" technologies, because Sony has just announced a television that actually does use LEDs to display an image.

Here at CES 2012, Sony has unveiled a "Crystal LED Display"--a 55-inch prototype TV that actually uses miniature light-emitting diodes in place of pixels. Up until now, the LEDs you have heard of have actually just been vanilla LCDs, just with an LED light source.

If you've ever been to a professional baseball, football, or basketball game, and seen the giant screens above the stands, you will be familiar with LED displays. That's fine for an image measured in furlongs, but this is the first time a company has been brave/stupid enough to try it on a television.… Read more

Sony swallows its pride, supports both HomeShare and AirPlay on new speakers

LAS VEGAS--Unsurprisingly, Sony's HomeShare platform didn't take off in 2011, having most of its thunder stolen by a rival wireless audio solution: AirPlay.

Give credit to Sony making a quick adjustment. Sony introduced two new HomeShare speakers today at CES 2012, both including HomeShare (which works with DLNA) and AirPlay support. That puts the speakers in the position of being able to stream music from both Android and Apple mobile devices. There are also dedicated apps for both iOS and Android letting you control the speakers.

The support of both wireless audio platforms isn't exactly new for … Read more

Sony's portable Blu-ray player has less battery life than that of 2011 model

LAS VEGAS--You probably won't notice the improved image quality on the small screen, but portable Blu-ray players still serve those who want to watch their high-def disc collection on the go.

Keeping that niche of travelers in mind, Sony announced the BDP-SX910 portable Blu-ray player at CES 2012, available this spring. Like any Blu-ray player, it can handle both Blu-ray discs and DVDs. It has a 9-inch, high-resolution screen with a 180-degree swivel, utilizing the same "flip-screen" design virtually all portable Blu-ray players use.

Sony claims battery life of 4.5 hours, which should be enough to … Read more

Sony's Blu-ray lineup gets much-needed user interface redesign, much-unneeded 4K upscaling

LAS VEGAS--The first bullet point in Sony's Blu-ray press release is the one I wanted to see the most: the new Blu-ray players will feature a redesigned user interface.

That might not sound like much, but Sony's Blu-ray players have been consistently hamstrung by a subpar user interface (both at the and within apps), despite having one of the most complete suite of apps on the market. Sony's information mentions its new Blu-ray players will feature "Netflix, YouTube, Pandora, Hulu Plus, and more," and we're guessing they'll also include services that were available … Read more

Sony keeps Google TV alive with new Blu-ray player, set top box

LAS VEGAS--Sony was one of the few early supporters of the Google TV platform, and the company is doubling down on its bet with two new home theater products at CES 2012.

Sony announced an updated version of its Google TV-powered Blu-ray player, the NSZ-GP9, as well as its first-ever Google TV set-top box, the NSZ-GS7. Both products will feature all of the improvements made in the most recent Google TV update, including access to apps in the Android Market.

The major upgrade from last year's model is the new touch-pad remote, which supports gestures via three-axis motion control. … Read more

Panasonic GT50 plasma boasts improved picture and design

LAS VEGAS--In the past, Panasonic's GT variants have been almost as good as the flagships they supported, and at much more affordable prices. We anticipate that this trend will continue with the new GT50.

The GT50 will come in four sizes from 50 inches to 65 inches and ships with an "Infinite Black Pro" panel. The full-HD 3D panel features 2D-to-3D conversion and a new louver filter designed to provide better contrast in lit environments.

With the exception of the Z1, design wasn't a key consideration for Panasonic plasmas until last year, with the "metallic … Read more

Panasonic debuts its first passive 3D LCD

While its main TV business will involve plasma for some years to come, Panasonic has courted LCD TVs for a while but 2012 sees a number of firsts for the Japanese company: namely large screens and passive 3D.

In the past, Panasonic has chosen to fill in its under-42-inch lineup with LCDs but this year it's basically saying "what the hell" and producing LEDs up to 55-inches. The ET5 series sees the company continue the good work of previous years with LED-backlit IPS panels, said to enjoy a wider off-axis than some other LCD designs.

The other … Read more

Panasonic's flagship VT50 better and blacker than ever?

Last year, it was neck-and-neck between Panasonic's VT30 and Samsung's D8000/7000 as to the best television of the year...at least until those upstarts from Sharp spoiled plasma's party.

Currently the VT30 still stands as the best TV Panasonic has ever produced, and even if there's only a tiny improvement, the new TC-PVT50 series looks ready to take on that title.

The flagship VT50 will come in two screen sizes, the 55-inch TC-P55VT50, and the 65-inch TC-P65VT50 and features all of Panasonic's current know-how with an Infinite Black Ultra Panel and new louver filter. … Read more

Will the Panasonic ST50 be the best TV value ever?

In 2011, Panasonic's ST30 was our favorite TV priced at less than $1,000 and perhaps the best value of any TV we've ever reviewed, demonstrating top-of-its-class performance for the money.

But all good things must come to an end, and the ST30 is moving aside for the ST50.

The ST50 sits in the middle of Panasonic's 2012 range with four sizes starting at 50 inches and includes most of the goodies found in the more-expensive GT50 and VT50 televisions. It's the least-expensive to boast the "Infinite Black Pro" panel, which, if last year … Read more

Panasonic goes large with high-end LCDs

LAS VEGAS--Panasonic has maintained that it's a plasma company for many years, resisting the urge to produce televisions that directly compete with its main business.

It seems that in 2012, all bets are off with the release of two new series at larger 47-inch and 55-inch sizes: the DT50 and the WT50.

The WT50 boasts a new look for the company with a super narrow metal frame and "crescent," or "boomerang," metallic stand. By contrast, the DT50 is a little more conservative with a narrow metal frame.

The main picture quality difference between the two is the WT50's use of local dimming in its edge-lit LED backlight.

Unlike the ET5, the two TVs use Panasonic's own active 3D system and also include 2D-to-3D conversion.

Both TVs incorporate high-speed "1920" backlight scanning for higher moving-picture resolution and smoothness during fast action scenes. The backlight scanning divides the screen into eight parts and the backlight turns off for the portions being scanned.… Read more