TV Articles

Could Sony's HX750 LED TV be a stealth value?

LAS VEGAS--As a rule, no company divulges pricing at CES anymore, but we still have reason to suspect that when its price actually does get announced, the Sony HX750 series might represent a good picture-quality-for-the-buck proposition.

This set is the least expensive in Sony's admittedly small 2012 CES announcement lineup to offer the edge-lit local dimming we liked so much on the NX720 from last year.

Sony has slowly begin competing in price in some TV categories over the last couple of years, and the HX750's feature mix eschews the MotionFlow 960 of the step-up HX850, settling for … Read more

Sony's best 2012 LED TV stays edge-lit, not full-array

LAS VEGAS--Much like Samsung this year, the best LCD-based TV Sony announced at CES is a non-full-array model, relying on edge-lit LEDs to produce its picture.

That's the bad news for videophiles expecting a full-array follow-up to the excellent XBR-HX929. The good news for said videophiles? Judging from the picture quality of the NX720 from 2011, Sony knows how to eke great black levels and minimal blooming from an edge-lit configuration.

It's curious that Sony didn't name the HX850, a TV its press release identifies as a "flagship," with the traditional "XBR" moniker. … Read more

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