led

LED lightbulbs have a lot of things going for them: energy efficiency and longevity being the biggest selling points.

Then there are the things that make people think twice. Chiefly, the sticker price. Want to switch to LED bulbs but can't stand the infamously harsh light quality? SmartPlanet's Sumi Das rounds up some bulbs that might make you see things differently.

This video originally appeared on SmartPlanet with the headline "LED light bulbs, just how efficient are they?"

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Cree is trying to put LED lighting on the same price and performance curve that people are used to with computers.

The company today announced redesigned LED light sources that promise a significant cut in the cost of LED lighting and a quicker pace of technical improvement.

Cree estimates that the new design, which uses smaller LED chips, can cut the cost of the LED components by 50 percent. At retail, that translates to a roughly 25 percent cost reduction, said product marketing manager Paul Scheidt.

"LEDs are at the point where the technology is good enough to get … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Toshiba has announced its flagship LCD, the L7200 Cinema Series, which includes passive 3D, an onboard cable program guide, and smart TV.

One of the unique features of the Toshiba 2012 range is MediaGuide, an electronic program guide designed to replace your cable box's own while integrating search. Tell the TV your cable provider, browse the guide on-screen or on your tablet/smartphone, and the TV uses an IR flasher to control the set-top box.

The L7200 is a passive 3D screen that includes what the company calls "trivector" 2D-to-3D conversion.

The TV uses ClearScan 240Hz processing and incorporates an edge-lit LED panel which includes local dimming.

Like many high-end TVs this year, the TV includes a dual-core processor designed to aid multitasking and accelerate the CQ Video Engine. This will come in handy when using the Smart TV service for Netflix/YouTube and the Open Browser.

There are plenty of flashy televisions at this year's show, but the Toshiba is quite understated, if slim, with the Aero "bezel-less" design and a black glass table stand.… Read more

Sony has its eye on cranking up TV screen resolution.

The electronics and entertainment giant kicked off its CES press conference this evening by unveiling a prototype "Crystal LED display" that uses miniature light-emitting diodes in place of pixels. The technology, which uses 6 million LEDs mounted on the front of the display, is superior to LCD and plasma and promises "super contrast and superwide color gamut," Sony CEO Howard Stringer told those assembled.

While Sony has this 55-inch prototype on display at the conference, it is nowhere near production or consumers' hands. (CNET staffers at … Read more

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

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

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

LAS VEGAS--Last year Samsung introduced a TV with a bezel just 0.2 inch wide, and I couldn't help but gush that "the picture comes as close to naked as you'll ever see outside a projector."

This year the company offers that sexy all-picture look on three series of high-end LED TVs announced at CES, the least-expensive of which is the UNES7100. Available in three sizes, its main differentiator compared with the other two--the UNES7500 and the flagship UNES8000--is lack of the company's new Smart Interaction voice/gesture control feature.

By the way, if anybody'… Read more

LAS VEGAS--New for 2012, Samsung says it will include two pairs of active 3D glasses with its 2012 3D-compatible HDTVs, and the least-expensive such LED will be the UNES6500 series.

Available in six screen sizes, the UNES6500's major step-up over the 2012 UNES6100 models will be 3D compatibility. Otherwise both will feature the company's Smart Hub interactive TV suite as well as a thin 0.5-inch-wide bezel around the screen.

All of Samsung's 2012 3D TVs will utilize active 3D technology, as opposed to the passive variety employed by LG and others (more info).

Its features peg … Read more