3D

Projector tech explainer: All your front projection questions answered

For the biggest TV, movie, and gaming experience, you need a projector. On top of all the "normal" TV jargon, projectors have their own buzz words and marketing fluff that must be navigated. Then there's the additional complexity of wiring and screens. None of these things are difficult, especially if you're armed with a handy helpful guide.

Hey, this is a helpful handy guide! Behold, all your projector tech questions answered. … Read more

The 2013 TVs of CES are bigger and smarter, but what about the picture?

Will flat-panel TV picture quality get even better in 2013?

I'm guessing "Yes" in the case of the Best of CES nominee Panasonic TC-PZT60 and the re-engineered Samsung UNF8500, very likely the two best-performing TVs of 2013 under $10,000.

But those two are hardly the TV hardware poster children of the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show, where all the headlines touted expensive 4K and OLED sets -- still stupid and chronically under-delivered, respectively -- as well as new gadgetry of questionable usefulness. Finger-gesture control, anyone?

I got a chance to see both the Panasonic and the Samsung … Read more

Sharp debuts 32-inch 4K resolution IGZO LCD monitor

LAS VEGAS--Sharp kicked off its media event at the 2013 International CES on Monday by revealing the future of the electronics giant's display portfolio.

Specifically, that strategy is being spearheaded by IGZO (Indium Gallium Zinc Oxide) technology as Sharp unveiled a 32-inch 4K resolution IGZO LCD monitor.

IGZO is based on a compound semi-conductor that produces approximately twice the resolution of current LCDs.

Sharp described that IGZO produces a more natural picture with greater presence while delivering more visual information than ever before.

Kozo Takahashi, executive vice president of Sharp Corporation, remarked during Monday's press conference that IGZO … Read more

Panasonic President Kazuhiro Tsuga's CES 2013 keynote: Join us Tuesday, 8:30 a.m. PT (live blog)

The entire consumer-electronics world will be focused on Las Vegas this week as the 2013 International CES kicks off in Las Vegas. Today is about major press conferences from the industry's leading companies, but tomorrow, the eyes of the industry will be on the opening keynote address from incoming Panasonic President Kazuhiro Tsuga, who will follow brief remarks on the state of the industry by CEA President and CEO Gary Shapiro. The event starts at 8:30 a.m. PT (11:30 a.m. ET) on Tuesday, January 8, and CNET will be there covering it live. We'll … Read more

LG's 2013 Blu-ray players include DIY wireless headphones feature

LAS VEGAS--Home theater evokes wall-shaking action films, but in the real world sometimes you can't watch your Blu-rays like you're actually at the movies.

The two higher-end models in LG's new 2013 Blu-ray lineup, the BP530 and BP730, have an interesting feature called "private sound mode" designed for those moments when you can't crank your system. Using an app on your smartphone, private sound mode lets you listen to the audio from your Blu-ray player, creating essentially a DIY wireless headphone solution. And while that may not exactly be a "breakout" feature, … Read more

Sharp at CES 2013: Join us Monday, 9 a.m. PT (live blog)

When it comes to TVs, Sharp's latest mantra has been "bigger is better." We'll see how big they can get at the company's CES 2013 press conference. The event starts at 9 a.m. PT on Monday, January 7, and CNET will be there to cover it live. We have a live video stream, along with a live blog of news and analysis, as it happens.

You can tune in to the blog and video stream here:

CNET's live coverage of Sharp's 2013 CES press conference

Sharp went big last year at CES, … Read more

Samsung's BD-F7500 flagship Blu-ray player upconverts to 4K, recommends content

It's hard to breathe new life into the stale Blu-ray category at CES 2013, but Samsung is giving it its best shot with the BD-F7500.

The Samsung BD-F7500 is the newly announced flagship Blu-ray player, including the company's new "S-Recommendation" feature, which suggests content based on what you watch. The BD-F7500's step-up features are rounded out by its 7.1 analog outputs and its ability to upscale content to 4K resolution.

Like most Samsung Blu-ray players these days, it has built-in Wi-Fi and access to Samsung's Smart Hub suite of streaming-media services. More importantly, … Read more

Samsung's HT-F9750 home theater system embraces future and past with tubes, 4K upconversion

Vacuum tubes are an anachronism in any modern home audio device, and even more so if that same device supports the cutting-edge 4K resolution standard.

Samsung's HT-F9750 doesn't shirk from the unusual juxtaposition, with the 7.1 channel home-theater-in-a-box (HTIB) system featuring both glowing tube preamps and 4K upconversion. Although both features look and sound cool, they're more gimmick than anything else. The tube preamp (which is paired with a digital amplifier) promises a more "natural" sound, although I didn't hear anything particularly special when I listened to the tubeified DA-E750 last year. And … Read more

Poll: Did you like the smoother, HFR 'Hobbit'?

If you're one of the many, many people who saw "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" over the weekend, chances are you didn't see the film exactly as the director, Peter Jackson, intended.

But if you were, please let us know whether you liked it by voting in the poll.

"The Hobbit" is the first major film to be released in a higher-frame-rate 3D version called HFR. Unlike traditional releases, which are shot and shown at 24 frames per second, the HFR Hobbit comes in at 48fps.

Jackson said he preferred viewers watch the HFR … Read more

'The Hobbit' 3D tech divides our CNET reviewers

Now that Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" has opened in theaters around the world, the most controversial thing about it isn't even that he somehow is making three 3-hour movies out of a 300-page children's story. No, it's the way the movie has been shot that has the most people talking.

The "Hobbit" trilogy has been captured using James Cameron's 48-frames-per-second 3D technology (HFR 3D), which Jackson says leads to less eyestrain and a sharper picture.

Only a limited number of cinemas will be showing the movie in HFR -- Jackson says it's only 1,000 out of 25,000 theaters.

"On the first day of shooting 'The Hobbit' in 48 frames, there was not a single cinema in the world that could project the movie in that format," Jackson said, according to CinemaBlend.

While we're not going to go into how the technology works here, CNET editors David Katzmaier and Ty Pendlebury have just come out of a showing in HFR 3D and wanted to share their thoughts.… Read more