I've written articles in the past explaining various TV technologies, including the differences between 720p and 1080p and 120Hz and 240Hz LCD TVs. But with Samsung, LG, Sony, and other manufacturers pushing so-called LED TVs these days, it's high time that I--with an assist from our resident video guru, David Katzmaier--sort through all the marketing mumbo jumbo and provide some insight into just what an LED TV is. Here goes.
1. An LED TV is not a new kind of TV.
I appreciate a good marketing ploy as much as the next guy, but an LED TV is just an LCD TV that's backlit with light-emitting diodes (LEDs) instead of standard cold-cathode fluorescent lights (or CCFLs). And while they've become best-known this year with Samsung's ultrathin models, LED-backlit LCDs have been on mainstream store shelves since 2007, when Samsung's LN-T4681F debuted.
Unlike plasma and OLED, which are emissive technologies where each pixel is its own discrete light source, LCD is a transmissive technology where each pixel has to be illuminated from behind, or backlit.
2.There are two types of LED backlighting.
Initially, LED-based displays like the Samung LN-T4681F were backlit by what's referred to as a "full array" of LEDs behind the LCD across the back of the panel. But to create superthin TVs, engineers needed to eliminate that extra layer of LEDs and move it to the sides of the display. With this form of backlighting, the LEDs are affixed to all four sides of the TV and light is projected inward to the middle of the TV via "lightguides." These types of TVs are commonly referred to as "edge-lit" LED-based LCDs.
Samsung is the main maker of such sets this year with three series of edge-lit sets, although Sony did release one model earlier this year, the KDL-40ZX1M, and has another flagship series, the KDL-XBR10 models, waiting in the wings. Samsung, Sony, Sharp Toshiba, LG, and Vizio all have non-edge-lit, or "full array" models, available today. See our comparison of edge-lit vs. local dimming for more info.
3. Of the two, local dimming can produce deeper black levels, but also creates "blooming."
Local dimming LED backlights can dim or turn off individually as needed.
The type of backlighting can impact how deep a shade of black a TV can produce. All current LED-based LCDs with rear-placed, "full-array" LED backlighting--except the Sharp LC-LE700UN series--feature a technology called "local dimming." With local dimming, specific areas of the backlight can be dimmed or brightened when different areas of the picture get darker or brighter.
With fluorescent backlighting and edge-lit LED backlighting, by contrast, the entire backlight dims or brightens at once, if at all.
Being able to dim specific quadrants helps reduce the amount of light that leaks through to darkened pixels, and the end result is blacks that appear darker and more realistic. Since black levels are crucial to contrast ratio, the deeper the blacks, the more the picture--and colors--appear to pop. Also, the image as a whole will seem crisper. A great example of local dimming done right is Samsung's UNB8500 series, which is one of the best-performing TVs we've ever tested.
One downside to local dimming is an effect called "blooming," where brighter areas bleed into darker ones and lighten adjacent black levels. ... Read more
One of the reasons people like to give for not buying a Blu-ray player is that there just aren't that many Blu-ray discs out there and that a lot of great movies haven't come out on Blu-ray. That's not totally true. There are a lot of movies out on Blu-ray--over 2,000, in fact--and more are being released every month, including "Gladiator" and "Braveheart" in September and the "Lord of the Rings Trilogy" in November.
That said, plenty of movies have yet to be given the Blu-ray treatment. A good portion of those movies are bad or inconsequential, and you probably don't care whether they make it to Blu-ray or not (or they're fine on DVD). But we're concerned about the good stuff that's not available, which is why I've put together this list of key movies that aren't out yet on Blu-ray.
To be sure, some of you may take issue with my picks. And I probably missed a few that should have made the list. But like I do with my Top 25 must-have Blu-rays list, feel free to express your opinions and if you have a legitimate case, I will gladly update the list with new picks.
Click on any image to start the slideshow see the picks. The movies are listed in alphabetical order, and we didn't include any TV shows. (Note: there's a link on the last slide that will return you to this article to post or read comments).
More:
With E3 returning to its old, bigger-is-better format, there seemed to be more at stake at this year's show. Could Nintendo provide enough compelling news to hold onto its lead? Would Microsoft trot out something to create new enthusiasm for its Xbox 360 platform? And could Sony reveal anything that might give it some much-needed momentum?
Alas, as it goes most of the time at E3, none of the companies truly hit it out of the park and a lot of what was announced was already leaked to greater or lesser degrees before the show started. However, that doesn't mean we can't try to objectively determine which companies did themselves some good--and which companies may not have.
Here's a quick recap of the news conferences from each camp and my quick assessments. But nevermind what I say, feel free to add your own comments--and try to be objective.
CNET Poll
... Read more
Hz so good: The marketing of 240Hz TVs may rely heavily on test patterns.
(Credit: Akihabara News)Every year it seems there's a new catchy spec in the HDTV realm everybody likes to talk about. A few years back it was 1080p resolution. Then we heard about 120Hz, which is supposed to reduce motion blur in fast-moving images on LCD TVs. Well, this year, the latest and greatest spec is 240Hz, which is supposed to do what 120Hz does, but better.
Not too long ago, our video guru David Katzmaier gave his initial impressions on 240Hz in a post titled "Is 240Hz worth waiting for?" When he wrote that piece, he'd just seen his first 240Hz TV in action and wasn't sold on the new technology. Now that he's reviewed four 240Hz HDTVs and has a fifth review (the LG 47LH55) in the works, he's still not sold, but he admits the verdict isn't totally clear-cut.
Part of the problem is that there's a difference between what your eye sees in everyday material you watch and objective testing done with test patterns. As Katzmaier notes in his post, "Standard LCD and plasma TVs refresh the screen 60 times per second, or 60Hz, which is plenty fast enough to eliminate flicker and create the illusion of motion from a series of still images. In fact, most sources sent to your display arrive at the nominal rate of 30 frames per second, and each frame is repeated once by the television to achieve 60 total fps."
For most people, including me and Mr. Katzmaier, it's very difficult to see the impact that "faster" LCD sets have on picture quality. We spent some time in our AV lab watching various source material from 120Hz TVs and 240Hz models and it's really hard to detect any difference (it's hard to detect any difference between 120Hz and 60Hz models, too). To be clear, I'm referring here to motion-blur reduction because of faster refresh rates, not to dejudder processing, which smooths out motion and makes film-based material shot at 24fps look more video-like. When dejudder is engaged, you can easily spot its impact on the picture. (It's also worth mentioning that the dejudder processing on the 240Hz TVs we tested so far wasn't any better--or worse--than than the dejudder on 120Hz TVs).
... Read more
Netflix's consumer survey has brought hope to PS3 owners with Netflix subscriptions.
(Credit: Engadget)In recent days, rumors have been percolating about the PlayStation 3 getting Netflix streaming video support. Most of the rumors revolve around a survey that Netflix has out gauging user interest in adding its service to Sony's game console for a fee. No one seems to know whether Netflix or Sony commissioned the survey, but either way, it's certainly raised hopes with PS3 owners that they would get something that Xbox 360 owners have had for a while. (For what it's worth, nearly identical rumors of Netflix on the Wii have also been making the rounds.)
Interestingly, as the rumors make their way around the blogosphere, Sony's been trying to promote how robust its Playstation Network Service (PSN) is and how great a media extender the PS3 is. A few weeks ago, a few of us from CNET spent some time visiting with Sony PR and marketing reps in a hotel suite going over what PSN had to offer, including Home, Sony's online virtual community that's hit 5 million registered users. And just yesterday, I got a voice mail from a PR rep encouraging me to do a story on what a great media extender the PS3 is.
I said I'd do a story--but only in context of the Netflix rumors.
"Why doesn't Sony just add Netflix?" I asked.
Of course, I knew it wasn't as simple as that. ... Read more
Updated at 5:20 a.m. PDT with Phil Schiller keynote info.
When it was first announced that Steve Jobs was taking a leave of absence I was interviewed for an ABC affiliate about the prospects of Apple without Jobs. What would happen? Would he be missed? Was Apple vulnerable?
Sadly, I can't say that I came up with any earth-shattering sound bites. I said Apple would be fine in the short run; it had a roster full of talented executives, including a rock-star head designer (Jonathan Ive), and that the company's product road map was planned out into the future--presumably with Jobs' stamp of approval.
That said, no one could replace Steve Jobs, pitcher extraordinaire, a Sandy Koufax on the marketing mound, if there ever was one.
Reality distortion field: To Air is human.
(Credit: Wikimedia Commons)The fact is, no one can create a reality distortion field like Jobs. And ultimately, I said, that's what Apple would miss most, especially after Apple's senior vice president of worldwide product marketing, Phil Schiller, hadn't done much to inspire the faithful with his ho-hum keynote speech at MacWorld 2009.
However, little did I know that Jobs' absence would be felt so acutely in the release of the company's latest products, though I probably wouldn't categorize the new Mac Mini, updated iMacs, and third-generation iPod Shuffle as premium releases for Apple.
While the new releases may be a step up from Apple TV, which just hasn't been able to find a broad audience, they're not the iPod Nano or a new MacBook or iPhone OS 3.0. But what's a little disconcerting is how the products, particularly the Mac Mini and iPod Shuffle, landed with a bit a thud. Sure, they got a ton of publicity--and publicity is good--but a lot of it ranged from neutral to negative.
... Read more
updated 2/20/09
I know, I know. This is a column about cutting-edge electronics. So, apologies to gadget-heads as I take a brief sojourn into the land of self-publishing, which has become a lot more high-tech than a lot of people realize.
The reason I'm here is that I have a book. A novel. Knife Music. Contrary to what you might think based on my day job, it's not a cyber-thriller, though it is a mystery/thriller with a medical/legal slant.
Its short history is this: I worked on it for several years, acquired a high-powered agent, had some brushes with major publishers, then, crickets. Way back when, say, a dozen years ago, a single editor could acquire a book, but today a whole board is usually required to sign off on a project, especially when a big advance is involved. Worse yet, the traditional book-publishing business has fallen on hard times, with layoffs and news that vaunted old publishers such as Houghton Mifflin have literally put the freeze on acquisitions. In short, it's ugly out there, particularly for new fiction writers.
I could have tried to go for a small publisher, but I was told mine was "a bigger book" with more commercial aspirations and prestigious small publishers were interested in more literary tomes. I also learned that many small publishers were being wiped out by the "self-publishing revolution," a movement that's not so unlike the "citizen journalism" or bloggers' revolt of recent years that's had a major impact on mainstream media, including this publication. The basic premise is anyone can become a small publisher. You call the shots. You retain the rights to your book. And you take home a bigger royalty than you'd normally get from a traditional publisher--if you sell any books.
... Read more
'Save me Panasonic, you're my only hope.'
(Credit: Panasonic)With Pioneer and Vizio recently announcing their exits from the plasma market, there's been a lot of chatter about the technology's short and long-term viability. Some of plasma's problems are PR related. Lingering questions--justified or not--about burn-in and energy efficiency have become part of the public conscious and remain a stumbling block at point of sale. Ultimately, however, there are more simple economics at play. Far more factories are available to produce LCD displays than plasmas, which haven't been able to maintain their price advantage as margins have eroded and the performance gap between the technologies has narrowed.
But let's not dwell on how we got here. The key question is how can plasma survive? And for better or worse, the answer is really in the hands of Panasonic, the brand that has most closely linked its TV fortunes to the technology. Yes, Samsung and LG make lots of plasmas--and some good ones, too--but both are also well-committed LCD and well hedged should plasma go away (Panasonic makes some LCD TVs as well, but nothing larger than 37 inches, while plasma starts at 42). Alas, with Pioneer's departure--a sad day for those who value great TV picture quality--Panasonic is left to carry the plasma mantle largely on its own.
Can it keep plasma from perishing? Well, I hope it can, because the TV space is already commoditized enough and it would be shame if we went down to one flat-panel technology (sure, OLED is being hyped as the display technology of the future, but it's years away from mass-market adoption). However, Panasonic's got to take make some key moves to keep plasma from running out of gas. Here they are:
... Read moreA couple of years ago I was talking to the folks from Sony's PlayStation division in a hotel suite in Manhattan where they were showing us the second-generation PSP, the PSP-2000. I was telling them all the things I would like to see in the PSP. "This is a mini computer," I said, complimenting them on what a great device it was. But I thought it was being underutilized. "Why don't you open this thing?" I suggested. "Let people develop for it. Screw the UMD. It's got built-in wireless, you should be able download all kinds of games and apps to it. Slap on a detachable BlackBerry-style keyboard and you're good to go."
At the time, Sony's marketing department had seemingly grappled with and settled on selling the PSP as a gaming device first and foremost with a dash of multimedia thrown in for good measure. Even if there was an active homebrew market percolating, there was little beyond the idea that the PSP could play games, music, and movies (from a UMD disc) and surf the Web on a second-rate browser. Yes, the whole PSP "store" concept was in the works, but it seemed to be moving at a glacial pace. VoIP support in the form of a Skype client was also on the table.
... Read moreEver since rumors--and some alleged photos--of Amazon's next-generation Kindle digital reader hit the Web late last year, I keep getting e-mails from readers asking me for buying advice. Here's a typical note:
Hi, David:
Around Christmas, I ordered the Amazon Kindle, but as I'm sure you know, it's back-ordered for a couple of months. Then I saw your article on the Kindle 2 coming out soon and I'm not sure what to do. Should I cancel my order? If the new Kindle 2 comes out right after I get mine, will I be able to return it?
Thanks for your help,
Susan
I understand where Susan's coming from. The Kindle's $359 right now--a decent chunk of change in a tight economy. And nothing sucks more than getting your timing wrong on the release of the next version of a product, particularly when you're dealing with a first-gen device like the Kindle that has room for improvement.
It's hard to say exactly who's to blame for this little mess, but any way you look at it Amazon has an interesting problem on its hands. If the company confirms that a new product is on the way, it potentially kills sales of the existing product. And if it puts out a product without warning its customers that a new product is coming, it risks alienating its customers. (Not that scenario B hurts Apple too much, but Apple has set clear rules and trained its customers to accept its terms of engagement).
Give Amazon credit. Until now, it's played its hand with a true poker face. However, despite having been very tight-lipped about its product plans and the number of Kindles sold, last summer a number of bloggers came out with articles confidently predicting that Amazon was about to release a new Kindle. They had it on good authority.
For example, on August 25, 2008, Peter Burrows posted a piece on the Businessweek Tech Beat blog entitled "Here Comes Kindle 2.0." He wrote:
I can confirm what McAdams Wright Ragen analyst Tim Bueneman is saying--that Amazon.com plans to unveil a larger-screen model of its Kindle e-book player, aimed at students, in the coming months. And I'm also hearing some details, similar to TechCrunch in July....about an upgrade of the base model, that I'm told is coming in September...my sources say the new version is significantly thinner, has a better screen, is more stylish, and includes fixes to some of the user-interface annoyances with the first version. One person that has seen the device says it is as big a leap from its predecessor as the iPod mini was from the first iPod. "They've jumped from Generation One to Generation Four or Five. It just looks better, and feels better," says the source.
Well, we're almost in February and there's still no sign of any new Kindle. That doesn't mean Burrows and other bloggers were totally wrong about the Kindle 2. You can get parts of a story wrong--like the release date--and other parts right. And the beauty of it all is that no one really remembers sketchy reporting these days unless some jerk goes ahead and quotes your stuff in a column five months later.
Of course, regardless of how accurate--or inaccurate--anything really is, the problem is that the information is out there. Someone like Susan who's looking to buy a Kindle goes ahead and keys "Amazon Kindle" into Google and, lo and behold, on the first page of the search results is a story called "Amazon's Kindle 2 leaked," written by the jerk at CNET who also writes this column. And so Susan starts poking around and realizes there's a lot of information out there about a new Kindle, and from the looks of it, it's going to be significantly better than the original. (Making a jump from "Generation One to Generation Four or Five" seems a wee bit optimistic, however). And then I end up with an e-mail in my inbox.
This all happens pretty frequently. There's speculation about new products and price drops all the time. Most companies keep a tight lid on news to protect sales of their existing products. But some companies purposely leak information to create buzz for their new wares.
In this case, it's hard to say just what transpired (next time I talk to Jeff Bezos, I'll ask him). Some stories claim that Amazon was ready to release a new Kindle for the holidays, then pulled back at the last minute. Fine. But it seems odd that the company would then plaster the device on its homepage and encourage people to buy it even when it was out of stock and there were rumors of a new device coming out. To avoid discounting, Apple and other smart businesses usually try to clear the channel of as much old stock as they can before sweeping in with the new stuff. But Amazon didn't seem to have any stock--or certainly not enough of it.
Some pundits are arguing that Amazon is pulling the old people-want-what-they-can't have routine to hype the Kindle (Nintendo has been accused of the same thing with the Wii). But I've had enough people--and plenty of nontechie people--ask me about the product that I would bet demand is truly out-pacing supply and that Amazon, after saying it misjudged demand for the product initially, misjudged it again--or probably just didn't anticipate Oprah's endorsement or the impact it would have on the product.
So, what's Amazon going to do?
Well, Amazon is a very customer-centric company and won't risk alienating its customers. So it's going to make sure that if you ordered a Kindle during the holidays, you're going to get it. Then it's going to wait until demand starts to wane a bit. And then it's going to announce that a new Kindle is coming. (Or maybe it's two new models, like some of the articles have speculated).
The Kindle 2--or whatever it's called--may look identical to the alleged Kindle 2 in the leaked pictures. And it's probably going to be better than the original Kindle in a few key ways; it will be zippier, the interface will be improved, and the buttons will be redesigned to avoid accidental page turns, though reviewers will still find things to complain about. As Sony discovered with its new PRS-700 Reader, you can sometimes take some nice steps forward while taking one big step back. (And if the photos are real, I'm sure Amazon has noted some of the critical comments that certain readers have made about the design of the "leaked" product).
Anything new and improved often costs a little more. So, to make sure no one's too disappointed, Amazon could price the new Kindle at $400 (the launch price of the gen-one Kindle) and drop the price of the original to $300. If you happen to have bought the old Kindle within a month of the announcement, you'd be offered the option of returning that Kindle or taking some sort of rebate on it--or possibly a credit for buying books in the Kindle Store. (I could see Amazon throwing a whole bunch of recent Kindle purchasers some sort of store credit for books).
The other serious possibility is that Amazon has already discontinued the original Kindle and will send out the new Kindle 2 to anybody who's ordered it--whether it be last month or now. That would be the simplest thing to do, so long as the new one turns out to be a nice upgrade.
When's this all going to happen? Well, with the Kindle only being "sold out" and not back-ordered for 2-3 months anymore, I think we're starting to hit the wane phase (relatively speaking), especially with consumer spending falling off a cliff. So, I'm guessing March. Valentine's Day would be a potential target date, but that seems a little too close.
Of course, everyone could accelerate the process by simply not buying any Kindles until Amazon announces the Kindle 2--or offers customers some clear guidance as to what it will do should you buy a Kindle today and a new model comes out two or three months from now.
What do you guys think? Will Amazon choose to gradually phase out the original Kindle? Or will it end up suddenly shipping everybody who ordered a Kindle for the holidays (and now) a new Kindle 2?
