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Ed Selley  |  Jul 08, 2011  |  0 comments
3D writ large The flagship model from Samsung’s 2011 3D TV range makes John Archer a very happy man

A couple of issues back, we brought you our first impressions of Samsung’s flagship UE55D8000 when it arrived too late in the day to run through our Tech Labs. To recap, this is a £2,500 55in edge LED 3D set sporting an insanely thin bezel of just 5mm, plus Samsung’s new Smart TV functionality, which combines a superb new onscreen menu hub (providing instant access to just about every input, app and content source) with a web browser and a much stronger app offering than you got with Samsung’s previous Internet@TV system.

Ed Selley  |  Jun 17, 2011  |  0 comments
Flat HD fun Despite not offering 3D pictures, Mark Craven finds a lot to like about Panasonic's newest LED TV

Ask any AV enthusiast to recommend a plasma TV and they’ll invariably mention Panasonic. The same isn’t always true of LED TVs, though – something the PDP giant will hope to change with its new 2011 range of LED sets.

Ed Selley  |  Jun 17, 2011  |  0 comments
Passive resistance With the LW550 series, LG continues its quest to promote passive 3D. Chris Jenkins asks if this LED Smart set is the way to go

Up until now, most of the marketing activity for 3D has been based around active systems, which require expensive (c. £100 per pair) LCD-shutter glasses which need charging, and can have issues with synchronisation to the 3D frame-switching signal.

Ed Selley  |  Jun 17, 2011  |  0 comments
Looking Sharp It may lack some essentials, but this 37-incher has an understated appeal, says Steve May

The LC-37LE320 is an LED flatscreen that takes its design cues, if not its picture technology, from Sharp’s high-end Quattron TV range. These panels squeezed a fourth pixel from the usual RGB array, and the yellow pixel’s arrival certainly led to a significant step up in performance.

Ed Selley  |  May 28, 2011  |  0 comments
Razor-sharp networker Sony’s upscale Network range is the place to be if picture clarity is your bag. Steve May is wowed by the resolution-busting NX713

Sony’s Network (NX) range is not only drop-dead gorgeous, but the models are also decked out with all the latest features, including 3D, network streaming, online content and LED backlighting. But you may wonder why there are multiple versions of the same screen size. The model reviewed here features the brand’s uprated PRO version of its Motionflow 100Hz picture processor and high-end Dynamic Edge LED backlighting. The latter is superior to regular Edge LED backlighting, though perhaps not as accomplished as Full Array. Imagine a halfway house that gives you the benefit of an ultra-slim cabinet (just 320mm thin) with some approximation of local dimming – for better contrast – and you’ll see the attraction.

Ed Selley  |  Apr 02, 2011  |  0 comments
Trendsetter keeps old-school ties LG puts its 3D house in order with a new plasma model, although John Archer still isn’t totally happy

LG is telling anyone who cares to listen that it’s ‘Sky’s brand of choice’ for 3D tellies, and it’s been uniquely prolific about offering 3D models in every type of TV technology. So far we’ve had direct and edge LED, CCFL LCD and even a Passive 3D LCD model to go with the more popular Active ones.

Ed Selley  |  Mar 07, 2011  |  0 comments
Plasma is alive and kicking With a raft of features, including 3D capability, this is yet another superior screen from Samsung. And it's not LED, either. Adrian Justins reports

 

Ed Selley  |  Mar 07, 2011  |  0 comments
Tosh injects some Jensen good looks The brand pulled out all the stops to make this 55-incher a great HD TV, says Steve May. And then it added 3D...

Toshiba desperately wants a slice of the high-end flatscreen TV market. It’s been trying for years to secure a beachhead, first with its ill-fated SED project and more recently with the first generation Cell TV.

Ed Selley  |  Feb 15, 2011  |  0 comments
Full of promise Adrian Justins takes in all that this 3D-enabled plasma has to offer, but thinks there’s still room for improvement

The TX-P42VT20 is by no means the slimmest or most stylish TV on the market, but it makes up for that in the features department. Dual Freeview HD and Freesat HD tuners; 3D compatibility; VieraCast internet video services; USB video recording; wireless networking and other multimedia skills headline its extensive spec sheet.

Ed Selley  |  Feb 14, 2011  |  0 comments
A bit of a stretch Philips takes John Archer’s home cinema tastes to breaking point – in a good way – with its latest 21:9-ratio TV

Just as Spinal Tap’s amps go to 11, then Philips’ 58PFL9955H goes to 21. Or 21:9, to be precise. This is the much-anticipated sequel to the brand’s original, ground-breaking and seriously movie-friendly Cinema 21:9 – a TV which laughed in the piffling face of your usual 16:9-ratio TVs and stretched to embrace the extra girth of the ultra-wide CinemaScope aspect ratio still used on the majority of cinematically released films.

Ed Selley  |  Feb 14, 2011  |  0 comments
Panel beater Samsung has trumped its rivals in the size war by releasing a 65in 3D LED TV. Mark Craven gives his eyes a workout

Samsung’s UE65C8000 is the latest addition to the brand’s 3DTV range. At a gargantuan 65ins, it allows the manufacturer to stake a claim to producing the world’s largest 3D LED TV, superseding the 8000 series that peaked at 55ins.

Ed Selley  |  Feb 14, 2011  |  0 comments
Ullo John, gotta new flatscreen? HCC’s technology curator Martin Pipe takes a look at a Freeview HD TV with built-in media player. He thinks it’s not half bad

Anyone of a certain vintage will fondly recall the ‘Ullo Tosh’ ads of the mid-80s. Inspired by an Alexei Sayle comedy single and voiced by the much-missed Ian Dury, Toshiba’s ‘Blueprint Man’ would extol the virtues of the company’s midi systems and the latest in flatter, squarer TV sets. But none of the copywriters involved in this memorable ad campaign could have foreseen the sophistication that today’s TV sets would reach.

Ed Selley  |  Jan 27, 2011  |  0 comments
Ghosts R.I.P A man haunted by crosstalk, John Archer praises an LCD TV that might be able to handle the third dimension after all

This direct LED TV is the first 3D-capable model I’ve seen from Philips, and it’s also the first active 3D LCD TV to convince me that LCD tech might eventually conquer its crosstalk nemesis.

Ed Selley  |  Jan 27, 2011  |  0 comments
Yellow fever breaks out Sharp's new 60in TV with its fourth sub-pixel almost gets John Archer’s 3D spine tingling

 

Ed Selley  |  Dec 29, 2010  |  0 comments
Back to the future Panasonic's flagship 2D plasma is a 21st century marvel, says Martin Pipe

I recently stumbled across a 30-year-old article from a trade magazine, which predicted that the domestic TV would become a ‘home-entertainment’ hub. Looking at TVs like Panasonic’s TX-P50V20B, you have to admit they were right.

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