OK. I wish you a

healthy, happy and successful 2007.

Let’s start this year with a funny film on the Wii and Sony PS3 via enthousiasmeren.

It has a lot of the things from “Hi I am a Mac and I am PC”.

I was not aware that there are already so many of these movies.

Just in time for the holidays, Philips introduced two large-screen flat-panel TV sets — a 47W-inch 1,080p LCD TV and a 63W-inch 768p plasma set.

Both TVs were unveiled at the Electronic Home Expo, and are marketed under the Philips brand.

The 47W-inch 47PF9441D will carry a $2,999 suggested retail price when it ships in December. The 63W-inch 63PF9631D is shipping now at $5,999.

Both sets include Philips’ PixelPlus 3HD video processing circuitry that enhances signals, including high-definition and DVDs. Pixels of an incoming picture are altered to match surrounding pixels in a scene. The effect is said to deliver natural looking skin tones, colors and details.

Additionally, the flat-panel sets offer new styling designs with high-gloss piano black finishes.

The 47PF9441D also features Virtual Dolby Digital surround sound.

Continue reading ‘Just in time for the holidays; Philips 768p plasma TV the 63PF9631D’

Technorati Tags: Philips, 63PF9631D, PixelPlus

No electronic product will be hotter holiday season 2006 than flat screen TVs, partially thanks to continues dropping of the prices (half what they were two years ago). With more and better TVs now available from an ever-growing list of brands. It’s just a great time to purchase a new high-definition LCD or plasma television set.

To help you decide what and when to buy, you can find here some tips that may support you this shopping season.

be price-wise and brand-savvy
The average price for LCD and plasma sets was 22 percent lower this June than it was a year earlier, according to Pacific Media Associates, a research firm that tracks display prices. Competition from lesser-known brands, special promotions, clearance sales on older sets, and price cuts by manufacturers are behind the lower prices.

Smaller manufacturers often use bargain prices to attract buyers, this forces major brands to trim their prices as well. Among the 32-inch LCD HDTVs that did very well in the tests was a Sony model priced at $1,500, competitive with some other major brands. Within that same size grouping, models from Westinghouse and Magnavox did respectably, though not as well as the Sony–but at $1,000 each, they cost considerably less.

Prices could drop even lower in coming months because of promotions tied to the football season, holiday sales, and continued discounting of older models. Some market analysts project that smaller sets could see the biggest price cuts because of oversupply. Quixel Research, a market research firm expects a 20 percent or so drop in LCD and plasma prices by year’s end, with especially good deals on 26- to 37-inch LCD models.

Of course there will always be bigger, better, lower-priced sets on the horizon. You undoubtedly got a lower price and more value than you would have earlier. Shop around for the best deal, and keep your receipt in case you find the set selling for less within a month or so. Often retailers will match the lower price.

for screen size, think big
Plasma sets used to be the only flat-screen TVs larger than 40 inches, but LCDs now come in big sizes too. With the price gap between plasma TVs and big-screen LCD sets narrowing, more buyers are choosing LCDs. Last year, 32-inch screens were the big sellers among LCD TVs, but 37- to 46-inch sets are likely to attract more interest in coming months.

With larger LCD sets posing stiff competition, plasma makers are pushing 50-inch and larger plasma TVs at very attractive prices. But some companies, such as Sony and Mitsubishi, have stopped producing plasma TVs for the consumer market and are focusing on LCD sets.

ConsumerReports says here for the best HD experience, buy as big a screen as your room size and budget allow. Surveys of HDTV owners show that many wish they’d purchased a bigger set. This is also my professional experience. While in the purchasing process, peopple look at their current TV, after a while they wished that would have bought a larger screen.

See Types (available to subscribers) for help choosing between LCD and plasma, then consult the LCD and plasma TV Ratings (available to subscribers) for specific models.

insist on fine performance
LCD and plasma technology have made progress over the past year or so, addressing weaknesses that detracted from picture quality. LCD TVs, for example, have had difficulty producing true black and natural-looking motion with no blurring. They’ve also had a narrower viewing angle than plasma sets. The newest LCD models have improved in those areas. Similarly, the best plasma TVs have added features to minimize distracting reflections and screen burn-in, two issues from the past for plasma technology.

Often customer come up with the old problems of LCDs and-or plasma televisions. Don’t assume that a new LCD or plasma TV has the same problems as an older set of the same brand you may have seen. Both technologies have improved, and LCD is catching up with plasma. The best LCDs score as well as the top plasma TVs.

Consider a 1080p TV
TVs with 1920×1080 native resolution — also called 1080p — are starting to gain momentum. A number of sets of this type are now in stores. More are expected next year. These displays have 1,920 pixels from left to right and 1,080 from top to bottom. They’re the first consumer TVs that can potentially display all the detail in the 1080i signal in most HDTV broadcasts, as well as the 1080p high-def DVDs from Blu-ray and HD-DVD players.

Other big-screen HDTVs top out at 1024×768 or 1366×720 resolution; or labeled as “720p” sets. Their screens contain about half the number of pixels in a 1080p set, so they have to convert 1080i HD signals to a lower resolution. This would mean a drop in the quality of the picture. While a 1080p TV can display more and finer detail than a 720p set, resolution alone doesn’t determine picture quality. Black level, brightness, and color accuracy are just as important. A 720p set that does everything right can have excellent picture quality, but an equally adept 1080p set has the potential to be even better.

The difference is most obvious on large screens and in close viewing. With a 1080p model, you can sit near enough to appreciate the fine detail without seeing the faint grid of pixels. However from a normal viewing distance — about 15 feet or about 4,5 meters from a 42-inch screen, a 1080p set won’t look dramatically better than a good 720p TV. More information on The Best Viewing Distance To Watch A TV From.

Keep in mind that any display device is only as good as the signal it receives. A less-than-pristine cable signal, for example, limits even the best TV.

If you want state-of-the-art technology and potentially the best HD picture quality, buy a 1080p TV. If you simply want fine picture quality and prefer to spend less, opt for a good 720p TV.

think about reliability
With more consumers buying flat-panel TVs, there’s a growing amount of data on reliability, and the news is good: During the first year or two of use, LCD and plasma TVs have been just as reliable overall as traditional TVs, which have historically required very few repairs. Some consumers are opting for LCDs over plasmas for fear that plasma TVs have a shorter life span, but such concern is unwarranted, says Rosemary Abowd of Pacific Media Associates.

The latest product reliability survey of ConsumerReports shows no repair issues during the first year or two of use for LCD TVs from JVC, Panasonic, Samsung, Sanyo, Sharp, Sony, and Toshiba. Dell LCD sets have had higher than average repairs. In plasma, there have been no repair issues for Fujitsu, Hitachi, Panasonic, Pioneer, Sony, or Toshiba. The repair rate for Philips and Vizio plasma sets has been higher than average. At this moment there is not enough data to report on other brands or on long-term reliability for any LCDs or plasmas, according to ConsumerReports.org.

Considering the results of these survey’s an extended warranty generally isn’t worth it. If you are only happy with a peace of mind on possible repairs, it might be worthwhile for you (ConsumerReports: pay no more than 15% of the price of the TV set).

Summary:

• Prices continue to drop, with more volatility expected.
• LCD technology is pulling even with plasma for quality.
• More 40-inch-plus LCD TVs arrive, along with more 50-inch and larger plasma sets.
• 1080p TVs offer higher resolution, at a higher price.
• The surveys of ConsumerReports.org show few repairs so far for many flat-panel brands.

Ready to buy? See our LCD and plasma TV Ratings (available to subscribers yearly subscribtion for $26). Not decided yet? Watch the December report from ConsumerReports, which will have Ratings of more flat panels and other TV types.

Source: ConsumerReports.org

Technorati Tags: flat screen

This is great when you want to watch at another picture if you are not watching the television. The IN-VIS-O-TRAK conceals your TV behind the painting.

Max. Lbs. 100
Width 30 to 80 (inches)
Height 11 to 80 (inches)
Depth 6 (inches)

IN-VIS-O-TRAK: At the touch of a hand-held transmitter, you can now conceal and reveal a plasma TV, or any other item behind your favorite painting. No exposed tracks or wiring…opened or closed! Just press the button on the transmitter and your painting will move silently to reveal your TV.

Source: AV Lifts

This plasma screen, the LG 71PY10, is already a much sought after product and comes in two colour variants; black for the more discreet viewer and an opulent coating of 4 pounds of 24-Karat gold for those looking to make a major statement.

But the screen doesn’t just look amazing, its performance lives up to the promise of its exterior. Key features of the super sized screen include full HD (1920 x 1080), the ultimate in HDTV. Furthermore the 71PY10 has both HDMI and SCART connections for high quality connections between the screen and any other outputs such as a DVD recorder or Home Cinema system. Standard broadcast signals are also clearer with LG’s exclusive XD Engine technology which improves colour, contrast and scaling which, coupled with DVI technology, results in picture quality of near HD precision.

The 71PY10 also boasts an impressive 600W home cinema system for fantastic surround sound and integrated display facilities for viewing digital photos and MP3 track playback. It is available at Harrods in the iGallery and retails for £70,000 or $170,000. For those wishing to make less of a statement with their television, LG also makes an all-black version for $119,000. You could use the Harrods Card for this
Continue reading ‘LG 71PY10 Gold Plasma’

Technorati Tags: LG, 71PY10, Harrods

Philips announced last Sunday in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (German Newspaper) that there was almost no effect on the TV sales due to the World Championchip Soccer this summer in Germany. According to Kleisterlee (CEO Philips) there is however an effect on the sales in Germany. There is increase of 10% compared to last year.

This would probably lead to strong price decreases just before this event since the retail felt increase in sales was to be expected.
Continue reading ‘Little effect on TV sales for FIFA World Cup Soccer’

Panasonic is totally committed to Plasma technology and testimony to this is the introduction of Viera 65 inch plasma television in the Middle-east today.

Launch of this Viera 65-inch television is a significant milestone for Panasonic, as they to further enhance the production capacity and manufacture plasma television with larger screen sizes. Plasma technology is the future of television, both globally and regionally and Panasonic aims to be the largest plasma television manufacturer in the world.

The large 65-inch display highlights unique characteristics of plasma television such as excellent handling of fast-paced movement, dynamic contrast, bright crisp images and natural colors.
Continue reading ‘Panasonic TH-65PV500 Viera plasma’

Technorati Tags: Panasonic, Viera, 65 inch, plasma television

Samsung has announced their 80″ Plasma TV, the HP-R8082, is now for sale. The HP-R8082, which was originally displayed at CES 2006, features 1920×1080 (1080p) resolution and the full complement of connectivity choices

The pricing is not very clear (yet). The product was not found on Samsung’s website, although the manual can already be downloaded. On Sound&Vision it is listed at $150,000 and at TVAuthority you can get it for ‘just’ $ 40,000.
Continue reading ‘Samsung HP-R8082 plasma television’

Technorati Tags: Samsung, 80″, Plasma TV, HP-R8082, CES 2006, 1080p

Philips 42PF7320A is a 42″ Plasma Flat HDTV. It is comparable to the 42PF9630A 42″ Plasma model but without the Ambilent backlight and card slot for digital photos.

Features of Philips 42PF7320A includes:

• 16:9 Widescreen ratio
• Plasma WXGA
• ATSC/NTSC tuners
• Pixel Plus
• Progressive scan

Continue reading ‘Philips 42PF7320A’

Mounting an plasma TV above a fireplace? Or maybe hide your plasma TV behind a hearth. England-based Picture House has a patent-pending design for plasmas to rest behind a fireplace and rise at the press of a button.

The flames in the fireplace are not real but it hides 2kW of fan forced heat which will heat a good size room in approx 10 mins. Picture House claims that the heat does not affect the TV because “cool air is drawn in at the rear of the fire then heated as it is forced out the front. This means no heat is present around the back of the fire to affect the TV.”
Continue reading ‘Hide plasma TV behind fireplace’

Technorati Tags: fireplace, plasma TV, Picture House