Sony Bravia S-Series KDL-46S4100 46-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV Review

OK, so the name’s a mouthful, there’s no chance of you ever remembering it, and even if you like the sound of it after this review, by the time you get to the shop you’ll probably have forgotten what it’s called and come home with some clapped out old analogue set that you have no use for. But, it’s a brilliant TV, so just write the name down so you don’t forget it.

When it’s lined up against all the other TVs in a store, this one stands out by far. Its slick black design is great, but it’s nothing special, the picture quality is what sets it apart, and if you get a chance to listen to it, you’ll notice that the sound is also far superior. I know a lot of people use separate speakers now, but if you don’t this is an important consideration.

Set up time is amazing, so much so that the TV is pretty much plug and play, and provided you know what a plug looks like, you’ll be watching it within ten minutes of it coming out the box.

If you do want to change the settings, unlike many sets, the onscreen menus are easy to use. In fact, one alteration you may want to make for the sake of your eyes is to put the TV on standard mode rather than vivid, despite it looking great.

On a downside, once you press the power switch, it takes about ten seconds to load a picture, and flicking through channels has to be done one by one, but this isn’t a problem if you use a separate box like Sky+. Overall however, this is a great TV that will suit everyone and not break the bank.

Posted in HDTVs | No Comments »

FlyWire For HDTV

Wires are a huge problem. Right from when the first electrical devices went mainstream and began dominating homes, wires have littered rooms, covering walls, floors and almost every corner available.

With the introduction of HDTV, there are even more gadgets and set-top boxes which need to be plugged in, and so even more wires. Along with my TV which has it’s own power lead and aerial, I’ve got a DVD player, Sky+ box, and my PlayStation 3, and so the room does look quite messy.

However, I just heard that Belkin have released a little device for HDTVs that they call a FlyWire.

This little tool takes inputs from all your various boxes, in my case it would be my DVD player, Sky+ and PS3, and then reroutes the signals wirelessly to your HDTV, using a small receiver that plugs into the TV.

The FlyWire itself looks like a wireless internet router in its design, and I suppose that ultimately it’s very similar.

With one of these installed, you have the ability to leave all your boxes in a tidy cabinet, away in a cupboard, even under the sofa or in another room if you like, and there’s no need to have loads of wires leading into your TV, just the power and aerial cables.

I think the main advantage of this is that it tidies your room up, but it also means that you can have all your inputs going to the TV at once without having to switch around SCART leads, and also allows you to move your HDTV as much as you like, without unplugging things.

Only problem is, Belkin’s website are advertising the FlyWire for $999.99, so we can call that $1000. A great product, but I’m not so keen on the price.

Posted in HDTVs | No Comments »

Calibrating Your Television for an Excellent Picture

When you bring home a new television, there are a few steps you need to take to make certain you get the best picture possible. Although there is software available to help you calibrate your television, there are a few things to keep in mind if you are trying to get your television set-up without the help of outside resources.

One of the first things you need to keep in mind is that you shouldn’t stick with the factory settings. After all, televisions are calibrated to look good while on display at the store. At stores, there is a great deal of ambient light, which you won’t find at home. The difference in environment means you will need to also calibrate your television differently in order to get it to look great in your home. In fact, simply turning down the contrast and the brightness on your television will likely make it look much better because the factory settings are often set to be very bright.

You will also need to keep in mind that your television will likely need different settings during the day than it will need at night. After all, with the natural light coming in during the day, your picture will appear different than it will when the room is dark at night. You can usually program more than one mode on a television, so calibrate one mode for nighttime viewing and another for watching television during the day.

In general, you should avoid using the television’s dynamic mode at night because it will increase the contrast and the sharpness. In most homes, this mode will be too bright during the day as well. So, stick with cinema, normal, or movie modes instead. To get the absolute best picture, you will also need to calibrate your television for each of your input devices, as your VCR and your DVD player likely will not look their best with the same calibration.

Although calibrating your television can be a bit time consuming at first, the effort will pay off when you watch your favorite shows or play your favorite video games on a television with an amazing picture.

Posted in HDTVs | No Comments »

Adult Consumers Still Prefer Watching Television the Traditional Way

A recent survey conducted by Nielsen found that most adults prefer watching cable channels on a traditional television set rather than over the PC. In fact, 94% of those that subscribe to satellite or cable report having a preference for their television sets rather than using online systems on their PCs.

Although most adults prefer to use their televisions to watch television broadcasts, 35% of those responding to the survey did say that they have watched one or more television shows on the Internet that were originally broadcast on television. 87% of those that watched television programs on their PCs said they watched the programs on the website of the television network. In addition, 82% of respondents indicated hat they have gone online specifically to find a specific program that they were unable to watch on television.

In addition to watching their favorite television programs online, many respondents also use the Internet to learn more about their favorite actors and to learn about upcoming episodes of their favorite shows. At the same time, the majority of respondents said they prefer to watch shorter clips when they go online to watch videos.

53% of respondents said they go online in order to view movie trailers. 45% visit the Internet to watch videos generated by other users and 37% go online to watch news segments and music videos. 31%, on the other hand, watch comedy programs and another 31% watch sports clips.

Although consumers have a preference for viewing television on their television sets, the survey found that consumers are using the Internet to watch television far more than they did just two years ago.

Posted in General | No Comments »

Why Did HD DVD Lose To Blu-Ray?

For those of you who don’t know, about a year or so ago, a fierce battle was raging to claim the future of video recording material and the machines videos are played on. The battle was between Blu-Ray, which is quickly taking over from DVD as the industry standard, and HD DVD, which was basically a step up from your basic DVDs.

Everyone originally thought that HD DVD would take over from DVD, primarily because it built on principles that we were already familiar with. Everyone owned an entire collection of DVDs, and HD was the next generation of broadcasting, so HD DVD seemed a logical advancement.

The future seemed set when the promotional group behind HD DVD approached FOX with a deal for the TV company to join HD DVD exclusively, and FOX seemed certain to agree to the deal, while Warner Brothers was also planning on going to HD DVD rather than Blu-Ray.

However, Sony had already announced that their upcoming console, the PlayStation 3, was to use Blu-Ray discs and play Blu-Ray films, using a Blu-Ray player. In fact, the entire machine relied on Blu-Ray, to the extent that the console could flop if support for Blu-Ray petered out.

So, Sony gave Warner Brothers a rumoured $500million pay-off, to get them to drop their plans for HD DVD and switch to Blu-Ray as Sony had chosen to do, and worrying they’d be left behind, FOX followed suit.

To sum up, Blu-Ray won the battle due to blatant corporate bribes. And I thought these companies were regulated.

Posted in HDTVs | No Comments »

Sony Announces New Video Service

Sony has recently announced that it will be offering its “eyeVio HD Pro” service. Through this service, consumer will be able to post and share HDTV video files through the company’s video sharing portal, which is to be called “eyeVio.” The company has actually been running the service since April 2007, but has only recently launched it in Japan.

With the new technology, consumers will be able to view video clips that they have uploaded to the eyeVIO HD Pro on their televisions. In order to do so, they only need to connect to the company’s BRX-NT1 network TV box. Or, they can connect through their Playstation 3 console with their televisions.

In order to post HDTV video clips, consumers only need to apply for an account with the eyeVIO HD Pro service, which can be accomplished by visiting the company’s website. Those with accounts can then upload HDTV video files as large as 500 Mbytes. They can also post HDTV video files and can then invite up to five people to join in the service.

Consumers will need to download Adobe’s Flash Player 9 in order to view the videos on their PCS. The company also recommends having a 2 GHz Core 2 Duo microprocessor from Intel, or something even better in order to download and view videos. The system will also require having 2 Gbytes or more of memory as well as the Windows CP SP3 or Mac OS X 10.5 system or better.

Posted in General, HDTV Programming | No Comments »

Consumers Becoming Increasingly Disgruntled with Television Customer Service Centers

According to a recent survey, computers are getting quite fed up with customer service representatives for television providers. In fact, the industry came in last place when it came to customer satisfaction, even falling behind computer companies and insurance companies. In addition, the industry fell 3 percent since the survey was taken last year, which demonstrates that the industry is certainly going in the wrong direction. In all, customer service representatives within the television industry scored a 66 out of a possible 100 points.

Of those participating in the survey, 20% said that satellite and cable customer service representatives were unable to resolve their issues. For the purpose of the survey, the two services were placed in one category. According to the survey representative, however, cable companies actually did worse than satellite companies.

The consumers that participated in the survey also indicated that cable and satellite companies were becoming less effective at handling their issues. The respondents also stated that the companies seemed increasingly less interested in helping them with their issues and that they seemed less knowledgeable and incapable of discussing the issues clearly.

According to the survey, one of the problems appears to be the fact that a growing number of cable and satellite companies are deciding to have their calls handled by overseas call centers. In addition, the fact that more complicated questions are being asked by consumers has made it more difficult for customer service representatives to properly handle the calls.

Posted in General | No Comments »

High Definition Gaming on the PS3

More than 30 years ago, pong, the first ever video game, began production and quickly took its place in bars across America. It was so popular because of the gameplay, no one cared about the poor graphics or the limited features – pong was fun.

Now in 2008, we live in a world of bright lights and sexy graphics, and there’s no better machine to showcase this than Sony’s Playstation 3. Unlike the ever popular Nintendo Wii, the PS3 has full HD integration, and displays stunning graphics if high definition from the majority of its games.

But is all this HD worth it? One of the most hyped up games for the PS3 is Grand Theft Auto 4, about the 50^th title in this incredibly popular series, but in my opinion, it’s not a patch on its predecessor; GTA San Andreas.

Rockstar Games who produce GTA have focused most of their attention on the city, and its detailed graphics, and no one can dispute how realistic the environment looks, but it comes at a cost. The reason pong was so popular was because it was fun to play, GTA 4 just isn’t that fun, it’s more just a piece of artwork, and there’s only a certain amount of time you can spend admiring one piece of art.

What I’m saying is don’t get too excited about the PS3 being HD, as many of the games have neglected what video games should really be about in exchange for snazzy graphics. As for me, I’m going to get a Wii.

Posted in HDTVs | No Comments »

Panasonic Viera TH-50PZ800U Review

2008 is the first year where HDTV sets are a common item across the world, now taking their place in the living rooms of millions of people, but if you haven’t made the switch to HD yet, and have a bit of cash to throw around, this TV is definitely worth considering.

Sleek isn’t even it; this TV represents the pinnacle of modern design, with it’s black surround and stand, and incredibly thin profile. As a finishing touch, Panasonic took a sheet of glass just slightly bigger than the TV and placed it on the front to protect the display and provide a clearer picture, which also completes the design with it’s tiny overlap.

In terms of the technical aspects, the Panasonic Viera TH-50PZ800U sends out the highest quality colour you’re likely to get from a TV, providing the viewer with a crystal clear image with very little false contouring. The picture quality is boosted even further by the TV’s THX mode, which takes away the need for in-depth calibration, therefore improving the picture quality even further.

If you don’t want THX mode, then you can step down to the lower spec TH-PZ85U, where everything else is much the same, but most people find the THX mode well worth the extra cost.

50 inches of pure viewing pleasure come complete with the Panasonic Viera TH-50PZ800U, as well as a 1920×1080 pixel resolution, and can be purchased for as cheap as $2,199 in some places. Definitely worth considering if you’re looking for an HDTV this summer.

Posted in HDTVs | No Comments »

Philips Develops New White Space Broadband Technology

Philips Electronics has reported to the FCC that it has developed a technology that will make it possible for consumers to create home networks that allow the transmission of wireless HDTV among the various rooms in their homes. In addition, the company claims this technology makes it possible for consumers to link devices such as HVAC systems and telephones together.

Philips claims that the new technology offers a “fully operational white space broadband system” that is capable of sensing and avoiding incumbent users. At the same time, it can transmit HDTV signals over empty channels. In short, it can detected the wireless mic signal of newly incumbent users and can then switch to a different channel that is open without causing interruption to the HDTV transmission.

The system accomplishes this by continually scanning and sensing UHF spectrums in order to find used channels. It also has a “cognitive operation” feature that allows network nodes to jump to white space channels that are available.

Posted in General | No Comments »