hdtvs

Episode 60 of Digital City has arrived, and whereas last week saw Joe, Julie, and Scott out sick, this week Dan and Joe are out. In with Scott and Julie are CNET editors Josh Goldman and 404 co-host Justin Yu, both of whom share thoughts on some of the good, bad, and ugly Cyber Monday shopping deals out there, and whether or not any good point-and-shoot cameras are being offered. Plus, some quick holiday movie reviews, Scott's buyer's remorse over a PSP Go purchase, and one of the largest backpacks we've ever seen. Kick up your feet, … Read more

Samsung announced on Wednesday that on-demand video services from Blockbuster and Amazon are coming to some of its home entertainment products.

Blockbuster OnDemand, which allows people to rent or purchase video content on a one-off basis, is now available on some of Samsung's high-definition TVs, Blu-ray players, and home theater systems.

According to Samsung, the service will be offered on its Series 650 and above LCD and plasma HDTVs, as well as its Series 7000 and above LED HDTVs. Blockbuster OnDemand will be available to owners of the Samsung BD-P1600, BD-P3600, and BD-P4600 Blu-ray players, as well as the … Read more

It's the end of the week! It's also Audio Draft Time, and this might raise a little bit of controversy. It's Matt and Kim, an Indie pop band from Williamsburg, New York City. Nope this isn't Justin's pick; it's Wilson's. Strange, no?

We check out their tracks "Daylight" and "Yea Yeah." We apologize beforehand for the overdriven audio. It may not be your cup of tea, but Wilson assures us they are great in concert and just lots of fun. On a further note, they will be touring with Weezer in the coming days.

On today's show, we check out an outrageous iPhone app, where you actually have to lick the screen to play the game. The premise of the app is to lick off the food on your plate. Without getting too detailed, we come up with a couple of other apps that might take advantage of this lick-touch-screen idea. Just be sure to wrap up your iPhone before you partake.

We also check out a study that says HDTVs are mostly a placebo effect to most users. Now, we admit this study didn't compare a SDTV next to a HDTV, but we know plenty of people who think that composite video looks just as good as 1080p. After that we get to plenty of voicemails, and yes, we have two--count 'em--two voicemails from women!

… Read more

Ever heard of a super computer in an HDTV? Toshiba has released fresh juicy details on its Cell processor-powered LCD TV ahead of the Ceatec 2009 tech fair in Japan.

The Cell Regza 55X1 is an LED-backlit panel with local dimming that delivers class-leading 5 million:1 dynamic contrast and an ultra-high (serious overkill of) 1,250cd/m2 brightness. Other performance-oriented functions include a 240Hz motion enhancement, Cell Platform Super Resolution technology for improved standard-definition video upscaling, and a bottom sound bar driven by seven speakers.

Best of all, we haven't even touched on the most exciting parts. How … Read more

BERLIN--Spotted in LG's enormous booth here at IFA: a razor thin OLED TV with a 15-inch screen.

That's still about half the size of the average person's LCD or plasma TV, but it's progress. Currently Sony is the only company that sells an OLED and its measures just 11 inches diagonally. LG will officially one up its rival when this hits the market in Korea first next year.

Called "The Object," this display is 0.1 inches thin and weighs in at just over 11 ounces.

See more after the jump.… Read more

BERLIN--LG rolled out its recently announced "borderless" TVs here at IFA on Thursday for all the cameras.

They were introduced in North America at the end of July. By "borderless" they essentially mean it's an HDTV without any noticeable bezel. Using an injection compressed molding and special laminating process, the TV does have a bezel, but it's very small, is flush with the TV, and has no space between it and the screen. It's just like the "edge-to-edge" glass concept on Apple's MacBook Pro, but much larger.

See our previous … Read more

Nowadays, it's not just about skinny HDTVs, it's also about similarly thin accessories for these panels. Take the latest Sanus Super Slim wall-mounting brackets, which enable an HDTV to be installed less than an inch away from the wall. They come in two flavors: the ML11-B1 for 26 to 46 inches/110 pounds and the L11-B1 for 37 to 65 inches/165 pounds.

Besides horizontal and vertical adjustments, these Sanus brackets offer quick release and ClickStand functions. The former unlocks the TV from the bracket easily, while the latter lifts the panel to deliver 3.08 inches of … Read more

The news that Best Buy and TiVo are teaming up to share technology and hopefully pump up each other's sales has led some to conclude that new HDTVs with digital video recording capability are in the offing.

That's highly unlikely.

TiVo, the inventor of the DVR market that has trouble making any profit on it, and Best Buy, the giant of electronics retail, announced Thursday a new partnership. Best Buy will push TiVo DVRs in its stores, and TiVo will create a special set-top box that Best Buy can sell specifically to push its own advertising at TiVo … Read more

With the exit of heavy-hitter Pioneer from the plasma racket, just three major makers remain: Panasonic, Samsung, and LG. The latter two offer significantly more models of LCD TVs than of plasma, however, and seem more focused on LCD technology. Nonetheless, Samsung's 2009 plasmas, if the PNB650 series is any indication, are nearly the match of Panasonic's best.

The model we tested delivered superb black-level performance--significantly better than past Samsung plasmas--and the company's traditional accurate color. Samsung has also kept up with Panasonic on the feature front and delivers more picture adjustments, although we prefer Panasonic's … Read more