Westinghouse LVM-42w2 Review
October 18th, 2006
Not so long ago, Westinghouse is a name associated with poor TV quality. However, the company has certainly made a comeback with better unit like the Westinghouse LVM-42w2 42 inch lcd.
This is a full hd lcd, which means it has far more details than a standard 1080i HD resolution. Put simply, it’s picture quality will make you drool.
The color, picture, brightness are sharp. In fact, in one of the picture test, you could actually see that the “Terminator” in Terminator 2 promo video is a fake double stunt actor. That is something you cannot see in your standard tv.
Another good thing about the Westinghouse LVM-42w2 is the fact that it actually accept 1080p input. At the moment, most of the new 1080p displays on the market simply upconvert 480i/480p/720p/1080i input signals internally to 1080p. Only a few sets like this Westinghouse LVM-42w2, actually take 1080p input via component, HDMI and its dual DVI-D inputs.
In short, this unit is ready for the future.
Sanyo announced world’s smallest full HDTV
October 17th, 2006
When most tv makers are going big, Sanyo decided to go the other way around.
This week Sanyo will unveil their 7.1 inch full HD lcd that supports 1080p format. In other words, this small screen lcd will be much clearer than the current 1080i tv produced by big screen plasma or lcd tv.
For a portable tv, this is as good as it gets. Although it’s still unclear when it’ll be released, Sanyo lcd is expected to corner the market for portable tv due to it’s high resolution and most up to date screen technology in the market segment.
No price has been announced so far. Let’s just wait any news from the expo.
Sharp LC 45GD7U LCD TV Review
October 15th, 2006
The Sharp LC 45GD7U 45 inch LCD is one of those high-priced lcd that are capable of showing all 1080 lines provided by high definition signals.
With a native resolution of 1920×1080 pixels (the highest so far), tv like the LC 45GD7U are the first with the potential to display all 1,080 lines in the most common high-definition 1080i format,
For your information, until now, a lot of tv resolution are maxed out at 1366×768. Thus your 1080i HD signals are commonly down-converted to match the TV’s less-detailed display capabilities.
Because of that, you’d see significant different between Sharp LC 45GDU’s picture quality compared to most HDTV. The pictures are unbelievably sharp (no pun intended), bright, detailed and colorful.
The standard tv signal however is just like other ordinary lcd in the market.
The titanium silver LC-45GD7U has a contrast ratio of 800:1 and detachable speakers. It has all the connections you need, from DVI for your PC to CABLECARD compatibilty. Unfortunately it has only 1 HDMI slot.
Oddly, many 1080p TVs can’t accept a 1080p signal from an external source such as a high-definition DVD player. The Sharp LC 45GD7U falls into this category too.
However, that isn’t such a big problem. It can still accept 1080i as input and up-convert that to 1080p. Thus, you’ll still get a great quality display, albeit a shade lower than true 1080p.
Consumer Report’s verdict on plasma,lcd reliability.
October 15th, 2006
The consumer watchdog has released it’s result on the reliability of plasma, lcd and projection tv and has said that plasma and lcd tv are as reliable as your CRT.
It stated that there are no repair issues during the first year or two of use for LCD TVs from major TV manufacturers - including 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. Plasma tv from Philips and Vizio however, has been higher than average.
When it comes to rear projection tv, the results have not been so encouraging.
It stated that rear-projection TVs using CRTs have been much more repair-prone than conventional picture-tube sets, with double the rate of repairs for five-year-old sets. The repair rates for the four brands for Hitachi, Mitsubishi, Sony, and Toshiba are comparable.
With the exception of Toshiba’s DLP, rear-projection microdisplay TVs using LCD, DLP, or LCoS technology have been even more repair-prone than CRT-based rear-projection TVs during their first year of operation. JVC’s LCoS is one of the worst performing set in this category.
So, the results are now in. Which set do you have, and do you agree with this findings?
Portable HDTV in your laptop
October 12th, 2006
Yup! I know that sounds great!
What you’ll need is a small lighter size portable TV tuner from Pinnacle. It comes with a remote control and a small telescopic antenna to pull in free over-the-air digital TV broadcasts.
Just plugin the Pinnacle PCTV HD Pro Stick to your USB port and walla! you’re suppose to get HDTV in your laptop. Well, that’s the ideal case. The UsaToday columnist Edward Baig tested this gadget and decided the Pinnacle PCTV tuner needs further tweaking before it can be fully operational.
He said that “in my basement office, I could pick up only three digital channels and three analog channels. They were mostly unwatchable.”
When the antenna (and laptop) was placed next to a window “the quality on some of the 17 digital channels (a handful in HD) and 17 analog channels I received was still spotty”.
In conclusion, he throwed up his towel and decided that “Pinnacle has to address the bugs before I can recommend the PCTV HD Pro Stick, especially to laptop users with older systems. For now, give me HDTV the traditional way — in front of a big TV.”
Well, sorry folks. It seems that we need to wait another year or so ..
HOMEPAGE: Pinnacle’s PCTV HD Pro Stick
Guinness World Record for LG’s 100-inch LCD
October 12th, 2006
Those execs at LG want the world to know that their 100 inch lcd has made it to the Guiness Book of World Record.
The lcd was launched in August, so the announcement is a bit late. At the same time we don’t believe that it will lasts long because Sony, Pioneer, Hitachi and all other lcd tv makers will definately top that screen size in a few months time.
Anyway, for the record, the monster TV include full HD resolution of 6.22 million pixels, a contrast ratio of 3000:1, and 180-degree viewing angle.
Pioneer Elite PRO-1130HD Review
October 12th, 2006 
Pioneer Elite PRO-1130HDPioneer Elite PRO-1130HD is one of the top 50 inch plasma that have entered the market. It performs superbly well not only in displaying high definition signals but are also excellent in it’s analog tv broadcast, something most plasma failed terribly to do.
Pioneer Elite PRO-1130HD
It’s relatively expensive but those who want to bring out the best in their viewing experience, this Pioneer Elite PRO-1130HD is a great choice. Put simply, it’s a Ferrari of plasma tv.
It’s color detailing, contrast, scaling and de-interlacing is second to none. Even out of the box the color are realistic and accurate.
Sylvania 6413TE 13″ Color TV
October 11th, 2006
A basic tv for your kitchen, workshop or err.. wherever you think a small CRT would be needed.
The thing we like about this set is the fact that it turn itself off automatically when it doesn’t receive any signal after 15 minutes. It simply says - “I don’t wanna waste your time. That’s it. I give up!”.
HP LC3200N Review
October 11th, 2006
The HP LC3200N LCD Tv is actually a rebadged Sharp Aquos, with every imagineable input hookup available.
The picture quality and menu are identical, except HP has a few extra inputs and also 6 extra color controls.
It’s user display is user friendly. and the backlit remote is easy to use. The extensive color management should get you the type of picture you want.
Prediction:Laser TV will kill Plasma
October 10th, 2006
Well, that’s what the creator of the new technology want you to believe.
An innovation by an Australian-US consortium, laser TV is promised to be “half the price, twice as good, and use a quarter of the electricity of conventional plasma and LCD TVs”.
Novalux chief executive Jean-Michel Pelaprat is so bold as to predict the death of plasma.
“If you look at any screen today, the colour content is roughly about 30-35 per cent of what the eye can see,” he said.
“But for the very first time with a laser TV we’ll be able to see 90 per cent of what the eye can see.
“All of a sudden what you see is a lifelike image on display.”
Combine that with energy efficiency, price advantage and the fact that the laser TVs will be half the weight and depth of plasma TVS, and Mr Pelaprat says “plasma is now something of the past”.
For some picture and info, go to the Novalux site.
