It’s (still) a 3D world: Sony announced new three-dimensional lineup

Yes, there will be quite a flood of 3D HDTV news over the coming days (Samsung and Panasonic both have announcements over the next couple of days) as companies scramble to jump onto the 3D train, for reasons we can’t really understand.

Sony has revealed pricing and shipping information for its new televisions and related accessories in Japan, including 3D TVs, glasses, and even (gasp!) 2-D traditional HDTVs that will arrive on store shelves quite soon. There will be 40″-60″ models, ranging from $3,200 to $6,400 USD. You can pair them with this player, for maximum coolness.

So now we’ll have 3 companies producing 3D HDTV models, and an as yet undetermined market for people to buy new TVs (and active shutter glasses) to fully support 3D. It’s a real gamble in our book, but who knows. It could pay off…one day.

Promo Shot: The Samsung 3D HDTV gets its 15 minutes at the Oscars

If you’re sick of the coverage we’ve been giving 3D HDTVs of late, then you may want to skip this post.

The iPad ad was in annoyingly heavy rotation during the Academy Awards telecast, but if you looked closely (or even not so closely), you could barely get through a commercial break without seeing the Samsung ad for its new 3D LED HDTV’s. It was shown at least a dozen times, and we’re sure if people didn’t know about HD and 3D before, they sure do now. We reported this one being on sale a bit ago.

To be honest, we’re still in a wait and see stance with HD and 3D and how popular it will really become, but it seems companies are willing to throw some money behind it, which could be a sign of trends to come.

If you somehow missed it, you can see it here: Link

The Untruth: DirecTV, HD and “fudging” the numbers

It seems like DirecTV just keeps digging themselves a bigger hole. They’re already rated ‘F’ at the BBB for various violations of conduct, advertising and charging customers without their permission with sneaky contract terms, but now they’re not being altogether truthful about the content of their HD.

From TVpredictions.com:

But now DIRECTV has outdone itself. In the March/April issue of AAA Magazine, the satcaster has a four page ad promoting its service. The ad features a chart comparing its benefits to Dish and cable TV operators.

In the chart, DIRECTV says that “most” of its movies are in 1080p and Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround.
That’s right. The chart asks if DIRECTV, Dish and cable have “most movies in 1080p and Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound.” Under the DIRECTV header, the answer is ‘Yes.” Under Dish and cable, the answer is “No.”

However, sitting next to the ’1080p’ type in the chart is a little number “1,” which means that the statement has a footnote somewhere in the ad. And if you look at the bottom of page two of the ad, the ‘number 1′ footnote says: “Limited PPV titles available in 1080p.” Limited PPV titles doesn’t sound like “most movies,” does it? Yes, that’s right. DIRECTV is contradicting its own claim in its own ad! However, the footnote is on a different page than the chart — and the footnote is in print so small that you almost need a magnifying glass to read it.

What a creative way to make yourself look good – and bad – in the same ad. The world of HDTV isn’t always a pretty one. Won’t make you this angry, but still…it would be nice if the company could compete without ad trickery.

Saturday’s HDTV Deal-o-Rama

Here they are, once again, the HDTV weekend deals:

Vanns.com has a nice deal on the Sony Bravia KDL-52W5150 52” LCD HDTV for $1397.77 , and free shipping too. We’ve noticed a good price drop on Sony TVs of late, and that trend continues with this awesome deal.

TigerDirect.com has a great LG Plasma unit, the 42PQ30 42” 720p “Smooth Motion” Plasma HDTV for $549.99 with free shipping as well. Unbelievable pic (and that famous LG quality) for a great low price.

Thanks for reading, and please do come again for more great HDTV news and deals!

Special Specs: HDMI 1.4a standard fully detailed, now with 3D

The new HDMI spec needed some tweaking to ease standards and compatibility with old players and boxes was a given, and today all the skinny was released to all HDMI followers and companies. We last reported on this here.

The new standard includes special blu-ray compatibility stuff, along with implementation of Full HDTV 3D in the mix as well. We’re quite pleased to see the standard growing and developing with the times, even if it may mean a new round of firmware updates, fixes and equipment upgrades, in some cases. The HDTV world craves growth and expansion.

HDMI has all the latest details and nerdy numbers in their press release, for those of us (you know who you are) who enjoy that sort of thing right here: Link

They’re Coming: Latest Blu-Ray players begin invading retail stores

Are you someone that always gets the very latest and greatest of the electronics stuff? Then you’re probably the sort that would want to know that the latest versions of Blu-Ray players from LG, Samsung and Panasonic have begun showing up in stores now, and their features are most speed and internet connectability.

Once again, Best Buy is in the middle of the chaos, with many of the new models showing up on their shelves first. These models include:  the BD590, BD570 and BD550 from LG, the DMP-BD85 and DMP-BD65 from Panasonic, and the BD-C6500 from Samsung (Sammy plans on more down the road, admittedly). The specs, features and play speed are top-notch (they’re finally getting it right after a few generations now), and the prices are as low as they’ve been yet.

See here for more details regarding the models: Link

Plasma still breathing: Review of the Panasonic G20 HDTV

Here we were, writing off Plasma as a dying technology. It appear to be alive and kicking seeing Panasonic’s latest HDTV release, the G20.

FlatpanelsHD, a well-known HD guru site, took a 42-inch model fresh out of their big new plant we reported on earlier, and ran it through a gauntlet of very thorough tests. The 1080p panel, which includes a 5,000,000:1 contrast ratio destroyed all of the tests, delivering deep blacks, fine viewing angles and rich colors that are the hallmark of Plasma HDTVs, with little to really complain about.

That said, the improvements here over the G10 series are slight for the most part, with black levels and network stuff about the same as the previous incarnation, so if you want the very latest in charged gas HDTV fun, look no further.

Released: Sony’s 3D Blu-Ray players sent into the wild

Sony’s latest Blu-ray players have been sold on the internet for a few months now,  but they’ve invaded stores at the retail level now, spotted on the shelf at a Best Buy store. Whether this matters for the 3D format in the long term remains to be seen. There’s already a 3D HDTV available for sale from Samsung, so a natural pair is now created.

A check on the Best Buy website shows the BDP-S470 and BDP-S570 available at many stores, so they’ve easily accessible at most any BB store out there.

We know they are capable of a Full HDTV 3D experience and are plenty speedy in terms of loading/access times (a big jump over many incarnations of BR players) but a few readers have already written in on various blogs and noted that the DLNA access mentioned isn’t available yet, and may require a future firmware update, always a good thing to do with new technology, we must say.

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