Review Think of a widescreen TV. The widest one you’ve seen, you know, one with big, garish speakers stuck on the side. Well, whatever it is, it’ll be nowhere near as wide as this new, premium-priced LCD TV from philips.
Current widescreens have an aspect ratio of 16:9, so when viewing a movie on them, there are black bars along the top and bottom of the screen. Why? Because movies aren’t actually produced in the 16:9 format. Most DVDs have movie aspect ratios of 2.35:1, or 21.15:9. Even this isn’t the full picture, which is 2.39:1 (or 21.51:9) and viewable from the latest Blu-ray discs. It’s this measurement which is matched perfectly by the philipscinema 21:9 56PFL9954H TV. Purists please note, it’s the product name, not the shape of this 2560 x 1080 screen, that has been approximated to 21:9, for simplicity. Read the rest of this entry »
Review The first manufacturer to launch TV sets with integrated Freesat, Panasonic moves things on again with its 2009 Viera range. On paper, the TX-L37V10 is appears to be everything you’ll need for living room viewing – a satellite and terrestrial TV with a network media player, and access to Internet services such as YouTube. For many, it looks like the ultimate all-in-one solution.
The TX-L37V10 is just above the middle of the Viera range. There’s a smaller 32in LCD, and plasmas in 42, 50, 58 and 65 inch screens. Like the slightly cheaper G15 models, it includes VieraCast online services and DLNA streaming, but claims a contrast ratio of 100,000:1 rather than 50,000:1. Although the suggested price seems high, the street price has it pegged at less than £1000.
It’s a reasonably slim set, with most of the socketry on the back panel. The left side has an SD card slot, and a 3.5mm headphone jack, while the right has the main power switch, TV, and AV selectors, plus function, up and down buttons which, together, let you manage the basic settings. Read the rest of this entry »
Review Pioneer makes great plasma TVs featuring the deep blacks and impressively high contrast that this technology offers. For years the company’s mantra was akin to ‘Plasma good, LCD bad’. So it was a surprise last year when Pioneer announced it would be making LCD screens. Like the plasma models, these screens are called Kuro. The word is Japanese for black and the brand is synonymous with high-contrast, high-priced, high-performance screens.
Black is black: Pioneer’s Kuro KRL-37V
The thinking behind LCD sets, Pioneer explained, was the opportunity to make smaller screens – a place where plasma cannot easily go. After all, you’d be hard-pressed to find a Pioneer plasma smaller than 50 inches, and not everyone has room for that or its 60in sibling. So, by utilising the high-contrast filter used on its plasma models, Pioneer claims this new Kuro range affords deeper blacks than previously seen on LCDs. Read the rest of this entry »
