Archive for: plasma
- September 30, 2010 9:16 am
We’re just getting to the point now here in the US where 1080p is getting pretty ubiquitous. Granted, millions of people still don’t have any type of HD device or signal coming into their house. But millions in the grander scheme of things — hundreds of millions — is rather tiny. But just as we catch up, the Japanese are off on the next venture already where our standard 1080p HD has been around for years…well before us.
The new standard: Super HI-Vision. What makes this so “super” is the pixel count — 16 times that of 1080p — 7680 x 4320! Transferring that massive amount of pixels consumers 24Gb/s! That’s insane! Japanese public broadcaster NHK is aiming to have Super HI-Vision broadcasts enter homes by 2020. More near-term goals, however, are a bit more within reach. Specifically, NHK wants to have the 2012 Olympics outfitted with Super HI-Vision broadcasts and equipment. But they’ve got a long way to go before then. To give you an idea of the challenges: There are only three cameras in the world that can record at 7680 x 4320 resolution. On top of that, NHK had to have custom made 103″ plasma TV’s built just to demo the technology.
It’s interesting to think that once we move on to Super HI-Vision and other higher definition forms of video, physical formats will die out pretty quickly. There’s only so much you can put on a physical object.
By the way, what was this bleeding edge demo? The Charlatans live in concert…
Recent mumblings of Panasonic’s 4,096 x 2,160 res TV’s may be drool inducing, but as is customary in the tech world, such claims to fame rarely last very long. And so falls my interest in Panasonic’s 4,096 x 2,160 uber TV in favor of NHK’s new 7,680 x 4,320, 116-inch prototype.
In actuality, the 116-inch measurement comes compliments of (4) 58-inch 1920 x 1080 monitors. But the real numbers to the story reside in the 0.33mm pixel shift which make the whole big shebang possible at this size and scale. It of course is a sight to behold too.
Is it cheating? Perhaps. But such things don’t really matter to me once I’m sitting 6′ from a 116-inch, 7,680 x 4,320 display. Video after the jump…
Want to go big? I mean…really big? If size is of the upmost importance to you, Panasonic has just the beast for you — a 152-inch 4k resolution, 3D behemoth that easily surpasses any and all current TV’s on the market. Just so you understand, that’s 4,096 x 2,160 pixels of resolution. Eye candy it is indeed!
If 152 inches is too big for you, Panasonic has slightly smaller 1080p variants weighing in at 103″ and 85″. Speaking of weight, that 152-incher tips the scales at 590kg! And you thought all flat screens were light as a feather, haha.
Pre-orders will start on July 1st, though no mention of pricing has been made public yet. But given the fact these monster displays are labeled as “professional” products, we can all assume that a “professional” price tag will ensue. Dream away folks…
Any type of HD guru will tell you that OLED is the promising future. Granted, OLED still has some issues with direct light. But in a nice dark theater room, an OLED truly sings. The only limiting factor so far has been a sort of “chicken or the egg” conundrum.
For example, Sony’s 11″ OLED TV costs consumers $3,499. Who’s going to spend that much on such a small TV? And Sony likewise can’t lower the price simple because of the lack of mass production. So what do you do?
A recent breakthrough at Dupont appears to have paved the way for much cheaper and large OLED production…
- February 4, 2010 11:43 pm
The topic here tonight is simple: Is Panasonic manufacturing faulty, prematurely aging plasma TV’s whose black levels are decreasing too quickly over time?
You see, like all good things in live, black levels in TV’s — especially plasmas — come to an end at some point. The only problem with this instance anyway is that people are paying pretty large sums of money for Panasonic’s highly revered TV’s because of their downright amazing black levels. Having said levels decrease as the TV’s age is common to all plasma TV brands across the spectrum.
For Panasonic anyway, mounting user problems in AVS Forum could spell trouble later on down the road if it turns out that they were being less than truthful.
Anyone with a Panasonic plasma purchased in the last couple of years seeing any reduced black level performance? In the spirit of friendliness, let’s not single anyone out. I’m extending this question to any plasma owners. Are your plasmas still dark as dark can be?
Cnet
- November 20, 2009 12:53 pm
Being a tech guru isn’t for the faint of heart. Many will call us lazy, good for nothing, society sapping individuals because all we care about is personal gratification. To some extent, they’re true. But we lovers of the gadget are so much deeper than that. I mean, we’re not dumb by any stretch. A perfect example is captured in all of the cryptic phrases and labels manufacturers conjur up. Things such as 1080p, WUXGA, HDMI, etc. mean absolutely nothing to the normal human. But as technology progresses these terms and analogies will only grow. The latest on the list of things to write a mental sticky-note for comes by way of Phillips and their “LED Pro” TVs.
LED Pro 9704 TV sets to be exact. The reason for lustful thoughts for these bad boys centers around the whole idea of independent lighting of the LED’s thanks to 224 individual LED segments. Those 224 segments allow the 9704′s to get all contrasty — up to 5,000,000 : 1. Pretty damn good for an LCD don’t you think? Of course, with the LCD/LED duo, power consumption is down 50% over traditional LCD’s without the LED goodness. Rounding out the feature set is the 200Hz “Clear LCD Technology”, Ambilight Spectra 3, 1ms response time, and two 15W audio channels split across 4 speakers.
Pricing isn’t too bad with the 40″ and 46″ sets going for $1,799 and $2,499 respectively. Anyone looking to splurge on their Christmas gift a little early…?
Pocket-Lint
While I can sit here and point my finger complaining of this stories’ mother being way too generous/intelligently lacking with her young son in regards to his new 98″ ceiling mounted and flush TV (yes it’s really that big), I can’t even begin to tell you how much I would want that in my room at any age. If you’re sitting back denying that this is of any use and that the mother is stupid blah blah blah, do us all a favor, shut your mouth and just admit your jealous. Hell, I am! Moving on, this behemoth of an eye pleaser was, as you can see, mounted flush with the kids bedroom ceiling meaning no rough lines yet days of door closed, anti-social behavior. The whole contraption, mounting and all weighed in at more than 300 lbs. meaning a reinforced ceiling frame was needed! (picture below) Yikes…wouldn’t want that falling on my chest in the middle of the night when a stripped screw brings down 300+ lbs. of metal, plastic, and wood. On a lighter note, the mother of the millennium says that her son spends a great deal of time playing with and editing his own videos….riiiigggghht. While his eyes may enjoy the added room to stretch and the extra size and convenience of a 98″ screen right over your head may sound great, the chiropractor may not be so excited next time you go in to have your back and neck realigned after staring at the ceiling for two days straight.
Hey, the mom isn’t that stupid…now if she had put a mini fridge in their too….then we might have a problem.
Source: Gizmodo, Electronic House
While eye candy lovers drool over such technologies as FED and SED (which are sadly pretty much dead) and OLED still requires a heft toll be taken on your wallet, LCD’s still enjoy supreme reign in the mobile display world. Hitatchi realizes that 480 x 360 just doesn’t pack the “WOW” factor that it did even just 1-2 years ago. Hitatchi however still sees a market for higher quality, higher resolution LCD screens for mobile devices. Just how much better will Hitatchi’s mini-LCD’s be?
With falling prices and the ever increasing demand for Hi-Def content coupled with the desire for smaller less intrusive electronics, flat screen TV’s such as Plasma and LCD’s have quickly begun replacing traditional as-big-as-a-house tube/projection golden oldies. Many would think the real danger from having children and flat screens would be from the kids knocking the TV’s over resulting in a very unhappy papa and the child getting to go on a nice extended camping trip in their bedroom. But did you ever consider that flat screen TV’s could in fact be a dangerous child slayer lying in wait?
