Tag: Flat Screen

We live in a marvelous age. It’s so nice not to not have to get up off your butt to change the channel or turn the sound up. Who wants exercise? Besides, as a species, our fingers are probably stronger than they have ever been, hitting the keys on remotes and using our touchscreens.

While everybody and their brother is showing off 3D display technologies here at CES, this is the first display I’ve seen up close and personal that doesn’t require glasses. Made by China’s TCL, this unique display uses a special set of lenticular LCD layers which let you see truly 3D images without any special eyewear.

The new Sony BRAVIA XBR-60LX900, XBR-52LX900, XBR-46LX900 and XBR40LX900 have a feature I haven’t come across on any other set yet. These sets include a new feature called “Intelligent Presence Sensor,” which automatically detects faces of people viewing the set, and optimizes the picture for their viewing pleasure.

You’ve got to hand it to Vizio. 10 years ago, these guys were barely a blip on the radar screen, and now they’re one of the dominant players in the television business. Now they’ve got a new TV that’s gonna have you running to the store to return that new set you just got for Christmas.

So you just plunked down thousands of dollars on that shiny new flat screen HDTV. But you’ve got kids, and they like to throw everything from the remote to peanut butter and jelly sandwiches around the room.

The Shuttle X50 is a sleek, flat panel all-in-one PC – and now you can order one in a barebones configuration, which lets you put in your own choice of operating system, storage and memory to save a little money.

I recently came across this rather cool user interface for a music sequencer called the ReactOgon. Looking like something you’d find on the deck of the Starship Enterprise, the instrument uses a large tabletop multi-touch interface to create music sequences in real time.

Philips Ambilight technology has been around for a few years now, providing flat-panel televisions with color-enhanced ambient backlighting. While placing lights behind of television screens has long been known to improve perceived contrast ratios and decrease eyestrain, Ambilight’s color-cycling was always a bit more superflous in my opinion.

For those of you who want to have a big flat-panel TV and want satisfy the wife/girlfriend factor too, this new fireplace could be just the trick. This innovative fireplace designed by Picture House lets you conceal your flat-panel LCD or Plasma behind the fireplace when not in use.

One of the best deals going in flat panel televisions has been from Vizio. Last year, I picked up one of their 50-inch plasma sets (1366×768 resolution) at Costco for around two grand, and have been duly impressed by the price-to-performance value on these sets.

At this week’s IFA consumer electronics show, Philips showed off a prototype 100-inch LCD FlatTV complete with their Ambilight Full Surround technology. For those not already familiar with Ambilight, it provides an array of colored LEDs as a backlight source behind the set.

LG is working on a 42-inch LCD monitor capable of displaying images in either 2D or 3D without glasses, by simply toggline a switch. At this time, there are no other details on the technology or when a release is expected.

Sony’s latest attempt to combine a flat panel LCD with a PC has resulted in the svelte new VAIO LS1 TV/PC. The new system combines a reasonably powerful computer into the back of a flat-panel 19-inch WSXGA+ (1680 x 1050) LCD display.