High Definition Hardware

Does size really matter?

It would seem that the folks at Samsung believe this to be the case.

They have been working hard to produce the world's first 175cm (70in) high-definition LCD  TV panel - a whopping 12.5cm (5in) bigger than the largest LCD TV currently on the market. This monster has a resolution of 1,920 x 1,080 which as most of you will likely know makes it a perfect match for a HD source such as SKY HD, or a HD DVD or Blu-Ray player.

Clearly it's not just about quantity however, and subsiquently the display provides a contrast ratio of 2000:1 and a brightness of 600cdmpm². Even with such a large panel the response time is still favourable, coming in at less than 8ms.

If you happen to want one of these you will have to wait  a few months as Samsung say they will not be available until the first half of 2007. The upside of this is that it gives you plently of time to work out where the heck to put the thing!

Sanyo CE32LDY1 LCD TV

Okay so I am sure that most of us recognize the advantage of having a built in Digital tuner in a new TV. Even if you do subscribe to a satellite or cable service it makes sense to future-proof yourself as much as possible. However Sanyo has taken the next step with their new CE32LDY1. It’s one of a very few TVs to include both a Freeview receiver and hard-disk recorder. Of course it’s HD-ready so provides an HDMI port so will work perfectly well with Sky HD or similar should you be that way inclined.

What makes an HD image so good?

Unless you have been living in a box for the last few months you are bound to have heard about the impending release of HDTV in the UK, and the potential benefits that High Definition offers.

High Definition TV is being touted as the biggest revolution in TV for years. Bold statements such as the difference being as big as that between black and white and colour have already put HD on a pedestal.

HD Ready TV Buyers Guide

So you’ve decided its time to buy that new High Definition Ready Television, but what do you actually need to look out for?

High Definition Hardware’s TV Buyers Guide covers the key things that you need to be aware of when purchasing a new High Definition TV.

SED

The return of the tube: thinner, flatter, better

Not everyone believes that plasma and LCD is the future. Toshiba is developing SED (Surface conduction Electronic-emitter Display) in a joint venture with Canon. Canon began research into SED in 1986 and needed a partner with TV experience, which is where Toshiba stepped in.

Like CRT, SED uses a tube, only one that's thinner and flatter. However, it doesn't need an electron gun or shadowmask and has a much lower power consumption. Each SED pixel has an emitter that fires an electron beam at a phosor in front of it. The screen is a vacuum, much like a conventional CRT.

SED screens are brighter than CRTs while current contrast rates at 10,000:1 - a black level superior to plasma or LCD. At launch, SED panels may be just 50mm deep and weigh just 10kg for a 50in screen. SED is compatible with high defintion sources. The first examples should be availalbe later on this year

Rear-Projection

Plasma pics without the price-tag

Rear projection TV's looked as if they were heading for extinction when flatpanels first appeared, however they seem to have staged a remarkable comeback, thanks to the so-called microdisplay technologies such as DLP and LCD.

By replacing traditional three-tubed sets, rear projection models have become slimmer and sharper. You can still buy CRT based rear projection sets, but their inabiliaty to display high definition has confined them to the budget end of the market. The most exciting genre of the current rear projection models are the DLPs. These offer huge screen sizes at prices far lower than Plasma or LCD - with a comparible image quality.

Plasma / LCD

With prices falling and quality ever improving, slimline seems like the only way to go.

A Plasma or LCD screen seems like the must have product for the style-concious. Seducing us with their skinny build and huge screens - the perfect gadget.

You'll find sizes of 32, 42, 50, 55 and 61in varieties, along with a few others.

Television is changing

Over the last 50 years there have been various changes to the way we watch television. Early TV sets received images in black & white until the late sixties when pictures turned to colour. In recent years we have seen analogue signals becoming digital in line with the government plans to switch off analogue transmissions.  Now the next phase in the evolution of TV has begun and promises to offer the ultimate in picture quality in the form of High Definition TV.

Sky HD install delays

So, after months of waiting, pre-registration, and paying up front for Hardware, I am now sat happily in front of my new Sky box watching in glorious HD.

Well unfortunately not. It appears that Sky have somehow managed to run out of HD boxes, on the first day the service was made available to the general public.

I, like many others, registered for Sky HD as soon as there was a whisper about the new technology. The day the website went live, I paid my £30 to pre-register, waited for a call a few weeks later to confirm an installation date of the 22nd, and paid the £299 required for the box.

Great! All set and ready to go. Or so I thought..

Todays the Day for Sky HD

This week sees the first installations taking place for those customers who pre-registered for Skys HD service.

Apparently up to 40,000 installations will be taking place over the next few weeks with Sky racing to get as many people up and running in time for the June 9th World Cup kick off.

Skys HD signal has been live and showing on the Electronic Programme Guide for a month now, but until today only a select few have been able to see exactly what the service has to offer.

The BBCs trial HD service is also live (it can be found on channel 145 on Sky) and will be showing a couple of hours of HD programming a day, including Planet Earth, and Hotel Babylon.

Expect to see a full write up of Skys new HD service in the next couple of days.

If you have had the new service installed, let us know what you think!