CES-2007: Texas Instruments Joins Contrast Ratio Race

Yesterday Sony showed off their 27-inch 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio OLED HDTV. Well now its time for Texas Instruments to show off their potential.

Texas Instruments is mainly known for the backend chips that are used in Plasma’s and HDTVs. Their DLP chipsets are used by many manufacturers in their High-end TVs.

The company has claimed to develop a .65-inch chipset that they claim can deliver an impressive contrast ratio of 100,000:1 to their DLP TV prototype.

The company is not planning to go into the HDTV and Plasma TV Biz but they are planning to license the technology to other companies that include Samsung, Mitsubishi, Toshiba and Philips.

HP Announces a Lineup of LCD’s and Plasmas for 2007

HP has announced a varied lineup of LCD TV’s and Plasmas that it will offer in this year. The list includes Plasmas in 42” and 50” with a contrast ratio of 10,000:1. The 42” model has a fair resolution of 1024×768 and the 50″ with it’s undisputed 1365×768. Both feature ATSC/NTSC/QAM tuners but cable CARDS are missing in them.

Now lets move on to LCD TV’s. The company has 5 new LCD TVs for you this year. Two 1080p models are sporting 1200:1 contrast and rest three 720p will offer you a resolution of 1366×768 with contrast ratio ranging form 1,000:1 to 1500:1 for different models. CableCARD is again missing in all of them. A lot of variety to make choice with.

Sony's 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio 27-inch OLED HDTV

Some people need bigger and better LCDs, but we're just fine with the 27-inch prototype Sony mentioned during its press conference yesterday. With a contrast ratio of greater than 1,000,000:1 (not a misprint) to go with its 1080p resolution, and >100% NTSC color reproduction, we'll take this Organic LED great looks in a small package any day. We promised to hunt it down on the show floor and so we did, finding it hiding amongst a rookery of 11-inch displays. Take a look at the gallery for a few more shots of this HDTV and hope it hits shelves someday.

CES 2007: LG Showcased Its New 100-inch LCD

Sharp’s 108-inch LCD isn’t the only biggie in the CES 2007 at Las Vegas, for LG, apart from its small and middle size LCD TVs, has showcased its new 100-inch LCD TV, though 8-inches small from Sharp, still big enough to be categorize in the streak of colossal LCD screens and pose some sort of query on Sharp.

For now, standing just as a demo unit and not to be meant for sales, the 100-inch LCD seems a bit bizarre, not posing any sort of query or burden on Sharp’s massive screen.

Other plasmas noticed at LG’s stall were, the big 102-inch plasma set, of course not the most recent one, and the 71PY1M, the 71-inch plasma that appeared on the floor with a new pricing of $15,000, you won’t believe, 80% less from its introductory cost.

Plasma backers want to change the way we measure HDTV resolution

How do you measure an HDTV? Apparently just counting the 2 million+ pixels in a 1080p set isn't good enough for some people, since the Advanced Plasma Development Center has announced its system measuring only the actual moving picture resolution. In what the center describes as a method that is very close to the way the human eye works, it uses a camera, signal generator, PC and image data processing software to reconstruct the image reflected on the retina. The companies backing this test believe that since -- most of us -- watch moving pictures instead of television images, this test is necessary to show people what to expect from their TV. We're going to go out on a limb and predict that plasmas generally outrank LCDs on this test, considering the source, but especially with new 120Hz technology it appears LCD manufacturers may be more eager than ever to take a shot at a moving target.

Toshiba Presents Stainless Steel Kitchen LCD TV

With increasing competition, most of the LCD TV manufacturing companies are looking for different innovative and fresh options to attract a variety of customers.

In its attempt to seize some special customers who love cooking, spend their most of the time in the kitchen and even don’t want to miss their favorite movie or reality show, Toshiba, apart from the mainstream lineup has come up with a small size stainless steel LCD TV, possibly to match the stainless steel appliances of your kitchen, featuring an ATSC tuner that would enable you to get hold of the HDTV even without the need of the set-top box.

Unfortunately, for now, other specs of the new stainless steel LCD TV are not available. Stay attuned for next update.

Now you can watch iPod video files in full HD quality resolution in large screen

LAS VEGAS, USA (AVING Special Report on 'CES 2007') -- Meridian presented 'MV-D1', its new converter during CES 2007, which can convert general SD quality video files to full HD(1080p) quality video . According to the company, the MV-D1 allows you to view the video contents stored in your iPod in full HD quality large screen.

Miglia TVMini HD+ delivers HDTV DVR functionality to Macs

Sure, there's more than a few ways to get HDTV and PVR technology over on the Mac side of life, but Miglia is giving us one more alternative by updating its MiniHD to deliver tuning / PVR functions to your Mac over USB 2.0. Apparently the company isn't worried about the ole Apple TV stealing all the thunder, and most notably due to its missing tuner, we don't think it will either. The MiniHD+ doesn't seem to outdo its predecessor in most areas, as it still tunes into ATSC, ClearQAM, and OTA broadcasts, and pumps the data to your Mac via USB 2.0. This portable gizmo provides the usual pause, rewind, and scheduling functions you'd expect on a PVR, but it also reportedly allows you to "consult an integrated electronic programming guide to locate shows and edit recorded clips to remove advertisements." Aside from supporting DVD burning, it also features "exclusive 10-bit video and stereo sound," a wireless remote, composite / S-Video outputs, stereo inputs, EyeTV 2 software. So if you're more interested in watching television than downloaded content and movie trailers, you can pick this up for your Mac next month for a currently undisclosed price.