DirecTV to debut world's first 3D HDTV channel

DirecTV's launching a new satellite tonight, giving them beaucoups bandwidth for the world's first all-HD 3D channel. The satellite provider plans to populate that channel with movies, sports and other 3D programs.

There's not much technical information about what kind of 3D they'll be satcasting, but the company does say its HDTV satellite receivers will be able to show 3D content after a firmware upgrade. More details will be forthcoming at the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show on January 7.

Oops, there's one catch: To watch this stuff, you'll need to choose a brand-new 3D-capable HDTV from Panasonic, Sony, Samsung, LG or others — set to go on sale after their rollout next month. So what's the point of this 3D onslaught? Is it to bring us a richer viewing experience, or sell more TV sets? Our answer: It's a little of the former, and lots of the latter.

[DVICE via HD Guru]

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LG reveals details about its 2.6mm 42-inch LCD HDTV

Grab two SD cards and sandwich them together. Done? That’s how thin the latest 42-inch LG LCD TV is: 2.6mm. My kid would break it. No, I would break it.
Even though the TV is super-duper crazy thin, it still maintains top-tier specs: 1080p, 120Hz, and edge-lit LED backlighting. The set weighs in at only 4 kilograms too, which LG says makes it perfect for wall mounting. That’s light enough that duct tape could hold it up. Or push-pins.
LG will reveal more about the set in a few weeks at CES and we’ll be there to make even more jokes about how thin the TV is. And I thought the TVs were getting too thin last year.
[CrunchGear]

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Svelte Piixl EdgeCenter 3770 Media Center Hides Behind Your HDTV [Media Center]

Like Kate Moss, this crazy thin EdgeCenter media server from Piixl (who?) is nearly invisible when viewed from the side. And that's precisely the point, as the pricey unit is meant to be hidden behind your HDTV.
From there, out of sight and mind, the EdgeCenter supports up to four TV tuners and 7.1 audio surround. It's configurable, with processor options ranging from Core2 Duo to two-way Core i7's. Windows 7 and a 'durable' aluminum chassis come standard, as does the high $4,000 starting point. Add some options and that price point can go much, much higher.
[Gizmodo via Piixl via Engadget]

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Slow Mo' Video: PS3 Smashes Into Bravia TV at 50 MPH [Image Cache]

For an upcoming ad campaign, Sony Australia used a vehicle safety testing facility to ram the 7-pound PS3 Slim into the face of a Bravia KDL46X LCD TV. The results are hypnotizing. [Gizmodo via Gizmag]

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Mitsubishi astonishes CEATEC with gigantic 155-inch OLED display

And to think we were impressed with the Zune HD's 3.3-inch OLED display. That would be positively puny next to this Mitsubishi 155-inch OLED TV sitting on the show floor of CEATEC 2009 in Japan. This massive monitor is even bigger than that gigantic 150-inch Panasonic plasma screen from a couple of CES shows ago.

This monster monitor consists of 720 modular sections that are each slightly larger than that Zune HD's OLED screen — the 4x4-inch pieces are placed tightly together in a near-seamless configuration. This modular design can be expanded to any size you want. No one is saying what resolution this particular display has, but from a distance those modules seem to mesh together rather well.
We're so impressed by the contrast, sharpness and three-times brighter images of OLED displays, we only wish we had a room large enough or a bank account big enough to accommodate such a behemoth. Never mind that, you can't buy one of these yet anyway. Wait about five years, and these displays will fill entire walls at bargain prices.

From the show floor, here's a video of the screen:

[DVICE]

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Toshiba's Cell-Powered REGZA 55X1 LCD TV Can Record and Display 8 Channels At Once [HDTVs]

Toshiba's first TV with the PS3 Cell processor it helped develop has seriously kick-ass specs. For starters: The 55-incher's LED backlighting divides the 240Hz display into 512 individually controlled areas, and has a dynamic contrast ratio of 5,000,000:1.
The Cell processor also provides self-congruency for improved image quality at the edge of the picture, enhanced color and brightness balance, and a super-high luminance of 1250cd/m². A 7-speaker sound bar is attached underneath the display, and network functionality includes DLNA support, and an HD Web browser based on Opera.
The Cell chip is housed in an external box about the site of an older Blu-ray player. That's also where a 3TB hard disk is installed to allow the TV to time-shift up to 26 hours of programs from up to 8 channels simultaneously. (1TB of storage is reserved for longer-term recordings). Another neat visual trick: the 55X1 can show eight channels on screen at the same time—and step through each without the delay common with rival HDTVs.

The TV is on show at CEATEC (Japan's version of CES), and will go on sale there in December for 1 Million Yen (about $11,115). Toshiba hopes to sell about 1,000 models a month before the 55X1 arrives in the U.S sometime in 2010.
Toshiba also gave some insight into its future plans for CELL processor-based TVs. It talked about using the chip in a range of concepts, including a 3D TV, and a 4K x 2K model that upconverts 1080p to 3840 x 2160. Holy crap. More please.

[Gizmodo via Toshiba via Impress AV Watch]

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Sony Getting Closer to TVs With No Cables Whatsoever [Wireless Power]

This TV has absolutely no cables connected to it. No video cable. No audio cable. And no power cable. How's this wicked sorcery possible? Thanks to Sony's new Wireless Power Transfer technology, which can send 60 watts over the air.
Sony's Wireless Power Transfer can push 60 watts of electrical energy over almost 20 inches (50 centimeters). That's a pretty decent distance, especially when they say that it can be extended using passive extender units. In fact, they have already achieved 31 inches in other tests.
They claim that their method—which sounds similar to Intel's—uses some dharmastastic magnetic resonance, in which electromagnetic energy gets transmitted from one device to another, both sharing the same resonant frequencies.
Sony says that this system offers 80% efficiency, which may get reduced to about a minimum of 60% if there is a misalignment in the frequencies, which needs to be corrected.
I don't know if this is safe for our bodies or not, but I would like to have it. Even if that requires me not wearing my tinfoil hat while watching the sixth season of Lost.
[Gizmodo via Sony via i4u]

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The Qualcomm FLO TV retail box leaks out, launch imminent?

The Qualcomm FLO TV is slowly taking shape. First we saw early concept art, which was followed by our exlucisive shots of the interface. But just last week we saw a leaked photo and learned that it was manufactured by HTC. Today though, the retail packaging has been spotted. So…really the only thing left is the actual product announcement, which can’t be that far off. Hopefully.
[CrunchGear]

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Panasonic develops 50-inch full HD 3D plasma TV for Blu-ray movies

Panasonic has been toying with the idea of bringing 3D TVs to our homes for quite a while now, and today the company announced they will be showcasing a 50-inch full HD plasma TV [press release in English] that’s capable of producing high-quality 3D pictures. End consumers will have the chance to test the TV out during next week’s CEATEC 2009.
Panasonic says the TV is the result of tests they did with a 103-inch 3D TV prototype presented last year (it’s pictured above). The company also says it went for 50 inches because it expects this size to be the standard for TV screens in homes. You’ll need to get a Blu-ray player and discs that support the 3D format though. And shutter glasses are a must.

The 3D TVs from Panasonic will hit stores in the US, Europe and Japan as early as next year. [TechCrunch]

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Sony’s new, super-thin OLED display wraps around a pencil [OLED]

OLEDs, which are said to lead the next wave of innovation in the TV space (after back-lit LCDs and 3D displays), come with plenty of advantages: they produce gorgeous images, they are self-luminous, light, and they’re flexible – very flexible. Case in point: a super-thin, Sony-made 4.1-inch OLED that actually wraps around a pencil, shown today in Japan.

The display is just 80μm thick, offers 432 x 240 resolution (121 ppi), a contrast ratio of around 1,000:1, and produces 100 cd/m2 brightness. Sony says the OLED can be wrapped around a pencil with just a 4mm radius. And the OLED can actually continue to display images and video while being rolled up, which is (according to Sony) a world’s first.



Unfortunately, the OLED is just a prototype, but those of you who attend the SID event in Seattle this week will be able to see the screen in action. All the others can drool over the display in the short (but pretty cool) video embedded below.




[TechCrunch]

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Samsung's LED LCD HDTV Lineup: The 9000 Does 3D and Has a Video-Previewing Touch Remote [HDTVs]

Samsung's LED LCD televisions are here and the flagship 9000 is a doozy. It's the only one they're calling 'ultra thin', has 3D support in late 2010 and a touch remote that shows you content from other video sources!

The thinness (it's as skinny as a pencil) is achieved by shoving lots of guts into the pedestal, which doubles as a wall mount. The set can convert 2D content into 3D, although I'm sure of dubious quality. The remote looks rather Apple-ish in UI, but it can show you, as I said before, content from other sources, like live TV while watching a Blu-ray on the big screen. It has 240Hz tech, which we've never noticed as important in image quality, but it's there (needed for 3D). No word on sizes or prices, yet. There's Samsung app support, but platforms like these are never really well supported. The frame is very shiny.



The rest:

8000 Series: Not as thin as the 9000, it uses edge lit technology and has what Samsung claims is the advantage of backlighting with localized dimming. 240Hz. No prices or sizes. 3D, and treatment to upconvert 2D to 3D. Samsung apps.

7000 Series: No edgelit with localized dimming advantages as in the 8000. 240Hz. No prices or sizes. 3D, and treatment to upconvert 2D to 3D. Samsung apps. 'Touch of Color' translucent frame from last year, with a new 4 legged stand.

6500 Series: 120Hz, 'touch of color' finish. DLNA streaming capabilities. Apps. No 3D. No prices or sizes. Coming the first half of 2010, unlike the above which are coming in '2010'.
5000 Series: Focus on low power usage, including a low power monitor. DLNA, and USB port media playback.
[Gizmodo]

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Panasonic and LG plasma TVs to offer 720p HD video chats via Skype

TVs with Internet connectivity are nothing new, but this is pretty cool: As the world’s first TV makers, Panasonic and LG are cooperating with Skype to incorporate the software, which will make it possible to video chat in 720p HD quality, into TVs.
According to a Japanese media report [registration required, paid subscription], Americans will be able to buy the Pansasonic TVs first (as early as this spring), followed by Japanese and Europeans in the summer. Skype itself, however, speaks of a release in mid-2010 for both the LG and Panasonic TVs.
The Skype function, for which the report mentioned above says buyers have to pay “hundreds of dollars” more than for identical TVs without it, will be available in special VIERA models (the picture shows one Panasonic is currently selling in the US) and LG’s 26 LCD and plasma HDTVs with NetCast Entertainment Access.
Skype says the features include:

* Free Skype-to-Skype voice and video calls
* Calls to landline or mobile phones at Skype’s low rates
* The option to receive inbound calls via a user’s online Skype number
* Skype voicemail, if it is set up
* Being invited to participate in voice conference calls with up to 24 other parties
* Support for up to 720p HD video calls, depending on the availability of high-speed broadband and a HD webcam

The TVs will feature a microphone and a built-in video camera, which – according to Skype – can pick up sound and video from a couch-distance. Skype has set up a dedicated website for those TVs for more information (but the link is currently dead).
[CrunchGear]

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