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James Cameron’s Avatar: New ways for the current 3D fad to bloom?
Posted by Mark Rollins Categories: HDTV, Home Entertainment, Movies,
In case you were asleep on the Internet last week, James Cameron’s long awaited film Avatar just launched its first teaser trailer. All I can say is “it’s about time,” because I’ve been hearing about Avatar for years. Word is that James Cameron, who hasn’t given us a decent blockbuster since that one with the big sinking ocean liner, had to reinvent cinema technology to give us this 3D science-fiction epic.
It would appear that Panasonic is getting behind Cameron by helping to promote it by bringing their huge 103-inch screens to locations everywhere to show people the 3D effects. I got a chance to see Panasonic’s 3D television at CES, and it was quite something.
All I can say is that Avatar had better be worth this kind of promotion. If it is the Titanic hit that people believe it will be, than I have no doubt that 3D will soon become the new standard of big blockbuster movies.
In the meantime, check out the teaser trailer below:
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Blue Star Banner Plasma Globe
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Misc. Tech, Science,
If you want to celebrate the 4th of July before Friday, we suggest the Blue Star Banner Plasma Globe. Put your fingers on the glass and its stars and lightning bolts will reach out to touch you, definitely less dangerous than your average firecracker. While we have always liked plasma globes and wondered how they work, the Online Science site took away all the mystery in their description. We won’t spoil it for any scientifically challenged others, but you can pick one up for $39.99 without looking at the fine print.
Read More 
| Online Science Mall
Samsung Unveils 3D TV
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Design, HDTV, Home Entertainment, Movies,
Although many companies are exploring the glories of 3D TV and consumers are paying the price for it, Korea has come up with the Samsung 3D Plasma for ordinary folk. The PAVV Cannes 450 comes in both 42 and 50-inches with a 30,000:1 ratio and will work with high performance 3D software and geeky glasses. Expect to spend ~$1,850.00 and ~$2,656.00 respectively. An HD version is also available for ~$4,145.00. Here’s hoping that “Captain EO” becomes available to go with one of our fave types of technology.
Read More | <3 yen
CES 2008: Pioneer Kuro HDTV Concept: 50-inch, 9mm Thin Plasma
Posted by Chris Cardinal Categories: CES, CES 2008, HDTV,
Billed as being “thinner than last month’s Wired magazine” and similarly thinner than an iPhone, Pioneer unveiled their Kuro HDTV concept model at their press conference today. The 50-inch plasma weighs in at a relatively paltry 41 lbs and just 9 mm thick. They also claim they’ve “made contrast ratios irrelevant” by eliminating ALL idling luminance, producing completely true blacks. We’ll see how it looks later this week, as they’ll have their concept on the show floor but the early photos they have are impressive to say the least.
Since these are merely concepts, they won’t be available for another year or so but it clearly shows the direction Pioneer is going with their form factors and by “obsoleting” contrast ratios.
Look forward to some video coverage on the floor unit once the show opens up.
Panasonic Unveils Humongous 150-inch Plasma Screen
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: CES, Corporate News, HDTV, Home Entertainment,
Panasonic is planning to unveil a 150-inch Plasma screen TV. At 2 x 3.5 meters, it is 47-inches bigger than its former large screen panel. Developed by Matsushita, it is big enough to display a full-size human. Available by 2009, it is set to debut as the world’s largest TV at next month’s CES. Sharp currently holds the record with a 108-inch LCD TV but we are guessing that Panasonic just had to have the last word
picture.
Read More | TV Predictions
Get Rid of Unsightly TV Cables
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Design, HDTV, Home Entertainment,
If you are fortunate enough to have an LCD or Plasma Screen and have it mounted, chances are you can’t afford something to cover up those ugly cables dangling beneath it. Anthony Lozano may have had the same problem and designed a wall-mounted, fiberboard channel that will hide cords that run between the bottom of the screen and the top of your A/V cabinet, even if it is just a couple of boards and a few bricks. The WS12 ($39.00) covers a 12-inch distance, the WS20 ($49.00) handles 20-inches, and the WS30 ($79.00) spans 30-inches. All of them can be painted and come in flat or textured finish. After we get one of these Wiring Solutions from Super Home Theatre, maybe we can work on replacing those bricks.
Read More | Electronic House
Samsung Releases LED Backlit LCD Displays
Posted by Brian Viele Categories: Corporate News, HDTV,
The argument for the past few years regarding the performance of plasma displays versus LCD panels has always come down to the contrast ratio. LCD’s are physically lighter, can produce the same resolution and don’t have the “leaking” issues associated with plasmas but just haven’t ever been able to hit the brightness levels of plasma displays which have contrast ratios of up to 10,000:1. Some of Samsung’s displays released within the past year have pushed closer, hitting the mark of 4,000:1, and some of the newest Full HD displays being released will touch higher reaching 6,000:1, but that still only hits 60% of plasma. Well, that’s all about to change.
Samsung has released its first LCD screen using LED backlighting. The LE40M91 uses LED light sources instead of CCFL panels allowing this LCD panel to produce a dynamic contrast ratio of a plasma best 10,000:1. This means richer colors, darker blacks and even brighter whites. As an added bonus, the LED sources double the life of the CCFL panels with an average life span of about 30,000hrs. That’s almost 3.5yrs of constant viewing. This first display is only capable of producing images in 1080i, but it is a great first article to show the potential of LED backlit LCD panels.
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