Home AV review : Samsung LA46F81BDX (46-inch LCD)

It has been close to a year since the Korean introduced its M8 integrated digital TV or iDTV in Asia, and it's still the only one of its kind so far until now. Replacing it is the latest F8-series, a stepped-up model combining the stylish shell of its premium F9 LED-driven TV with all the familiar features of the original iDTV plus Motion Plus function. The latter is its first and much-belated attempt at the highly sought-after 100Hz motion enhancements.

The good: Razor-sharp and clean HD visuals; bassy and crisp audio; three HDMI 1.3 inputs; unofficial 1080p24 support; inbuilt HD TV tuner; sleek and stylish design.

The bad: Unnatural motion for film-based content; single TV aerial input for both analog and digital broadcasts; visible backlight leakage from the rear.

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VICTORY IN HI-DEF TV WAR GOES TO LCDS OVER PLA$MA TUBES

THE Giants may not have been big winners of the Super Bowl after all.

High-def LCD television sets turned out to be the real champs.

High-definition TV using LCD technology crushed rival plasma TVs in the run-up to the football game - the biggest time of year for television set sales.

According to a report from The NPD group, a retail research outfit which analyzed sales figures for January, more than 80 percent of all TV sales before the game were LCD sets.

There has been a bitter debate between TV experts over which technology is better - but consumers seem to have voted big for the LCD format.

Plasma flat-sets, which are typically more expensive, snared only 11 percent of sales.

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AU Optronics mulls next-generation LCD plant

HSINCHU, Taiwan, Feb 20 - Taiwan's AU Optronics Corp , the world's third-largest LCD maker, is considering building a next-generation LCD plant in Taiwan to meet booming global demand for flat-screen TV panels, its president said on Wednesday. "We do not rule out the possibility a new next-generation plant," AU President L.J. Chen told Reuters at the company's headquarters in northern Taiwan's Hsinchu science park. "We will need a new next-generation plant to power our future growth," said Chen.

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Sony mulls LCD deal with Sharp to boost output

Sony Corp. is considering purchasing liquid crystal display panels from Sharp Corp. to boost flat-screen television production to meet rapidly growing demand worldwide, sources familiar with the matter said Saturday.

Sony procures large LCD panels from its joint venture with Samsung Electronics Co. of South Korea. By joining hands with Sharp, Sony aims to diversify its LCD suppliers, the sources said.

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LCD flat panel TV leader, with plasma distant second

LCD will continue to enforce its position as flat panel technology leader in coming years, according to Japanese industry research released yesterday.

Demand for flat panel televisions is expected to more than double to 180 million units by 2012, driven by strong sales in China and the United States, the Japan Electronics and Information Technology Association (JEITA) said.

Demand for liquid crystal display (LCD) TVs is likely to reach 155 million units in five years, up from 74.8 million sold in 2007, while plasma sales will likely total 25 million units in 2012, compared with 11.4 million sold last year, the group said.

The forecasts are based on expected demand from 51 nations, but they should represent the majority of global demand since all major countries are included in the study, a JEITA spokesman said.


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Apple TV upgrade sweet, but rental terms rankle

NEW YORK -- Tremble, cable: Apple has its sights on you. Tremble, Netflix: Silicon Valley's brightest is out to get you, too.

The latest incarnation of Apple TV, a white box the size of a hardback book that connects to your TV, is an attractive alternative to the usual ways we get our video content, even if it still has room for improvement.

When it launched in March last year, Apple TV was mainly a way for users to get their iTunes content to play on the TV. You could buy movies on the computer, then transfer them to Apple TV, a slow process and hardly worth it. The movies were expensive and of poor visual quality.

A few months later, Apple Inc. gave the box direct access to YouTube videos, instantly making it more entertaining.

The latest software update, which arrived last week, takes Apple TV to a whole new level: It can now download rented movies directly from iTunes, with no need to involve the home computer.


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Panasonic's High-Value High-Def TV

As king of the plasma TV market, Panasonic has plenty to prove these days. Faced with an onslaught of competition from the rival LCD (liquid-crystal display) camp, Panasonic executives have been working hard to dispel any claims their products are somehow inferior to the best LCD offerings. .


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11 new Sony BRAVIA LCD TVs in F1, J1, V1 and M1 Series

Sony announces today 11 new BRAVIA LCD TV sets in Japan.

The new Sony BRAVIA LCD TVs feature improved feature set and performance. Sony adopted recycled plastic materials and lowered the power consumption to make the new LCD TVs shine in "Green".

The new Sony BRAVIA LCD TV models include KDL-46F1 (photo), KDL-40F1, KDL-32F1, KDL-52V1, KDL-46V1, KDL-40V1, KDL-32J1, KDL-26J1, KDL-20J1, KDL-20M1 and KDL-16M1.
Sony launches most of the new BRAVIA TVs in March and the V1 series in April.
Via this Sony press-release (Japanese).

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LCD TV Shipments Outstrip CRTs

For the first time, shipments of LCD TVs surpassed the number of traditional CRT TVs, market research firm DisplaySearch said this week.

LCD shipments rose 41 percent in the fourth quarter of 2007 versus the third quarter, and by 56 percent year over year. In total, 28.5 million LCD TVs were sold, which represented a 47 percent market share versus a 46 percent share for CRT TVs. In all of 2007, 79.3 million LCD TVs were sold, the firm said.

LCD TVs have become more popular, with consumers choosing them over CRTs largely because of their form factor, and because the LCD technology used can take advantage of economies of scale. Plasma TVs, while trailing LCDs in terms of units sold, also make up a sizeable percentage, and are currently considered a better value .

The DisplaySearch figures represent the firm's final tallies for 2007.


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Faulty flatscreen TVs starting house fires

Televisions were found to have ignited almost 70 house fires in the past five years, with more than half of those causing extensive damage. But other appliances, including heaters and clothes dryers, contributed to a much larger proportion of the 5251 fires started by electrical equipment in the period. Surfers Paradise fire station officer Mark Gribble said a flatscreen television left in stand-by mode was the cause of a house fire at Mermaid Waters last week. When fire crews arrived, the house was heavily smoke-logged to waist height and flames were coming out of the window. The house was smoke damaged leaving the owner with a clean up bill likely to run into thousands. Last year, thousands of German-made Loewe television sets were recalled in Australia because of the potential fire risk.


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