Gigantic TVs designed to go in your living room aren’t the only HDTVs out there, and not everyone wants a 60-inch television. People put TVs in their bedrooms and kitchens as well as their living rooms, and those people might still want to enjoy HDTV without going nuts on a behemoth. Well, Sharp is here for you.
Its releasing a 22-inch 1080p HDTV, the smallest full-HD set yet. It also has siblings that come in at 26-inches and 32-inches, in case you want something a little bigger. Unfortunately, with prices that will run $1,540, $1,700, and $2,050, respectively, you’d might as well take your money and go ahead and put a big screen in your bedroom, ’cause it’ll cost you about the same.
At the Flat Panel Display (FPD) International show this week, Samsung is announcing a host of new LCD displays.
The most important announcement, in my eyes, is 40″ HD LCD TV that’s just 10mm thick. While the exact model number is unknown, Samsung claims the LED backlit TV will be able to reproduce 92 percent of the NTSC standard for color saturation, and will consume under 90 watts of power. I figure hanging one of these things up on the wall would look more like a window than a TV. There’s no word on pricing yet, or when it will be available in the United States, but the sheer thinness of it really has me drooling.
While we’re all still waiting for the day when OLED TVs reach 40 inches and more affordable prices, Samsung will also be demonstrating a 14.1 active-matrix OLED screen. Sadly, there isn’t additional information about whether it’s just a prototype panel or a full blown television, like the Sony XEL-1.
Watching high-definition television does not always require a special converter box or hefty monthly fees from the cable company.
The new PCTV HD Ultimate Stick from Pinnacle Systems may look like an oversize U.S.B. drive, but it’s actually a receiver that lets you snag free over-the-air HDTV signals and display HD programs on your Windows computer — without having to install special software.
Pinnacle’s TV Center Pro software for watching and recording television programs comes on the device itself. Its flash memory can hold up to two hours of TV programs recorded in standard definition — making it easy to record a program to the PCTV stick on one computer and play back the show when it is plugged into another PC.
The PCTV HD Ultimate Stick, which sells for $130, includes a telescoping antenna for broadcast television. It can also accept input from coaxial, S-video and composite video sources; full technical details are at www.pinnaclesys.com. The gadget can also capture standard-definition video from camcorders, so when there’s absolutely nothing on TV, you can watch your own productions.