This is a guest post by Diane Colter

I have to admit that I was pleasantly surprised to find that directv promotions for existing customers allowed me to take advantage of having a DVR. I never knew that you could actually pause, record, fast forward and rewind all of the shows that were recorded! That is awesome since i like to record audio samples from documentaries that are played throughout the week. Having a DVR makes it a cinch to queue up the shows to exactly the right point that I want to sample the audio from. I guess that I am getting a but ahead of myself with the DVR, because I have yet to learn all of the features that are given within the menu.

I cannot tell you how happy I am not to have to devote a lot of space for my physical copies of my favorite shows and movies. What an eyesore that was. I am old enough to remember having to put labels on all of the VHS cassettes that I had in my collection. Things are much simpler now with the implementation of DVR’s. I am really impressed also by the quality of the recordings, since they beat the pants off of other formats of recording that I have had to use in the past. I now consider having a DVR an essential commodity.

For the Gadget Metro television pick, the Sony KDL-46XBR4 is a surprise winner. With the abundance of HDTVs, it would have been a number of hi-definition sets that would have worthy contenders or even eventual winners. Still, the KDL-46XBR4 was just too hard to resist. Thus, this LCD TV won out in the long run.

The accurate colors are impressive. There are also numerous picture controls, thus giving you plenty of freedom to tweak the details of your shows. Sony continued the trend of producing the best flat panel LCDs with this set, that is for sure. It is not the most attractive but it definitely outperforms those beauties out there.

It is quite expensive though. Still, for those looking for teh best LCD Tv out there, you would have to shell out some dough in order to achieve such a goal. After all, who said having the best comes at a small price tag?

 

Sony KDL-46XBR4, LCD, HDTV

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Two companies who on their own have each made respective marks in the industry are doing a collaboration effort to make a killing in the flat-panel television industry. Sharp and Toshiba, two companies that are widely regarded separately as key proponents in the LCD TV industry, are planning to work with each other this time.

Basically, both companies would feed off each others’ assets. They would be buying screens and semiconductor chips from each other. More specifically, both companies stressed their working relationship would break down to something like this: Toshiba will turn to Sharp for the 32-inch and larger flat-panel displays used in its LCD televisions while Sharp will receive from Toshiba the chips used in its TV sets.

Their plan will get underway during the year from April and will slowly inch up and gear towards the year 2010. Now, all that is left us to wonder is will other manufacturers soon follow suit? The world awaits.

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Sharp, Toshiba, LCD

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This comes in the heels of their competitors who are making almost the same strides with their very own television releases. Now everybody is gunning for both big and thin. Big in terms of screen size and thin in terms of thickness of the panel itself. Now, that is what one could call the best of both worlds.

LG has developed an LCD (liquid crystal display) panel that is less then 20 millimeters thick, according to a news release last week. The 19.8-millimeter thick LG Philips LCD panel is a 42-inch screen with full high-definition resolution making it as relevant for use in future televisions. It is,according to LG Philips, 40 percent thinner and 10 percent lighter than current comparable screens.

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LG Philips

[image from: cesweb.org]

For those who have not yet received any information about the so-called OLED, these screens offer higher contrast and faster response times than LCD (liquid crystal display) screens. In addition to that, OLED screens can also be thinner since no backlight is required. However, not everything is as rosy as it sounds, especially for the manufacturers themselves. For one, the OLED screens are actually difficult to manufacture. Also, it degrades over time.

With that, most developers are doing their best to increase the lifespan of the OLED screens. By the way, Sony was the first company to market an OLED television.

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Toshiba Corp., Sony, OLED, LCD

[image from: speeple.com]

The Dutch consumer electronics manufacturer Koninklijke Philips Electronics NV is developing a personalized video recorder application that reportedly learns users’ viewing tastes and is expected to compete with TiVo. The company is set to demonstrate its prototype Personal TV Channel system, intended for personal computers or set-top boxes, at the IFA international consumer electronics show, held in Berlin. One feature that has made people talking is its ability to quickly learn users’ preferences and create personalized channels based on those choices. The self-learning function is based on an algorithm developed by Philips.

Moreover, Philips’ application is also capable of monitoring the preferences of multiple users within the same household. The Personal TV Channel also features EPG (Electronic Program Guide) service, which Philips is developing together with a number of partners that are yet to be revealed as of now. Add to the basic TV program information, the program guide service will also include additional background information on individual productions. The PC version will be available early next year as a free download for users of computers running Windows Vista.

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Philips, TiVo, Windows Vista

[image from: plazmaxcomputers.com]

Just when you thought LCD television sets have taken over households all over the world, do not be too sure just yet. It seems Plasma is still breathing, after all. That is, if we are to believe the latest figures a company has furnished to various news agencies.

While Panasonic expects demand for large plasma televisions to somewhat dip in the next two years, it still expects that it would hold steady after that at just about 30 percent of the total market for large, flat-screen televisions. They noted plasma currently has 40 percent of the aforementioned market.

It has been noted by many that plasma gives better picture reproduction because it is self-illuminating, compared to LCD, which has to be backlit. But plasma’s share of the flat-screen market has hit a downward spiral. Still, the company sounds optimistic. Well, let us wait for the final verdict come 2009.

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Panasonic, plasma, LCD

[image from: cdrinfo.com]

As most Sharp HD TVs go, it has a really sleek design that jumps off the page. It has a glossy black panel coupled with a rounded and oblong curves to go along with it. Its dimensions are at a nice 32.3 x 20.9 x 3.8 inches and weighs in at a rotund 36.4 pounds.

With a screen resolution of 1366 x 768, it is still at par with most brands out there. As for its performance, well that is what really counts. Its picture quality is outstanding and the colors are quite accurate. It also did well in the sharpness aspect.

Of course, it has its flaws. It has few to almost no picture adjustment features to begin with. Also it is quite pricey compared to its competitors. Still, it is still tops as opposed to its other counterparts.

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Sharp LC-32D43U, LCD, HD TV

[image from: onecall.com]