about-electronics.eu

HDTV UK: Intel and Adobe have announced that they are collaborating in a bid to optimise Flash and Flash Lite to bring it to the Intel Media Processor CE3100 which can then be embedded within TVs, set-top boxes, Blu-ray disc players and AV devices.

“The Intel® Media Processor CE 3100 is a highly integrated solution that provides a powerful, yet flexible technology foundation that will bring to life the high definition capabilities of Adobe Flash,” said general manager of Intel’s Digital Home Group, William O. Leszinske Jr.

“Our effort with Adobe is poised to accelerate a rich, yet relevant Internet experience on the TV that will provide consumers with access to a growing number of Flash-based applications that will ultimately be enjoyed across a number of screens seamlessly, from the laptop to a MID and now the TV.”

Flash Lite could be implemented within the Intel processor as early as mid-2009.

read more

NetworkWorld: Samsung Electronics plans to unveil a flat-panel TV that’s as thin as just 6.5-millimeters at this week’s International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

The TV set, few details of which were immediately available, is between 6.5mm and 7mm across its width and has an LED (light emitting diode) backlight.

The Samsung TV stands at present to be the thinnest LCD TV yet demonstrated.

Until now that record was held by Philips, which unveiled an 8mm prototype LCD television at the IFA electronics show in Berlin last year. At the same event Sony took the wraps off a 9.9mm set that has already gone on sale and is the thinnest LCD TV available in retail stores.

CES begins on Thursday. Samsung has scheduled a news conference for Wednesday at which the TV set is expected to be first shown.

read more

HD News: With the introduction of the 42PLF9903 and 42PFL9803, the Dutch electronics giant Philips has joined an elite group of manufacturers offering LED (light emitting diode) technology on an LCD TV.

LED technology replaces the conventional bar-style fluorescent backlight (found on virtually all LCD TV’s) with hundreds of Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs).

The two new models from Philips have a total of 1,152 LEDs split into 128 segments which helps to produce a claimed 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio for plasma rivaling black levels along with a more natural color representation.

The 42PFL9903H raises the technological bar even higher by adding its ‘Ambilight’ system to the mix. Philip’s acclaimed ‘Ambilight’ system delivers light from the sides of the LCD screen (via strip lights) to enhance/complement the current scene.

Both panels feature the latest incarnation Philips’ picture processing engine, ‘Perfect Pixel HD’ which is capable of processing up to 500 million pixels per second with a world beating two milliseconds response time.

read more

Electronista: DJ equipment and accessories maker Numark has unveiled its HDMIX DJ computer, which acts as a DJ mixer for files sourced from CD-RWs, DVD-RWs, a hard drive or any USB-connected device such as a flash drive.

It comes with an 80GB hard disk that locks in place, and can be quickly swapped out for one with up to 1TB of capacity. Users browse files from a high-resolution color LCD, and can sort libraries by name, artist, album, genre or beats per minute (BPM). DJs can also create custom playlists, and have access to a bundled keyboard.

The HDMIX has three input channels, each with a dedicated EQ and gain control. The master output features a balanced XLR stereo pair output, along with RCA Master and Zone connections. There are two mic, three line-in and two phono inputs, as well as a pair of USB ports for connecting external devices.

read more

Techradar: LG Electronics is set to unveil the world’s slimmest LED LCD TV at CES in Las Vegas next week.

The LG LH95 is set to go up against offerings from Sony and Samsung – both of whom were claiming the thinnest TV crown at IFA in Berlin earlier this year.

So exactly how thin is the LG LH95? It is an impressive 24.8mm thin. The LG LH95 also supports 240Hz TrueMotion Drive technology and 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio.

read more

Stuff.tv: Having given over a rather slick LED TV, the might LH9500, LG certainly isn’t resting on its laurels in the lead up to CES. They’ve just unveiled two new high end models – the 200Hz packing LH5000 and the Freesat toting LF7700.

It’s the LH5000 that’s really caught our eye. We first got a peep at it out in Korea and it clearly shows LG is coming up on the rails in the race for faster pictures on your telly. Rocking their TruMotion 200HZ tech, it will got head to head with Sony’s Motionflow for the crown of top HD TV. The jury’s out, but we can’t wait to see how pics look running at 200 frame per second.

On top of that. LG’s also getting into the Freesat game with the LF7700 – going up against Panasonic’s Viera tellies.

read more

THR.com: Demand for the high-definition Blu-ray format drove UK DVD volumes up in 2008, according to new figures from trade body the British Video Association.

Total DVD sales rose 1.9% year-over-year to 252.9 million units. That included 3.7 million Blu-ray titles, representing a 378% rise over 2007.

The figures, based on over-the counter sales data from the Official Charts Co., show that “the home entertainment market is alive and kicking, despite difficult trading conditions across the entire retail sector,” the BVA said.

The BVA/OCC figures were published after a difficult six weeks for the British entertainment retail sector.

Nevertheless, 1.5 million Blu-ray discs were sold in December, up nearly 400% against the same period in 2007. The latest installment in the Batman franchise, “The Dark Knight” (Warner Home Video) was the year’s best -selling Blu-ray title (281,000 copies sold).

read more

PC World: Cisco has won much attention from consumer news sites since the New York Times reported last week that the networking giant is expected to unveil a digital stereo system at CES that can move music wirelessly around a house, among other consumer offerings. But analysts and pundits say there are hurdles that Cisco must overcome in a market where Cisco is an unknown brand.

Jonathan Greene writing in eHomeUpgrade says he’s puzzled as to “why Cisco is not simply focusing on enabling the connectivity and distribution piece on the network rather than going for the end-point.” He adds that he’d rather see “something neutral that provides access to content where I want it – whether that’s in my house or pushed out to my mobile device.”

Directions on Microsoft Analyst Matt Rosoff points out that enabling multiroom audio is more complex than “just a few simple tweaks to [Cisco's] existing home networking products,” and that Cisco must successfully hide that complexity from users. He adds: “If it manages to hire some great UI designers and brands these products appropriately — coming up with names that are more interesting than these would be a start — it has a fighting chance.”

read more

T3: LG is about to make your current Blu-ray player look so 2008, with a range of new networked players offering full access to the YouTube catalogue.

Launching at the forthcoming CES, the as-yet unnamed models will focus on both Blu-ray playback and on-demand entertainment, with deals in place with US movie retailers CinemaNow and Netflix. And if the bank balance is looking bleak, YouTube will be available for clips of comic pets and bootlegged gig footage.

Ok, we’re talking US services right now, but the technology is universal. So don’t be surprised to see these new players in the UK not long after the US launches.

read more