ESPN 3D review: college football kickoff

The 2009 BCS National Championship game showed us the potential of 3D sports broadcasts but now it’s 2010 so while Sam Bradford and Tim Tebow have taken their game to the NFL, ESPN 3D has made it a reality for viewers at home. Last night’s Boise St./Virginia Tech matchup was the first of 13 the network plans to air including the next BCS Championship game so we didn’t waste any time plugging in a 3DTV and taking a look. Check after the break for our impressions and a bit more explanation on 3D technology (Still not up to speed? Check out our post-CES breakdown of 3D tech for the home right here.)

Continue reading ESPN 3D review: college football kickoff

ESPN 3D review: college football kickoff originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Sep 2010 15:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sharp releases slew of new Quattron TVs at IFA 2010

Just in case those George Takei commercials didn’t clue you in that Sharp was serious about Quattron, the company has announced four new TV lines at IFA sporting yellow as a fourth subpixel color. At the top of the list, the Quattron 3D-enabled LE925 line will be available in 60-inch or 46-inch sizes and feature Sharp’s proprietary high-speed FRED LCD signal processing technology along with side-mounted scanning LED backlighting — which like the LV Series — is touted to produce 1.8x better brightness than competing sets and reduce 3D crosstalk. Aquos Net+ connectivity is thrown in too, along with 2D-to-3D conversion, a digital triple tuner and 8GB of built-in flash memory for timeshift recording. Playing second fiddle to this overachiever are the 2D-only LE924E, LE824E and LE814E series, which will also feature Aquos Net+. Pricing details for all of the new lines are still unknown, but they’re slated to be available in Germany and Austria later this month. Here’s hoping Sulu gets his jaw checked out before then.

Continue reading Sharp releases slew of new Quattron TVs at IFA 2010

Sharp releases slew of new Quattron TVs at IFA 2010 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Sep 2010 03:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung’s 50-inch 720p PN50C490 3D plasma on sale now for under a grand

Looking to spoil yourself with a fancy new 3DTV? Ain’t got the cash to go all-out? Hello, compromise. Samsung’s 50-inch PN50C490 — which we peeked just a few weeks ago — is now shipping from Amazon, Best Buy and a slew of other local consumer electronic marts if we had to guess. As a refresher, this mid-sized HDTV has a 720p resolution, 2,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, no internet connectivity to speak of, a USB socket, three HDMI inputs, a pair of component jacks and support for the third dimension. It’s up for grabs today at just $989, but you’ll probably want to budget a few extra hundies for that Samsung 3D Starter Kit (not to mention a few 3D Blu-ray Discs).

[Thanks, James]

Samsung’s 50-inch 720p PN50C490 3D plasma on sale now for under a grand originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Sep 2010 00:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Toshiba goes all LED with new HDTVs at IFA 2010

Besides that Android tablet, Toshiba’s brought a whole slew LED-lit LCD televisions to IFA 2010. The REGZA WL Series is the company’s first range of 3DTVs, available in 40-, 46- and 55-inch sizes (pictured above) with LED backlighting, 7,000,000:1 contrast ratios, it 3D Resolution+ upscaling tech and one pair of active shutter glasses bundled with each one. They’re also DLNA enabled and ready for Windows 7, with the Toshiba Media Controller software making streaming content as easy as dragging and dropping a file. The rest of the lineup includes the high end VL series with LED backlighting, midrange REGZA 42SL738 42-inch HDTV and edge-lit SL738 series LCDs in smaller sizes from 9- to 32-inches. Check the press site or YouTube trailers embedded after the break for more details, and don’t be surprised to see the 200Hz motion technology, millimeter measurements, DVB-T tuners and BBC streaming while these are due in October across the pond, we’ll be keeping an eye out at CEDIA for US-bound variants.

Continue reading Toshiba goes all LED with new HDTVs at IFA 2010

Toshiba goes all LED with new HDTVs at IFA 2010 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Sep 2010 20:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Philips’ Cinema 21:9 Platinum HDTV finally takes the leap into 3D

It’s kind of hard to outdo yourself with only two dimensions when they read 21 and 9, respectively, so Philips has decided to do the only thing left for a trendy display maker: go 3D. Though we saw (and loved) a 3D prototype of the 56-inch variant at last year’s IFA, this new, 58-inch Cinema 21:9 Platinum HDTV looks set to bring the third dimension to actual retail. It’s got the Ambilight wall illumination that some people will like, LED backlighting with local dimming that most should love, and a slimmer, brushed matte bezel that will be appreciated by all. The 400Hz panel is capable of pumping out Full HD 3D and is expected to cost around €4,000 ($5,112) in Europe or £3,500 in the UK with a launch set for later this month. And if you want one in the US, well… things aren’t looking very Ambibright for you.

Philips’ Cinema 21:9 Platinum HDTV finally takes the leap into 3D originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Sep 2010 07:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LG to unveil LEX8 3DTV at IFA featuring ‘Nano LED’ backlighting

Now that LED backlighting has trickled down to nearly every HDTV lineup, it appears the big manufacturers will have to find new ways to differentiate their products, like LG’s upcoming LEX8 television. Set to debut at IFA in Berlin before going on sale in Germany and Korea next month (no word on the US), LG claims that thanks to a ‘thin film of miniscule dots positioned in front of a full array of LEDs’ its Nano Lighting technology — perhaps of the Nanosys variety it licensed earlier this year — makes for a clearer, smoother picture, with the slimmest and narrowest outline of any LED TV, ever, at just .88cm thick with a 1.25cm bezel. Of course LG’s NetCast widgets and Magic Motion remote are along for the ride as well, while we’ll have to wait until the show opens later this week to get our eyes on this beauty, check after the break for a few more pictures.

Continue reading LG to unveil LEX8 3DTV at IFA featuring ‘Nano LED’ backlighting

LG to unveil LEX8 3DTV at IFA featuring ‘Nano LED’ backlighting originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 29 Aug 2010 20:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony delivers a new midrange 3DTV line with the NX810 series (updated with hands-on)

Sony’s finally taken the wraps off its latest televisions for the US market, carrying the NX810 model number. Available in 60-, 55- and 46-inch sizes next month, these give a 3D spec bump (and around a $200 premium on the MSRP) to the existing NX800 series of Edge LED lit HDTVs that came out earlier this year. Like the NX800, these feature a slick monolith design, built-in WiFi, widgets and an ambient light sensor to automatically adjust the picture in changing room conditions, but other than the 3D-readiness (and coupons for free Blu-ray 3D movies and PSN games, though it looks like you’ll have to pay for the glasses on your own) it’s hard to find any differences on paper. Football fans looking for a new 3D set may be tempted to jump on one and can check the specs and prices after the break, but we’ll probably wait around to see what a Google TV might bring to the table — and at what price.

Update: We got a chance to check out a few of these 3DTVs this evening at Sony’s open house in NYC. As per usual, the BRAVIAs were stunning and made us want to save up some cash to get one of these into our living room. And yes, we put on the 3D glasses and watched an assortment of clips. It was like those cute little bears in the snowy picture below were at the swanky event with us. Go on, you know you want to look at the cuddly things, err screens…

Continue reading Sony delivers a new midrange 3DTV line with the NX810 series (updated with hands-on)

Sony delivers a new midrange 3DTV line with the NX810 series (updated with hands-on) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Aug 2010 16:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Verizon pushes for holograms in 10 years, wants to deliver it via FiOS

Apparently, there is something out there called 3D television that’s soon to be all the rage in homes nationwide (we bet our friends at Engadget HD could tell us a thing or two about it). And what does all that new and exciting 3D content mean? That’s right — new and exciting bandwidth requirements, which is music to the ears of folks at Cisco and Verizon. Hell, Cisco predicts that streaming video (including 3D content) is expected to more than quadruple bandwidth demands by 2014. But that isn’t the wild part — the company’s CEO John Chambers is predicting that in ten years holograms over IP will become commonplace. Apparently, Verizon has been conducting experiments with the technology over its FiOS network — and when not sending spooky, holographic disembodied heads out into cyberspace, its CIO Shaygan Kheradpir has been testing a 1Gbps link in his home on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Apparently, this kind of connection will have to become commonplace before we start seeing holograms in our homes, but we’re pretty sure that Kheradpir only pointed out this last fact to make us jealous.

Continue reading Verizon pushes for holograms in 10 years, wants to deliver it via FiOS

Verizon pushes for holograms in 10 years, wants to deliver it via FiOS originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Aug 2010 12:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Toshiba reportedly prepping glasses-free 3DTV for Q4 launch

Hot news out of Japan if you’re an eager 3D beaver: a report from Toshiba’s home nation indicates that the company has three models of glasses-free 3D displays in the pipeline, which are being prepared for launch “before Christmas” at prices of “several thousand dollars” each. As you might recall, we got our first inkling about Toshiba Mobile Display’s multi-parallax technique back in April, which is when the above 21-inch panel was being touted along with promises of eliminating eye strain and widening 3D viewing angles. We suspect that by now Toshiba has put a slinky bezel on the thing and started thinking up alphanumeric product names for it, though do bear in mind that queries to its press office were deflected with the boilerplate “no comment” response.

Toshiba reportedly prepping glasses-free 3DTV for Q4 launch originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Aug 2010 05:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A first hand look at NVIDIA 3DTV Play and PowerDVD 3D

NVIDIA 3DTV Play and PowerDVD 10

Home theater PC fans will tell you that one of the reasons they do what they do is because of the flexibility that comes along with a roll your own home theater PC. And so of course the latest HTPCs need to be able to play 3D movies, games and broadcast content. Now NVIDIA has been bringing 3D to PCs for years but the latest 3DTVs don’t share as much in common with 3D PC displays as you might think. Some think this is as simple as getting a video card with an HDMI 1.4 port, but in regards to 3D it is just a spec and your existing video card you’ve had for years might just work. In fact what HDMI 1.4 means to 3D is simply that a device is capable of outputting specific 3D formats (all common 3D formats used less bandwidth than 1080p60 2D). Sure the hardware must be physically capable of transmitting the signal, but what we’re really talking about here is software, not hardware. That’s where NVIDIA 3DTV Play comes in. This little piece of magic will be free for those who already own an NVIDIA 3D Vision kit, but for the rest of us with NVIDIA video cards, it’ll be $40. What’s interesting is that 3DTV Play doesn’t really help those with the 3D Vision kits, because it is specifically for 3DTVs; which require their own 3D glasses. Now if you really want to know exactly what 3DTV Play does help with, and how well it works, well you’ll just have to click on through for that part.

Continue reading A first hand look at NVIDIA 3DTV Play and PowerDVD 3D

A first hand look at NVIDIA 3DTV Play and PowerDVD 3D originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 20 Aug 2010 17:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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