Google TV is likely going away entirely, to be replaced by a familiar face – Android. Philips has just unveiled new Ultra HD (4K, whatever you prefer) TVs (via 9to5Google) that will be running Google’s mobile OS when they hit stores in Q2 of this year. The sets seem to be coming to Europe and Russia first, but it won’t be long before the little Android bot makes its way to all of… Read More
Philips has unveiled its new line up of 4K UHD TVs for 2014. The line has a number of models in it including some with smaller screen sizes. Smaller screen … Continue reading
Photo: Tim Moyinhan/WIRED
When it comes out in the second half of this year, Samsung’s whopping 105-inch Ultra HD TV won’t be the first television set with a 21:9 aspect ratio. It also won’t be the first 105-inch Ultra HD set — or the first curved TV with those specs.
None of this will make the massive set any less of a stunner though. It packs more than 11 million pixels into its concave curved display, which stretches about 8 feet wide and 3.5 feet tall. With those dimensions, the curved screen actually does make a difference when it comes to “immersion.” It’s a full-array LED-backlit set with local-dimming features, and it’s built for watching movies.
“This is targeted toward movie buffs who don’t want to put a projector in their home,” says Samsung’s Mike Wood, director of the company’s AV testing. “They may not care as much about how television programs look, but they want movies to look as big as possible.”
The terms “Ultra HD” and “4K” are usually interchangeable, but that’s not the case with this TV. It has a resolution of 5120 x 2160, so it’s actually higher-resolution than 4K on one axis. But while a 21:9 display combined with a sharp picture and a concave screen should create a more cinematic experience, the problem is finding content that’s a direct match for this TV’s resolution and aspect ratio.
Samsung says that the new TV can scale 16:9 4K movies to fill the screen — with some loss of resolution — to eliminate the black letterbox bars that appear when you watch widescreen content on 16:9 TVs. There will also be other options for viewing 16:9 content on the wider, slimmer screen: At native 16:9 ratio with pillarboxing on both sides of the picture, or with the 16:9 video pushed to one side of the screen, as smart-TV features or a web browser appears on the other side.
Those scenarios involve either artificially modifying the picture by stretching the picture or using only a portion of the super-wide screen. That said, with 4K source footage and an Ultra HD panel, you won’t notice the distortion as much as you would with standard-definition content on an HD screen. Samsung says that it is working with studio partners like 20th Century Fox and Paramount to provide streaming and hard-drive-based Ultra HD content shot in 21:9 to get the most out of the set.
“You could play LaserDiscs shot in (CinemaScope) on this screen, and it would fill it,” said Wood. “I don’t know how that would look because of LaserDisc’s resolution, but you could do it.”
No pricing has been set for the Samsung 105-inch set just yet, but seeing as LG’s own curved 105-inch Ultra HD set costs around $70,000, expect this Samsung’s tag to be up in the same astronomical price range.
     |
4K is all the rage these days. The market waits for smartphones to offer 4K recording capability, its gobbling up the plethora of 4K TVs and displays that have recently been announced, and its also looking forward to affordable 4K video recording solutions. The need is gradually being met. Panasonic has a new 4K camera up its sleeve, through which it aims to get a piece of this pie. The Panasonic HX-A500 4K wearable camera is capable of recording 4K video at 25 frames per second.
Panasonic HX-A500 4K Wearable Camera Coming This May original content from Ubergizmo. 
| |
Among the smattering of wearables news this month comes one that joins the ranks of recent action camcorders: the Panasonic HX-A500, the first wearable 4K 25p camcorder. The device is … Continue reading
NHK, a major Japanese broadcaster, plans to have a full 8K TV broadcasting service in place by 2020. That’s when the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics take place. On the other hand, the consumer market hasn’t even fully embraced 4K yet. 4K TVs aren’t something one would commonly find in most homes, and even broadcasters are yet to switch to 4K broadcasting full time. Despite all that, NHK says that it will have a 8K TV broadcasting testing service in place by 2016.
8K TV Broadcast Testing In Japan To Begin By 2016 original content from Ubergizmo. 
| |
Pioneer makes a lot of home theater gear covering a range of prices and feature sets. The company makes its Elite line, which are high-end receivers that are aimed at … Continue reading
Even though it was officially said that the Panasonic Toughpad 4K UT-MB5 tablet would start shipping in February 2014, it appears that the tablet still hasn’t made its way into the hands of customers. The folks at Neowin digged around a bit and claim that couldn’t any evidence of the tablet being sold online. They also contacted a few “known resellers,” with only one revealing that orders for the tablet will be taken from tomorrow and that ship dates sit between March 10th and April 3rd, 2014.
Panasonic Toughpad 4K UT-MB5 Could Start Shipping Soon original content from Ubergizmo. 
| |
It seems that Apple is ready to turbo charge the display capabilities of its current hardware lineup with the upcoming OS X 10.9.3 update. Spotted by beta testers is a … Continue reading
Between the surprising affordability
| |
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
