It wasn’t the set itself that stopped me – it was the quality of the images it was producing. Much-hyped words such as life-like, stunning, and amazing simply didn’t do it justice. It was honestly like nothing else I’ve ever seen on an HDTV set before.

It really did look just like real life (except that real life in my case was an electronics store, whereas the HDTV set was showing a clip of Casino Royale, and no matter how hard I looked, Eva Green was nowhere to be seen in the store I was in!)

The colours, the actors, the scenes, everything about it were so real, I kept comparing the background of the shop I was in with the TV image to see if I could spot the difference.

The actors literally jumped out of the set, the action scenes looked better than they ever had before, despite the fact that I’ve seen the film twice, and Eva Green…well, if you ever need to justify the expense of an HDTV set, the sight of Eva Green played through a Blu-Ray player on this TV will justify an entire mortgage for it (assuming banks are still giving out mortgages these days!)

Come on, what HDTV set was it?!

The HDTV set in question, which you’re obviously dying to know, was one of the Sony Bravia Z4500 range. The one I was looking at was the obscurely-named Sony KDL46Z4500U. It looks like any other HDTV set from the outside.

It doesn’t have the sleek external good looks of a Samsung, or the fancy Ambilight technology of a Philips, but dear gods, the picture quality was so breath-takingly good, none of that would ever matter!

The Sony Z4500 is an LCD TV that’s obviously equipped with 1080p full HD resolution, but what makes it look so real is the 200Hz MotionFlow technology that Sony has endowed it with. This is twice the frame rate that its previous MotionFlow TVs (the W4500 range) have employed, and it ensures that every scene, no matter how fast it moves, is as smooth and sharp as real life. And for once, that’s not just the manufacturer’s gushing blurb – it’s really true! It really does work.

Combine this technology with a contrast ratio of 1,000,000:1, plus 24p True Cinema capability, which enables you to watch a film exactly how the director intended (non-24p TVs tend to speed up the film slightly), and the Sony Bravia Z4500 really has set the benchmark for the most awesome TV of all time!

It’s certainly the TV I’ll be using as a benchmark for the other HDTVs that will be announced at CES this Wednesday.

It also comes with Freeview, 4 HDMI sockets, a built-in digital media port for sharing music and photos, and DLNA home networking technology, which means you can view any pics and videos from other DLNA-equipped gadgets, such as PCs, camera phones and digital cameras, directly on the TV.

As well as High Def TV and video, you can also hook the TV up to your PlayStation 3 for what must be unimaginably good quality gaming. And all this from an LCD TV – it’s simply stunning!

So good, I bought the company – well, a new bathroom anyway

It’s rare that I enthuse so passionately about a gadget, but then it’s rare that one literally stops me in my tracks like the Sony did.

I was going to buy one, as the thought of Eva Green (pictured left, in case you were wondering!) in full and glorious High Def would have kept me going for many a long winter night (and an equally High Def Daniel Craig would have kept my girlfriend quite happy as well!).

But then, a crack appeared in my bath, my sink developed a leak, the handle fell of my toilet cistern, and suddenly I need a new bathroom!

Apparently, new bathrooms aren’t cheap, and so it’s either the Sony Bravia KDL46Z4500U and a year of uncleanliness, or a fully clean me with no new HDTV.

It’s been a tough call, but the bathroom’s won out. Meh!

Do yourself a favour – if you’re after a HDTV, go buy the Sony Bravia KDL46Z4500U. Just don’t tell me how good it is in the comments below. I will cry, I warn you now!

You can buy the Sony Bravia KDL46Z4500U from Empire Direct for just

The company has just announced its latest range of Sharp Aquos LCD TVs, each of which comes with a built-in Blu-Ray recorder. The Sharp Aquos DX series is a range of 16 new LCD TVs from the company that let you play Blu-Ray discs, record your programmes onto the built-in Blu-Ray recorder, and even watch and record at the same time.

All the LCD TVs provide a smooth picture using Sharp’s Kameyama LCD panel, and the sizes range from 26 inches to 52 inches. The only downside is the contrast ratio, which, at 2,000:1, is a little weedy compared to other top-range TVs (although Sharp is one of the leaders in TV screen technology, so its screen might compensate for a relatively low contrast ratio with sophisticated algorithms and what the industry-insiders call “gubbins”!)

You get the usual array of incomprehensible acronyms with these TVs, ensuring you’re well up to speed with the latest state of the art in TV technology, but it’s the built-in Blu-Ray player that’s the big differentiating feature for these TVs.

This time last year, people were still undecided about whether to buy a dedicated Blu-Ray player, as the battle between Blue-Ray and HD-DVD was still being hard fought. The idea of integrating a Blu-Ray player into an expensive TV (the top of the line 52″ version of the Sharp Aquos DV TVs willl cost 3,200 Euros) would have seemed madness, when the format war was still being fought.

In little over a year’s time, the war has not only been won by Blu-Ray, but with companies such as Sharp confident enough to integrate it into their TVs, it seems destined to become the new de facto standard for High Def video for years to come.

[Source: Akihabara News]

The LG80 Scarlet’s Audio Features

The LG80 comes with a total of four speakers, and can pump out 50W of sound.

The slide out speakers at the side of the LG80 create a sense of space, while the speaker in the middle is dedicated to human voices.

Finally, there’s a woofer in the back to enhance bass and stop the sound from the TV sounding too tinny (a common complaint from most TV speakers).

Further enhancing the sound is LG’s Clear Voice technology, which emphasizes human voices to stop them being drowned out when loud background music is being played. The result, claim LG, is audio with no clipping or distorted sound, even at maximum volume.

The LG80 Scarlet’s TV features

As a TV, the LG80 Scarlet isn’t exactly poor on features either. Offering 1080p full HD and a30,000:1 contrast ratio, the LG80 can provide extremely sharp pictures with deep blacks.

The LG80 also comes with a USB port, into which you can slot a USB stick and playback JPEG files or watch digital video files. There’s also two HDMI 1.3 ports for connection to DVD players and the like.

Summary

The LG Scarlet range of TVs have always looked glorious, with their red trim and deep black casings. Now, with the addition of the LG80 Scarlet to the range, they’ve added a new model with stunning sound as well. And I love the slide-out speakers – a real talking point for your lounge!

Teh LG80 Scarlet release date is set for October in all markets except North America and Europe – which is a bit odd, as now’s the run-up to the Christmas shopping period in just those markets! Sure it won’t be long before it’s released here too.

It also comes with an LED backlight to give a brightness of 450cd/m2, which apparently means something to some people!

In addition, Sharp have also announced their new AQUOS.jp Video On Demand service, which lets you watch video streamed form the Internet, as well as browse the Web and read the newspaper.

Eh? Yup, AQUOS.jp will let you read an online magazine that’s exactly the same as its paper version.

Note entirely sure why you’d want to do this when the same content is usually available on the Web anyway (and better formatted than a scanned magazine, no matter how good the scanning technology used!), but you can’t have too much choice(can you?!)

[Source: Akihabara News]

Of course, you could call this approach cheating, but when the result looks this good, who cares?!

[Source: Aving.net, Gizmodo]