Alice in Wonderland, produced by Disney, scheduled for release March 5,  is one of 20 3-D releases scheduled this year with additional films expected to be announced. The main issue of course is that less than 10% of movie theaters,  roughly 4,000 screens can project in 3-D. This is personally felt in Bozeman, Montana, where there is no ability to watch these movies in 3-D. Hollywood seems to be ahead of its movie distributors for 3D technology. This lack of 3-D supply and theaters is putting pressure on theater owners who may not have enough screens to play both avatar which is running strongly going into the Academy Awards as well as house wonder.

In a traffic jam becomes even more congested. In early April class of the Titans snippets during the Olympics broadcast. Theater owners are trying to add 250 screens a month and will eventually pick up the pace from 4000 screens at the beginning of 2009 to hopefully 7000 screens by the holiday film releases. 3-D technology has given the industry some optimism. Higher ticket prices have helped increase revenue and fatten profits for Hollywood.  Movies such as “Dragon”, and Alice in Wonderland were filmed in 3-D., but Clash of the Titans is being converted from 2D just before they are released. If the movie does well as a 3-D movie, then more studios will look to convert to 3-D movies. However, quick 3-D conversions are not as good and could end up with moviegoers being dissatisfied with the technology. 3-D which is done well and good for the industry that bad 3-D can risk spoiling the whole concept.

The quest to deliver 3d television shows, video games, and movies to 3-D ready HDTVs is moving forward despite the dearth of programming. A supply of 3-D broadcasts may entice viewers to use the special glasses. To learn more about 3-D ready LCD Tvs, please check out the LCD TV buyers guide.

The simulation of three dimensions requires two images, one each for the users left and right eye. The two approaches include analgryph and polarization. The analgryph technique uses color filters in paper lenses and some people say it works best on HD flat screens.  Viewers prefer projection technology using polarized light and inexpensive plastic glasses. A third approach that does require glasses, currently favored by Philips Electronics, may take several years before commercial release.

Samsung has released two 3-D ready plasma TVs , 42 inches and 50 inches.  The 50 inch plasma TV is priced at $2,656 (shop for HDTVs online). However, Network broadcasters may be the critical path to 3D in the home. Broadcasters just invested in major upgrades for high-definition television and are reluctant to spend more money on infrastructure to explore 3-D technology. In the end,  consumers will be the judge in the the sales growth of 3D ready LCDTVs.

Will you watch TV with 3-D Glasses?

New information about the Samsung C9000 LED HDTV has been published recently since CES2010. The C9000, known as the sleekest of the sleek 3DTV, has gained the attention of many reviewers who expressed their amazement at the emerging breed of 3-D televisions.

3-D TV could catch on in a big way when the televisions roll out later this year to consumer electronic superstores. Most of the major television makers including Samsung, Sony, Panasonic, LG, Sharp, and Toshiba unveiled 3-D offerings at CES2010. Theses HDTVs offered excellent 3D sharp picture quality, and strong color.


Almost every major TV maker including Sony, LG, Panasonic and Mitsubishi showed big screen 3-D TVs at the Consumer Electronics Show this year. Even content providers such as ESPN, DirecTV and Discovery have promised 3-D channels that will begin broadcasting in 2011

Samsung was mentioned to be further along than others with plans to offer 3-D TVs across their line of displays;  LCD display, plasma, and LED technologies.

The current drawback to 3D Tv sets, is that you have to wear special glasses, currently designed as battery operating specs that use alternating shutters or polarized lenses to trick the brain. And unlike regular TVs, 3-D TVs are best experienced with dim lights at all times. Gathering a group of friends for a superbowl party eating snacks and getting up a few times to get something to drink will not work with a 3-D setting.  Instead, it will be like, ‘let’s sit down and watch this movie,’ with the eyes focused on the screen all the time.

Samsung LED LCD Televisions are taking marketshare in 2010

market, the features listed above are the leading edge technologies. The C9000 comes with 240hz technology. Most of these features are covered in our LCD TV buying guide which will be updated throughout 2010. The C9000 is 0.5 inches thick with key components located in the pedestal. The pedestal can also become the wall mount adapter.

Samsung markets their LED TVs ability to deliver breakthrough picture quality, ultra slim 1.2” designs and use 40% less power. With mega contrast ratios and advanced internet connectivity features, these are Samsung’s best TVs ever.

During CES2010, Samsung mentioned during their press conference that since launching the LED technology, 2.6 million Samsung LED TVs were sold, grabbing an 80% market share in the U.S.

In terms of user-friendliness, the only thing that counts against it is the slow speed at which the Freeview menu and channels operate, and this is a common complaint about built-in Freeview TV systems.The user interface used a tabbed menu design. The printed manual covers the basics, but it skips on the advanced features of configuring the TV for different inputs. The TV does not have any inputs for memory cards for displaying pictures or slideshows.

When the B360 predecessor Samsung 32 inch tv first came onto the market as the A330 in 2008, it was priced around $800. Samsung corporate website indicates the model has been discontinued. Refurbished A330 models can be found in the $430 price range. Apart from this, the B360 allows for easy operation and a clear, concise menu system and new models are priced around $550.

Features – LN32B360 | Samsung 32 inch HD Ready LCD TV

Screen Size – 31.5 HDTV ready

Display resolution – 1366 x 768 pixels

Power consumption – 180 W

Dimensions 31 .4 inches W x 9.9 inches D x 22.7 inches H

15000:1 contrast ratio

8 ms response time

SRS TruSurround XT™ HD

V-Chip system

The LCD HDTV will include Toshiba’s “Cell Regza” .  The Cell is short for Cell Broadband engine, a similar chip processor technology to the one in the PS3 (remember the Joint venture with IBM to make the Cell processor?).  This chip is designed with super-computer muscle to churn out intense, high-definition graphics currently on display in the PlayStation 3 videogaming machines. Toshiba says the Cell processor produces sharper video with better definition and color. The Cell Regza will also have LED backlighting, 3D GUI, 3840×2160 resolution, and DLNA streaming capabilities. It will also feature a Blu-ray recorder to go along with the 3TB hard drive.  Backlighting and LED TVs are covered in the LCDTV review buyers guide. Toshiba highlighted the key feature: the ability to display up to eight high-definition broadcasts at once. Furthermore, the hard drive storage capacity will allow viewers to watch large amounts of recorded television. Toshiba mentioned that the last 26 hours of high-definition video on eight different channels are possible. For those following technology, Toshiba had a competing HD DVD format that lost out to Sony Blu-Ray HD DVD format earlier this year.  

Toshiba says the TV display sets new standards in brightness and color contrast, and the set-top box contains 14 different tuners. High-end TVs have about three. Finally, Toshiba is making sure that this LCD TV becomes the multimedia hub in the home.  The Cell TV can take blurry Internet video from YouTube and refine it to near high-definition quality. Toshiba worked with Norway’s Opera Software to develop a high-definition Web browser for the television.  This is more evidence of how the websurfing will become a standard feature on new LCD TVS over the next decade.

Toshiba has lost money in the TV division with the pull back in consumer spending. It hopes the Cell TV is one way it can differentiate its TVs from the competition. As mentioned, the LCD TV and box will be sold as a package in Japan for about 1 million yen, or $11,000, starting in December 2009.  By comparison, Sony’s high-end 55-inch TV sells at Japanese electronics shops for about 560,000 yen, or about $6,200. The Toshiba TV will be introduced to the Japan market first, but Toshiba expects to start selling the television in the U.S. and Europe  next year.  Toshiba plans to produce 1,000 units a month for the Japanese market.

In terms of marketshare, Toshiba has yet to make ground on the world’s biggest brand-name LCD television companies, trailing Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics, Sharp and Sony.

When you first notice the  LN65B650, you are amazed at the large size. It also has 120Hz and internet connectivity, but mainly it’s quite large. Bestcovery.com wrote that this HDTV had deep black color and gave it a 10 of 10 rating, and the average rating across several review sites is 8.6.  The bottomline is that if you may want to wait for a 65 inch TV in LED technology for slimness as well as 240Hz instead of this premium priced LCDTV that is a little behind in the latest and greatest features. Click Here To Shop For Flat Screen TVs at Vanns.com!

Feature Summary:

Built-in HDTV tuner
Add HD-capable antenna to receive over-the-air high-definition broadcasts, where available. Optional set-top box required for high-definition cable or satellite programming.

Wide Color Enhancer 3 and CCFL (Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamp)
Provide a vast array of colors for vibrant picture quality.

Ultra Clear Panel
Enhances contrast and reduces glare for improved clarity.

Ultrafast 4 ms response time and Auto Motion Plus 120Hz technology
Eliminate blurring and streaking in fast-action scenes and video games.

ENERGY STAR qualified
Designed to use less energy and meets strict energy efficiency guidelines set by the Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of Energy.

2 USB 2.0 ports
For quick connection of a digital camera or other USB device.

PC input
Lets you connect your computer to experience high-resolution images.

4 HDMI inputs
Provide an uncompressed all-digital audio/video link for the highest quality connection and they support copy-protected HD broadcast content.

Inputs
Include 4 HDMI (1 side, 3 rear), 2 component video (rear), 2 composite video (rear), 1 Ethernet (rear) and 1 PC (rear).

Outputs
Include 1 optical audio (rear).

16:9 widescreen aspect ratio
Delivers a cinema-style entertainment experience.

100,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio
For clearer images and more accurate color representation, even during scenes where both bright and dark images are present.

Ultraslim (4-1/5″ deep)
Ideal for wall mounting (with optional mounting kit, not included). Crystal Neck swivel stand for optimal viewing.

2 built-in 15W speakers
With SRS TruSurround HD deliver a virtual surround sound experience.

V-Chip parental controls
Give you the option of blocking undesirable material that you don’t want your kids to see.

Anynet Plus HDMI-CEC function
Allows peripheral devices, such as a DVD player, to be controlled by the TV’s remote.

Media@2.0
Includes Internet@TV for accessing digital entertainment from online TV widgets. DLNA for synching your connectable home electronics and displaying remote content on your TV. Preloaded Content Library for hours of entertainment.

Touch of Color design
Accents the top and bottom edges of the bezel with a unique red tone.

Additional features
Include game mode for optimizing sound and picture quality and picture-in-picture to watch 2 shows at once.

Sony tends to push the technological edge, but struggles to turn a profit. Sony TV division lost $1.3 billion in its most recent fiscal year.  Sony was also late to the market with LCD Televisions, and is lagging in market share. Display Search has reported that Sony lost market leadership in televisions to Samsung and LG in terms of revenue. OLED competitors could be LG Electronics and Samsung Electronics, who could assume leadership in the promising technology, touted as the future replacement of liquid-crystal displays (LCD). LG Electronics announced that it will launch a 15-inch OLED TV in Korea and other oversea markets. OLED displays are already designed into mobile phones and smaller MP3 players. OLED displays are thinner and consume less power. They also display color better and respond better to moving images than LCDs. OLED displays do not need a backlight behind the screen, allowing it to be flexible and bendable. Research firm DisplaySearch expects the market for OLED TV to reach 2.33 million units in 2013 compared with estimated 320,000 units in 2011, according to data provided by LG. However, LCD display prices are falling dramatically even while LCD quality improves and is considered the biggest threat to OLED’s future. OLED technology background and features is also covered in the LCD TV Buyers Guide.

Sources: Reuters, Wall Street Journal, Display Search

If you do searches on facebook or twitter (the new places to do marketing research), you can see that consumers are trying to figure out the LCDTV market when looking to buy a flat panel TV today. Users need to determine what resolution they need, how well the television produces a wide contrast ratio compared to the room lighting, and whether the sound system is adequate, whether you can connect the LCDTV to the internet. There are even new features coming out and heavily marketed, such as LED backlighting, Consumers need to how to separate important features from marketing gimmicks. A LCD HDTV Buying guide that explains some of the features has been recently updated to cover new information about Local dimming.

The LA Times recently reported that LCD TV sales are strong. Despite the weak economy, sales reports indicate that U.S. families continue to upgrade their televisions and are keeping sales of flat-panel HDTVs strong. Trend observers (such as me) is based on several factors: The continued price drops in large sized HDTVs along with competitive price cutting by retailers who want to make room for new models, and the recent switch to all-digital TV signals. The long term trend seems true, consumers are creating a home theater experience that effectively competes with the local movie theater. Movie ticket sales are slower than anticipated as a whole this summer. Evidence that more people are staying at home these days for entertainment.

Discount giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has gained market share as consumers have flocked to lower-priced stores for TVs. In the first three months of the year, ISuppli said, 22.3% of U.S. flat-panel purchases were made at Wal-Mart, up from 13.8% in the first quarter of 2008. An example of these amazing LCD TV deals is the SANYO 26 LCD HDTV w Built-in Digital Tuner, DP26649. You can use this link or the banner below to find those “Walmart low prices” people keep talking about in the press.