OTHER TECH

MEET THE 3D TVS

Panasonic isn’t being low-key about its plans for 3D. At last year’s CES, the centerpiece of the company’s press event was a recorded message from James Cameron himself, detailing the glories of the format and his support of manufacturer efforts to bring it to living rooms. And at CES 2010, Panasonic offered up Avatar producer Jon landau in person to further drive the 3D message home.

Panasonic’s VT25 series plasma TVs, the company’s first 3D models, will arrive in the late spring or early summer. The sets will be available in 50- to 65-inch screen sizes. Along with being 3D-capable, Vt25 series TVs are THX-certified, and feature both USB and LAN ports to connect to a home network. Panasonic’s Viera Cast mediastreaming options for the sets include Netflix, Amazon Video on Demand, YouTube, Picasa, Pandora, Twitter, and Skype. Panasonic has also put work into tweaking its Viera Cast interface, adding features like keyword input to help streamline content searches.

Samsung has come to be known for its LED-backlit LCD TVs. but the company also sells plasma models, and it plans to release two 3D-capable lines in 2010: the PNC8000 and PNC7000 series. As for LED TVs, three 3D lines are forthcoming: the C9000, C8000, and C7000 series. All models use LED edge lighting as opposed to a full-array LED backlight. Like other 3D-capable LCD TVs, Samsung’s are 240-hz models, and they also feature the company’s Internet@TV portal for media streaming (see “Way more Widgets!” for details).

Samsung’s C9000 sets, which boast an incredible 0.3-inch panel depth, are particularly attention grabbing. The TV’s connections, tuner, and associated electronics are all packed into the pedestal stand, which can fold up for wall mounting. And it comes with a unique remote control that communicates with the TV and other gear via Wi-Fi (it’s also infrared capable), has a QWERTY keyboard, and can display broadcast TV on its LCD touchscreen. Along with being 3D-capable, all Samsung TVs listed here, plasma models included, also have the ability to convert regular 2D content for 3D viewing.

Sony is another outfit jumping head first into 3D in 2010. (In addition to releasing 3D movies on Blu-ray Disc, the company is also reportedly planning to convert regular 2D selections from its film library for 3D presentation.) Sony’s first 3D-capable TVs will be the LX900 series LED-backlit LCD models, which will arrive in screen sizes ranging from 40 to 60 inches. Along with 3D display capability, LX900 series TVs feature built-in Wi-Fi to stream Netflix, Amazon Video on Demand, YouTube, and both slacker and Pandora Internet radio. Sony also has its HX900 and HX800 3D-ready TV lines in the works, which have many of same features as the LX900 series sets minus the built-in Wi-Fi. And since they’re only “3D-ready,” you’ll need to purchase Sony’s optional emitter and active-shutter glasses to get the 3D thing going. All of the new Sony models feature the company’s new monolithic design, which gives the set a slight upward slant and also brings the screen flush with its surrounding bezel for a seamless look.

Toshiba hasn’t announced many new TVs for 2010, but the two it has previewed pack an impressive array of features. The 55- and 65-inch ZX900 series TVs are LED-backlit LCD models with local dimming (512 controllable backlight zones, according to Toshiba). In addition to displaying 3D, these sets’ Cell processor (the same one that powers Sony’s Ps3) enables features like 2D-to-3D conversion and compression noise reduction for lowrez videos streamed over the Internet. Speaking of the Internet, ZX900 series TVs have built-in Wi-Fi and can stream content from Netflix, Vudu, and Pandora. But that’s not all: there’s also a built-in Blu-ray player and 1-terabyte hard disk. ZX900 series TVs are a twopiece system with a separate set-top box that accepts all your sources and uses WirelessHD technology to transmit signals to the display over the 60-ghz band. According to Toshiba, its fully loaded sets are expected to arrive “later this year.”

LG also plans to participate in the first-generation 3D TV rollout. The company’s Infinia LX9500 series consists of 47- and 55-inch LED-backlit LCD models with local dimming. These ultra-slim sets are just under 1 inch deep and sport a bezel that’s a mere 0.33 inches wide, giving them that sweet “all-picture” look. The 9500 series TVs are THX-certified, display images at a 480-hz refresh rate, and connect to the Internet via ethernet or a Wi-Fi adapter plugged into a USB port. And when connected to a home network, LG’s NetCast media-streaming suite hooks you up with Netflix, Vudu, YouTube, Napster, and Skype.