These new top of the line Sony sets range from 32"-70" and contain the best of what Sony has to offer. This includes Sony’s TRILUMINOS® three-color LED backlight technology with local dimming coupled with 10-bit processing and 10-bit panel which give you better black level and therefore much more natural looking colors. These models also have the latest and greatest BRAVIA Engine™ 2 PRO as well as 120hz display technology and a 1920x1080 resolution. As far as connections go all of these models sport 4 1080/60 24p HDMI connections (HDCP), two 1080/60p component inputs, a 1080/60p PC input,and one Ethernet (RJ-45) port. The upper two models xbr7 and 8 also include an rs232 input. All three of these models can be expected either in the end of July or in early April. Head on over to http://news.sel.sony.com/en/press_room/consumer/television/flat_panel_displays/lcd/release/35400.html to check out the full press release

The Sony Kdl-40z4100 and Kdl46z4100 complete with a color choice (black or silver), 4 HDMI inputs,motionflow 120hz technology and of course 1080p have shown up on Amazon.com with a release date of June 1st!! Head on over to check them out

http://www.amazon.com/Sony-Bravia-KDL-40Z4100-40-inch-Silver/dp/B0019HXEM4/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1211817762&sr=8-2

http://www.amazon.com/Sony-Bravia-KDL-40Z4100-40-inch-Silver/dp/B0019HXEM4/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1211817762&sr=8-2

This higher end Sony LCD (Not the highest end but certainly not the lowest) features full 1920x1080 resolution (1080p) the ability to display XvYCC Color (also known as deep color: and expanded array of display colors beyond what you would normally see in a broadcast). It also features a 24p frame rate, this allows the TV to display movies in the exact rate in which they were shot and leads to a better overall picture. We here at TV simplified can’t wait to see what else Sony has to offer in this years line up but the W4000 certainly is a promising start!

Unfortunately no specs have been released, no chassis designs, no planned input information, or software information has hit the streets yet, but here at TV Simplified we just got an update. They do have a name. Originally it was supposed to be branded as LAZR, but as of recent decisions they are going with Laservue. We hope they make up their mind soon because the suspense is killing us! We know the colors are unbelievable, the depth is incredible, and energy consumption is planned to be wallet friendly, but what are they going to call it?! We'll keep you updated!

Circuit City has announced that they will offer a trade in for anyone who purchased an HD-DVD player, from one of their locations, within the 90 day prior to Toshiba’s official announcement that they were withdrawing from the format (February 19th). Anyone covered under this requirement can bring their player into their Circuit City and exchange it either for store credit or apply the purchase price of the player directly towards that of a Blu Ray player. Sounds good to Us.

In case you are new to the whole high definition disc scene, Blu-ray is the winner over the Toshiba HDDVD. Also, you would be unfamiliar with the fact that the Blu-ray standard has come in profiles of 1.0 1.1 and now finally 2.0 also known as BD-Live. Some consumers have been waiting for players with the final profile and they are finally here!

Sony has announced the BDP-S350 and the BDP-s550. Both features profile 2.0 or BD-Live, an Ethernet port, and USB for external storage. They also now include the Blu-ray Picture in Picture (PiP) function. The S550 has 7.1 analog outputs and 1 Gigabyte of storage in the player. Both players will most likely have TrueHD and Dolby Digital Plus, while the S550 will probably hvae DTS-HD MA & HR. AVCHD and xvYCC color support from both as well as 1080 60/24p. The S350 and S550 will run for $400 and $500 this summer, and you will be able to run to your local store this summer to pick one up.

The Wall Street Journal wrote an article confirming that Sharp and Sony have confirmed their decision in joint LCD HDTV panel production. This is falling suit to the similar production between LG and Philips which is now named LG Display. Personally, I can not wait to see what the name Sony and Sharp will come up with. Until then the plant has begun construction, and will open on schedule in March 2010. Sharp has invested 2/3 in this venture with Sony putting in the other third.

Without a doubt, I've always been in awe of the Kuro series from Pioneer. The Kuro's and the Kuro elites are nothing short but amazing. First time I saw one, my jaw just dropped from the black levels. Recently, Home Theater Magazine put some sets to the test and the Pioneer came out on top.

HTM's HDTV Technology Face off put DLP, LCD, and Plasma sets against one another. The only requirement in the test was a price around $3,000 and a size of around 50-inches. If you know about these sets you might be a little skeptical. A 720p set with a 1368x768 resolution could have a better picture than say an XBR with 120Hz technology and a 1080p resolution? As I said before the black levels on the Pioneers are simply amazing, and this is what put them over the edge. There was no surprise that the second place set was the Panasonic TH-50PZ750. Click here to read more about the competition.

Anyone who knows me well knows that I have never been an advocate of the Monster cables for video or audio. However, the debate does need to be kept separate for these two. Recently, the audio portion was put to the test, and I have always been on the side that Monster audio cables are a waste of money.

Recently, 12 "audiophiles" tested using Monster 1000 cables and coat hangers to transfer sound to their speakers. Plain old metal coat hangers. Apparently, the engineer running the test soldered on some speaker connections to a coat hanger to pull a fast one on the audiophiles. All of them found the results that the coat hangers sounded just as good as the cables from Monster. As always, its up to you, but I will be sticking with my 50 foot speaker wire for $15.

Hitachi is starting off a campaign entitled "Thin in Motion". Hitachi has decked out four trucks with 1.5 inch thin LCDs with its 32 and 37 inch new LCD panels. These sets will be on rotating pedestals so that they can be seen from any angle. If you see one let us know and tell us how it looks in person.

Toshiba showed off a few new models during CES 2008, and one of these was their new 32-inch LCD model, which is going to boast 1080p capabilities. It is going to be released on March 16th, and some of the special features is its 1080p/24 support, "Twin Velocity" motion processing, PC input, and a few HDMI ports. This will hit the market at around $1,819.

Today is truly a sad day in the flat panel market. Pioneer, the company regarded as the best manufacturer announced that they would no longer be making their own displays. Instead they have will be assembling their displays with panels bought from other sources (most likely one of the two remaining Japanese makers Panasonic or Hitachi). We can only hope that the money the company saves by this move will be reinvested into R and D to bring us the next big thing in display technology!!

For all you folks out there in OTA (Over-the-Air) land. The solution for all of your Digital Reception problems have arrived! And it comes in a pretty green box! Best Buy and Circuit City now carry a Digital-to-Analog converter box. Circuit carries a Zenith model and Best Buy carries an Insignia model. They come in at a mild price of $59.99. Seem a little salty? http://www.DTV2009.gov will supply you with a $40 voucher towards that box. Good luck! And enjoy a clearer picture! Thank you FCC Rulings!

Three separate sources have now confirmed that Toshiba will cease production of all hardware and software related to their HD-DVD format. This news comes this week after the format was dealt blow after blow, first it was hit with the back to back announcements from Netflix and Best Buy then the following day Wal-Mart announced that it would no longer carry the format after June. The Wal-Mart announcement seems to have been the biggest blow as Wal-Mart stores account for about twenty five percent of all movie disc sales, not to mention the huge impact a retailer of that size can have on the sale of players. While we are still waiting on the official press release from Toshiba to confirm this announcement, it certainly seems as if we can hear the Fat lady warming up her voice for her format war encore. As all ways, if you have any questions on HD-DVD or Blu ray, feel free to ask away in our questions section!

After a rough morning for HD DVD with Netflix deciding to support Blu Ray, it seems that today is only getting worse. This afternoon Best Buy also decided to hop on the Blu Ray bandwagon. President and COO Brian Dunn said “Consumers have told us that they want us to help lead the way. We’ve listened to our customers, and we are responding. Best Buy will recommend Blu-ray as the preferred format,” and that “Best Buy has always believed that the customer will benefit from a widely-accepted single format that would offer advantages such as product compatibility and expanded content choices. Because we believe that Blu-ray is fast emerging as that single format, we have decided to focus on Blu-ray products.” This backing will stat officially at the end of the month although the company will still carry HD DVD product for those who wish to purchase it, they will recommend blu ray to those who are looking for an HD player.

Well as this war progresses, HD DVD has just been getting hit with blow after blow. Today only hurts them even more as Netflix has decided to stop carrying HD DVD and start buying Blu-rays instead. Netflix said their decision came because of all the major movie companies switching over to Blu-ray. With this move, hopefully it will only be a little while longer until this war is over.

Sony has not seen the top of the LCD market for a while, but that has ended in the last quarter of 2007. This is largely due to their new impressive models in the XBR4 and W3000, which boast 18000:1 contrast ratios. The XBR is of course their flagship model with the 120hz processing, and absolutely amazing color. But all of their models helped contribute to this, and as you can see Vizio is losing its clout on this market. Samsung is still the leader in all flat panel sales when you include plasma, but who knows what it would be like if Sony was still producing plasmas.

Bluray is still coming out on top as they have been ever since Warner jumped ship, but HD-DVD has been coming back slightly. Bluray still has an almost 3/4 lead in sales this week, but HDDVD movies have made it back into the top ten sellers. Look for more in the upcoming weeks to see if this war will be coming to an end anytime soon.

Now that Warner has switched over to blu-ray we can taste some of their juicy movies on the format. This coming year they have announced a few releases and they have stated they want to stay consistent with their DVD releases.

Quarter 1

- Bonnie and Clyde: Ultimate Collector's Edition

Quarter 2

- Dirty Harry: Ultimate Collector's Edition Box Set (Dirty Harry, Magnum Force, The Enforcer, Sudden Impact, Dead Pool, and Clint Eastwood: Out of the Shadows)

Quarter 3

- An American in Paris
- Batman Anthology
- Batman Begins: Limited Collector's Edition Box Set
- Gigi
- How the West was Won
- The Dark Knight

Quarter 4

- A Christmas Story: Ultimate Collector's Edition
- Otis: Uncut

Sometime in 2008

- The Adventures of Robin Hood
- Casablanca
- Clash of the Titans
- Excalibur
- Forbidden Planet
- Heat
- Grand Prixv - The Matrix Trilogy
- Mutiny on the Bounty
- V for Vendetta

OLED have been the talks of many ever since CES 2008 last month. Both Sony and Samsung flexed their muscles with unveiling large versions, but Sound and Vision was able to get their hands on the smaller version in sony style stores now.

The unfortunate thing for us is that this 11 inch costs $2,500. I don't know about you, but I don't have the kind of money like that. This tv boasts an 11 inch screen with the standard 16:9 aspect ratio. Do the math and thats almost $227 per inch. Another problem with this screen is that it only has the resolution of half a 1080p set. Its resolution is 960 x 540, but it does have the ability to accept a 1080p signal and convert it down to its own unique resolution.

The thing that makes this piece of equipment so special is its color and depth. It is only a mere 3 millimeters thick! Compared to your standard LCD, this would look like a sheet of paper.

Specs

-2 HDMI Ports
- 960 x 540 Resolution
- 3mm depth
- USB Port
- Reflective screen (not the best in a lighted room)
- Better contrast than most LCD and Plasmas

Source: Sound and Vision