We’ve already looked at - and very much enjoyed - two of Panasonic’s 42in Full HD plasma TVs, the TH-42PZ80 and TH-42PZ800. But that’s not the end of Panny’s Full HD 42in story, for there’s one further model tucked in between: the TH-42PZ85.

Probably the best place to start an assessment of the 42PZ85 is by pin-pointing just what features it has to make it the ‘middle’ option in Panny’s Full HD 42in triumvirate.

In terms of picture processing, it has the Intelligent Frame Creation system (for adding extra frames of image data to make motion more fluid) found on the top-end 42PZ800 but absent from the 42PZ80. However, it does not have the Digital Cinema Colour processing system of the 42PZ800, and so shouldn’t be able to deliver quite such an expansive colour palette.

When it comes to connections, the 42PZ85’s HDMIs number three, as with the 42PZ80, rather than the four of the 42PZ800. And while it also includes an SD card slot like the 42PZ800, this slot can only play back JPEG pictures, as is the case with the 42PZ80, whereas the SD slot on the 42PZ800 can also play AVCHD movies.

The 42PZ85 also leans towards its cheaper sibling when it comes to audio, since its speakers are two straightforward full-range 160 x 42mm affairs rather than the ‘Advanced Smart Sound’ speakers employed by the 42PZ800, which separate out their tweeters and woofers to deliver greater clarity and power handling.

Intriguingly the 42PZ85 differs quite substantially in design from its brethren, trading the usual ‘horizontal arch’ design for a straighter-edged silver highlight along the bottom, and a much more slender profile that finds the TV just 79mm deep across most of its rear versus more than 100mm with the previous Panny models.

LCD TVs have brighter screens which may make your eyes tired, for example when watching TV at night or over extended periods. Also colours on the screen can appear to be distorted by a change of surrounding colour temperature. The Intelligent Sensor uses 4,096 RGB sensing steps to optimise the picture quality, by constantly analysing the brightness and colour temperature of the surrounding area. The RGB sensor optimises the brightness,contrast, colour, sharpness, and white balance reducing unnecessary brightness. This technology can protect against eyestrain and reduces power consumption up to a maximum of 62%,. All good news from LG.

Sit back and enjoy stunning HD images with this Panasonic Viera TH32PZ81 32” LCD television. It features a built-in freesat tuner so you can enjoy HD channels from the BBC and ITV without the need for an external box.

Its state-of-the-art technology gives amazing picture quality, with the Intelligent Frame Creation giving fantastic resolution even during fast moving scenes – something football fans and film buffs will both appreciate.

Every image is richly detailed - from the brightest sunshine to the darkest night sky - and contrast is enhanced to create deep, robust blacks that reproduce scenes with a fine balance of light and shadow.

Sound is enhanced with its in-built V-Audio surround sound technology, while the 24p Real Cinema settings offers enhanced judder-free playback, giving a smooth ‘film’ look. The 3 HDMI sockets allow you to hook-up your Blu-ray player, PVRs and games consoles with ease.

The TH32PZ81 is also capable of playing footage straight from your camcorder in high-definition mode and you can view a slideshow of your photos - just remove the SD memory card from your digital still camera, and slip it in the slot.

1080p
1080p is the purest form of high definition that a television can display. This leads to a smoother, more film-like image, which will satisfy sports and movie lovers alike. With a 1080p signal, the information that makes up an image is displayed “progressively” or all at once, rather than in an “interlaced” fashion.

One thing you certainly can’t call LG’s 37LG6000 TV is shy. For every inch of the bodywork wrapped around its 37in screen is a design statement, from the exceptionally sheer minimalism of its gloss-black fascia to the shiny silver and red trim of its half-moon stand and, most strikingly of all, the flamboyantly red finish applied to its entire rear side. Forget about Samsung’s ‘touch of red’ design; this is a ‘great big in your face explosion of red’ design, and I have to say that I, for one, like it. A lot. Notwithstanding the fact, of course, that most people will have the TV pushed right back to or hanging from a wall and so, um, won’t actually see the red bits…

Oh well. Even if you do have the TV positioned so that its distinctive Scarlet section is more or less invisible, you can still enjoy a splash of red courtesy of the circle of coloured red light that appears beneath the screen when the TV’s in standby. Please note that LG’s pursuit of flashness means that this circle’s lighting shifts to a tasteful grey when the TV is switched on. Or can be switched off completely if you find yourself being distracted by it while enjoying a particularly intense film or game.

The simple fact that I’ve already used so many words just talking about how the 37LG6000 looks speaks volumes for the extent of its aesthetic impact. Let’s just hope that the lovely design isn’t the only thing the set has going for it.

A search for the connections down the TV’s side and on that bright red rear suggests that the 37LG6000 certainly is not just a pretty face. For instance, it’s got four HDMIs - a real coup on such an affordable TV. Plus there’s a USB 2.0 jack for JPEG and MP3 playback and a dedicated D-Sub PC port alongside all the customary connection essentials.

The set also benefits from a Full HD native resolution, and a strikingly high contrast ratio of 50,000:1 - delivered, of course, via a dynamic contrast system that adjusts the output level of the backlight depending on how bright or dark a particular scene is.

Image processing, meanwhile, comes courtesy of LG’s XD Engine system, which works on a wide range of picture elements - colour, sharpness, noise reduction and so on. Great though this sounds, it’s worth bearing in mind that nearly every other brand has some similar sort of processing with a different name on its own TVs.

What’s certainly not common to most rivals, however, is the degree of image setting flexibility offered by the 37LG6000’s onscreen menus. Accessed via LG’s gorgeous new GUI, interesting options include an extremely high degree of backlight adjustment , a multi-level ‘fresh’ contrast booster, a ‘fresh’ colour booster, noise reduction, gamma adjustment, a black level booster, an eye care mode that reduces the images brightness a little to make long-term viewing less straining, and finally a picture preset that adjusts the picture settings in response to the amount of ambient light in the room.

As a minor upgrade to their existing high end Z4500 LCD series, the Z5100 will feature amongst other things, the latest incarnation of Sony’s picture processing engine, Bravia 3.

Available in the same 40in, 46in and 52in sizes the new screens will also feature Energy Star 3.0 compliance, Ethernet and DLNA support along with a USB port.

The Z5100 will feature an Ethernet connection, allowing the sets to directly access Sony BRAVIA Internet Video content using a broadband connection. The ‘widget’ type technology is already found in a similar guise on some high end Samsung LCD TV’s in the UK. Described as “internet applications delivering real-time information” widgets provide discreet on-screen applications that provide information such as weather reports, stock updates, financial news, Yahoo! Video and Flickr images as well as Sony’s own extensive selection of free and premium movies, TV shows, sports and music.

Sony’s Z5100 LCD TV series is due to hit UK shores this spring.

Kolkata: To drive its growth in the Indian market share, Samsung is pinning its hopes on new technologies like high-definition (HD) and Blu-ray products and LED TVs. The company is expected to launch its product-range in 2009.

Samsung expects HD and new tech products to account for 50 percent of its revenue in the audio-visual segment in 2009 as compared to some 30 percent the previous year. Likewise, in categories like LCD, it estimates a 45 percent contribution to the total sales volume up from 20 percent in 2008 and HD digital still cameras will account for over 10 percent of the total sales.

“The premium products have been growing at a phenomenal pace in India. Given the strong response witnessed by these categories, we expect the market will sustain the demand in 2009 driven by new products like LED TV. In some categories like Blu-ray, we are actually creating the market in India to take the first mover advantage,” R Zutshi, Deputy Managing Director, Samsung India told the Economic Times.

The company plans to introduce 40-55 inch screen size LED TVs by May and a Blu-ray player at Rs 29,000 and Blu-ray home theatre at Rs 70,000 in the second half of 2009. It will also roll out HD camcorders and HD digital still cameras in the same year.

“These latest products will be sold through premium multi-brand stores, retail chains as well as through our network of brand shops,” said Zutshi.

It’s hard to get too excited about TVs at the moment: There are so many innovations, from super-slim to OLED, that a new gizmo has to be truly amazing to stand out. And that’s something Philips seems to have achieved with its new 56-inch Cinema TV. It’s massive, and it disposes of the boring old 16:9 aspect ratio to deliver you movies on a 21:9 shaped screen.

As Philips puts it: “With an aspect ratio of 21:9, the Cinema 21:9 is the world’s first cinema-proportioned LCD TV.”

Interestingly the TV’s ratio is 2.33:1, and a quick Google shows that movie aspect ratios vary all the way from TV’s 1.33:1 up to Ben Hur’s MGM Camera 65 tech which had a picture of 2.76:1 ratio. There’s no actual standard at 2.33:1, the closest is Cinemascope at 2.55:1, so you’ll probably still get some form of letterboxing with this TV.

Having said that, it is a better match to anamorphic standard movie proportions than HDTV’s 16:9 shape. And watching a movie on a 56-inch Philips screen without too much black-bar visible at the top or sides would probably be closer to a cinema experience. The set will even have Philips’ proprietary ambilight effects built-in, making your wall light up in time to the picture and supposedly enhancing your viewing experience.

Though there’s no price info yet available, you won’t have long to wait if you’re a movie buff: It’s due in the Spring.