HDTV News

E3 is just kicking off in LA and we have already had our first big Smart TV related news come flying into our inbox.

LG has teamed up with Ubitus, and they have announced that their “GameNow” cloud gaming solution will be available on LG’s latest lineup of Smart TVs. Anyone who has purchased or purchases a new LG Smart TV model in the U.S will be able to access the Game Now service straight away.

The GameNow app that can downloaded to your LG Smart TV from LG Smart World allowing yo to play console quality video games on demand, including such games as Street Fighter X Tekken and Batman: Arkham City.

You can currently sign up for a free beta trial of GameNow service for “high-end LG Smart TVs”. From looking at the official GameNow site is lists the LG LA7900, LA8600, LA9600, but the press release also states that the service will be available for the “entire 2013 LG Smart TV lineup will be launched in the near future“.

Bang & Olufsen recently launched their BeoLab 14 surround sound speaker system, perfect for giving your Smart TV a huge audio upgrade.

As mentioned in our BeoLab 14 article (view for more details) we were invited to the global launch of the sound system. While at the event I covered the launch, including the full presentation speech given by CEO Tue Mantoni, and also a hands on video of the BeoLab 14 showing it in further detail.

Both videos are embedded below, so be sure to check them both out.

While just a rumor at the moment, one just this interesting just has to be posted. More often than not, it turns out that these rumors are true, and someone has leaked a tip somewhere a long the line.

According to ETNews (a Korean newspaper) both Samsung and LG are preparing to show off larger sized OLED TVs at IFA in Berlin in early September.

Where as Ultra HDTVs are getting smaller, coming down from the huge and very expensive 84-inches to more reasonably sized and prices 55-inch and 65-inch models, OLED TVs are going the other way, and getting bigger in size.

Right now LG’s 55-inch is the biggest and pretty much only OLED TV which you can buy around the world. I even saw an advert for the 55-inch LG OLED at Heathrow airport in London recently. Samsung has been showing off their own 55-inch OLED for a while, but it has yet to materialize at market just yet.

Over the last few weeks the news and announcements for 4K Ultra HDTVs has really picked up as the products get closer and closer to a public release. This time it’s time for LG to get the spotlight.

LG Korea have just pushed out a press release announcing the launch of their 55-inch LG 55LA9700 and 65-inch LG 65LA9700 4K Ultra HDTVs, complete with model names and prices.

While LG was one of the first to release a 4K Ultra HDTV worldwide with their 84-inch LG 84LM9600 along with Sony, we have heard very little from them since.

At CES 2013 LG showed off smaller versions on the 84-inch monster, with a 65-inch and 55-inch 4K models, but didn’t reveal anything on them apart from the fact that they were 4K. While looking at the press photos of the LG LA9700 & 65-Inch LA9700 we suspect that they are the same Ultra HDTVs that we saw at CES 2013 (embedded below), but with a newer stand.

With a new 4K Ultra HD series seeming to be announced almost every week recently, there is clearly a huge push from manufactures to get their 4K TVs out to the public.

But of course the public are still asking, and craving true native 4K content. Sony came to the rescue with their upcoming FMP-X1 4K media player, which is set for a summer launch at $699.

But since the Sony FMPX1 4K player was announced, very little has been known about it, apart from the fact that it will output native 4K movies! Today, thanks to Eye IO we have learned that the player will be using the their compression encoding technology on the device thanks to a new Sony licensing.

Roku are the leaders in streaming media boxes, and along with Apple TV share a good 90% of the market.

Roku recently released the Roku 3, which boasted a brand new interface which makes accessing and searching for programs a lot easier. Over the past few weeks they have been rolling out this new interface to a number of the more recently older models.

Roku have just announced that they have raised $60 in funding for future developments, namely a Roku Smart TV platform. With Smart TVs getting more and more powerful, and offering a whole host of streaming features and catchup apps, I’m sure Roku are feeling the heat and are worried about declining sales.

Now this is the news we have been waiting for! Samsung Korea have just officially announced the Samsung F9000 series of 4K Ultra HD TVs.

The 65-inch Samsung 65F9000, and the 55-inch Samsung 55F9000 will be available to pre-order over in Japan from June 1st next month, and Samsung have even included pricing.

The 55-inch 55F9000 has a price of 6.4 million won, which equates to $5,675, and the 65-inch 65F9000 8.9 million won, or $7,910. Of course this is just a direct conversion as a guide and not the price we will actually see once it is released in the U.S, but it looks about right.

Samsung F9000

Having just covered the highend Samsung HW-F751 soundbar which makes upgrading your Smart TV’s audio extremely easy, we now turn our attention to the new Samsung HT-F9750W 7.1 Speaker Smart 3D Blu-ray Home Theater System.

The Samsung HT-F9750W is a complete home theater system which includes a highend blu-ray player which supports 3D, and 4K upscaling and output, advanced amp with vacuum tubes, 7 speakers and a wireless subwoofer. It really is the full highend package.

You might have noticed the “Smart” in the product name. This means it’s a smart 3D blu-ray player with app support and offers the same features as Samsung’s latest 2013 Smart TVs. So if you don’t own a Smart TV, or specifically not a Samsung Smart TV, by using the Samsung HT-F9750W it essentially turns your HDTV into a Smart TV.

Soundbars have to be the quickest growing sector of the home theater market, and who better than Samsung to get into the game?

The Samsung HW-F750 (US) / Samsung HW-F751 (UK, Europe) soundbar is Samsung’s effort in the Soundbar game and we’re very impressed by it.

Every year HDTVs are getting slimmer and slimmer, but due to this, the speakers have gotten smaller, and the audio quality has suffered. A few years ago, you would either find the speakers in the bezel on the left and right of the TV, or below it. Now with pretty much non existent bezels, there is no room. So most manufactures are using smaller speakers which actually face down to get the profile as slim as possible.

Soundbars have come to the rescue, and provide a very easy way to upgrade your Smart TV’s audio. Also known as the Samsung AirTrack speaker, it has been designed to work perfectly with Samsung’s latest Smart TVs, and can even work without wires to the TV using SoundShare technology.

It seems that every week there is a new development in the 4K Ultra HD TV world, and another company releasing yet another 4K Ultra HDTV series.

This week it’s Toshiba’s time with their new REGZA Z8X series of 4K Ultra HDTVs which have just been announced over in Japan, and go on sale late next month (June 2013).

The Toshiba REGZA Z8X series will be available in three sizes, as the 84-inch Toshiba 84Z8X, 55-inch 65Z8X, and 58-inch 58Z8X. The 84-inch now seems to be the standard size for a large 4K Ultra HDTV, with the 65-inch and 55/58-inch sizes coming in next.

The Toshiba Z8X 4K TVs feature a newly developed image processor, the “REGZA CEVO 4k” which has been especially designed for the 4K TVs, to upscale and get the very best out of non 4K content. All three models of course feature a LCD panel with a 3,840 x 2,160 pixel resolution giving the 4K resolution.