Last summer, Toshiba decided to abandon their self-developed HD-DVD format and to go Blu-ray instead. Soon after, the company started rolling out a few Blu-ray devices here and there, but today Toshiba Japan announced [JP] a flood of new Blu-ray-powered devices. The company is ready to roll out a total of three Blu-ray recorders and one Blu-ray player in the next few weeks.

The three new Blu-ray recorders are branded VARDIA. The basic model (D-B305K/pictured above) features a 320GB HDD (price: $1,100), while the D-B1005K ($1,400) comes with a 1TB hard disc. VHS fans can pay $1,500 to get the D-BW1005K, which is a VHS/Blu-ray recorder combo that helps you to backup your cassettes on Blu-ray discs (pictured below).

The recorders allow you to copy material from DVD to Blu-ray and vice versa. All models come with an HDMI interface, a USB port, LAN connectivity and an SD memory card slot (the player lacks the USB port).

The SD-BD1K is Toshiba’s new Blu-ray player and will cost $300 (pictured above).

Toshiba says they want to tap the growing demand for Blu-ray recorders in Japan with their new line-up. In the US, Toshiba is selling only one Blu-ray player so far, but this might change very soon. The new VARDIA recorders and the player will hit Japanese stores in about four weeks.

Source: crunchgear.com

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Last year, the LCD buzz was all about 120Hz refresh rates for smoother moving images. This year there’s 240Hz refresh rates, but the real news is that LCD TVs are going green—and improving their picture quality at the same time. Enter the brightest new TV star, LED (light emitting diode) backlighting. It’s much more energy efficient and more expensive than standard fluorescent backlighting—and it is showing up in numerous 2009 models.

There are two types of LED backlighting: edge-lit and full-array. Some sets that utilize full-array LEDs also include local dimming, which allows individual LEDs or clusters of them to turn off in dark scenes, improving black levels and detail. The only drawback is that LCD TVs using full-array LEDs are not normally ultrathin and can measure up to about 4.5 inches deep.

Toshiba Regza’s 55SV670 LED LCDTV uses the full array to light its a 55-inch 1080p LCD screen—and utilizes local dimming. With LED backlighting, the dynamic contrast of the SV670 is pumped up to whooping 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio. Other image enhancements include ClearScan 240Hz with a new backlight scanning technology for even smoother fast-moving images. The 240Hz quadruples the traditional progressive scan rate of 60Hz (or 60 frames a second) to 240Hz (or 240 frames per second).

Another eco-friendly feature called AutoView dims or brightens the screen according to ambient room lighting and the incoming video signal. Other key video enhancement features include CrystalCoat Contrast Enhancer with antireflective properties and Toshiba’s PixelPure 5G 14-bit internal digital video processor that provides improved overall detail. Audio is rated at 10 watts per channel and features Dolby Volume to keep volume levels consistent—as in no really loud commercials. There’s also Audyssey EQ.

Connection was easy and straight-forward. To calibrate this LCD set for optimal picture playback, I used a new Blu-ray test disk from Marvell entitled Qdeo HD Video Evaluation. The disc allows you evaluate the video processing of a particular TV, as well as to calibrate and correctly set contrast, brightness, black levels, color, sharpness, and gray scale among other video settings.

With all of these eco-friendly features and innovations, is the TV any good? With Toshiba’s SV670, I can fairly say that LCD technology is finally coming of age with a full array of features that enhance the overall image quality and clarity of the display.

Local dimming greatly enhances contrast and brings out detail in dark scenes.

The dark scenes looked accurate, with subtle variations in blackness from standard HDTV fare, most notably in the starfields of ABC’s Defying Gravity and the vibrant colors and quick cuts of USA’s Burn Notice. The very dark scenes in the newly released Blu-ray version of Watchmen (Director’s Cut) and The Dark Knight showed detail and color gradations not seen on most other LCD TVs.

And the splash of vibrant colors from Disney’s 50th Anniversary Sleeping Beauty was especially compelling. Overall, the images on the SV670 were markedly superior and uniform. if you more accurately control brightness and contrast, the images displayed will look more realistic, natural and life-like across the entire palette.

The colors displayed on the 55SV670 were exceptionally rich, and vibrant with very deep blacks (for an LCD TV) giving you the feeling and clarity of “you are there.” Black levels and contrast were several grades above other LCD HDTVs I’ve reviewed.

The beauty of LED backlighting lies not just with its eco-friendly features, but with its excellent contrast and deeper blacks that reveal more depth and detail—while providing more precise color saturation across the entire color spectrum.

If you are looking to conserve energy and still want the best possible LCD TV, you have to look at LED-backlit TVs like Toshiba’s 55SV670. It could be the best LCD the company has produced.

Source: electronichouse.com

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On the eve of Japan’s CEATEC trade show, electronics giant Toshiba has formally unveiled the Regza 55X1 HDTV (Japanese), the company’s first television to be powered by the Cell processor—the same chip at the heart of the PlayStation 3. And while the 55X1 will not be offering support for PlayStation games—consumers will still need to buy a console for that—it does feature an integrated DVR, 3 TB of storage space, an innovated LED backlighting system, DLNA compatibility, and access to broadband content via the Internet.

As a display, the 55X1 offers impressive specs: Toshiba claims the 55-inch HD LCD panel sports a 5,000,000:1 contrast ratio (dynamic, presumably), enabled in part by an LED backlighting system tha divides the display into 512 zones with individual lighting control. The 55X1 will also sport 1250cd/m&exp2; of brightness and a 240 Hz refresh rate.

But the true star of the 55X1 is the cell processor, which Toshiba claims is just the first step on future “super resolution” technology. The Cell processor lives in a separate box from the 55X1, and offers some 143 times the computing capacity of a current Regza television, improving image quality, color, and brightness across the board. Toshiba is also building in a mammoth DVR with 3 TB of storage capacity, 2 TB of which can be used to timeshift recorded programming, capturing up to 26 hours of high-def programming and recording up to 8 broadcast channels at a time. Toshiba has also developed a custom navigation interface that lets users search on-air, archives, and future programs—shows are shown as thumbnails, with other shows circling it based on perceived relevancy: more relevant shows are closer, while others orbit further away. Users can search on keyword, actors’ names, genre, title, and more. There’s also a multi-thumbnail mode that can handle up to 40 time-divided thumbnails of a program, making it simple for users to find the point they want in a program.

The Regza 55X1 will also support broadband content, with integrated support for YouTube video, a built-in version of the Opera Web browser, and (amazingly enough) will also handle displaying JPEG photos. The 55X1 is also DLNA compatible, so it can integrate with media capabilities on a home network.

Toshiba says the 55X1 will be available in Japan in December 2009; no pricing information has been released, but reports have the suggested price near ¥1 million, which translates to over $11,000 USD. There’s no word on when, or if, Toshiba plans to market the Regza 55X1 outside the Japanese market.

Also on hand were the four Cell Regza Next concept models. There’s not much to say about the entertainment server and the all-in-one, but we do have to give credit to the 4K2K TV for the expected visual quality. The 3D unit was showing off a hands-only motion-controlled user interface, demonstrated only by a Toshiba rep, that seemed to have a few technical hiccups. As we’ve said before (Natal, anyone?), waving your arms is a fun concept, but here we’re not yet sold on the usefulness over novelty of it — something Toshi can mull over between now and at whatever point in the future it plans on upgrading it beyond concept phase. Video of the 55X1 and the conceptual 3D UI after the break.

Source : digitaltrends.com & engadget.com

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