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HDD Gear Deal Spotlight: HDTVs[teaser]For a limited time, Amazon is offering discounts on several HDTVs! [/teaser] As part of the online retailer's ongoing sales and promotions, Amazon is running limited time deals on HDTVs from Sony and Sharp. Sharp LC-32LE551U 32-inch Aquos 1080p TV - Currently $260 (16 percent off its retail price). Sharp LC-39LE551U 39-inch Aquos 1080p TV - Currently $344 (18 percent off its retail price). Sharp LC-48LE551U 48-inch Aquos 1080p TV - Currently $490 (18 percent off its retail price). Sony KDL55W800B 55-Inch 1080p TV - Currently $1,298 (13 percent off its retail price). Sony KDL60W630B 60-Inch 1080p TV - Currently $1,348 (13 percent off its retail price). As always, these deals will only be active for a limited time while supplies last. Make sure to stay tuned to High-Def Digest for more sales and special promotions!Posted Fri Jun 20, 2014 at 03:44 PM PDT by: -
Samsung Launches Commercial & Professional 4K Displays[teaser]The company has announced a new line of 4K displays geared toward businesses along with a 4K monitor for professionals. [/teaser] At the InfoComm convention in Las Vegas, Samsung has unveiled its latest collection of Ultra HD displays. Dubbed the QMD series, the lineup is designed for business and commercial use. In addition, the company also highlighted an upcoming 4K monitor that is ideal for professionals. "Samsung has a legacy of leadership in display technology and digital signage, and we are now leading the exciting transition to UHD for customers looking to deliver more visually engaging, memorable visual experiences," said Tod Pike, Senior Vice President at Samsung's Enterprise Business Division. "As 4K content becomes more prevalent and cost-effective to produce, offerings like our new QMD Series enable early adopters to wow their audiences and ensure they are future-proofed as the UHD becomes the new standard." The QMD collection features a resolution of 3840 x 2160, a slim design, and a Picture by Picture option that enables playback of up to four different 1080p feeds at once, making it perfect for retail signage, conference room presentations, videoconferencing, movie production, CAD/CAM design and command/control centers. Meanwhile, Samsung also detailed a new Ultra HD monitor, the UD970. The 32-inch monitor also features a resolution of 3840 x 2160 and offers Adobe and sRGB color compliance. With its accurate picture, the UD970 is being marketed toward professional applications like command and control, video and photo editing, mapping and simulation, and engineering. Pricing has not been announced, but the UD970 Ultra HD monitor will be available in August. The QMD series will also be available for businesses in August and will come in 55-inch and 85-inch models. Source: SamsungPosted Thu Jun 19, 2014 at 04:00 PM PDT by: -
HDD Gear Deal Spotlight: Portable Bluetooth Speakers[teaser]For a limited time, Amazon is offering up to 50 percent off select Bluetooth speaker systems! [/teaser] As part of the online retailer's ongoing sales and promotions, Amazon is running limited time deals on several wireless Bluetooth speakers from Sony, Yamaha, and Philips. Yamaha NX-P100 Portable Bluetooth Speaker - Currently $100 (50 percent off its retail price). Sony SRSBTX300 Portable NFC Bluetooth Speaker System - Currently $98 (35 percent off its retail price). Sony SRSX7 Portable NFC Bluetooth Speaker System - Currently $248 (17 percent off its retail price). Sony SRSX5 Portable NFC Bluetooth Speaker System - Currently $168 (16 percent off its retail price). Philips SBT75 Bluetooth Portable Speaker - Currently $50 (29 percent off its retail price). As always, these deals will only be active for a limited time while supplies last. Make sure to stay tuned to High-Def Digest for more sales and special promotions!Posted Wed Jun 18, 2014 at 04:00 PM PDT by: -
Amazon Announces Fire Phone[teaser]The upcoming smartphone features an HD screen with dynamic perspective technology. [/teaser] After months of speculation, Amazon has officially detailed the latest addition to its Fire line of products, the Fire Phone. The 4.7-inch mobile device is exclusive to AT&T and will launch on July 25. Pre-orders are now live! Under the hood, the Fire Phone is powered by a 2.2GHz Quad-core Snapdragon 800 CPU, with Adreno 330 GPU and 2GB of RAM, all running Fire OS 3.5.0. The smartphone features a 4.7-inch IPS screen with a resolution of 1280 x 720, 315 ppi, 590 cd/m2 brightness, and a 1000:1 contrast ratio. A 13MP rear camera with OIS, a 2.1MP front camera, and dual stereo speakers with Dolby Digital Plus are included as well. What really makes the Fire Phone special, however, is its Dynamic Perspective Technology. Using four specially designed cameras, the phone is able to track a user's face, allowing the device to shift the perspective of the images on display as you tilt the phone. In addition, the Fire Phone also features Amazon's Mayday customer support; Firefly technology to identify phone numbers, movies, music, and a variety of real world items; and access to Amazon Instant Video, Music, and Kindle Books. Finally, the mobile device includes a premium tangle-free headset and uses a 2400mAh battery. "Fire Phone puts everything you love about Amazon in the palm of your hand—instant access to Amazon's vast content ecosystem and exclusive features like the Mayday button, ASAP, Second Screen, X-Ray, free unlimited photo storage, and more," said Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com Founder and CEO. "The Firefly button lets you identify printed web and email addresses, phone numbers, QR and bar codes, artwork, and over 100 million items, including songs, movies, TV shows, and products—and take action in seconds. We invented a new sensor system called Dynamic Perspective that recognizes where a user's head is relative to the device—we use it to offer customers a more immersive experience, one-handed navigation, and gestures that actually work. And this is only the beginning—the most powerful inventions are the ones that empower others to unleash their creativity—that's why today we are launching the Dynamic Perspective SDK and the Firefly SDK—we can’t wait to see how developers surprise us." The 32GB Amazon Fire Phone will start shipping on July 25 and will retail for $199 with a two year contract or $649 without a service plan. Meanwhile, the 64GB model will retail for $100 more. Likewise, for a limited time customers will get a free 12 month subscription to Amazon Prime with their purchase! Source: AmazonPosted Wed Jun 18, 2014 at 12:00 PM PDT by: -
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High-Def Digest Attends VIZIO TV & Audio Showcase[teaser]Last week, High-Def Digest was invited to attend a hands-on demonstration of VIZIO's latest home theater products. The event was held at the Gansevoort Hotel in New York, where the company offered a one-on-one look at three new audio systems along with their impressive 2014 M-Series HDTV line. [/teaser] Aimed at highlighting the company's "Beautifully Simple" philosophy, the showcase put VIZIO's gear in direct comparison with similar offerings from their competitors, letting us see and hear the differences. So, just how well did they stack up? Should you start getting excited about VIZIO's new products? Well, here are our full impressions! 2.1 Sound Stand The first demo showcased the company's upcoming 2.1 Sound Stand, the S2121w. Part of a new category of audio products, the VIZIO Sound Stand is geared toward delivering high quality audio in an even more compact form factor than a traditional soundbar. Packed with 101 dB of volume at less than 1% harmonic distortion and designed to sit directly under televisions up to 60 lbs and 55-inches in size, the Sound Stand is ideal for users looking for a powerful, but still space saving upgrade to integrated TV speakers. The S2121w features a 2.1 configuration with 2.75" full range stereo drivers and an integrated 5.25" subwoofer rated at 55 Hz with a backwards firing port. In addition, the Sound Stand includes Bluetooth for wireless audio streaming, and Dolby Digital, DTS TruSurround, DTS TruVolume, and DTS Studio Sound support. Likewise, the device comes packaged with everything customers will need for easy and painless installation, including a power cable, 3.5mm to RCA audio cable, an optical digital cable, a coaxial digital cable, a Quick Start Guide, and a remote control with battery. For demonstration purposes, VIZIO set the S2121w against the Bose Solo and the Samsung HW-H600. Both are similar sound stand devices aimed at offering compact audio solutions that sit under your TV with a pedestal design. To show off each speaker, an action scene from 'Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows' was used. Each rival unit was set at the max power setting before distortion became apparent, and the VIZIO was set at about 60 percent output. Since the demo was tailored toward showing off the Sound Stand's bass response, the sequence featured a lot of low frequency activity with frequent explosions. While the Samsung offered a relatively deep and heavy sound, it still wasn't particularly full or impactful. For its part, the Bose seemed to give a more well-rounded experience, with solid bass activity and cleaner highs, though there was a slightly muddy quality to the audio. Finally, the VIZIO held its own very well, turning in a similar if not more robust performance to the Bose, utilizing its built-in subwoofer well to provide some comparatively strong kick. According to 3rd party testing, the S2121w actually provides bass levels of +5 dB (at 63 Hz) and +15 dB (at 40 Hz) above the Samsung HW-H600 and the Bose Solo. See the graph below for the full comparison measurements. With that said, given my limited time with the speakers, I had a hard time deciding whether the VIZIO really offered a sizeable improvement over the competition since all three seemed to have strengths and weaknesses. And though all of the devices turned in superior sound compared to a TV's standard speakers, they really could not compete with full soundbar systems. Of course, further testing and demo material would be needed to really offer a definitive opinion, and we're hoping to get a retail review unit soon. Pricing has not been announced yet, but the 2.1 Sound Stand is expected to hit stores in July. Soundbars Next up, VIZIO showcased its latest soundbar systems, the 54-inch S5451w-C2 and the 38-inch S3851w-C2. The S5451w-C2 54" 5.1 Home Theater Sound Bar is geared toward customers with 55-inch HDTVs or larger. The soundbar offers 104 dB of audio with less than 1% total harmonic distortion and discrete left, right, and center channels. In addition, the system comes complete with separate rear satellite speakers and an 8-inch wireless subwoofer for a bass response as low as 35 Hz. Meanwhile, the S3851w-C2 38" 5.1 Home Theater Sound Bar is designed to be paired with HDTVs that are 42-inches and larger. The device also features separate rear satellites and a wireless subwoofer for up to 100 dB of sound. Both soundbars offer Dolby Digital and DTS Digital Surround support, and the 54-inch model adds in integrated aptX Bluetooth audio coding technology for high quality wireless music streaming from supported devices. To show off the 38-inch system, VIZIO played an action scene from Zach Snyder's 'Sucker Punch.' The sequence was once again full of many low frequency effects and lots of discrete surround cues, offering an enveloping soundstage that was perfect for highlighting the soundbars' range. While a hotel room environment isn't exactly the best place to demo a sound system, even at the limited volume setting, the soundbar was quite powerful and immersive. The front soundstage offered a clear sense of directionality throughout the single unit speaker and the bar worked well with the dedicated rear satellites and wireless subwoofer to create a seamless experience. The 54-inch model was demoed next, and this time a scene from James Cameron's 'Avatar' was used. Immediately, the audio was noticeably beefier than the 38-inch unit. Bass had a more robust presence and the larger soundbar offered a wider front soundstage. Again, despite having to keep the volume and woofer dialed down for the sake of neighboring hotel guests, the unit produced some impressive kick and I came away very impressed by my relatively short time with the system. In addition to the 5.1 film tracks, VIZIO also provided an example of the 54-inch model's aptX Bluetooth streaming support, which allows for wireless playback of high resolution audio. For the demo, a stereo AIFF music track was streamed from a tablet. The song was then matrixed through the soundbar's processing to 5.1. Much like the movie samples, the music sounded very good, and the 5.1 matrixing was well done, spreading the instruments nicely around the room with a convincing sense of discrete separation. Again, we're hoping to get samples of both soundbars for full reviews soon, but the brief demonstration definitely left me wanting to hear more. The 54-inch S5451w-C2 is currently available for $500 and the 38-inch S3851w-C2 will be available in late july for $280. M-Series Television Finally, VIZIO whisked me off to a separate room where they had a 60-inch M602i-B3 M-Series HDTV setup. For comparisons sake, a Samsung UN60H7150 60-Inch HDTV was also displayed side-by-side with the VIZIO. With a much appreciated emphasis on picture quality, the M-Series is designed to give home theater enthusiasts an impressive bang for their buck, offering full-array local dimming and smart TV features for an affordable price. The M-Series ranges in size from 32-inches to 80-inches and features full-array backlighting with local dimming and up to 36 active LED zones. This allows the backlight to adjust its intensity in individual zones based on the content on screen, resulting in better contrast, superior uniformity, and deeper black levels. In addition, the TVs also offer Active Pixel Tuning and Clear Action Rate 7202 technology for improved detail and motion. Finally, the M-Series includes full smart TV options with integrated Wi-Fi and a backlit QWERTY keyboard built right into the remote, giving customers access to popular apps like Netflix, YouTube, and Spotify. While local dimming technology has been around for several years, many previous models have been prone to artifacts like blooming and poor off-angle viewing. Likewise, many manufacturers have been opting for edge-lit implementations over full-array designs, which lead to far inferior results. With the M-Series, VIZIO is making full-array local dimming one of its main priorities, and the company highlighted the technology throughout the demo, detailing its advanced algorithm used to combat blooming and crushing. The company even proudly advertises the amount of active LED zones available on each model -- something other company's rarely disclose. The 60-inch model on display for the demo uses 32 active LED zones configured in an 8x4 grid. To show off the TV's picture quality, a sequence from 'The Hobbit' was displayed side-by-side with the same scene on the Samsung model. The Samsung unit uses edge-lit dimming and the difference was immediately clear. The full-array VIZIO offered a huge improvement in black levels and uniformity, providing deep, inky, even blacks that still maintained good shadow detail. Likewise, the black bars above and below the 2.35:1 frame essentially disappeared into the dark of the room. In contrast, the Samsung set displayed a comparatively washed-out grey and blue quality in its blacks, and the backlighting was uneven, resulting in isolated areas of the screen that were brighter than others (one of my main pet peeves when it comes to traditional LCDs). The VIZIO also did a solid job of maintaining its deep blacks and colors from off-angle, though I'd need more time with the unit to really offer a full judgment. For the final part of the demo, VIZIO gave an example of the TV's Clear Action Rate 720 technology which is designed to create smooth motion without artifacts. A motion test was displayed on the M602i-B3 and UN60H7150 simultaneously with both set to their default movie mode. The test slide featured moving tickers of text and patterns. While the Samsung revealed heavy motion artifacts and anomalies, the VIZIO offered smooth motion with no apparent issues. The test was conducted in 60, 30, and 24 FPS and each time the VIZIO was smooth while the Samsung featured artifacts. Of course, the difference during actual content is likely far less severe than these specially designed tests slides, and more time with the unit is needed to really examine the difference the Clear Action tech makes. Likewise, many home theater enthusiasts detest the "soap opera" effect that is usually associated with technology like this, and prefer to keep these settings toggled off anyway. Again, though my time with the TV was limited, I was left very excited by what I saw and by VIZIO's overall philosophy. While the company is very popular among mainstream and budget consumers, this new M-Series line really seems to be going after home theater enthusiasts as well. By cutting out a lot of the fat and unnecessary features, VIZIO has been able to focus on picture quality improvements that matter, like full-array local dimming, while still giving customers a very affordable price point. With that said, the company has dropped 3D support from its line, citing low customer demand, so buyers still interested in 3D capabilities will have to look elsewhere. The 60-inch M602i-B3 is currently on sale for just $1,150. We're hoping to receive a full review unit of the M-Series TV soon, along with VIZIO's audio products, so be sure to stay tuned to High-Def Digest for more HD gear coverage!Posted Tue Jun 17, 2014 at 05:00 PM PDT by: -
Marantz Reveals New Super-Slim A/V Receiver[teaser]The upcoming receiver features a space-saving design and several streaming options. [/teaser] Marantz has announced a new addition to its home audio collection, the NR1605 A/V Receiver. The network receiver offers high quality performance in a comparatively compact size. The NR1605 uses a 7 channel amplifier with 90 watts per channel and features built-in Dolby True HD and DTS-HD Master Audio support. Likewise, the device comes complete with integrated Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and AirPlay support, allowing users to stream music files from a wide variety of playback sources. In addition, eight HDMI ports are included and the receiver offers 4K and 3D pass-through. Audyssey MultEQ room calibration and an advanced Graphical User Interface are featured as well, making setup simple. Finally, customers can even control the device with their Android or iOS smartphones and tablets through the Marantz Remote App. The Marantz NR1605 is expected to ship in July for a suggested retail price of $699. Source: MarantzPosted Mon Jun 16, 2014 at 07:00 PM PDT by: -
Hulu Adds Magnolia Titles[teaser]The streaming service is adding several Magnolia Pictures films to its lineup. [/teaser] Hulu and Magnolia Pictures have announced a deal that will bring several Magnolia movies to the Hulu library. The continued partnership will allow users to watch a new collection of varied content across multiple devices. The deal includes a wide range of titles like 'Centurion,' 'Tucker & Dale vs. Evil,' 'The Girlfriend Experience,' 'Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop,' 'Freakonomics,' 'A Place at the Table,' 'Food, Inc.', 'Marley,' 'Jiro Dreams of Sushi' and '13 Assassins.' Magnolia Pictures is co-owned by Todd Wagner and Mark Cuban, and is affiliated with the duo's other media properties including the Landmark Theatres chain, 2929 Productions and the high-definition cable networks AXS TV and HDNet Movies. Streaming access to these Magnolia titles and more should be rolling out now to Hulu and Hulu Plus customers. Hulu Plus is available on a variety of streaming media players and smart TVs for $7.99 per month, including the Amazon Fire TV. Source: HuluPosted Mon Jun 16, 2014 at 01:00 PM PDT by: -
HDD Gear Deal Spotlight: Samsung Tablets[teaser]For a limited time, Amazon is offering $100 off select Samsung tablets! [/teaser] As part of the online retailer's Father's Day sales and promotions, Amazon is running limited time deals on Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro and Note Pro tablets. Both models feature 2560x1600 WQXGA displays with 1.9GHz Samsung Exynos 5 Octa processors and 3GB of RAM, and the Note Pro adds in an S Pen stylus. Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 12.2 32GB - Currently $549 (16 percent off its retail price). Samsung Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 32GB - Currently $649 (13 percent off its retail price). Samsung Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 64GB - Currently $749 (12 percent off its retail price). As always, these deals will only be active for a limited time while supplies last. Make sure to stay tuned to High-Def Digest for more sales and special promotions!Posted Fri Jun 13, 2014 at 12:00 PM PDT by: -
LG Rumored to Supply OLED Panels to Panasonic[teaser]The Korean electronics manufacturer is reportedly in talks to supply Panasonic with large screen OLEDs. [/teaser] According to a report from Bloomberg, LG and Panasonic are currently negotiating a possible deal that will allow LG to provide Panasonic with OLED panels. The alleged agreement would enable Panasonic to lower its own production costs while helping LG to promote OLED technology adoption. Though Panasonic had been partnered with Sony to pursue OLED development, the two companies ended their deal late last year. Likewise, Sony recently announced that it would be suspending its own OLED development, and Samsung has not announced any more OLED models to join its 2013 KN55S9C curved-screen model. Meanwhile, LG has remained the only major player to continually pledge support for the exciting new technology, and recently dropped the price of its own 55EA9800 and 55EA8800 OLED TV models. If this proposed deal goes through, LG would be providing Panasonic with OLED screens larger than 55-inches. OLED technology offers superior black levels and contrast over traditional LCD sets, but low yield rates and high manufacturing costs have made mainstream adoption difficult. While this deal is still only a rumor, Panasonic's support could help bring the technology to more consumers, and could give the company a worthy successor to their now defunct plasma TV line. Source: BloombergPosted Fri Jun 13, 2014 at 08:30 AM PDT by: -
Samsung Details Galaxy Tab S[teaser]The new tablet features an AMOLED display. [/teaser] Samsung has officially announced it latest tablet, the Galaxy Tab S. The device will come in an 8.4-inch model and a 10.5-inch model, and each will use an AMOLED screen with a WQXGA resolution. "The tablet is becoming a popular personal viewing device for enjoying content, which makes the quality of the display a critical feature," said JK Shin, CEO and President of IT & Mobile Division, Samsung Electronics. "With the launch of the Galaxy Tab S, Samsung is setting the industry bar higher for the entire mobile industry. It will provide consumers with a visual and entertainment experience that brings colors to life, beautifully packaged in a sleek and ultra-portable mobile device." The Galaxy Tab S is the company's thinnest and lightest tablet model so far, and features a 16:10 Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 2560×1600. The AMOLED technology offers deeper black levels marked by an impressive 100,000:1 contrast ratio, and superior power efficiency compared to LCD panels. Likewise, the screen covers more than 90% of the Adobe RGB color space and uses Adaptive Display tech to intelligently adjust picture settings based on specific content and environments. In addition, the tablet includes support for Samsung's Papergarden digital magazine service, the Marvel Unlimited comic book app, HD Netflix streaming, and the Kindle store with a special free book offer every month. Under the hood, the tablet is powered by an Exynos 5 Octa (1.9 GHz QuadCore ＋ 1.3 GHz Quadcore) or Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 2.3 GHz Quadcore CPU and 3GB of RAM running Android 4.4. An 8MP rear camera and a 2.1MP front camera are also included. 16GB and 32GB storage options will be offered and the tablet includes a microSD slot for up to 128GB. The 8.4-inch model uses a 4,900mAh battery and the 10.5-inch model uses a 7,900mAh battery. 4,900mAh The Samsung Galaxy Tab S is expected to launch in July. The 8.4-inch model will start out at $400 and the 10.5-inch model will start out at $500. Source: Samsung 90% of Adobe RGB color 2560×1600 2560×1600 2560×1600 WQXGA WQXGAPosted Thu Jun 12, 2014 at 09:30 PM PDT by:
