Gizmodo: In The Flesh

New Philips TVs Ambilight Your Way

Wilson Rothman — Wed, 23 May 2007 15:50:49 EDT

We recently got a close look at the latest 1080p Ambilight LCD TVs from Philips, the ones that cast colorful glows against the back of your wall in a way that is known to soothe and delight Brian Lam. First introduced at CES, they mostly have "2-channel Ambilight" but one, the premium 42-inch model mentioned below, has full "Ambilight Surround."

If tripping the Ambilight fandango isn't your idea of a good time, there are other features that might be more interesting to you. The 120Hz refresh rate found on half of the models is intended to beat the 8ms response time. (This effect is achieved using a multitude of differing techniques, and it might take six months or so for us to be sure who has it figured out.) The Perfect Pixel HD technology for sharpness is also key. Make the jump for my thoughts on a side-by-side comparison with a Samsung, a gallery of my Ambilight shots, plus a cute little newcomer called Modea.

When I went to the Philips suite, the first thing I noticed was a 42-inch 1080p Philips next to a 40-inch 1080p Samsung (the side-by-side shots of the gallery below). And as usual with a bake-off challenge, there were aspects of the Philips that beat the Samsung, but aspects of the Samsung that trumped the Philips. For instance, in the shot of the wave, you can clearly see the added detail that the Perfect Pixel HD technology provides (not to mention the extra diagonal two inches of real estate); however, when you look at the rocky cliff, even scaled down, you can make out more detail in the Samsung.

Of course much of this can be fixed; in fact, last Friday I demonstrated how friendly Philips' picture-tweaking interface is for people who don't know their hue from their saturation. However, I tend to shrink from side-by-side comparisons set up by one manufacturer.

That said, the TVs were tasty (check out the snikety-snak detail on the PS3 game showing on the 52-incher) and competitively priced for 1080p. Here's the recap of pricing and availability.

42PFL7432D 42" 1080p - Currently available for $1,999 April
42PFL9832D 42" 120Hz 1080p - Coming next month for $2,999
47PFL7432D 47" 1080p - Currently available for $2,499 April
47PFL9732D 47" 120Hz 1080p - Coming next month for $2,799
52PFL7432D 52" 120Hz 1080p - Coming in September for $3,599

The unexpected arrival was a cute little 19-inch LCD called Modea. With a high (enough) definition panel resolution of 1440x900 and a white finish, it's a bit of a statement, but it's aimed right at Middle America. It just went on sale at Target for $449.99, along with its 26-inch $799.99 brother. Modea doesn't have Ambilight technology though, so if you were planning to buy it for Brian for his birthday, think again. – Wilson Rothman

Ambilight TV Press Release from CES [Philips]

Pioneer 8th Gen Plasmas On The Show Floor

Wilson Rothman — Wed, 09 May 2007 13:45:15 EDT

Here at the Pioneer "Project Kuro" Gen 8 plasma launch, the TVs really look good. I wouldn't expect them to look bad, seeing as everything in the room would be optimized. However, you can see from these pictures that the contrast really is dramatic, and that in low light, the blacks don't hum with grayness the way some panels do. Due to the way the gallery turned out, these shots are of the XGA or WXGA (768 lines) TVs.

Stay tuned, because tomorrow we'll show you how to compare Pioneer's high-contrast plasmas with other current flat panel TVs. – Wilson Rothman

Additional Coverage of Pioneer's 8th Gen Plasma [Gizmodo]

Gallery: Samsung's $1,200 Dual-Camera Deluxe Q1 Ultra

Wilson Rothman — Tue, 08 May 2007 10:20:00 EDT

Having spent some time with the Q1 Ultra, I feel it's my duty to tell you that the most appealing version isn't $799, but $1199.

Yes, all Q1 Ultras are thinner than the original Q1 with a brighter (300 nit), higher-res (1024x600) but still 7" screen. They all weigh 1.5 lbs., have the split QWERTY keyboard, the 1GB of DDR2 RAM, 802.11b/g plus Bluetooth 2.0, stereo speakers and a dual-array microphone. Battery life is up to 4.5 hours (as opposed to the previous Q1's 3.5 hours). With an extended battery, you can get up to 8.5 hours, and a full 13 hours if you use a "dual battery" configuration.

But the $1,199 Q1U-V, which will ship soonest, in just a couple of weeks, also has two cameras, a VGA up front for video conferencing and a 1.3-megapixel one in the rear for still shooting. It's got an 800MHz Intel Ultra Mobile A110 processor, instead of the $799 version's 600MHz. It has a 60GB 1.8" drive hard drive and a memory card reader (just SD and MMC, but still useful).

There is still no word on an SSD configuration, although Samsung told me "end of year... maybe." Samsung says that SSD was cost prohibitive at launch, as it is five to six times as expensive as equivalent hard disk technology.

The super-duper Q1 Ultra will cost $1,499, and hit stores in August. This one, the Q1U-CMV, has everything that the Q1U-V has, except for an 80GB drive, an "authentic" fingerprint reader, and HSDPA high speed wireless, to be supported by AT&T. (That's the reason for the holdup.)

There's no PC card or ExpressCard slot, nor is there built in GPS. You'll see in the gallery that GPS is available as a USB accessory. I asked about connecting a GPS puck via Bluetooth, but was told, basically, that it wasn't the route that Samsung had explored. One of you intrepid Q1 Ultra purchasers will have to try that one out.

If you still want a $799 edition, you'll have to ask for the Q1U-EL (for "elementary school"), you'll have to wait about a month, and you will probably be mocked by people with nicer camera-equipped Q1 Ultras. – Wilson Rothman

Samsung Q1 Ultra [Gizmodo]