The partnership seems to be led by Sony, with the Japanese company expected to provide the necessary equipment and expertise, and the BBC merely ‘overseeing’ the production. This isn’t much of a surprise when you consider that the Japanese are streets ahead of anyone else when it comes to UHD filming – Sony has already opened up a 4K film studio in Hollywood, whilst Japan is set to become the first country to introduce 4K broadcasts nationwide by next summer.

Sony has also sent several 4K cameras and engineers to shoot three football matches at the FIFA Confederations Cup football tournament that has kicked off in Brazil a few days ago. The ultra high-def footage won’t be transmitted for live broadcast, but instead will be analysed by FIFA, Sony and their partners in preparation for the FIFA World Cup 2014 where live 4K coverage is expected by industry insiders.

As we reported back in April, this isn’t the first time that the BBC and Sony have teamed up to carry out trial broadcasts. Previously, the two organisations worked together to deliver the 2011 Wimbledon Championship in the third dimension. This new trial seems to be natural extension of that partnership, given the disappointing reception of 3D broadcasts in general, and Sony’s determination to ensure that 4K doesn’t go down the same road to oblivion.

Though few details have been provided so far, it’s likely that the experimental broadcast will be streamed over the web, making use of the new H. 265 High Efficiency Video Codec, or HEVC, that was formalised earlier this year. The new codec makes it possible to compress 4K streams to just 20Mbps, meaning that it won’t overwhelm standard broadband connection speeds used today.

The Beeb is yet to make any formal announcement, but Sony confirmed in a statement to What Hifi that it’ll be setting up a special “4K experience zone” at Wimbledon for this year’s championships. The firm said that “some matches” will be shot in 4K, and that fans will be allowed to view playbacks of this footage in the 4K experience zone throughout the duration of the tournament. So far, neither Sony nor the BBC has confirmed if there are any plans to broadcast these matches over the web.

Source: What Hifi

Usher stars in innovative digital film to show off Samsung Smart TV

Directed by Rich Lee and produced by digital marketing agency Huge, the two-minute clip called “Looking 4 Myself“, features two different incarnations of Usher – the ‘down-to-earth’ version, and the ‘celebrity’ version, with the former looking to take revenge on the latter over the demise of his relationship. The film dramatically kicks into high gear when the evil Usher suddenly tosses his alter ego through the window of his luxury apartment.

What follows is an elaborately choreographed fight scene between the two Ushers as they battle it out in a Matrix-esque style in downtown Los Angeles. During the battle, Samsung’s Smart TV and its motion controls are showed off in a variety of innovative ways, firstly with the celebrity Usher viewing photos of himself and his ex-gf, and later with viewers watching live news reports of the Usher battle raging in the streets.

Ross Maupin, creative director of Huge, said that the goal was to create a one-off movie bringing together Usher and Samsung to create an extraordinary, artistic digital film experience that people will want to view and share with their friends.

“By integrating Samsung Smart TVs into the clip, we’re setting a new standard in the field of viral marketing,” stated Maupin.

Usher said that he was “compelled to take part in the project due to the film’s unique concept,” making no mention of the small fortune he undoubtedly earned for his participation.

“The high-quality of the film has given me a great new way to creatively express the themes of my song,” added Usher.

The clip shows off the Samsung Smart TVs elaborate motion controls in all their glory, with Usher controlling his TV through a variety of dance moves, zooming in on images, alerting the volume, navigating the menu and so on.

Check out the clip below and see for yourself how Samsung’s Smart TV plays a pivotal role in the film.

Can the last one to leave 3D TV please turn out the lights?

ESPN said that it had taken the decision to end its three-year long 3D experiment due to a lack of interest among viewers. This was backed up by recent figures showing that barely 120,000 people in the US were watching 3D TV channels at any one time – a desperately poor adoption rate in a country with more than 114 million households.

The decision to pull the plug on 3D will come as a big blow to ESPN, which was once among the biggest proponents of the technology. Back in 2010, when it first rolled out is 3D channel, ESPN’s president George Bodenheimer had proudly declared the move a “win for all fans”, and one that would put his network at the “forefront of the next big advance in TV viewing”. Unfortunately the opposite has proven to be true, with the vast majority of US consumers being distinctly unimpressed at the prospect of 3D TV in the home.

Is 3D TV Finished?

With ESPN no longer backing it, it looks as if the fate of 3D television is all but sealed, destined to end up in the great big technology scrapheap in the sky alongside such revolutionary gadgets as the Smell-O-Vision and PDAs. ESPN’s conclusion that consumers simply aren’t interested in 3D technology was recently echoed by the BBC’s Andy Quested during the Future TV summit in London last April, when he admitted that viewers are becoming “less and less enthusiastic” about the concept. Quested pointed to the BBC’s disappointing viewing figures as evidence of this, saying that although there are an estimated 1.5 million 3D TVs in the UK, on average just 4,000 households per day were tuning into its 3D Olympics games coverage.

Another influential voice among the doom-sayers is the retailer John Lewis, which stated in an interview with Trusted Reviews earlier this month that it’s “not seeing much interest in 3D TV.”

John Kempner, Vision Buyer at John Lewis, pointed to a number of factors that have contributed to 3D’s failure, including the limited availability of content, and the need to wear glasses at home.

“Very few people actually use 3D glasses at home. While people enjoy it in the cinema as part of the ‘experience’, it’s not nearly so wonderful at home as very few people like wearing those glasses,” stated Kempner.

This view seems to have been acknowledged by TV manufacturers as well. While many Smart TVs today continue to support 3D, the fact remains that other technologies are generating far greater excitement, most especially 4K resolution and OLED displays. 3D might still be around, but manufacturers are no longer promoting it as a major selling point. Meanwhile, we’re already seeing advancements being made with 8K resolution, which is said to provide a 3D-like experience due to the crystal-clear clarity of the images it delivers.

Defiant Voices Remain

Not everyone believes that 3D is a lost cause however. Sky TV for one, actually continues to expand its 3D coverage. It recently broadcast the world’s first F1 grand prix in 3D, bringing to 14 the number of sports it broadcasts in 3D so far.

Elsewhere, the International 3D Society and the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) have just launched a new, joint initiative to showcase the capabilities of today’s most modern 3D TVs. The initiative includes a plan to showcase 3D content from hit movies like Iron Man 3, Star Trek: Into Darkness, The Great Gatsby, and EPIC at over 125 CEA member retailers in the US, plus the release of an additional 50 3D Blu-ray titles this summer.

Source: BBC

OLED TV unlikely to be affordable any time soon

According to NPD’s latest quarterly AMOLED Panel Cost Report, manufacturing costs are set to remain excessively high when compared to regular LCD panels, which will likely limit adoption by consumers. NPD warns that unless manufacturers can find a way to boost production yields soon, those shiny new OLED TVs are likely to remain out of reach for the average consumer.

NPD estimates that current manufacturing costs for OLED display panels are around seven times that of LCD panels, hence the huge price discrepancy between the two display technologies. The average AMOLED panel costs exactly $2,454 to produce – when one factors in all the other costs of producing OLED TVs, that explains why LG’s newest range were priced in excess of $10,000 when they first hit the shops in South Korea earlier this year.

“Estimated costs for manufacturing a full 55-inch AMOLED Panel were $2,454 during the first quarter of 2013, as a result of low yields,” stated Tadashi Uno, NPD’s Director of Materials and Components Market Research.

“When yields improve, we can expect to see the cost of OLED TVs fall significantly, but this will only happen gradually over the next two years. Even then, they will remain more expensive than equivalent LCD panels.”

NPD explains that AMOLED production yields are lower than those of LCD panels because manufacturing processes haven’t yet matured. It says that depreciation, materials and personnel expenses are the main factors linked to the low yield rate – therefore, manufacturers will need to improve yields faster if they are to make OLED TVs competitive against LCDs.

By the first quarter of next year, NPD says it’s hopeful manufacturing costs will fall by around 35% from today’s levels, but even then they will still be five times more expensive to produce than LCD panels.

To date, manufacturing yields have been so problematic that Samsung has yet to announce a release date for its own OLED TV products, despite first showing them off almost 18 months ago at the January 2012 CES.

Source: NPD DisplaySearch

Japan carries out world’s first 4K video streaming test

As HDTVTest readers will know, 4K broadcasts come with four times the resolution of standard 1080p HD content. In theory, the new HEVC codec should allow broadcasters to transfer data over the web without stretching bandwidth, or reducing the image quality.

The Japan Daily Press gives a good description of how HEVC works. Basically, it involves sending data as a variety of algorithms, which can be decoded to analyse how color is distributed across each image, in contrast to sending data ‘bits’ that describe each pixel of each frame. The algorithms also tell the receiving TV what changes occur between each frame. By doing this, HEVC effectively discards a lot of redundant data, instead delivering only what’s needed for the TV to reconstruct each frame in succession, based on an understanding of the relationship between each pixel and frame.

Okay, so that’s still pretty complex – but the good news is that it should work. HEVC was recently approved by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), which means that it should soon phase out the old H.264/MPEG-4 codec that’s most widely used today. According to the ITU, HEVC should allow both 4K and HD videos to be streamed using only half of the bandwidth taken up by H.264, which means there’ll be plenty of room for internet broadcasters if 4K takes off in the way we’re hoping.

There’s actually a lot riding on this. Whilst most TV makers have already brought 4K TVs to the market, native content for them is extremely hard to come by, with most viewers simply resorting to upscaling existing HD content. In particular, Japan and Sony seem to be forging ahead to make 4K content delivery possible – just last week the country revealed ambitious plans to become the first nation to introduce 4K satellite broadcasting nationwide by 2014, before delivering 8K streaming by 2018.

If 4K streaming is possible, we can expect that it’ll open the door for numerous web-based TV services. Companies such as Netflix could gain a considerable advantage over traditional satellite and cable TV broadcasters by offering premium 4K packages, for example.

Source: Japan Daily Press

LG delivers GameNow cloud gaming experience to Smart TVs

In case you’ve never heard of the concept, cloud gaming refers to a set up where all of the heavy processing work usually done by consoles is instead performed by remote servers, before the on-screen action is rendered to your living room via a video stream.

GameNow already delivers a cloud gaming experience to Google TVs, plus a range of smartphones and tablet devices. LG says that the service will be compatible with its LA7900, LA8600 and LA9600 smart TVs in the US, though users will need to buy a special game controller to play anything. Currently, Logitech’s Rumble-Pad2, F310, F510 and F710 are all supported by LG’s TVs, together with the Rumble Power and Rumble Power 2 controllers.

LG claims that GameNow will transform your TV into a powerful games console, allowing consumers to play legendary titles like Resident Evil, Street Fighter X Tekken, Devil May Cry, Blade Kitten, Test Driver 2 Unlimited and many others. To begin with, GameNow will be available for free, though this is unlikely to last for long. LG describes the service as a “free beta trial” which means that it’s likely going to introduce some kind of subscription fee before too long. No idea yet as to how much it might cost, but most probably there’ll be a choice of different games packages that people can sign up for.

In order to be able to play games without any frustrating lag or interruptions, GameNow advises LG customers that they’ll need an internet connection of at least 3Mbps – however, it also states that users will get “better results” with an 8Mbps connection.

For the moment, GameNow will only be available to LG customers in the US, though it’s likely to roll out the service to international users in the coming months.

Source: Engadget

Sony PS4 trumps Xbox One with £349 price & 4K video delivery

It’s a tough call, but from our perspective as avid games and TV fans above all else, the PS4 has the edge. Before we go drooling over the new PlayStation’s capabilities, lets just remember that above all else this is a console, and therefore it’s all about the games at the end of the day. Well, you know what? Sony has lined up more than 140 games that are currently in development, with a massive 40 of them being made exclusively for its platform. And its not just the major developers we’re talking here – Sony paraded a whole host of indie developers eager to show off some highly original new titles.

And more than that, Sony lets you share your games – none of this registration and Microsoft/games developers taking a cut when you want to sell or even just give a game to your friend – just hand it over and that’s it. You can even play offline, something that the Xbox One will only let you do for twenty four hours without logging in again.

The Games

During Sony’s two-hour presentation, they took the chance to show off every single one of the forty titles that are exclusive to the PS4. You like shooting people? Check out Shadow Fall: Killzone. Fancy a bit of role playing? Take a look at Kingdom Hearts III or Final Fantasy XV. Prefer racing games? Drive Club will fit the bill.

While Microsoft was rubbing its hands with glee after it managed to secure a number of developers that historically only ever built games for the PS4, Sony chose to emphasise its variety above all else – quite simply, there’ll be something for everyone, with titles like Mad Max and Elder Scrolls Online both set to appear on the PlayStation before anywhere else.

Then there’s the indie games we mentioned – don’t forget, the little guy has largely been scared off by Microsoft’s draconian rules regarding self-publishing for the Xbox One, and so many of these lesser known titles will probably never make it on that platform. In contrast, Sony has welcomed such developers with open arms, giving indie games developers their own section on the PlayStation network and even showing off some of the upcoming titles, such as OctoDad from Young Horse, Transmission from SuperGiant Games, and Don’t Starve by Klei Entertainment.

The Rules

Aside from being a winner on the gaming front, Sony confirmed a couple of other aspects of its policy that’ll win over gamer’s hearts. First and foremost, much to the relief of 99% of the game population, Sony’s PS4 will not be placing any restrictions on second-hand games. Unlike Microsoft’s clear-as-mud policy of being able to trade games once or twice (we’re still not sure) and lend them to people only under strict conditions, lending, selling or simply giving away PS4 games couldn’t be easier – all you have to do is hand it over. That’s it, Sony doesn’t care

Just as important in some gamer’s eyes will be the restrictions on offline play. Unlike the Xbox One, the PS4 won’t have any! All you’ll have to do is switch on the console and start playing – no nonsense just hardcore gaming.

4K Streaming?

Finally, and although Sony hasn’t made any official announcement yet, it looks as if the PlayStation 4 will be capable of streaming native 4K video content. This has been rumoured for a while, and though Sony chose to only focus on the gaming side of things last night, it would seem to be a forgone conclusion. After all, Sony has been pushing 4K delivery harder than most, and is desperate to sell its range of next-generation TV displays at all costs. The company has already designed a media player capable of delivering 4K, and its Colorworks Division’s digital remastering has been busy working on 4K content production for months now.

And of course, there’s one final area where the PS4 seems to have come out on top – namely the price tag. At £349, Sony’s console will be £80 cheaper than the Xbox One. One thing we don’t know yet whoever, is when the console will hit the shops. While Microsoft detailed a November release date for the Xbox One, Sony failed to do the same for the PS4, but nevertheless we can’t imagine it not being on sale in time for Christmas.

Intel TV ready to spend billions on premium content

Reuters suggests that Intel’s new TV business, which is set to launch later this year, is prepared to shell out a massive premium of around 50% more than the usual subscriber fees in order to seal the deal. The report further claims that Intel is already in advanced negotiations with broadcasters including Viacom, CBS and News Corp., while it’s recently just began talking to NBC Universal. However, the company has yet to conclude any deals – with the exact rate it’s willing to pay the broadcasters yet to be agreed.

Reuters quotes an inside source with knowledge of the matter, who states that “Intel is looking to agree deals with five or six of the US’s biggest media companies so that it can gain rights to that country’s most popular TV shows”. In order to sweeten the deal even more, Intel has apparently agreed to prevent subscribers from skipping past commercials during the first run of any show.

We first heard about Intel’s TV plans back in February, when the company announced its plans to offer a set-top box and subscription service to compete with the likes of Amazon, Apple and Google. It isn’t entirely clear how Intel’s TV service will work, but the company has said that it plans to offer hardware alongside live and on-demand programming. In addition to this, Intel’s box will apparently feature a built-in camera with facial recognition technology that’s capable of delivering personalised ads and content to viewers, according to their mood and their previous viewing history – something that, if true, would be hugely appealing to both broadcasters and advertisers alike.

Of course, it remains unclear as to what the benefit for consumers will be. Erik Huggers, Intel’s Media chief, has previously stated that the company plans to offer “smaller bundles” of content than what other cable and satellite providers offer. In addition, he’s also billed the service as a “premium product”, which suggests to us that the service might be priced more expensively than some of its competitors.

If true, then Intel’s chances of breaking into the TV space will hinge on almost entirely on it’s ability to deliver the most popular programmes. Somehow, we just can’t see too many people willing to shell out any more than they already do, unless it has something special to offer.

Source: Reuters

The specific unit we tested was the Samsung UE46F8000STXXU which denotes the 3-pin-plug United Kingdom version that features edge LED backlighting with “Micro Dimming Ultimate” technology, quad-core processor, 1000Hz CMR (Clear Motion Rate), Freeview and Freesat HD tuners, as well as active-shutter glasses (ASG) 3D capabilities. The company’s new Smart Hub internet-connected platform is also on board, boasting undoubtedly the most comprehensive suite of Smart TV apps (including the full range of UK catch-up TV services like BBC iPlayer, ITV Player, 4oD and Demand 5) and functionalities (S-Recommendation, alongside voice and motion control with inbuilt camera) at this time of writing.

Design

Even though this is not the first Samsung F8000 LED TV we’ve seen, the UE46F8000′s stunning design still wowed us no end. The incredibly slim black bezel – measuring a mere 5mm – virtually dissolves into the background, leaving nothing between you and the gorgeous picture on screen. A brushed metallic silver trim adorns the outer edges of the bezel; and along the top border lies a 5-megapixel press-to-pop-up camera which is useful for facial recognition, gesture controls and Skype video calls.

The entire panel is supported on a chrome-plated, non-swivel “Arc Stand”, delivering a sufficiently convincing “suspended in air” effect. Because of how the stand is shaped, the weight of the television is actually loaded near both ends of the curvature, which means that unless you have an AV rack that’s at least as wide as the screen, the whole set will topple forward. That’ll ruffle a few feathers when it comes to accommodating the 46F8000 at home then.

Note: The user menu, connection ports, remote controls and Smart TV interface on the UE46F8000 are exactly the same as the ones available on the UE55F8000 we’ve tested in March – please refer to that review if you haven’t read it, or need a refresher.

Calibration

The picture preset that’s closest to Rec. 709 HDTV standard is usually [Movie] mode on Samsung flat-panel televisions, and so it proved on the 46″ F8000. Here’s how it measured.

Greyscale

Pre-calibration RGB tracking and delta errors (dEs)

In [Movie] mode, the default [Colour Tone] of “Warm 2” yielded decent out-of-the-box greyscale accuracy without any further advanced calibration, though a slight red tint could be observed in the image. Samsung provides an extensive set of picture-affecting controls including 2- and 10-point [White Balance] on its high-end HDTVs, allowing us to rectify these errors directly from the on-screen menu with the help of a colorimeter (profiled to a spectrophotometer) plus SpectraCal’s excellent CalMan 5 video calibration software.

Post-calibration RGB tracking and dEs in [Movie] mode

Our Samsung UE46F8000 review sample calibrated superbly: dialling down [R-Gain] control in the [White Balance] submenu was enough to achieve outstanding results. The [10p White Balance] controls worked well, but we found that adjusting one at higher luminance intervals affected the next (for example, changes made at 70% stimulus would leak into 80%, necessitating further adjustments and creating a domino effect). In any case, only a couple of 10-point WB tweaks were required: one at 10% stimulus to neutralise the low-end blue tint commonly seen on VA LCD panels; and the other at 90% stimulus.

Gamma

Like most TVs nowadays, the 46F8000′s overall gamma came in at around 2.2 in [Movie] mode out of the box, which is suitable for use in a moderately-lit viewing environment.

Pre-calibration gamma tracking (2.2)	Post-calibration gamma tracking (2.4)

Since ITU has specified 2.4 as the reference electro-optical transfer function (EOTF) for flat-screen high-definition displays used for studio mastering in a dark room, we are now targeting this gamma value on all HDTVs we review that are capable of deep blacks (however, if a display has shallow black level, or if the ambient lighting is stronger, it would be better to stick to 2.2). On the UE46F8000, reducing the [Gamma] setting to “-2” was all that’s needed.

Although the [10p White Balance] controls can easily be repurposed as a 10-point gamma editor to flatten the gamma tracking even further, we decided not to do so due to the aforementioned cross-contamination issue. In any case, gamma tracking on the 46-inch F8000 was linear enough, providing a smooth transition from dark to bright areas without exhibiting unnatural tonal disruption.

Colour

The default [Colour Space] setting of “Auto” in [Movie] mode was quite accurate, but ran “hot” (i.e. was oversaturated) at 25% and 50% colour saturation tracking points. We used Samsung’s excellent RGB-based colour management system (which can be unlocked by switching [Colour Space] to “Custom“) to suppress this somewhat without compromising 75% and 100% saturation points:

Post-calibration colour saturation tracking

… while prioritising colour decoding/brightness/intensity at all times to get it spot-on:

Post-calibration colour luminance (coloured bars=targets; black bars=measured values)

Benchmark Test Results

Power Consumption

Picture Quality

The UE46F8000 LED TV put out a supremely lush high-definition image, which was made all the more compelling by the nearly non-existent bezel and largely recessed arc stand, contributing to a spectacular effect where the picture seemed to float out of nowhere from your typical living room backdrop. Samsung’s generous provision of highly effective calibration controls let us attain neutral greyscale, accurate colours and eye-popping 2.4 gamma, injecting a wonderful sense of authenticity into whatever was displayed on screen.

The South Korean brand had been misapplying undefeatable noise reduction even to pristine HD content on its high-end flat-panel televisions over the past couple of years; fortunately 2013 is the year the company finally listened to our pleas and rectified this oversight. With both [Digital Clean View] and [MPEG Noise Filter] set to “Off“, there’s truly no underhanded noise smoothing at play, allowing sublime detail and texture in high-quality films to burst into life on the 46in F8000. And with [Sharpness] dialled down to “0“, there’s no unnecessary edge enhancement either. This is an absolute feast for the eyes – one that had us flipping through our catalogue of Blu-ray movies (not to mention high-def broadcasts from the Freesat/Freeview HD tuners) in appreciation.

After pegging peak white to 120 cd/m² and setting the correct [Brightness] with a PLUGE pattern, black level measured 0.051 cd/m² on the 46F8000, which is very good by LED LCD standards – most of the 3D-capable, edge-lit models with VA-type LCD panels this year seem to be hitting this mark. Backlight uniformity was fantastic on our review unit: this is the fourth consecutive 2013 edge LED television from Samsung that have had minimal issues on this front, so well done to the company for paying particular attention to this problem which has plagued many LCD TVs over the years.

Our Samsung UE46F8000 review sample exhibited a couple of different behaviours from the larger 55in UE55F8000 we tested in March, which we believe is the result of some picture quality-related fixes Samsung implemented in its latest 1102 firmware update. The first one we noticed was with the [Cinema Black] feature which is meant to darken the letterbox bars in cinemascope films. On the 55F8000 we complained that both the “Medium” and “High” settings introduced brightness fluctuations to the entire picture, but on the UE-46F8000 (loaded with 1102 firmware) only the latter was affected – “Medium” is now a viable option for viewers who wish to dim down the top and bottom letterbox bars when watching movies.

The other change relates to how 1080p/24 signal from 3D Blu-ray movies is handled. The Samsung 55-inch F8000 applied undefeatable motion interpolation to such content even with [Motion Plus] disabled, which smoothened out any judder but created a subtle if unmistakable “soap opera effect”. This was not the case on the 46-incher: [Motion Plus] “Off” was indeed truly off in 3D mode. This meant that 24fps tri-dimensional material exhibited some judder, but it’s very mild, and preferable to always-running motion interpolation which corrupts the very fabric that makes 24p films unique. Whether this is because of different screen sizes or the newer firmware is unknown, but either way it’s good news for UE46F8000 owners.

Continuing on the theme of 3D, the 46F8000 provided us with a first-rate extra-dimensional viewing experience. It produces brighter images and significantly less flicker than rival active-shutter 3DTVs from Panasonic and Sony, making the Samsung F8000 actually watchable during daytime for 3-D content. And of course, it delivers true full HD 3D resolution which passive 1080p sets and most Panasonic 3D plasmas are not capable of. Some crosstalk was visible, but did not detract from our enjoyment of three-dimensional material which was heightened by realistic greyscale and colours after calibration.

One small matter that we still noticed on the UE46F8000 – new firmware or not – was the occasional presence of motion hiccups after scene cuts. This seemed to occur more frequently with standard-definition broadcast of a lower quality (SD processing was otherwise top-notch on the TV, by the way). For example, while watching some French Open tennis on ITV4 on Freeview or Freesat, when the scene changed from a slow-motion replay back to the live court view as a player was going to serve, the entire picture would stutter, with some noticeable tearing thrown-in – as if Samsung’s video processing was taking a fraction later to kick in following the scene cut. To be fair, these motion artefacts did not crop up as much in high-definition content: we only saw a few instances during similar Roland Garros coverage on ITV HD; and almost none in the various Blu-rays we sampled.

Conclusion

Samsung has not held anything back in creating its flagship LED LCD TV this year, showering the F8000 with an utterly gorgeous design, sumptuous high-definition pictures, class-leading standard-def handling, bright and full-res 3D images (which also manage to be nearly flicker-free), as well as an impressive array of Smart TV apps and functionalities.

Compared to the 55″ Series 8 LED we previously reviewed, the UE-46F8000 was even better in two areas as far as picture quality is concerned, probably because of the latest 1102 software update released by Samsung. First, [Cinema Black] “Medium” no longer introduced brightness fluctuations to the whole picture, making it a worthwhile option for those who’d like to darken the top and bottom letterbox bars during critical viewing. Second, any motion interpolation during playback of 24p 3D content was optional instead of forced: there remained very mild judder through slow pans, but it’s very subtle, and in any case superior to undefeatable “soap opera” effect.

Taking into account 2D, 3D and Smart capabilities, as a package there’s no better 46-incher available to buy on the market than the Samsung UE46F8000. Like its bigger brother, it’s a worthy recipient of our “Highly Recommended” award.

Sharp wants to kill off 4K TV with Quattron tech

So is it possible to have a better TV experience without the 4K? Sharp thinks there is. The Japanese TV maker says that instead of upgrading to a super-sized 4K screen, it should soon be possible to enjoy the same kind of image quality on a bog-standard 1080p TV at a much reduced price.

Speaking to tech website Mashable, Sharp’s Kerry Hodel said that the company’s next-generation HDTVs should be available next year.

“For our flagship model next year, we’ll provide consumers with a 4K-like viewing experience on a 1080p TV, and it’ll be available at a price point that’s comparable with our current high-end devices. That’s how confident we are about this technology.”

The technology in question is Sharp’s famous Quattron proprietary tech. Quattron TVs come with four subpixels – red, green, blue and yellow – rather than the three that comes in regular HDTVs. Due to this, Sharp claims that its TVs can create “billions” more shades of colour than rival’s TVs.

Sharp also reckons its come up with a way to simulate 4K video on a regular 1080p TV, something it displayed at last January’s CES show when it lined up one of its Quattron TVs alongside a 4K TV displaying genuine 4K content. The Quattron displayed a downgraded 1080p version of the same clips, yet most viewers barely noticed any difference. The trick, says Sharp is the intelligent management of subpixels, which allows it to render an image that’s the equal of 4K. Quattron’s other trick is to be able to adjust the screen aperture ratio – something that current models are unable to do, but next year’s models should be capable of doing.

By the time Sharp is ready with its next-generation 1080p TVs, there’ll be even more 4K competition in the stores, and in all likelihood they’ll be much cheaper than the first batch that hit the market. We’ve already seen Sony and Samsung attempt to make the technology affordable to regular consumers by releasing 55-inch 4K models in the £4,000 price range, and these will likely be even cheaper by the time next year comes around. But Sharp’s proposed price tag of around £3,000 for an 80-inch set surely won’t be beaten.

Even so, much will depend on whether or not Sharp’s new Quattron technology really is as good as they say it is – many purists simply won’t be satisfied with any gadget that plays second-fiddle.

Source: Mashable