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John Archer  |  Mar 21, 2016  |  0 comments

For many serious AV fans, OLED currently looks like the holy grail of TV technology, ready to usurp LED-lit LCD TV and light the way to a new era of home entertainment. If OLED doesn't excite you, then you may be reading the wrong website.

John Archer  |  Dec 17, 2015  |  0 comments

While some love the look of curved TVs, others worry about the impact curved screens can have on the viewing experience in the form of issues like viewing angles, onscreen reflections and distorted geometry. Cue the Sony KD-65S8505C: a 65in TV that tries to balance curved aesthetics with less controversial picture characteristics by using a markedly shallower curve than rival screens.

John Archer  |  Dec 09, 2015  |  0 comments

While there’s no doubt that we’re hurtling towards a 4K/UHD TV future, we’re not quite there yet. Much as we might love 4K, there are still a huge amount of living rooms, bedrooms, kitchens and studies across the UK where 4K is either not wanted, not needed or not affordable. So it’s good to know there are Full HD sets like this Philips that still care about picture quality.

John Archer  |  Oct 09, 2015  |  0 comments
It’s taken Philips longer than most to get its 2015 TV range out there, but it arrives with a bang in the shape of the 4K/Ultra HD 55PUT6400. Remarkably, this 55-incher can be had for about £850, despite its native 4K UHD core being joined by Google’s Android Smart TV system and one of Philips' renowned picture processing engines. 
Steve May  |  Oct 07, 2015  |  0 comments

The 55in KD-55X8505C is the honey trap for Sony’s 2015 4K UHD models. Priced considerably below the ultra-slim X90C and the hi-res audio-capable X93C/X94C behemoths, this is UHD for the brand-buying mainstream.

John Archer  |  Oct 04, 2015  |  0 comments

If the current trend is to try and minimise the space the new generation of TVs take up by giving them incredibly slim frames, Sony’s KD-75X9405C is the untrendiest TV of the year. It's not just content with assaulting your living room space with a vast 75in screen; this monolithic beast adds sidebars down each side of that screen, making it look more like an 85in set.

John Archer  |  Aug 03, 2015  |  0 comments

Samsung has already set the 2015 TV world alight with the High Dynamic Range (HDR) glories of its UE65JS9500 LCD/LED flagship screen (reviewed here). Sadly, though, the £6,000 price tag attached to that ground-breaking TV makes it nothing more than a pipe dream for most AV fans. Cue the £1,400 Samsung UE48JU7000, which preserves some of the key features of the JS9500 series for just a fraction of the price. Let's be honest – this is a 4K screen that many more people will seriously consider buying. There's even a 40in version for the space-constrained 4K fan.

John Archer  |  Jul 24, 2015  |  0 comments

For Samsung, 4K is yesterday’s news. Old hat. Water under an ultra high-definition bridge. The brand is already on to the Next Big Thing. What’s more, this Next Big Thing isn’t just something creeping into ‘concept corners’ at technology shows. It’s already unleashed, on the first new 2015 TV we've had on test: Samsung’s UE65JS9500.

Steve May  |  Jun 05, 2015  |  0 comments

The TX-55AX902 has a lot to live up to. First teased over a year ago, when Panasonic created headlines with the promise that it was working on an LED LCD able to exceed the picture performance of its plasma TVs, it bristles with advanced image wizardry, plus a full-array LED backlight with advanced local dimming. So can it lay claim to the high-end 4K market?

John Archer  |  May 29, 2015  |  0 comments

Curved screens remain a source of debate in AV circles. Yet regardless of whether you love or hate them, you can’t ignore them – and that goes for manufacturers as well as punters. So I find myself faced with the 65S9005B: the first curved TV launched in the UK by Sony. And a very striking sight it is too.

Steve May  |  Apr 02, 2015  |  0 comments

Behind closed doors, in LG’s high-security Seoul HQ, dubbed The Twin Towers, there’s a white board screaming the message ‘2015 is the year of OLED!’ It’s underlined three times in red marker. There’s a smiley face drawn alongside.

John Archer  |  Mar 07, 2015  |  0 comments

After a bit of faffing about, Panasonic enters 2015 in pretty good shape from a 4K TV perspective. Its AX802 sets are now – following the belated addition of Netflix 4K streaming support – impressive mid-range options, while its recently released AX902 models do a credible job of simulating the sort of picture qualities previously associated with the brand's plasma screens.

John Archer  |  Feb 17, 2015  |  0 comments

It may not be the cheapest 48in screen we've seen recently, but Samsung's UE48H6400 still represents stunning value for money. The design, while not especially original – the X-shaped stand seems a bit dated – is still attractive, with a glossy inner bezel and see-through outer frame. And the Samsung scores points over its rivals by providing four HDMI inputs, joined by copious multimedia support in the shape of three USBs and Ethernet and Wi-Fi hookups.

John Archer  |  Feb 15, 2015  |  0 comments

A 48in Full HD Smart TV, Philips' 48PFT5509 rides into town waving a £500 ticket in the face of potential cash-conscious buyers. Its affordable nature isn’t obvious from its design. The frame is on-trend slim, and the open metal stand mirrors much of the competition, too. You don’t, however, get Philips’ Ambilight technology, but I suppose this is a logical enough sacrifice in targeting that £500 mark.

John Archer  |  Feb 11, 2015  |  0 comments

Panasonic’s TX-48AS640 cuts a similar figure on your AV furniture to LG’s 47LB730V, with a bezel that combines silver top and bottom edges with thin black sides to striking effect. Connectivity is similar too, with three HDMIs, two USBs and both Ethernet and Wi-Fi network options.

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