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television
November 2, 1936 - the beginning of television
By Darren Quick
15:22 November 19, 2009 PST
Although computers and the Internet have eaten away at the dominance of television, it remains the most popular form of entertainment and source of information in the world. And with the line between TV and computers blurring with the advent of Home Theater PCs (HTPCs) and devices like Apple TV it’s likely that television in one form or another will retain its crown for some time to come. Television is no longer limited to a big box sitting in the corner of the living room. It can be accessed on sexy, slim panels hung on a wall or on mobile phones while sitting on a train. In fact television is so pervasive today it can be hard to imagine life before it existed – but there was such a time, and it wasn’t even that long ago. Read More
Video - The HMV type 905: pre-war television packs a killer punch
By Gizmag Team
21:33 November 2, 2009 PST
In the latest installment of our video series looking at Michael Bennett-Levy’s collection of early technology, Laurence Fisher from Bonham's introduces us to a 1938 HMV type 905 table model television and wireless that was a wonder of engineering for its time. The exterior of the HMV model 905 television is a three-quarter figured burr walnut veneered case with molded edge housing a 7-inch screen. Click through for a closer look at this fascinating slice of history which has been restored with authentic pre-war era components and is in complete working order... and there's also a word of warning to those interested in dabbling in pre-war televisons - TV repair can be a lethal occupation. Read More
Feature: What is an LED TV?
By Jeff Salton
04:06 October 19, 2009 PDT
Buying a TV has become as complicated as selecting the right mobile phone plan. Before large flat panel displays invaded our lives, the only real question when purchasing a CRT (cathode ray tube) TV was how big did you want it and how much space did you have in your room to house it? Sure, there were some quality issues but mostly it was dictated by how many diagonal inches you could get for your buck. While some of that justification still rings true with today’s TVs, now there’s the issue of plasma versus LCD to contend with, and just when you had that sorted out, LED TVs have entered the arena as an option. However, there still seems to be a fair bit of confusion surrounding what exactly an LED TV is. Well, basically, it’s another form of LCD TV that uses LEDs to provide its light source. Read More
Teleavia type P111 - high definition TV circa 1958
By Gizmag Team
14:49 October 4, 2009 PDT
Michael Bennett-Levy's extraordinary collection of early technologies went under the hammer at Bonhams in London on Wednesday with 90% of the 758 lots on offer sold for a total of £683,384. A tidy sum no doubt, but having had the opportunity to examine the treasure trove closely, and the benefit of speaking at length to Bennett-Levy about the significance of key items, we can't help but conclude that many pieces were a steal for shrewd investors. The largest privately held collection of early televisions in the world - including 26 pre-war sets - made up a large slice of the auction and in the first of a series of interviews, Michael Bennett-Levy talks to Gizmag about outstanding items in his collection, starting with the much sought after Teleavia type P111, a rare 1958 console-stand television by Citroën DS designer Flaminio Bertroni that was not only a hallmark in style, but also one of the earliest examples of high-definition TV. Read More
The Polaris mobile handset robot
By Paul Lester
17:34 September 10, 2009 PDT
Despite having limited success in other countries, Japan enjoys nothing more than coming up with progressively weird and wacky designs for robots, and it doesn’t seem to matter whether they have any real practical application.The latest entry into this category is the Polaris mobile phone robot, a spherical, mobile device designed to house a handset that, when not docked, will be busy recording data based on a user’s day-to-day activity. Read More
Qualcomm working on handheld TV for FLO TV
By Darren Quick
22:47 August 26, 2009 PDT
Qualcomm is reportedly working on a new portable digital TV called the FLO TV Personal Television, or PTV. The iPhone-sized device will be used to tune into broadcasts on Qualcomm’s FLO TV terrestrial digital TV service and could mark a departure for a company that rarely introduces hardware itself. Read More
Sky to launch 3D TV channel in UK next year
By Mick Webb
05:59 August 3, 2009 PDT
With 3D television becoming more than just an excuse to don the ubiquitous red and blue glasses, UK broadcaster Sky is hoping to broaden the appeal and get an early jump on the competition, by announcing plans to launch Europe’s first 3D TV channel. Requiring a "3D ready" television, the channel is due to be available next year as part of the BSkyB subscription service. Read More
Bang & Olufsen announces the BeoVision 7-40 with Blu-ray
By Mick Webb
18:43 June 6, 2009 PDT
Bang & Olufsen has announced the release of the BeoVision 7-40 flat-screen LCD TV, incorporating a Blu-ray player and double-frame-rate technology. Read More
Gesture controlled entertainment system lets the TV watch you
By Gizmag Team
01:52 June 4, 2009 PDT
In the past few years there has been an increasing effort toward creating 3D computer interfaces and televisions. Now, it’s the television’s turn to see us.....in 3D! Since its foundation in 1999, Canesta has been working on a family of low-cost, chip-based 3-D sensors that can be built into virtually anything – from TVs and PCs to cars and industrial equipment - and now the technology is filtering through to real-world applications like Kicker Studio's gesture control entertainment system. Dr. Peter Puya Abolfathi - Biomedical Engineer, co-inventor of the Rehabilitation Glove and now a member of the Gizmag Team - takes a closer look at how this technology works and what it's bringing to our living rooms. Read More
Seiko Epson takes a big leap in OLED screen technology
By Mick Webb
02:32 May 28, 2009 PDT
Could the end be nigh for plasma and LCD screens? Seiko Epson has recently announced a further development in ink-jet technology, which does away with some of the problems still dogging the much-vaunted organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display technology. In particular, Seiko Epson has signaled it is moving toward a 37-inch HD OLED screen by creating a uniform deposit of organic material while removing the uneven layering of the ink-jet method. Read More
Terotech
- November 21, 2009 @ 19:38 UTC
