posts on CNET

Samsung Evolution Kit makes smart TVs smarter

Last year Samsung promised that certain of its 2012 Smart TVs would get an upgrade called a "Smart Evolution Kit," and yesterday the company announced the upgrade would be available soon.

Buyers of the LED-based UN75ES9000, UNES8000, and UNES7500 LED TVs, as well as the PNE8000 and PNE7000 plasmas, will soon be able to buy the kit at a price between $200 and $300, Samsung told CNET. It installs by simply sliding into a slot on the back of the TVs.

The kit is basically a brain transplant for the TVs. It includes a new A15 quad-core 1.… Read more

LG OLED TV to begin shipping in February

Today LG announced it would make the first 55-inch OLED TV available to the public next month in South Korea for a cost of around $10,000. Select Korean stores will begin taking preorders tomorrow.

LG said that it would announce availability in additional markets, likely including the U.S., "over the next several weeks." I'm taking a wild guess that more will be said at the company's 8 a.m. (PT) CES press conference January 7.

The television, model 55EM9700, is the successor to the 55EM9600 that won CNET's highest honor at the Consumer … Read more

Westinghouse to show 110-inch 4K TV at CES

Even if you believe that 4K TVs are stupid, like we do, that won't stop manufacturers from churning out numerous examples of the shiny new, higher-resolution TVs at the Consumer Electronics Show next month.

Tied for the biggest we've heard of so far is the 110-inch 4K LED TV announced by Westinghouse yesterday.

That size will join 50-, 55-, and 65-inch 4K models in the company's booth. Few other details, aside from a 120Hz refresh rate and shipping information, were revealed. The 110-incher will be available as a custom order in the first quarter, says the company, … Read more

LG pops out improved Magic Motion remote

LG has unleashed its newest Magic Motion remote control weeks ahead of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas and it includes several improvements such as natural voice recognition and even backlighting.

The new television remote now uses four methods of control -- voice, gesture, point, and wheel -- and while the wheel was introduced this year, gestures and "natural" speech are new.

LG is taking on Samsung with its new natural speech feature; while Samsung users have to say "Hi, TV" to get the television to register, LG claims that phrases like "Show me '… Read more

You have a new TV. Now what?

A new TV is a great thing. A new TV, right after it's taken out of the box, is not. To get the most out of your TV you need to adjust the settings, use the right cables, adjust your sources (like your cable box) and more.

Compiled here is a directory of everything you'll need to get your TV looking its best. Instead of one long article describing it all, it's broken down into sections so you can find just what you're looking for.… Read more

Poll: Did you like the smoother, HFR 'Hobbit'?

If you're one of the many, many people who saw "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" over the weekend, chances are you didn't see the film exactly as the director, Peter Jackson, intended.

But if you were, please let us know whether you liked it by voting in the poll.

"The Hobbit" is the first major film to be released in a higher-frame-rate 3D version called HFR. Unlike traditional releases, which are shot and shown at 24 frames per second, the HFR Hobbit comes in at 48fps.

Jackson said he preferred viewers watch the HFR … Read more

'The Hobbit' 3D tech divides our CNET reviewers

Now that Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" has opened in theaters around the world, the most controversial thing about it isn't even that he somehow is making three 3-hour movies out of a 300-page children's story. No, it's the way the movie has been shot that has the most people talking.

The "Hobbit" trilogy has been captured using James Cameron's 48-frames-per-second 3D technology (HFR 3D), which Jackson says leads to less eyestrain and a sharper picture.

Only a limited number of cinemas will be showing the movie in HFR -- Jackson says it's only 1,000 out of 25,000 theaters.

"On the first day of shooting 'The Hobbit' in 48 frames, there was not a single cinema in the world that could project the movie in that format," Jackson said, according to CinemaBlend.

While we're not going to go into how the technology works here, CNET editors David Katzmaier and Ty Pendlebury have just come out of a showing in HFR 3D and wanted to share their thoughts.… Read more