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Toshiba Will Launch Their Glasses-Free 4K 3D TV in Japan on Saturday

Thu Dec 08, 2011 at 10:00 AM ET
Tags: glasses-free 3D, Toshiba, 3D TVs, 3D, Industry Trends, High-Def Retailing (all tags)

It's priced at 900,000 yen, or around $11,500. No U.S. release date yet.

Glasses-free 3D TV is hitting the market this Saturday in the form of Toshiba's 55X3. It's the first launch for this kind of technology on a TV sized screen and will certainly have a significant effect on the future of 3D.

The 55X3 is an autostereoscopic set, which means you won't have to deal with 3D glasses while you're watching. It also means that the resolution of the movie or show you're watching will scale down significantly. Toshiba packed their set with a 4K display to combat this. You won't get a 1080p 3D picture, but at 720p you'll still be getting HD.

Toshiba's new glasses-free set uses face tracking like that included in laptops and monitors to ensure that you get the best 3D effect it can give you.

The set is launching in Japan at 900,000 yen, or $11,500. There's no word on a launch in the U.S. at this time.

Source: Engadget

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The Toshiba Regza DVR Packs Four Terabytes for Six Channels of Time Shift

Wed Oct 05, 2011 at 12:00 PM ET
Tags: Toshiba, DVRs (all tags)

You'll be able to go back 15 days while recording six channels worth of content.

Ever wish you had recorded a show that you totally missed? Or maybe you didn't set up your recurring recording and missed the first episode or two of something. Either way, Toshiba's new DVR makes sure it doesn't happen again.

With 4 terabytes worth of storage and a decent amount of compression, it's able to record six channels for up to fifteen days, allowing you to bring up whatever program you want whenever you want. Don't have six channels worth watching? Recording three channels doubles that time to a full month worth of recording.

If you want to eliminate the compression and keep things looking like they did when they aired, you're looking at quite a bit less recording time. Specifically, you're looking at around three days instead of 15.

The DVR is only available in Japan and will likely stay that way. It's going for the equivalent of $2,600.

Source: Engadget

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Toshiba's 55 Inch Glasses-Free 3D TV Hits Europe in December

Fri Sep 02, 2011 at 10:00 AM ET
Tags: Toshiba, glasses-free 3D (all tags)

Yet another 3D technology will be entering the market, but this one may even get 3D naysayers excited.

When Nintendo's 3DS 3D handheld gaming system hit the market it was at least partially a proof of concept. Glasses-free could be done well enough to sell, if on an admittedly small screen. We got the impression that, like with OLED, it would be a while before we got glasses-free 3D in a significant size if we ever got it at all.

Well you know what they say about impressions - they make an ass out of you and... wait that's not right. Point is, Toshiba has a 55 inch glasses-free set coming out at the end of this year. Three months from now and a sizeable glasses-free set will be on the market.

The ZL2 as they're calling it utilizes an LED backlit LCD screen with a resolution of 3,840 x 2,160. It also uses the CEVO engine powered by a Cell processor as made famous in the PlayStation 3. Toshiba says that the nine different views provided by the ZL2 should satisfy any viewing environment.

We'll see what happens when it comes out, but this set seems like a nice step forward. One big downside though - it runs around $6,500.

Source: Engadget

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Toshiba Announces a Glasses-Free 3D Laptop

Thu Aug 11, 2011 at 12:00 PM ET
Tags: Toshiba, Laptops (all tags)

And it's not ridiculously expensive either - just $1,700.

There's an expectation that whenever a new technology hits the market, the price of that tech is going to be ridiculously high. It happened with HD TVs, Blu-ray players, and pretty much everything else that's come to the home theater market.

Glasses-free 3D seems to be a bit different - at least when it comes to smaller displays. The 3DS runs just $170 at this point and Toshiba's new laptop is similarly inexpensive. The new Qosimo F755 comes in at just $1,699 - that's $200 cheaper than their current 3D Qosimo laptop.

The new laptop offers you the ability to view both 2D and 3D content on the same screen - we're a little confused about what that means too - and can convert 2D content to 3D. It sports a Blu-ray player, a Core i7 processor, GeForce 540M graphics and a 750GB hard drive. The F755 will be available in mid-August.

Source: Toshiba

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Touring the Toshiba Booth – CES 2011

Thu Jan 06, 2011 at 07:35 PM ET
Tags: Toshiba, glasses-free 3D, HDTVs, CES 2011 (all tags)

Toshiba’s new crop of HDTVs is solid and offers compatibility with a wide range of digital media files as well as a great look. The really exciting stuff though is the glasses-free 3D that’s set to hit the market before the end of 2011.

If you’ve been hesitant to get into 3D technology because of the need to wear glasses, Toshiba’s got some nice surprises for you. Not only do they have prototype 3D displays that actually look pretty good, but they’ve set a date for release.

The company, which showed off a 56 and 62 inch glasses-free 3D display at CES today, is expecting to have at least one available to consumers be the end of 2011. Well, fiscal 2011 anyway, which ends in March of 2012.

I got to check their current displays out and they look pretty good all things considered. They’re not perfect – nowhere near it – but they’re a big step in the right direction.

The displays use parallax technology to create the 3D effect, which means you’re limited to only a few good viewing angles. At the show there were three sweet spots for optimal viewing and it was immediately evident when I wasn’t standing in one.

When I stood in the right spot as marked by a few pieces of tape, the difference was huge, and the quality of the experience jumped up. Things also improved when I went from the 62 inch screen to the 56. The larger screen looked fine in the center but lost the effect around the edges.

The experience is completely dependent on where you’re watching from and off-angle viewing is dreadful. Unlike other similar displays though, you’re getting HD from Toshiba’s, but just barely.

The company is using 4K2K panels for their parallax displays so that the loss of resolution wasn’t as bad. They didn’t have resolution specifics but they did say that the glasses-free sets were “on the low end of HD.”

Toshiba also brought a glasses-free 3D laptop which offered a bit of an improvement in the tech. It uses a built-in webcam to track your head movement and aim the 3D effect directly at you, eliminating the awkwardness associated with parallax.

If you move away or turn your head, the display reverts to 2D, ensuring that you’ve got a clear picture no matter what.

The 2011 line of Toshiba TVs is nice looking though most models didn’t offer significant upgrades. At the top of the line is an active-shutter 3D set that offers local dimming, playback of digital content and built-in Wi-Fi, but it’s the model a step down that I found most interesting.

Toshiba’s entry-level 3D television is a passive display, which means you won’t have to deal with active shutter glasses. It only provides a 540p resolution when in 3D, but it could be a great set for those still toying with the idea of a transition to the third dimension. It’s also bound to be relatively affordable, but pricing information was not yet available.

The final piece of tech Toshiba showed off was voice control. It won’t be available for a while and you’ll need a separate Skype webcam to use it, but it seems like a pretty decent idea. You clap your hands to signal that you want to enter a voice command then say the command.

I played around with it a bit and found it to be surprisingly responsive, especially considering the crazy amount of background noise on the show floor. I can’t imagine actually buying a webcam to use it, but Toshiba says that it may be baked right in to future TVs.

You’ll be able to find pictures of the Toshiba booth of The Bonus View later today.

See what people are saying about this story in our forums area, or check out other recent discussions.


Touring the Toshiba Booth – CES 2011

Thu Jan 06, 2011 at 07:35 PM ET
Tags: Toshiba, glasses-free 3D, HDTVs, CES 2011 (all tags)

Toshiba’s new crop of HDTVs is solid and offers compatibility with a wide range of digital media files as well as a great look. The really exciting stuff though is the glasses-free 3D that’s set to hit the market before the end of 2011.

If you’ve been hesitant to get into 3D technology because of the need to wear glasses, Toshiba’s got some nice surprises for you. Not only do they have prototype 3D displays that actually look pretty good, but they’ve set a date for release.

The company, which showed off a 56 and 62 inch glasses-free 3D display at CES today, is expecting to have at least one available to consumers be the end of 2011. Well, fiscal 2011 anyway, which ends in March of 2012.

I got to check their current displays out and they look pretty good all things considered. They’re not perfect – nowhere near it – but they’re a big step in the right direction.

The displays use parallax technology to create the 3D effect, which means you’re limited to only a few good viewing angles. At the show there were three sweet spots for optimal viewing and it was immediately evident when I wasn’t standing in one.

When I stood in the right spot as marked by a few pieces of tape, the difference was huge, and the quality of the experience jumped up. Things also improved when I went from the 62 inch screen to the 56. The larger screen looked fine in the center but lost the effect around the edges.

The experience is completely dependent on where you’re watching from and off-angle viewing is dreadful. Unlike other similar displays though, you’re getting HD from Toshiba’s, but just barely.

The company is using 4K2K panels for their parallax displays so that the loss of resolution wasn’t as bad. They didn’t have resolution specifics but they did say that the glasses-free sets were “on the low end of HD.”

Toshiba also brought a glasses-free 3D laptop which offered a bit of an improvement in the tech. It uses a built-in webcam to track your head movement and aim the 3D effect directly at you, eliminating the awkwardness associated with parallax.

If you move away or turn your head, the display reverts to 2D, ensuring that you’ve got a clear picture no matter what.

The 2011 line of Toshiba TVs is nice looking though most models didn’t offer significant upgrades. At the top of the line is an active-shutter 3D set that offers local dimming, playback of digital content and built-in Wi-Fi, but it’s the model a step down that I found most interesting.

Toshiba’s entry-level 3D television is a passive display, which means you won’t have to deal with active shutter glasses. It only provides a 540p resolution when in 3D, but it could be a great set for those still toying with the idea of a transition to the third dimension. It’s also bound to be relatively affordable, but pricing information was not yet available.

The final piece of tech Toshiba showed off was voice control. It won’t be available for a while and you’ll need a separate Skype webcam to use it, but it seems like a pretty decent idea. You clap your hands to signal that you want to enter a voice command then say the command.

I played around with it a bit and found it to be surprisingly responsive, especially considering the crazy amount of background noise on the show floor. I can’t imagine actually buying a webcam to use it, but Toshiba says that it may be baked right in to future TVs.

You’ll be able to find pictures of the Toshiba booth of The Bonus View later today.

See what people are saying about this story in our forums area, or check out other recent discussions.


New Google TV Facing Delays Due to Poor Reviews

Thu Dec 23, 2010 at 12:00 PM ET
Tags: Google TV, Samsung, Vizio, Toshiba, Google (all tags)

The new version of the platform will not be at CES as expected.

When it was first announced, Google TV sounded amazing. A few big companies like Sony, Intel and Google all pushing the streaming option could have been great, but things didn't go quite as well as expected.

In response to the lukewarm launch, Google has been working on a revamped version of the Google TV platform which was expected to debut at CES this year. As it turns out, the new software won't be ready and Google has asked tech companies to delay their introductions.

We've heard rumors of a Samsung Google TV for this year's Consumer Electronics Show, as well as Google TV sets from Vizio and Toshiba. That's a big chunk of the HDTV market that's forced to delay its plans on account of Google, and that can't make them happy at all.

Source: The New York Times

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Toshiba's Glasses-Free 3D TV Now Available in Japan

Wed Dec 22, 2010 at 02:00 PM ET
Tags: Toshiba, glasses-free 3D (all tags)

They aren't the biggest sets, but they do something that nothing else does - glasses-free 3D.

Both of Toshiba's glasses-free 3D TVs are set to go on sale in Japan this month, with the smaller 12 inch model going on sale today.

Japanese customers will be able to pick up their own 12 inch 3D TV for the equivalent of $1,430. It doesn't do HD, but it is LED backlit and boasts an HDMI input, SD slot, and LAN capabilities.

The larger of the two sets comes in at 20 inches and won't be available until Saturday - talk about one cool Christmas day purchase. It offers most of the same capabilities as the 12 inch model, but ups the resolution to 720p. The 20 inch model comes in at $2,870.

Source: CrunchGear

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Toshiba and Vizio Rumored to Join in on Google TV

Wed Dec 01, 2010 at 12:00 PM ET
Tags: Toshiba, Vizio, Google TV (all tags)

An official unveiling of Google TV products from both companies is expected at CES.

The folks over at Bloomberg say they've got some inside information on Google TV offerings from Vizio and Toshiba. According to their source, both companies will be unveiling Google TV devices at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show.

If this information is correct, it could be huge for Google TV and the streaming video industry alike. Google TV has been running into quite a bit of trouble with streaming content thanks to blocks from the networks, but with enough large companies behind it things could change greatly.

As with Samsung, Vizio and Toshiba have not yet confirmed the information. "Google certainly is a key partner for us on the PC side and will likely be key for us on the TV side as well," says Toshiba's Jeff Barney, walking the line smoothly.

Nothing is yet set in stone from any of the aforementioned companies, but you can expect to hear more this January.

Source:

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Toshiba is the First to Unveil Glasses-Free 3D Sets

Tue Oct 05, 2010 at 02:00 PM ET
Tags: Toshiba, 3D Televisions, glasses-free 3D (all tags)

And yes, they're incredibly expensive.

Toshiba has just announced a pair of 3D televisions that don't require the use of glasses. They're cool, but expensive. Not just expensive – OLED expensive.

You can pick up a 12 inch model with a 466 x 350 resolution – no, we're not sure why either – at a price of 120,000 yen, or around $1,440. Not satisfied with a tiny set? You'll have the chance to go bigger with the strangely shaped 720p capable 20GL1 for just 240,000 yen, or $2,880.

Obviously, these sets are only geared towards the very early adopter and are priced for that audience. It could be a very good start though, if the 3D effect is really up to snuff. At the very least, it makes the $300 3DS look like a steal.

Source: Engadget

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