Dell XPS 12 convertible Ultrabook review: a tablet and laptop hybrid
By usman salim | 22 may 14
Dell XPS 12 convertible Ultrabook, is supposed to be a laptop/tablet hybrid, but it's clutching at straws when claiming to be a tablet. Think of this more as a decent laptop, that can sort of be used as a tablet.
The XPS 12 isn’t perfect, but it’s certainly one of the more successful attempts to create a hybrid mobile device that can function as both a laptop and atablet. See all laptop reviews.
Dell describes the XPS 12 as a ‘convertible ultrabook’. Certainly, it ticks all the right boxes on the ultrabook side of things. The smart black and silver case measures just 20mm thick and the XPS 12 weighs only 1.52kg, so it’s easy to carry around with you. It’s sturdily built, though, with a layer of tough Gorilla Glass (the same as used on many smartphones and tablets) to protect the screen. See Group test: what's the best laptop?
That 12.5in touchscreen is a real eye-catcher too. Its 1920x1080 resolution is very bright and sharp and looks great when watching HD video or browsing your photo library. The use of an IPS panel also ensures that it has really wide viewing angles – close to 170-degrees.
That's crucial on a device that can be used as a tablet as it needs to work in various positions, from flat on the desk to vertical. Our only minor complaint is that glass (as you might expect) is highly reflective and that can be a little annoying at times.
Prices start at £999 for a model with an i5 processor, but we tested the flagship model with a Core i7 processor running at 1.9GHz (3GHz with Turboboost), 8GB of memory and a 256GB SSD.
That combination produced a strong score of 4854 in the PCMark 7 benchmark suite, so it won't break a sweat when running Microsoft Office. It should handle more demanding tasks such video- or photo-editing without a fuss too.
Battery life is good too, providing a full five hours of streaming video, so you should get close to a full day’s work done between charges. The XPS 12 can even handle a spot of gaming action when you’re off-duty.
The integrated HD 4000 graphics struggle at the screen's 1080p resolution, only managing 9fps in Batman: Arkham City with DX11 and high graphics settings. But drop to 1366x768 resolution and low graphics settings and you’ll get a far smoother 34fps.
And when you want to use the XPS 12 as a tablet, you simply flip the screen in its frame and close it against the keyboard. The screen is highly responsive and the high-resolution display means that the XPS 12 works really well for a spot of casual web browsing and using Windows 8 apps, of course.
Naturally, the big screen means it’s larger and heavier than a conventional tablet. You can’t pick it up with one hand whilst browsing the web, as you would normally do with most tablets, so you’ll need to hold it in both hands or rest it on your lap whilst using it in tablet mode.
Sony PS4 review
PlayStation 4 is a fantastic console that'll improve with age
By usman salim may 22 2014
TECHCELLERS' verdict
"The most powerful game console in the world, the PS4 will be a complete system with a few more features and games."
For
Great performance
PS Plus good value
DualShock 4 is ace!
Super graphics
Remote Play works
Against
Lacking games
Interface suffers from pop in
No DLNA streaming
No MP3 playback
Ratings in depth
The PlayStation 4 is the most powerful games console on the planet.
With more graphical power than the Xbox One, 32 times more system memory than the PS3 and a firm focus on pure gaming experiences rather than media mojo, it has established itself as the next-gen console to beat.
It's a games console built by gamers for gamers. It won the hearts and minds of many from the word go, with lots of prospective next-genners left feeling alienated by some of Microsoft's bizarre policies and choices for the Xbox One – many of which were reversed as a result of a backlash.
Coming in at £350, the PS4 is also £50 cheaper than the Xbox One despite the latter's recent price cut, making it appear terrific value. It doesn't come with the PlayStation Camera (the One does come with Kinect) but this can be bought separately for £45 if you so wish.
The differences between the PS4 and Xbox One are actually evident before you even switch them on. Despite the two consoles both sporting similar half-matte half-gloss finishes and containing very similar internal components, they really couldn't be more different.
For a start, the PS4 is small and sleek in comparison to the enormous VCR-like square cuboid of the Xbox One. And this means that the PS4's box is half the size and weight of the Xbox One. The Sony console can be extracted from its packaging and plugged in and booted up in a couple of minutes.
The new DualShock4 pad is an improvement but it's not perfect
Xbox One on the other hand comes in a huge, hulking box. It's fiddly to open and unpack, and it's full of little compartments, carboard and plastic to get in the way and make a mess with. The environment was not a concern for Microsoft when it designed the Xbox packaging, clearly.
This is the kind of streamlining that typifies the PlayStation experience with PS4. It's a console designed for gamers to play games and in this respect it could be described as more of spiritual successor to the PlayStation 2 – still the best selling games console the universe has ever known.
Design
One look at the PS4 and you know you're seeing Sony hardware. It's slim, sleek and jet black, roughly the size of a second generation PS3 Slim. The full measurements are 275 x 53 x 305 mm. It's a lot more compact than an Xbox One, which is longer, taller and squarer.
Half matte, half gloss - just like the Xbox One
In a feat of engineering worth tipping your hat to, and in spite of the PS4's slim stature, Sony has tucked the power supply inside the system, leaving no external power brick to trip over. The Xbox One on the other hand retains the power brick of the Xbox 360.
PS4 sports a sloped, asymmetrical design. That's its largest departure from PlayStations past. It lies flat on its belly by default, but can go up on its tiptoes with the help of a plastic stand, sold separately for £16.99.
On its face is a slit of a mouth, a slot loading Blu-ray disc drive. To its right are two powered USB 3.0 ports, which can charge your DualShock 4controllers when the system is turned off, a feature the PS3 sorely lacked.
Along the top, or the side if you've opted for the stand, is a light, which glows blue when you boot it up. It breathes some life into the otherwise cold industrial design of the system. Turn it on and it blinks a yawning hello.
It's smaller than the PS3 Slim - some achievement given the internal power supply
PS4 specifications
Inside, the PS4 is all business. It has a custom single-chip processor that combines an eight core x86-64 AMD "Jaguar" CPU with a 1.84 teraflop GPU based on AMD's Radeon tech. That's backed by 8GB of GDDR5 RAM, and a 500GB mechanical hard drive.
Sony claims that the PS4's overall performance is ten times that of the PS3. You can also remove that 500GB drive and replace it with a larger drive, or an SSD for better performance. Sony says these do it yourself upgrades will not void the system's warranty.
Those two USB ports are the PS4's only front facing connections. In the rear you'll find HDMI, Ethernet, a digital optical audio out and a proprietary auxiliary connection for the PlayStation Camera.
For wireless connections, the PS4 uses 802.11 b/g/n for WiFi and Bluetooth 2.1 for its wireless DualShock 4 controllers.
Features
The PlayStation 4 is a living room computer, more so than the PS3 ever was. Not just because of its specs and AMD-based architecture, but because of its robust feature set.
It's capable of bringing games and movies quickly into your home, as well as connecting you to your friends and other online gamers through the PlayStation Network as well as Twitter and Facebook to share brag-worthy gaming moments.
The PS4 is hassle-free to extract and set up
What's in the box?
You're bringing home more than a just a stylish asymmetrical black console. In addition to the actual system you get a power cord (not a big power brick), an HDMI cable, an earbud microphone combo, one DualShock 4 controller and its charging cable (we charged our DualShock 4 pad using the Xbox One and the world did not end).
Extra controllers don't come with another charging cable, so don't lose that one. Also, note that we said earbud singular, not earbuds, as in just for one ear. It's cheap but serviceable, but you can actually plug any old headset or pair of buds you already own into the controller's headphone jack, so it's not much of an issue.
HDMI and power cables are supplied but you can use your PS3 wires if you like
Setup
Setting up the PlayStation 4 is very easy, especially if you have a PS3. You can actually use the same cables from Sony's last system, making for a very easy swap.
As mentioned on page 1, the PS4 is super easy to extract from its box and set up, leaving minimal mess and very little environment-killing packaging.
Once it's all plugged in and booted up, your new PS4 will ask to connect to internet. It wants that 300MB day-one patch, but it doesn't need it for offline play. You are able to skip WiFi or ethernet altogether and just pop in a game. Unlike the Xbox One, you can get to the homescreen without initially connecting to the web and patching.
Once you do connect to the internet, you'll need to let the PS4 update before you can make purchases from the store or play online.
PlayStation Store games are expensive - physical copies are better value for the time being
PlayStation Store
Sony won the popularity contest at E3 by promising not to fiddle with used game trade-ins, but gamers will still have the option to purchase any and all games on the day of release digitally through the PlayStation Store.
While opting out of a physical copy means no disc to resell down the road, a digital copy brings a level of convenience to your purchase that's reminiscent of Steam. It means no disc to lose, scratch or even bother inserting when you want to play. You won't have anything to sell to GameStop though, nor will you be able to lend out the game.
Games can even be played before a download completes. When purchasing a game like Killzone: Shadow Fall, you'll be asked which portion of the game should be prioritized, single player or multiplayer, essentially letting you choose which part of the game you want to hop into first.
In a little less than an hour, you'll be able to start playing a title. It may seem like something only the truly impatient would enjoy, but when you consider that many releases weigh in excess of 35GB, it's real luxury feature, and another impressive bit of engineering.
Then there's the PlayStation app for iOS and Android. With just the stroke of a touchscreen, you can remotely purchase games, and get the download going on your PS4 so it's ready and waiting when you get home (the console will turn on, download and switch off on its own).
Finally, PlayStation Plus is offering a bit of financial amnesty for customers who've bought copies of games like Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag or Call of Duty: Ghosts for PS3, and other titles that are available on next and current-gen. For a small fee, you can get the next-gen version, providing you insert your PS3 copy as a sort of proof of purchase.
You'll have to continue to do so, meaning that every time you want to play the PS4 Call of Duty you bought through this offer, you'll need to pop in the PS3 version. That last-gen copy will still work on your PS3 though, requiring the disc seems like a way to make sure customers can't use both simultaneously.
SONY BRAVIA KDL-42W670A 42'' LED TV REVIEW
Sony BRAVIA KDL-42W670A 42" LED TV
SKU: 179857
Ratings
4 out of 5 based on 1 Review
Key Features
42 inch LED TV with 1080p
LED Backlit Module
8W + 8W Audio Output
2 HDMI, 1 Ethernet, 1 USB
Sony BRAVIA KDL-42W670A 42" LED TV - Overview
Key Features
42 inch LED TV with 1080p
LED Backlit Module
8W + 8W Audio Output
2 HDMI, 1 Ethernet, 1 USB
Built-in Wi-Fi, USB Movie, 3G Plug and Play
Smart looks and smarter features make the Sony BRAVIA KDL-42W670A 42" LED TV a must-have. This Sony Smart LED TV features 1920 x 1080p full HD resolution that renders an amazing clarity and sharpness to images. Its integrated Wi-Fi lets you stay connected with your online buddies anytime of the day. The X-Reality PRO engine offers a stunning clarity to the images while the Motionflow XR 200 Hz makes sure fast-action scenes look sharper, smoother and clearer.
This Sony BRAVIA 42" LED TV features Bass Reflex Box speaker that offers enhanced sound clarity. Display the content on your smartphone on this TV's big screen and enjoy it better with its screen mirroring feature. Other features include USB Movie, 3G Plug and Play, 2 HDMI ports, LED backlit module, Deep Color, Intelligent MPEG Noise Reduction, Advanced Contrast Enhancer, 24P True Cinema, 178 degrees viewing angle, Picture Mode and 3D Comb Filter. The various sound modes like standard, cinema, sports, music, game, compressed audio let you enjoy every content the way they were meant to be. It also features S-Master, Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby Pulse, S-Force Front Surround 3D, Skype Ready, Internet Video, 1 USB v2.0 port, 8 W + 8 W audio outputs, Ethernet, PhotoTV HD, MHL, BRAVIA Sync. The Sense of Quartz Design gives it an undeniable sophisticated look while the parental control makes sure your kids do not watch age-inappropriate content. It also features Wi-Fi Direct, Facebook, Twitter, power saving modes and PAP.
Sony BRAVIA KDL-42W670A 42" LED TV - Specifications
Standard / Cinema / Sports / Music / Game / Compressed Audio
HDMI:
2
Audio Output Power (Watts):
8 + 8
Connectivity
Ethernet Connection:
1
USB:
1
Other Features
On/Off Timer:
Yes
OSD Language:
Afrikaans / Arabic / Persian / English / French / Indonesian / Portuguese / Russian / Swahili /Thai / Vietnamese / Chinese(Simplified) / Chinese(Traditional) / Zulu / Assamese / Bengali / Gujarati / Hindi / Kannada / Malayalam / Marathi / Oriya / Punjabi
Power
Power Consumption (Watts):
84
Stand By Power Consumption (Watts):
0.5
Power Requirements (Volts):
DC 19.5
Dimensions
Dimensions TV System (W x H x D) with Stand (mm):
954 x 595 x 197
Dimensions TV System (W x H x D) without Stand (mm):
954 x 568 x 69
Moto X review
Google and Moto almost made a truly standout Android phone
By usman salim may 22,2014
techcellers' verdict
"With its swoopy, curvy looks, the Moto X has a thoughtful design both inside and out that is full of charm and power, backed up by great software that is let down only by its endurance and camera."
For
Great design and feel
Excellent performance
Near stock Android
Useful software enhancements
Against
Poor battery life
Weak camera
No expandable storage
Slow charging
Ratings in depth
It was August of 2013 when Motorola released its first all-new phone under the stewardship of Google, and the Moto X caused quite a stir.
While the Nexus line of phones was always meant to be the showcase for Google's vision of the ultimate Android device, it felt like with Motorola it could show how influence rather than control would bring out the inner beauty of Android.
Five months on Motorolafinally gave the first progeny of its relationship with Google a wider release, so here it is on official UK release: the Moto X.
Without a doubt, one of the most widely discussed and generally lauded phones of the second half of 2013 has arrived, but how does it fare today in the ever-evolving smartphone market?
When it was first announced, there was an almost audible intake of breath as it became clear that Motorola was going to try and sell a phone with apparently mid-range specs at a high-end price.
However, this did something of a disservice to the overall aims Motorola had for the Moto X. It is not a device that cares about specs, it is all about the experience.
In the US, Motorola launched a novel concept called Moto Maker, which allows you to customise the look of your phone.
It is quite possible to get a white fronted, pink backed Moto X with blue buttons and a custom engraving too. Unfortunately, Moto Maker hasn't found its way to the UK - although it is tipped to arrive in March 2014.
This bold gamble does not appear to has paid dividends for Motorola with the Moto X, evidenced by its numerous price drops in the US.
Considering the track record, it's a little bit of a surprise that Motorola is bringing the Moto X in at a relatively high recommended retail price point of £389.
Considering the price of the better-specified and larger screened Nexus 5is just £299, you have to wonder if this makes sense.
The pricing of the Moto X on contract puts it in a similar category to the HTC One Mini and Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini, not quite the lofty comparisons that Motorola would want us to be making.
Pricing is not the only issue for the Moto X: it simply does not have high-end specs any more. The beating heart of the phone is essentially a 1.7GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 Pro chipset backed by 2GB of RAM.
Compared to today's quad-core 2.3GHz Snapdragon 800 rival, this is a little lacking, and definitely puts it in the mid-range, at least on paper.
A 2200mAh battery is sealed inside the body and there is no microSD expansion so the standard 16GB model - what you get for the £389 recommended asking price – will have to do. Motorola has not said whether it will bring the 32GB model to the UK.
The basic layout of the Moto X is highly conventional, with a microUSB port at the bottom, power and volume rocker buttons on the right and a standard 3.5mm headphone jack up top.
Talking of those buttons, they are really well sited. Lots of phones have their buttons in terribly inaccessible positions or just out of natural reach. Motorola has got this right on the Moto X, and made buttons that are responsive to use.
What is less usual is the SIM tray on the left side of the phone which holds the rarely used nano-sized SIM.
Given that the only other mainstream phones using a nano SIM today are the iPhone 5S and 5C, that might give you a clue as to which type of user Motorola is targeting here.
That's a nano-SIM slot, that is
In the UK the Motorola Moto X is currently available in the white I had to review and black. I prefer the Moto X in black though, as the white highlights the major flaw in the industrial design that Motorola has employed.
There is a visible seam round the sides of the Moto X and the white plastic used to frame the screen is of a different shade to the white back. The white bezels around the screen, which sit behind glass, are of a third shade, making the front look a little messy.
Overall though, this is a very well designed and constructed phone and definitely has a premium enough feel to justify its price - even if there are some concerns about what is on the inside.
The Moto X blends into the background quite nicely most of the time, and the screen takes up the vast majority of the front, which is a great achievement.
Nexus 5 vs Moto X: which is better?
IN DEPTH Which phone is right for you? It's not an easy decision
By usman salim may 22 2014
It's a good time to buy Android phones. With the likes of theNexus 5, Moto X and HTC One, it's really hard to go wrong. The question is, which phone should you buy?
We're going to compare two of our favorite Android devices - the Nexus 5 and Moto X - because if we had to spend our own cash on an Android smartphone today, it would boil down to those two devices.
Although the phones have their differences, they're also alike in some ways. This might make the decision-making process harder, especially when they're both great devices.
The Nexus 5 is a solid machine with some of the best specs you can find on an Android phone today. It has a sharp, 5-inch 1080p display, Snapdragon 800 with a 2.26GHz CPU, Adreno 330, 2GB RAM and all for a starting price of just $350 unlocked. That is incredible.
On the other hand, the Moto X has a rich 4.7-inch -720p AMOLED display, excellent curvature and customizable design, active notifications and Touchless Control. The latter allows you to speak commands to your phone even if it's asleep, which means the microphone is always on.
Let's take a look at the big features and see how they compare between the two devices.
Nexus 5 vs. Moto X: Display
The Nexus 5 has a 5-inch, 1920 x 1080 IPS LCD display, which gives us a density of 445 PPI. Compared to other smartphones, its colors and contrast tend to look more washed out, and the display doesn't get nearly as bright as the HTC One or iPhone 5S, for example.
However, whites look white without having too much of a bluish or cool tint. And the display is very sharp, which makes watching movies and looking at photos a real pleasure.
The Moto X has a 4.7-inch 1280 x 720 AMOLED display, which offers deep blacks, rich colors and contrast and generally warmer hues. It has a density of 316 PPI, so it looks sharp enough when you're holding it at normal viewing distances.
Which display is better? Well, it all becomes a matter of preference. The Moto X's AMOLED display is very rich when it comes to color and contrast, and it also draws less power, which helps the Moto X with its great battery life.
However, we also like the Nexus 5's larger, razor-sharp display. Without another smartphone to compare it to, the colors and brightness are just fine. It's only when you compare it directly with the Moto X or HTC One that you begin to notice its slightly washed out colors and contrast.
It's a toss-up between the two, but many seem to prefer the Moto X's display even though it's not as large or sharp as the Nexus 5's screen.
Nexus 5 vs. Moto X: Camera
At the moment, and until Google fixes the camera on the Nexus 5, we can easily give this one to the Moto X.
The Moto X has a 10MP rear camera, while the Nexus 5 has an 8MP shooter. Of course, megapixel count isn't everything, but it's the way each camera performs along with the native camera interface.
We found that the Moto X had a much easier time focusing in situations where the Nexus 5 struggled to find focus. In fact, the Nexus 5 would sometimes take seconds to focus even in bright, high-contrast scenes.
Moreover, there is a considerable amount of shutter lag on the Nexus 5's camera, whereas the Moto X was quick to start up and take shots and go from shot to shot.
Motorola also updated its camera software recently to allow you to drag its focus indicator to select your focus and metering point.
The Nexus 5's native camera software can be frustrating and confusing, especially for first-time Nexus users. There aren't many settings available, and they're hidden or buried in certain actions that first-time Nexus or Android owners might not find.
The concept of ‘Better Getting Best’ gained a lot of attention at this year’s CES. The most discussed topic was the work cut out for manufacturers to make Smart TVs smarter. While each television manufacturer presented their own ideas, LG has turned out to be the first television brand to bring the solutions to the Indian shores. Here is an exclusive review of the 55LM8600 from the latest range of LG's Cinema3D TVs. Considering how well its Cinema3D TVs faired in 2011, our expectations were high.
Out of the Box
The TV had a scintillating effect when we placed it in our studio. It’s been almost half a decade since LG’s proactive participation in the flat panel market here in the country, and it is for the first time that we’ve seen so much flamboyance in any of their flat panels. There have been the Scarlets and the Jazzs that had rare spurts of flashiness, but the new 55LM8600 bears a strong fashion statement that we haven’t seen with any LG TV. Two things that caught our attention were the panel stand and the seamless bezel-less frame. The metal ribbon stand is very contemporary, making the TV look as if it is suspended in mid-air. Now we have reviewed monitors with killer looks but getting a 55-incher to appear like this is a Herculean task that LG has managed to pull off quite well. Also, we have seen frameless TVs, but the seamless no-bezel design came as a pleasant surprise to us. We couldn’t wait to experience the picture on the screen.
Bezel? What Bezel?
Technology
We asked LG what’s special about this new range of TVs, and the company answered with a big 3D logo. Well, we were not surprised with that. After all, their FPR 3D technology has managed to bag the recognition of the best 3D technology in the consumer segment. And this is where we would like to reinstate the ‘Better Getting Best’ concept. For starters, it have come up with a few amendments in 2D to 3D conversion, promising a better experience devoid of any aberrations and anomalies in terms of edge enhancement. There is this new ‘Dual Play’ mode that will be of great interest to the avid gamers. This feature will come in handy if you enjoy competitive gaming. It takes inspiration from the 'split screen' mode seen in many games, where two gamers can see their corresponding view-points on the same screen. The problem with this type of multi-player mode is that due to the split screen, both the gamers get only half of the total screen size as their gaming area. But with LG’s Dual Play mode, every gamer gets the entire screen for his own viewpoint. Fun, isn’t it? Furthermore, they have increased the control that one gets on the 3D picture, for instance, the depth of the 3D images, image shift, etc. This feature will be extremely useful when you are converting 2D to 3D and for tweaking the converted 3D picture to your liking.
So much for the 3D world, but that’s not all the new LG TV has to offer. The TV also excels in terms of connectivity with ample options for I/O and an elaborate USB support as well. An interesting feature is the onboard Wi-fi connectivity. Yes, we do know that there are thousands of TVs with onboard Wi-fi , but LG has gone a step ahead to exploit this feature and not just use it for browsing the Internet. With onboard Wi-fi, they have the SmartShare feature to connect your PC, mobile phone or tablet PCs directly to the TV and share content on-the-fly. For example, on PCs you just have to create a shared folder using the installation CD that comes with the TV and start sharing any files that you wish to see or hear on the TV to the folder by just copying it to the folder. It has also packed in support for office files and pdfs as well. All the other features from last year’s Cinema3D TVs from LG are retained in the 55LM8600 such as exhaustive control on the picture quality with a highly intuitive and suggestive user interface.
Dual remotes for dual purposes
Remote Control
Just like the earlier versions of the Cinema3D TV, the LM8600 also comes with an option of two remotes. First is the regular remote that is almost overflowing with all sorts of colorful buttons. Though cramped a bit, the remote is very easy to get use with the elaborate GUI of the TV. The second option is of the motion sensor remote (similar to the Microsoft Kinect for Xbox or the PlayStation Move for PlayStation3). This houses only a handful of buttons, namely for 3D, apps, volume and power. But here LG has given a track pad and a jog dial on the remote. If not for these two features on the remote, you would be struggling to get accustomed to the functioning and the movement of the remote on the screen.
Performance
There is not much done in the 2D video section and we did not expect a great deal of difference in the already flawless picture quality of the Cinema3D TVs from LG. The frameless design does provide you with an experience similar to that of a projector only that you can see the boundaries. Nonetheless, the experience is much better than watching your movies on a TV with a 1” thick frame. As we sampled highly demanding Blu-rays such as ‘Thor’, ‘The Dark Knight’ and ‘Captain America’, the LG TV presented us with possibly the best video playback that you can get on any flat panel television currently available. Since all the above-mentioned Blu-rays are action-heavy, they bear all the pre-requisites (color saturation, black levels, sharpness and motion) to test a flat panel for its optimum performance. And the 55LM8600 was all game with its crisp sharpness, deep black levels, utmost colour saturation and swift handing of motion. And you also have the ISF presets that make life easy by calibrating the TV on-the-fly according to the ISF standards.
We did find a slight trace of light leakage off the LED lined up on the edge of the TV. This was particularly seen in very dark scenes like the climax of ‘The Dark Knight’ affecting the detail in the black levels. This can be resolved to an extent by using a tweak for the black levels and choosing between two points—low (gets the black levels really deep) and high (reduces a contrast by a couple of notches by putting up a slight white cast on the screen). The next task was to check for the 3D picture quality, and unlike last year, this time we had almost two dozen 3D Blu-ray discs lying in the studio. And once again FPR 3D technology proved its worth as the most suitable and convenient 3D technology available in the market. Be it games, animation or even motion pictures, the playback for 3D was simply the best that we have seen. The TV not only tackles regular issues of 3D picture playback like low brightness, dizziness or headache caused by the glasses (more prevalent in active shutter glasses) or even viewing angle, but manages to put up highly effective 3D performance.
The frameless design also played a big role here in order to reduce the effect of constrained vision by providing a more immersive and engaging experience. The only drawback was that of the vertical viewing angle (also seen in earlier versions of the FPR 3D TVs from LG). So if you wish to mount the 55LM8600 on the wall, take care that you don’t mount the TV in such a way that the vertical viewing angle comes to more than 50 to 60 degrees. If it is more than this range, you won’t be able to enjoy the 3D experience to the fullest as it affects picture sharpness and you easily see two different images forming the 3D images. The 2D to 3D conversion is convincing but we did notice slight discrepancies in scenes with fast-motion sequences. In ‘Thor’, every time the Bifrost started to revolve around itself or even in ‘Green Lantern’ when Hal Jordon (played by Ryan Reynolds) made his super fast trips to some other planets, the TV seemed to lose its hold on the 3D rendition as it lost the sync for a couple of seconds. But this took place only for a few seconds as once the picture comes back to normal pace, the TV was once again in all its 3D glory.
What's up good lookin'?
The Dual Play is an interesting feature and LG has incorporated some innovative reverse engineering. Picking up on how 3D technology works, they have devised a way where two different gamers can simultaneously look at two different images on the same screen. As it turns out, you need special Dual Play glasses for this. And the best part is that for the 55LM8600, a pair of Dual Play glasses is included in the package along with four normal FPR 3D glasses. For some other models, you can avail the glasses at an extra cost. But considering the low cost of FPR 3D glasses, we think that this investment is absolutely worth it for the kind of results that it gives. Speaking about the SmartShare feature, a peculiar problem with such features is the setup procedure that gets painstaking and tedious, but in the 55LM8600, LG has provided a simple step-by-step guide to the users on how to hook up their phones and PCs with the TV.
It does not take more than a couple of minutes to complete the entire procedure and your TV becomes an entertainment hub. Once connected, you can also use the TV as a second screen without any wire using the SmartShare feature. The only care that you have to take is to have both the devices connected to the same Wi-Fi network. Now that’s a little more than smart!
The smartest of the lot?
Verdict and Price in India
New technologies are always accompanied by complexities and tedious set-up procedures. But LG has managed to eradicate many of the complexities from its new television series while loading them with features that can keep you busy for the next couple of years. We find no risk in saying that 55LM8600 is absolutely future-proof for at least the next five years. Its exquisite picture playback for both 2D and 3D is commendable. Innovative features like Dual Play and SmartShare are great add-ons that don’t just sound good but perform even better. This is exactly the reason why we don’t think its price tag of Rs. 2,65,000 is a steep one. It is 55” of sheer visual pleasure and we request you to indulge!
Here's a quick look at how Dual Play works?
While viewing a 3D film with FPR 3D glasses, users are already receiving two different images that are simultaneously being displayed on a television or movie screen. Each of these two images are polarised using a special filter, and this filter orients each image’s light waves in a specific direction. All this takes place on the screen itself. As for the glasses, the two lenses allow light waves to enter only if they’re oriented in the same direction as each lens’ polarised filter. For example, waves in plane X for the left eyeball and waves in plane Y for the right eyeball. When the brain processes the two different images coming in at the same time, the viewers perceive depth that isn’t actually there, and that’s 3D for us.
LG’s Dual Play technology uses this same feature but with a twist. In the Dual Play glasses they have popped out the lenses on two polarised glasses and exchanged them to create matched pairs. One Dual Play glass contains the same lenses for both the eyeballs. So when a gamer wears them, he loses the ability to create a three-dimensional image, as it would have otherwise done. Instead both the eyeballs will now receive light waves that have been oriented in a single direction. In other words, a person gets picture A and cannot see picture B, while the vice versa takes place with their competitor in the game.
