(Above) The new LG Scarlet 2.0 LCD is Bluetooth-enabled; (below) Samsung’s LCD 750 Series has a 200Hz image response time and can communicate wirelessly with your home computer network

It’s an onscreen war out there. Would you like to catch the action on a just launched ultra-slim Samsung Series 7 LED TV, which is only 1.16in thick? Or are you willing to wait for Sony’s ZX1 Bravia, which is an even more anorexic 0.4in and will be out in July? Or, if you’re really patient and don’t mind waiting till the festival season kicks off, you could opt for LG India’s ultra-slim backlit-LED TVs.

Alternatively, if you aren’t that worried about super-slim TVs and believe that screen size matters, why not try the humongous 103-in Panasonic plasma. Will that be a bit too big for your sitting room or wherever you like to catch up on the TV action? How about a 70-in Sony Bravia X Series for a cool Rs 20 lakh. Or there’s Samsung’s latest 55-in Series 750 LCD at a slightly more affordable Rs 4 lakh.

The world of television is buzzing with action — both onscreen and behind the hugest screens. The world’s biggest consumer durables giants are pushing their researchers to come out with slimmer and bigger televisions with better colours than ever before. And their R&D departments are obliging with newer and better technologies all the time.

The newest technology on the block that aims to capture eyeballs is LED. Some experts describe LED TVs as superior LCDs. (In this technology, LEDs or light emitting diodes are used as the backlight to produce an image unlike the cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL) used in regular LCDs).

Inevitably, all the TV majors are racing to bring out smart new LED sets for customers to ogle over. “LEDs represent the next generation in terms of LCD television technology,” says R. Zutshi, deputy managing director, Samsung India, which has been the first to introduce these TVs in India.

Adds Amitabh Tiwari, business group marketing head, home entertainment & B2B, LG Electronics India: “LEDs are used to enhance brightness and contrast. As a new technology, it’s bound to attract consumers.” LG will launch its first backlit-LED TV in July and then bring out a more expensive, droolworthy model by Diwali.

The television majors have another ambitious goal. They want to put the slick new TVs at the centre of the networked world. As Sony India’s managing director, Masaru Tamagawa says: “A new generation of Indian consumers has emerged, who desire aspirational and high-quality products.”

So the new flat panel televisions are Bluetooth and Wi-Fi enabled. That means you can wirelessly access all those video and audio files stored on your home PC or laptop and view them on your big TV screen.

Alternatively, plug in your MP3 player or camera and look at your photographs or listen to music on your TV. If your high-end LCD has USB ports for video, you could even watch a movie straight off a portable drive.

Says audio-visual expert and consultant Sandeep Mittal: “It’s like the auto sector, where fully-loaded vehicles are taking off. People are willing to plonk down lots of money for flat panel televisions today.”

So let’s take a look at what’s on offer.

Television manufacturers are rushing to launch LED TVs, the latest technology in flat panel televisions, in India. Sony India will launch its ultra-thin 0.4in Sony Bravia ZX1 (below) in July while Samsung India has already launched its stunning 1.16in-thin new LED TVs (above)

Thin is in

If you’re crazy about the body beautiful, look no further than the new world of ultra-thin LED TVs.

Samsung India’s new edge-lit LED TVs are barely 1.16in thin compared to the around 4.7in thickness of regular LCDs. “We’re looking at creating a new category in the colour television market in India,” says Zutshi.

So how do LED TVs score over LCDs? Well, in a regular LCD, a CCFL tube is used as a backlight to produce an image. Since this is always on, LCDs can’t really create deep blacks — the property that determines the picture contrast and colour quality.

That’s where LED TVs are smarter, providing brighter and sharper images and slimmer displays, of course. Also, they consume 40 per cent less power than LCDs.

LED TVs can be edge-lit like Samsung and Sony’s new televisions. Here, the LEDs are placed along the edge or perimeter of the display. Or you can have a backlit LED TV, where the LEDs are placed across the back of the panel. Backlit-LED TVs are thicker than edge-lit ones but some experts feel their picture quality is superior.

Samsung India’s Series 6 and 7 LED TVs come in 40in and 46in models. Prices start from Rs 1.25 lakh for the Series 6 40in and go up to Rs 1.8 lakh for the Series 7 46in model. If that’s too small for your living room, wait till July for its 55in Series 8, which is likely to cost Rs 3.5 lakh.

(Above) the Sony Bravia 55in X Series offers Full HD; (below) A side view of Samsung’s 1.16in LED TV

One thing’s clear: Samsung’s new LED TVs are stunners with their translucent piano black frame with ruby highlights. Also, its ultra-slim wall mount solution means that when hung, the gap between the LED TV and the wall is just 0.6in (it’s two inches for LCDs).

No wonder, these TVs have soared on the must-have list of gizmo freaks. “We’ve seen a great response to the LEDs since the launch,” says a manager at a leading Mumbai-based dealer.

Samsung’s new LED TVs also offer full high definition or Full HD resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels with a mega contrast ratio of 1 million:1 (see below).

The Samsung Series 6 LED TV also has a USB 2.0 port so you can connect your camera or MP3 player to it.

Samsung’s Series 7 LED TV can connect wirelessly to your home computer (if your PC is Wi-Fi-enabled, it can connect wirelessly but if it does not have Wi-Fi, you’ll need a router) so that you can play the audio and video files stored there. It even has an inbuilt content library so if you’re bored with that sitcom on your satellite channel, how about watching a cookery show from the library?

Both series have a 100 Hz image refresh rate. This means that fast-motion sporting action or that car chase will beam smoothly without any motion blur. Samsung’s Series 8 LED TV has 200Hz — which means you can catch fast-paced action even better. Till now most sets worked on 50Hz speeds.

Meanwhile, the new Sony Bravia ZXI, which is a Rs 2-lakh, 40in edge-lit LED TV, can hang like that Husain painting on your wall. For it wins the skinny model stakes as it is just 9.9 mm or 0.4in thin and weighs only 15kg.

Sony has achieved this by placing the tuner or media receiver outside the display panel. This means you plug in your satellite cables, DVD player, game console, et al, into the media receiver while the display panel works on wireless. The media receiver and screen communicate wirelessly.

Will this compromise on picture quality? “It makes no difference. High-end home theatres too only have a monitor or projector as display and a separate tuner, which are linked just like a CPU is linked to a computer monitor,” explains Mittal.

Again, the Sony Bravia ZX1 has Full HD and 100Hz Motionflow with image blur reduction. Plus it has a digital amplifier and surround sound.

LG India too will launch its backlit-LED TV in July. The company will also launch another LED model, which Tiwari promises will be the “slimmest LED”, around Diwali.

LCDs and more

LEDs may be the new buzzword in flat panel televisions but the picture on your regular LCDs is also changing. For LCDs are getting more high-tech too with Full HD, 200Hz refresh rates and wireless and Internet connectivity.

Market leader Samsung India is giving consumers a rich choice and has just launched 23 new LCD models while Sony India added around 14. LG too has introduced new models like the Scarlet 2.0.

Now, if screen size matters to you, Sony India has the largest LCD screen at 70in, which is a Sony Bravia X Series model costing Rs 20 lakh and which is only sold on order. Or you could check out its 55in X series (with 100Hz) for around Rs 4 lakh. Then, there’s the Sony Bravia Z series 52in model with 200Hz Motionflow that costs Rs 3.6 lakh.

Meanwhile, market leader Samsung India’s latest Series 750 and Series 650 LCDs have features that are similar to its new LED TVs. So they have Full HD, wireless capability to communicate with your home computer network, a USB 2.0 movie port and a content library too. The Series 750 LCD also has 200Hz.

The 46in Samsung Series 750 LCD costs Rs 1.7 lakh. If big is your mantra, try the Series 650 55in at Rs 3 lakh.

Then, there’s LG India’s latest Scarlet 2.0 LCD with 100Hz and Bluetooth compatibility. This means that you can use a wireless headset to watch the TV if you don’t want to disturb anyone and also view mobile phone pictures on it. It consumes 30 per cent less power too. The 42in Scarlet 2.0 costs Rs 1 lakh.

Also coming up from LG India by Diwali is the Jazz 2.0 “designer LCD TV”. This will have a 5.1 channel surround sound system with 700W output and 200Hz. “This will be another model that will help differentiate LG from the competition,” says Tiwari.

Meanwhile players like Hitachi too are upping the ante. Hitachi launched its ultra-thin LCD (not LED) in January, which is just 1.5in deep because the tuner is separated from the screen. The 42-in model costs around Rs 1.55 lakh.

The plasma effect

LCDs may have run away with the market for flat panel televisions in India, but don’t ring the death bell for plasmas yet. Given their superior contrast ratios and colour saturation, the plasmas still have their die-hard fans.

One such is home theatre consultant Himanshu Kumar. “I want to see softer and more natural pictures that are close to cinema quality and not razor-sharp images. For that, I’d rather go for plasmas,” he says.

LG India, Panasonic and Samsung have launched several new plasmas in recent months. Plasmas are typically considered superior to LCDs in large screen sizes. But they’re also becoming popular because of the price differential. For instance, you can get a 50-in plasma for around Rs 60,000 while a similar LCD will cost over Rs 1 lakh.

If price is no restriction though, check out Pioneer’s globally acclaimed KURO — the word means black in Japanese — range.

Pioneer’s KURO ninth-generation plasmas are available in India. “These models have the highest contrast ever achieved in the industry. So you can enjoy a truly vibrant picture even during dark scenes,” says Sandeep Saini, manager, sales, Alpha Radios, distributor for Pioneer’s plasmas in north and west India.

There’s the KURO 60in KRP-600M, which costs Rs 5 lakh (though there’s a discount of Rs 1 lakh on it). And there are two 50-in models too.

When it comes to size though, you can’t beat Panasonic’s 103-in plasma, the world’s largest plasma. Launched in January, it costs Rs 30 lakh and has already found favour with the gods. Tirupati temple has acquired 65 of these huge screens. Brand ambassador Ranbir Kapoor too has one in his home as does Big B.

“Panasonic is the global leader in plasmas and we want to dominate the market here too,” says Sabiha Kidwai, manager, brand communications, Panasonic India.

Meanwhile, market leader LG India launched its new PQ60 series recently. This frameless plasma has Bluetooth connectivity. The PQ60 42in costs around Rs 50,000. Coming up shortly is its PQ70 model too. Samsung too has launched two new plasma series including a Series 6 Full HD 63in model for Rs 3.3 lakh.

Clearly, the fight for your home screen has just begun.

Jargon busters

Get to know the three key parameters you should go by, before you whip out the plastic

Are you confused by the multitude of flat panel televisions out there with their various permutations and combinations of features? Are you wondering if you should buy an HD Ready or a Full HD television? Or if it should have an image response rate of 100Hz or 200Hz? And should its contrast ratio be 100,000:1 or 1 million:1?

Now, the display resolution, contrast ratio and response rates are undoubtedly three key performance parameters for flat panel televisions.

Resolution: It is the number of pixels on the display screen. The more the pixels, the better the digital picture quality. High definition (HD) is the way to go in digital broadcasting, and Full HD or a resolution of 1920 x 1080 is the pinnacle. HD Ready televisions can receive Full HD signals but show them at a lower display resolution of 720p. The high-end models though are Full HD. Says audio-visual consultant Mittal: “If you have a Blu-Ray player and Blu-Ray discs, you need a display that matches. But if you’re only watching a regular television broadcast, you don’t need Full HD because India doesn’t yet have high-definition broadcast.”

Contrast ratio: It is the difference between the brightest and darkest colours, the greater the contrast, the sharper the picture detail. Television manufacturers are quoting dynamic contrast ratios from 100,000:1 to 1 million:1, but experts feel these numbers are meaningless, the pinnacle in professional cinema being 4000:1.

Response or refresh rate: A faster response rate means that fast-action scenes like sports will appear smoother. Television sets have graduated from 50Hz frequency to 100Hz and now, even 200Hz. Again, it makes sense to go for 200Hz if you have a Full HD display and transmission.