LG Reveals HDTVs With ‘Vudu’ Service Built-In

LG is an old hand when it comes to flat screen TVs with High Definition capability, and it is nice to see them introduce yet another improvement to their new line up of HDTVs in order to go one up against other competing brands. This time round, the Korean consumer electronics giant has rolled out broadband-capable HDTVs that are able to access the instant high-definition (HD) movie service from VUDU Inc. The HDTVs that fall under this purview will include LG’s LH50 1080p LCD series and PS80 Plasma 1080p series, where they will be come with “NetCast Entertainment Access” from next month onwards. This unique partnership between both companies will see consumer obtain access to thousands of HD movies at the touch of a button without having to go through the usual motion of flipping through a catalog at a video store as of yore.

The VUDU service enables consumers to instantly buy or rent from an extensive library of movies and TV titles. This industry-leading catalog will comprise of over 2,000 high-definition movies, and best of all is, you don’t have to worry about forking out any more monthly fees. In addition, there is no need to purchase, install, or connect any additional hardware for you to get started. Consumers can easily enjoy movies in VUDU’s unique HDX format, with Full HD 1080p resolution, plus Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 surround sound to tickle their visual audio senses.

Read more

LG To Offer Network Blu-ray Disc Players

I guess Blu-ray hasn’t really taken off according to Sony’s liking (as well as the other partners in the Blu-ray conglomerate), as it sure is taking its time compared to DVDs back in the day where the latter was released. Well, at least it is making inroads after a short but bitter battle with HD DVD, but it has been more than a year now since HD DVD was declared to have given up the fight, and yet not that many people are adopting Blu-ray players in their living rooms. This time round, LG Electronics aim to offer something different for their new range of Blu-ray players featuring NetCast Entertainment Access and Wi-Fi capabilities in the US.

Consumers will be spoilt for choice when it comes to extensive content-on-demand options for instant access to Roxio CinemaNow, Netflix and YouTube content. It does raise an interesting question though - back in the day where there were just a couple of TV channels, we were extremely hooked and would watch anything and everything. Fast forward to today and you have hundreds of channels, where you will still find someone sitting down on a couch, flipping channels and remarking, “There isn’t anything good to watch.” Ironic, isn’t it? Well, the LG BD370 and BD390 Network Blu-ray players were first unveiled at CES 2009, with the latter being the first-ever Blu-ray player to offer an interactive Download-to-Own and Pay-Per-View options, giving consumers the freedom to purchase content from Roxio CinemaNow at the click of the remote. It also boasts 1GB of internal memory to cater for BD Live functionality.

Both models will feature the following :-

• 1080p up-scaling for standard DVDs
• Dolby TrueHD surround sound
• DTS-HD Master Audio Essential
• USB 2.0 Media Host
• 1GB built-in memory (BD390)
• Wireless capability (BD390)

The BD370 and BD390 will retail for $299.95 and $399.95 respectively. Image from ibdcegypt.

Press Release

Source

Netflix will instantly stream directly to LG Electronics HDTVs

LG Electronics and Netflix have announced the first broadband-enabled HDTVs with Netflix streaming software embedded directly in the TV, requiring no external device. LG’s new LCD and plasma “Broadband HDTVs” will display the library of movies & TV episodes that Netflix members can watch instantly directly on the TV with Ethernet connectivity.

The new broadband HDTVs will be available for sale this spring. LG will demonstrate the HDTVs this week at the 2009 CES show in Las Vegas. In addition to the HDTVs, LG Electronics announced plans to release five new models of Blu-ray Disc players and home theater systems that can stream movies & TV episodes from Netflix.

Source: Netflix.com