HDMI is rather like sleep: a gigantic waste of time, but essential because there’s basically no alternative. If we could take a pill and never sleep again but still feel refreshed each morning, you can bet we would. And if there was any other sort of cable that could get 1080p video and lossless audio …

How’s this for a geek aphorism? Once you’ve had Ambilight, you never go back. Okay, it doesn’t rhyme, but if it’s true, Philips must have a fairly large captive market, because it’s the only company able to produce these magical glowing TVs. The newly announced 32PFL9604 is the latest TV in the Ambilight range, and it’s available in June for …

Recently news has reached us that the third best TV show in the history of mankind has been cancelled in the US. We’re talking here about Terminator: the Sarah Connor Chronicles –the best show is Arrested Development (also on FOX and also cancelled), and the second best is Lost. If you’re not aware of the show, then you should immediately …

Geek humour aside, the Netgear EVA9000 Digital Entertainment Elite does appear to be everything you need in a media streamer. It’s built like the sort of wall needed to enclose an outdoor toilet and it’s a very traditional form factor — meaning it will sit squarely under your TV with all the other anonymous grey boxes. Clearly, Netgear isn’t trying …

1984 was a pretty amazing year for cinema. If you’ve got a favourite 80s film, there’s a good chance it was released this year. It was, for example, the year than Arnold Schwarzenegger came from the future to kill Linda Hamilton. Harrison Ford also made an appearance with a whip and a hat, with the intention of looking around a …

It’s no secret that I think the Pioneer Kuro PDP-LX5090 is the best TV I’ve ever seen. It’s certainly the highest-rated TV we’ve ever reviewed, and although other TVs are starting to get closer in terms of picture quality, it’s still far and away the best on the market. But even the love of your life can annoy you every …

If like us, ensconcing yourself in the bassy comfort of your home cinema is your favourite way to waste an evening, you’ll be thrilled to know Onkyo wants to enable your habit with a range of new AV receivers. There are four models: the TX-SR307, TX-SR507, TX-SR577 and the TX-SR607. The first three players will hit the market in April, …

We’ve long maintained you can’t go far wrong with a Panasonic plasma. The company makes some terrific televisions, and because it’s truly plasma-oriented, all of its corporate love goes into these gassy giants. The S10 range are 1080p TVs that come in three sizes: 42, 46 and 50 inches. As you would hope, and expect, this TV can handle 24p …

Smooth motion has been a major problem for flat-screen TVs for some time. Every year, manufacturers tell us this is the year they’ve invented a technology to help pictures flow like honey. With the release of the Bravia Z5500 though, Sony claims it really has cured judder, properly this time, honest guv, no word of a lie. In this case, …

Yesterday, we had a little pop at the BBC for its silly DRM on freesat. Today, we want to redress the balance by looking at how BBC iPlayer HD stacks up against its broadcast counterpart on the free-to-air satellite service. This isn’t a witch-hunt, we’re not going to have a go at iPlayer for being less impressive than full-blown HD, …