Visitors to the Samsung stand at IFA 2006 were greeted by a wall of flat-screen televisions. Samsung had one of the largest stands at the show and at least half of it was dedicated to televisions of one type or another: LCDs, plasmas, rear-projection screens and even CRTs. In particular, Samsung was promoting its new 1080p …

There are several things you can count on when you attend a big German trade show like IFA 2006. By lunchtime, you’ll feel like you’ve walked around the world at least once. You probably won’t get any lunch, and if you do, it’ll be a big chunk of meat, with a miniscule bread roll wrapped round it like an edible …

The Philips stand at IFA 2006 was dominated by Ambilight in all its various sizes and guises. As seen in two-channel mode on the Philips 32PF9830 and in full surround on the Philips 42PF9831D, Ambilight provides coloured backlighting that automatically adjusts to match the picture on your screen. Philips expects to have sold over 1 million Ambilight sets worldwide by the end …

The centrepiece of Toshiba’s stand at IFA 2006 was the area promoting HD DVD. Toshiba announced the European launch dates and pricing for two players, the mainstream HD-E1 and the high-end HD-XE1. Visitors to the show were able to see the players in action, compare them to standard DVD players and find out about the first batch of titles. The …

I have a budget of around £1,000 to spend on an LCD TV. My requirements are: two HDMI inputs, two Scart terminals, a PC connection and Picture-in-Picture facility (including from a PC). My viewing distance is approximately 3m, so I’m not sure what screen size to choose — 32-inch or 37-inch? Whenever I look at TVs in high-street shops the …

Last night I went to a live production of Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake, best known for its male swans (bear with me, the tech connection is coming). Today I’ve been watching the DVD, and I’m struck by the differences between the two experiences. It’s Swan Lake… but with male swans My theatre seat cost £48, whereas you can find the …

Toshiba has announced launch dates and prices for the first stand-alone HD DVD players to reach Europe — the HD-E1 and HD-XE1. This follows the US launch of the HD-A1 and HD-XA1 players back in April. Speaking at a well-attended press conference at IFA 2006 in Berlin, Olivier Van Wynendaele, Toshiba Europe’s deputy general manager for HD DVD products, described the …

At CES 2006, Sony delighted us with the Reader, a silicon sylph that displays electronic books. It still isn’t available in the UK, and we still don’t know when or even if it will be, but it remains high on our wishlist. This year we were hoping for something just as innovative, but instead we got the Bravia Internet Video …

Here we are in Paris, sorry, Vegas (big cities all look the same these days). Crave is ready for CES 2007, but is CES ready for us? It is not. To be fair, the press events don’t start until tomorrow and the show proper doesn’t open until Monday, so we’re a day early. Right now there’s very little evidence that …

I am far from a tech expert and read with interest your review of the Sony Bravia KDL-40W2000. I’m seriously considering purchasing this model, but how long can I expect this television to last? Although £1,500 isn’t a fantastically expensive amount to spend, I am certain it will be a fair while before I am able to afford this much …