Panasonic's FreeSat-tuning VIERA TH-46PZ81B fared well in its recent review, and thankfully, so did the TX-37LZD81 LCD HDTV. The set, which was acquired and tested by the eyes at HDTVOrg, was highly praised in almost every area, with critics pointing out its fantastic ability to make both SD and HD content look its best. The integrated speakers weren't anything special, but it's not like you were expecting anything drastically different. We'd personally love to see that FreeSat tuner find more than a smattering of HD channels, but for those looking to pick out the ones that currently exist, this set wouldn't be a bad one to do that on.

Following the lead of BBC HD, Sky Movies has also announced its intentions to get its high-def program in gear during the run-up to Christmas. The channel is gearing up to show UK premieres of over 15 films, with a number of those being available in stunning HD. Additionally, Sky Movies HD will be showing the entire Rocky saga on Boxing Day, and certain fresh releases (like Beowulf, Stardust and The Golden Compass) will also be delivered in high-definition. The full schedule awaits you in the read link.

'Tis the season for giving / sharing, so we're glad to see Auntie Beeb in the festive spirit. Reportedly, BBC HD will be bestowing upon its viewers a whole slew of high-def content for the holiday season, including Shrek The Halls, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and The Chronicles Of Narnia – The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe. Onlookers will also be treated to the long-awaited three-part horror story There Was a Crooked House and The 39 Steps, not to mention a handful of other movies you've certainly been waiting eons to see on broadcast TV. Way to step up the game, BBC -- now, how's about everyone else take a note and follow suit?

While most of the big boys are in a foot race to see who can pump out a legitimate big screen OLED TV the fastest, little ole Loewe is perfectly content with LCD. According to the company's CEO, Frieder Löhrer, he watches "all of the techniques that are on the market, almost on a daily basis," but was quick to dismiss that admittedly mesmerizing laser technology implemented by Mitsubishi as being too "inefficient and ineffective." When questioned on the possibility of joining a few other select firms in producing a Blu-ray-infused HDTV, he stated that he "could not say no," and he continued on to say that "it's a technique that we foresee not for the year 2008, but [probably] for early 2010." Hey, he never said he was trying to beat everyone else to the punch, right?

It's a few days past October and all, but Sharp has still managed to get its BonusView-enabled BD-HP21H Blu-ray player out in the UK. Reportedly selling for around £249 ($383), the Profile 1.1 deck is probably a touch overpriced given the current state of BD across the globe, but then again, we've also heard reports that finding low-cost players across the pond isn't proving simple. At any rate, the unit does tout 1080p24 and a pretty slick design, and it's guaranteed to put a smile on the face of anyone who unwraps it. That's worth, what, at least a few quid?

[Via Register Hardware]

We're not exactly sure why we're just now beginning to see a rash of new bedroom-sized HDTVs again, but we'll go the safe route and pick "economy." At any rate, JVC's got a unique one on its hands with the LT-26DE9BJ, a 26-inch LCD TV with a 160GB hard drive built-in to handle the PVR duties. The set, which is available now in the UK, also boasts a Freeview tuner and an 8-day EPG. Under scrutiny, the tele held up fairly well, with critics finding the image quality to be "exceptionally sharp" with both SD and HD material. The recording features were also admired, but the "average black levels" kept it from receiving a wholehearted recommendation. Still, if you can manage to find this one for a deep discount (sticker is £500), you just might have a winner on your hands.

Oh sure, an equal amount of UKers are apt to buy NAD's absurdly overpriced T587 Blu-ray player as Americans (2.5 persons, for those wanting specifics), but what's up with the pricing discrepancy? The BD-Live-enabled deck -- which includes internal decoding of the latest lossless codecs from Dolby and DTS, an HDMI 1.3 port, Ethernet jack, component / composite video outputs, coaxial / optical digital audio sockets, external IR input and a front-panel USB port -- is scheduled to hit shelves sometime in December for around £850. We know the greenback has been gaining ground and all, but we Americans are still getting dinged for an extra two bills here. Ah well, what's $200 to the man / woman who's throwing down for a $1k+ Blu-ray player, right?

Last we heard, Sony and Samsung were still passing blows about whose 200Hz HDTV was actually "first," but in the meanwhile, we figured we'd pass along a review (two, actually) of the BRAVIA KDL-46Z4500. In short, this is probably one of the best sets to float across the pond in quite some while. Both TrustedReviews and CNET found the HDTV to be stunning in terms of design and image quality, not to mention the great black levels and excellent media streaming via Ethernet / USB. The biggest gripe was simply the price -- if this thing were a few hundred pounds cheaper, it'd be a surefire winner. That said, those with excess cash can take the high recommendations to heart, but be sure and dodge those stray punches we mentioned up top when heading out to pick it up.

Read - TrustedReviews
Read - CNET

Long load times on Blu-ray players have always been a pet peeve of ours, and obviously we aren't alone. The gurus over at CNET UK rounded up four of their favorite decks and popped in a test disc (Vantage Point) in order to find which was the quickest at getting down to business. Trailing the pack was Pioneer's BDP-LX71, which took a staggering 1:54 to load and play the film. Panasonic's DMP-BD35 nabbed the bronze in unceremonious fashion (1:16), while Samsung's BD-P1500 slipped in second with a 1:09 load / play time. As we gave away in the headline there, Sony's PlayStation 3 easily took first with a test time of just 42 seconds. We'd love to know if any other untested decks could outperform that -- anyone care to time their unit and chime in below?

Despite the general lameness of the economy at large, Blu-ray seems to be faring at least decently well overseas. We already heard that Blu-ray Disc sales were up 396% in the UK year-to-date, and we're getting even more positive vibes from a BDA European Promotions Group seminar held in Amsterdam this month. According to Frank Simonis, chairman of the aforesaid group, [Blu-ray] is "experiencing strong and solid growth in every national territory [in Europe]," even with the economic situation taken into consideration. Also in attendance was FutureSource Consulting's Jim Bottoms, who boldly predicted that "in Europe, by 2012, about one-quarter of homes will have a standalone Blu-ray Disc player." 'Course, that's just wild speculation at this point, but at least we've a target to look back on and see just how accurate this fellow was / wasn't. [Warning: PDF read link]

Blu-ray Disc sales may be up a staggering 396% in the UK, and the BDA may be bullish about BD's success in Europe as a whole, but Europeans looking to buy in cheap as we Americans have recently been able to do may be out of luck (for now, at least). According to a new report from Reuters, "a scarcity of cheap Blu-ray players combined with the effects of a recession are expected to delay take-up of the Blu-ray format in Europe." It's suggested that supply issues earlier in the year could mean that those relatively cheap BD decks in the US may not make their way to Europe before the big holiday shopping season. Screen Digest analyst Richard Cooper even went so far as to say that these factors "[could mean that] the format is unlikely to move much beyond the early adopter market this year." Granted, no one really anticipated BD going from niche to mainstream by the time CES 2009 got going, but a scarcity of affordable players sure won't help matters.

Wouldn't you know it? The world's slimmest LCD HDTV and one of the only wireless HDTVs have both arrived in unison in the United Kingdom. Without much fanfare, Sony has delivered the 9.9-millimeter thin KDL-40ZX1 (pictured) / KDL-52EX1 and the likely-WHDI-enabled KDL-40ZX1 / KDL-46EX1 to regions across the pond, though these beauties won't come with you relieving your wallet of some serious poundage. The KDL-40ZX1 gets going at £2,339, and it only gets wilder from there.

[Thanks, Marcos]

No longer just something for French children, Disney's Cinemagic HD channel will be coming to the UK this December on Sky Digital. Sky's HD count will hit 29 with the addition when it debuts in time for Christmas screenings of "Ratatouille" and "Tinkerbell." In case you're wondering what those two flicks have to do with Christmas, we have to say, "Get over it, Scrooge." Seriously, at least here in the US, we'll take anything HD that breaks up the "It's a Wonderful Life" - "Miracle on 34th Street" - "A Christmas Story" marathon that is the Christmas season and is kid-friendly! Hopefully the offerings on the HD movie-centric channel will grow quickly out of the gate for our UK friends.

Tough to say how well this will catch on across the pond, but we're definitely digging the direction this box is headed. IP Vision's latest set-top-box is quite the interesting character, being completely carrier-independent and boasting no subscription fees whatsoever. The unit includes an HDD for storing up to 40 hours of content, a Freeview tuner, an export-to-USB feature (read: external storage support) and the ability to tap into a wide library of video-on-demand content. Speaking of the latter (FetchTV), users can suck down material from Paramount, ITV, Turner Broadcasting, Eagle Vision, Fremantle, Entertainment Rights and Aardman, with movies priced between £1.99 and £3.50 and other shows costing £0.29 to £1.99. The unit itself can be purchased now for £149.99 (or £129.99 for a limited time) -- tell us, UKers, is this something you might be interested in?

[Via TechDigest]

The path to Netflix-enhanced glory hasn't been entirely trouble free for everyone, this time it's posters on AVForum noticing a distinct lack of audio on Xbox 360s connected to their HDTV by HDMI. So far suggested solutions for the afflicted include plugging in the hard drive while the system is on, or waiting several minutes before switching the monitor to HDMI, and repeating them every time the system is started. It's not the first time we've heard of UK-centric HDMI weirdness, any of you hearing a whole lot of nothing while gaming (that's not attributable to hard drive installs)?

[Via Xbox 360 Fanboy]