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Website: Rapid TV News

Samsung’s latest range of TVs will go on sale in the US at the end of March.

Indeed, some models are already available, and will be in key European markets very shortly.

We know their prices, and the 3D sets will not be cheap.

Samsung’s debut into the 3D set market is its range of UNC7000 models which are already being discounted by Amazon at around $2339 for the 46” model and $2969 for the 55” which suggests that buyers are paying just $250 extra over the ‘non-3D’ models.

Broadcasting of any sort of 3D signals is still some months away, so Samsung has handily bundled in an offer which includes a Samsung 3D Blu-ray player and a pair of active shutter glasses.

Panasonic has also released its 3D plans, using Best Buy in the US as its prime retailer and charging $2500 for a 50” set, or $2900 when a 3D Blu-ray player and glasses are included.

In other words 3D prices, at least for US buyers, are not too outrageous, and significantly less than early HDTV models.

And most analysts expect these introductory prices to quickly fall as quantities – and competition – increases.

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Website: Rapid TV News

This time next week SES Astra will unveil its latest data as to the number of homes viewing one or other of its satellites.

The numbers will be good, but the number of HD channels now being offered in Europe is near-spectacular.

But Astra admits there are complaints about too many broadcasters cutting their data-rates, leading to softer HD images.

Thomas Wrede, Astra’s VP/product management, said that Astra’s own HD portfolio now contains 112 channels out of a European total of 280.

Moreover, that 280 is expected to grow to about 600 by 2013.

Wrede said more channels will be added to the Astra offering within the next few weeks, leading to at least 20 new channels by year-end, and another 30 next year.

And these predictions could easily be pessimistic. “Usually forecasts are relatively optimistic, but in terms of HD they have been eventually too pessimistic.

“Even in 2008 we had already exceeded their forecasts and if you look at the end of the decade it is clear that HD will be mainstream.”

He also urged broadcasters not to squeeze the bit-rate of their HD transmissions.

“There is not sufficient HD native content and at some times of the day you see up-converted material, and that’s something I urge broadcasters to change.”

Wrede said there were viewer complaints when broadcasters ran at a data-rate of less than 12 Mbps.

“There is a well known relationship between the number of subscribers and the number of channels and we find this with each pay-TV operator,” said Wrede.

However, not everyone is finding it easy to earn revenues from HD.

“If you look at the business models you find it works well for pay-TV operators and the public broadcasters, but for the commercial broadcasters there is an issue, the means of financing the extra costs.

“This is why in Germany for real free-to-air you only see the public broadcasters.

“The private channels have had to encrypt and the majority of HD channels on our system come from pay-TV operators”.

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LG is the next TV producer out of the trap to deliver details and prices of its range of 3D televisions, destined for the UK.

There will be a late launch for the LG LD920, as the company estimate this one will be ready for late summer.

However, the LG LX9900 3D TV will be on the shelves of local electrical retailers in May.

There will be two sizes, the 47 inch and a 55 inch.

Both come with a LED backlit flatscreen fully capable of delivering 1080p images and the TV is only 3.16 cm thick!

As for the cost, the LG LX9900 3D TV with a 47 inch screen will be priced between £2,500 and £3,000, while the 55 inch version will come with a price tag between £3,600 to $4,000.

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It has to be a sign of the times when a terrestrial TV broadcaster like Five can have its value literally cut in half overnight, but that is what happened when the owner of Five, the RTL Group, reported figures that were a lot worse than anticipated.

Five ended the year with a loss of £37.4 million, with revenues of £269 million, down 21.1 per cent on the £341 million for the previous year.

As a result of these disappointing figures, the RTL group has valued the channel at just £127.6 million, which is half what channel Five was worth before.

Having done all of that, RTL is still committed to Five and this write-down is a standard practice in business.

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The TV tuner made by Elgato has always been a good piece of kit but the latest addition to the range, the Elgato Netstream, is not a USB device that has to be plugged into a computer as it plugs straight into the home’s broadband router.

Once connected to the TV aerial and the router, this little silver box will transmit Freeview digital TV all around the house so that any computer can pick it up.

What this does is eliminate the need for a set top box in every room of the house, but it requires a computer to pick the wireless signal up.

Naturally when all of the conditions are perfect the Elgato Netstream is a good device, but in areas with a poor signal it may not be so good.

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Following in the steps of the other broadcasters, Five has announced the signing of a deal with the CBS owned and run TV.com on-demand TV service.

This will be TV.com’s first deal with a UK based broadcaster and should there be more deals in the pipeline with other broadcasters, TV.com will have the upper hand over other on-demand services such as Hulu, which is also looking to enter the UK and European on-demand market.

What the deal means is that TV.com will be able to offer its users content from Five’s on-demand service Demand Five, as well as around two hundred and fifty hours worth of archive material.

Five’s parent company is RTL which already has a great relationship with CBS as it buys a lot of content from them.

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As if the talk of 3D television, laptops, film and games is not enough it seems that Sony is working on building a new camera for the home user that uses 3D technology, and with that announcement it seems that 3D is definitely here to stay.

It is not the fad that many experts predicted.

As for Sony, it would seem it is intent on 3D domination with televisions, the Playstation 3 and now a home video camera.

Obviously Sony is holding exact details of this product close to its chest, but announcing it to the world is enough to get the other manufacturers thinking about 3D home video too.

Having said that, Sony will not be the first company to bring a 3D camera, as Fuji already has the FinePix Real 3D W1 in the stores.

Read more: Techwatch Tech News: Digital & Satellite TV, 3DTV, HDTV, IPTV, Cable, Computers, Games, Mobile Phones, Broadband, Internet, Telecoms and Wireless