Toshiba Announces 3D HDTV with Video Conferencing and More

01.06.10

Toshiba announces a 3D HDTV that packs an 8-core processor, video conferencing, 3D video, access to Vudu, Netflix, CinemaNow and more!

by PJ Jacobowitz

From: http://www.pcmag.com/

LAS VEGAS—Toshiba held a press conference on Wednesday morning to announce new HDTV's and Blu-ray players. The focus of the conference was to introduce the Toshiba KIRA2, a LED HDTV that will offer everything but the kitchen sink: video conferencing, 3D video, media sharing over a home network and access to popular internet sites and Video-On-Demand content such as Vudu, CinemaNow, Netflix and Facebook.
The real magic of the KIRA2 is the box that is attached to it: it's a computer called the Cell Set-Top Box, incorporating the Cell microprocessor that Toshiba helped develop. The KIRA2 HDTV and Cell Set-Top Box will be sold together as the first in a new product line called the CELL TV Series.
The CELL Set-Top Box is powered by the CELL Broadband Engine, which Toshiba claims is 10 times faster than the average desktop computer. The platform includes 8 processors, each clocked at 3.2 GHz, which makes it output 200 GFLOPS (floating point operations per second.)
Also inside the CELL Set-Top Box is a 1 TB hard drive, 802.11n Wi-Fi with support for DLNA and Wireless HD for connecting the set-top box to the KIRA2 HDTV without any A/V cables. With the incredible processing power of the CELL Broadband Engine, the KIRA2 will be able to offer the following features:

• Real-time conversion of 2D video to 3D video: Anything can be watched in 3D.
  
  
• Advanced upscaing of standard-definition video: The set can improve the quality of non-high-definition content and convert it to high-definition with minimal images noise and maximum clarity.
  
  
• Convert any convent video to 480-Hz: The set will produce smoother motion by displaying any video at 480 scenes per second (480Hz)
  
  
• Automatically Calibrate HDTV Image: The KIRA2's color sensor will detect the amount of light in the room as well as the color temperature of the light in the room and automatically adjust the set's brightness, contrast, gamma, sharpness and color saturations to provide the best image for the type of room it is in.
  
  
• Video Conferencing: The HDTV will include a video camera, microphone and software to video chat over the internet with compatible video conferencing platforms. All video calls received will be treated to the Cell's upscaling techniques.
  
  
• Access to Cell TV: This will be a collection of internet content including Netflix, Vudu, CinemaNow, Pandora and more.
  
  
• Accessible on your home network: Computers can copy and/or retrieve any media stored on the CELL Set-Top Box.

Pricing and availability was not announced. Check back at PCMag.com for a full review, when we receive a unit in for testing. For more information on the KIRA2, CELL Set-Top Box and CELL TV, visit Toshiba.com.