Mighty Gadget Blog: The latest technology news & reviews in the UK

We touched yesterday on the new iMac upgrades and talked about the notion that some people only buy Macs because they’re “pretty”. Well another new Apple product that takes all aesthetic pleasantries from the iMac and that lovely Aluminium MacBook Pro and basically makes it a simple screen is Apple’s LED Cinema Display. If you didn’t know already the Cinema Display is basically a Monitor which can be used with either Mac desktop PCs or with laptops. Older models of the Cinema Display were limited to what could actually be plugged into it, but now Apple have seen the fault and left it accessible to basically any type of current Notebook or Desktop Mac.

Ok so what’s great about it other than looks. Originally available in a 24” or 30” model Apple has now opted for just a straight 27” more than adequate space and room for you to do your work and with a resolution 2560 x 1440 it’s certainly packing the pixel power. Obviously as it’s now LED backlit, the screen is super bright with no wait time and greater control of brightness of your screen, not only that it has an ambient light sensor that can adjust the screen brightness to an optimum setting for whatever light your room is currently in.

Other things it has include built in sound, a 49W built in speaker with subwoofer, for fantastic sound whether from your games or media content. It has a built in I-Sight camera and microphone for things like Skype and also packs great connectivity with 2 USB 2.0 ports and 2 Firewire 400 ports. One thing Apple are pushing with the display is it’s eco-friendly, free from harmful toxins and is made of recyclable materials

All in all it’s a great monitor to have if you have a Mac or Macbook. However like all things Apple it comes with a price to match. As it stands there’s no price and only a “Coming Soon” date but looking back at the older models you can expect anything from £700 to £1000 at least.

Usually it’s “the bigger the better” but with Acer’s new S1 series of LCD TV screens it certainly looks like “less is more”. Announced this week, the super thin and small screens not only keep the high quality goods in a smaller space but also are “wallet friendly”. So if you’re interested in a smaller TV for your house or a decent quality, decent sized, space saving monitor, read on.

Housed in a nice glossy black outer shell the Acer S1 series truly indicate that size doesn’t matter. Opting to keep the screens small (18.5” to 23”) these little beauties only measure 15mm thick and a staggering 13mm in depth. Now I know you’re thinking squashing it so thin will mean it’ll lose out elsewhere. WRONG! They offer Full 1080p HD and a whopping 12million : 1 contrast ratio which alters frame by frame to deliver super sharp images. Couple that with a response time of 5ms and you’re looking at a belter. Now there is a downside in that the smaller screens only have VGA and DVI ports where as the larger 21 and 23 get HDMI too. Not only that with EcoDisplay low power consumption, you can sleep easy knowing your helping the environment too.

Prices start at an ultra-low £119.99 too.

The D241H Display+ is a new monitor with what i can only describe as bizarre features for a monitor. I’m not saying their bad features by any means just strange. In a world where most people own mobile phones or PMPs which can do your social networking, emails and photos, why not have a monitor that can do it independently of your desktop PC.

This 1080P Full HD panel with a 2ms response time, HDMI and DVI port, it’s your standard fairly decent LCD monitor for your desktop, What makes it stand out though is its ability to connect via Wi-Fi(or ethernet) to the net when your desktop is powered off. Once connected it’s widgets can check your email(Gmail and Yahoo! mail) collect RSS feeds from your favourite MightyGadget blog, and other assorted web feeds.

You can also plug in an SD card or USB dongle and playback your pictures turning the monitor into an oversized picture frame. What’s cool is you can have three widgets working at once too. It also comes with a remote with a slide out QWERTY keyboard making it easy to write your emails or messages from a comfortable distance.

No pictures of the screen yet but it’s believed to be available in May and pricing is still TBC.

Taiwanese giants Asus have recently announced this monstrous new 27” monitor with 3D support. Asus seem to be embracing the new future of 3D tech already with a 3D supported laptop out on the market and it seems to continue here with this super monitor.

Design wise it’s not the best looking monitor in the world but Asus can please aesthetically if they want. Quality is the name of the game here though, 27” screen with NVIDIA 3D vision support, will also be available in a smaller 23”(MG236 and VG236H) and 23.6”(PG246)(but why would you want that when you can get 27?). It has dual link DVI allows for full 1080p HD quality images at a staggering 60fps so when you slap on your 3D specs, the image is smooth and jerk free.

Due out later in the year, we don’t have any price available as of yet so keep your eye out for that. It is believed however that the smaller model will be available before the gargantuan one.

NVIDIA 3D Vision is a clever little gadget that will bring 3D tech to your PC without having to buy a dedicated screen.

It is now on sale in the UK from a variety of retailers and works by lashing up a pair of wireless 3D specs to an infrared transmitter and use some software that displays two different pictures simultaneously, so there’s no flicker.

You should then get depth perception in PC games which should be handy for shooters.

You will need a PC running Vista and compatible graphics card and you will also need a monitor or TV that can run at 120Hz and higher.

Nvidia GeForce 3D Vision plus a 120Hz Samsung SyncMaster LCD should now be available for around £400

In a crowded market the LG W53 series monitors are trying to offer something a little different. The new line of monitors promise to "reduce eyestrain during extended use".

This claim is made possible by automatic brightness control that optimises the picture settings and the brightness of the screen based on the light in the room and the content being viewed. By lowering the intensity of the backlight, this feature also reduces the W53's power consumption, making it a more energy efficient option. To further avoid eyestrain, it also includes a timer that reminds users to take a break from their work at predetermined intervals.

Screen sizes for the W53 series range from 18.5" to 27" and all monitors larger than 21.5" offer a 1920 x 1080 full HD resolution and a 16:9 aspect ratio, ideal for watching HD movies and games. The monitors also boast a Digital Fine Contrast (DFC) ratio of up to 50,000:1 and a response time of as quick as 2ms.

The monitors should be available from May 2009. No word on pricing yet.

Samsing are expected to be releasing their new 23-inch 2342BWX QWXGA in South Korea soon for ₩399,000 ($315, £200). This monitor with have an amazing resolution of 2,048 x 1,152 and a response time of 5-millisecond. It maybe worth noting that you might need good eye sight if you want to read text for long periods at a time!

BenQ announced the availability for its M2400HD, a 24-Inch LCD screen, on November 1st. The screen has a resolution of ,920x1,080, a brightness is 300cd/m², a contrast ratio of 1,000:1 (with DCR of 10,000:1), a response time of 5ms, and the AMA (Advanced Motion Accelerator) and Senseye Tech.

It also comes with a 3 port USB hub, 2Mpix web cam and HDMI/DVI-D/Mini D-Sub interface.

It is expected to retail for €420 / £330

Via: akihabaranews