Dubai // The future of home entertainment is on display at Gitex Shopper 2013.
Crowds gathered around the organic LED, or OLED, televisions on display, amazed by the picture quality and the concept of a curved screen.
The idea behind the shaped screen is that it naturally fits the viewer’s vision range, maintaining equal distance between all parts of the screen and the eyes.
Samsung and LG, the Korean electronics giants, were going head-to-head with their OLED TVs at the event.
LG was touting its “live white” displays, which has been added to the usual red, green and blue pixels to enhance the range and accuracy of colours.
Samsung, meanwhile, was showcasing the "real black" on its TV screens. Achieved by shutting off the pixels that display black, it reduces the on-screen glare caused by ambient light, so blacks and shadow details are as crisp and well-defined as possible.
Both types of screens are smart TVs with voice commands, though LG went further, providing Arabic commands in six dialects.
LG was the first brand to put the OLED TVs on the market, late last year. It also has the thinnest and lightest screens, at 4.3 millimetres and 13.9 kilograms.
Samsung launched its OLED screen in August and came up with the ingenious idea of separating the central processing unit from the screen.
This box is linked to the screen with only two wires, supplying power and audio/video. All of the other connections are on the CPU box, which can be placed elsewhere.
This not only allows customers to upgrade their TVs without having to buy a new screen, it also means avoiding having to access the back of the TV to connect cables.
Neither screen can be wall-mounted, because of the curvature, so both companies have worked on integrating the stand to the screen. LG has a clear stand embedded with transparent speakers that make it seem as if the TV is floating.
“Wow, just wow,” said Amit Parmar, a 24-year-old civil engineer who was unable to take his eyes off the curved screens. “Both of them are incredible. I’m not sure which is better. The LG is very thin.
“The picture quality on both is beautiful. I would love to have either of them at my home but the price is just as incredible.”
Samsung’s OLED screen retails at Dh32,999, while the asking price for the LG is Dh34,999.
“I think, for now, we will stay with the normal LED TV, but we can always dream,” said Mr Parmar.
malkhan@thenational.ae
The specs
Engine: four-litre V6 and 3.5-litre V6 twin-turbo
Transmission: six-speed and 10-speed
Power: 271 and 409 horsepower
Torque: 385 and 650Nm
Price: from Dh229,900 to Dh355,000
Know before you go
- Jebel Akhdar is a two-hour drive from Muscat airport or a six-hour drive from Dubai. It’s impossible to visit by car unless you have a 4x4. Phone ahead to the hotel to arrange a transfer.
- If you’re driving, make sure your insurance covers Oman.
- By air: Budget airlines Air Arabia, Flydubai and SalamAir offer direct routes to Muscat from the UAE.
- Tourists from the Emirates (UAE nationals not included) must apply for an Omani visa online before arrival at evisa.rop.gov.om. The process typically takes several days.
- Flash floods are probable due to the terrain and a lack of drainage. Always check the weather before venturing into any canyons or other remote areas and identify a plan of escape that includes high ground, shelter and parking where your car won’t be overtaken by sudden downpours.
Family reunited
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was born and raised in Tehran and studied English literature before working as a translator in the relief effort for the Japanese International Co-operation Agency in 2003.
She moved to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies before moving to the World Health Organisation as a communications officer.
She came to the UK in 2007 after securing a scholarship at London Metropolitan University to study a master's in communication management and met her future husband through mutual friends a month later.
The couple were married in August 2009 in Winchester and their daughter was born in June 2014.
She was held in her native country a year later.
It's up to you to go green
Nils El Accad, chief executive and owner of Organic Foods and Café, says going green is about “lifestyle and attitude” rather than a “money change”; people need to plan ahead to fill water bottles in advance and take their own bags to the supermarket, he says.
“People always want someone else to do the work; it doesn’t work like that,” he adds. “The first step: you have to consciously make that decision and change.”
When he gets a takeaway, says Mr El Accad, he takes his own glass jars instead of accepting disposable aluminium containers, paper napkins and plastic tubs, cutlery and bags from restaurants.
He also plants his own crops and herbs at home and at the Sheikh Zayed store, from basil and rosemary to beans, squashes and papayas. “If you’re going to water anything, better it be tomatoes and cucumbers, something edible, than grass,” he says.
“All this throwaway plastic - cups, bottles, forks - has to go first,” says Mr El Accad, who has banned all disposable straws, whether plastic or even paper, from the café chain.
One of the latest changes he has implemented at his stores is to offer refills of liquid laundry detergent, to save plastic. The two brands Organic Foods stocks, Organic Larder and Sonnett, are both “triple-certified - you could eat the product”.
The Organic Larder detergent will soon be delivered in 200-litre metal oil drums before being decanted into 20-litre containers in-store.
Customers can refill their bottles at least 30 times before they start to degrade, he says. Organic Larder costs Dh35.75 for one litre and Dh62 for 2.75 litres and refills will cost 15 to 20 per cent less, Mr El Accad says.
But while there are savings to be had, going green tends to come with upfront costs and extra work and planning. Are we ready to refill bottles rather than throw them away? “You have to change,” says Mr El Accad. “I can only make it available.”
TRAINING FOR TOKYO
A typical week's training for Sebastian, who is competing at the ITU Abu Dhabi World Triathlon on March 8-9:
- Four swim sessions (14km)
- Three bike sessions (200km)
- Four run sessions (45km)
- Two strength and conditioning session (two hours)
- One session therapy session at DISC Dubai
- Two-three hours of stretching and self-maintenance of the body
ITU Abu Dhabi World Triathlon
For more information go to www.abudhabi.triathlon.org.
