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Panasonic's new 1080p plasmas priced & dated - now in 42-inch size
Panasonic has finally announced pricing and availability for its 2007 plasma HDTV lineup, including new 1080p models in 50- and 58-inch sizes. Bulking up the current PZ700U line is the PZ750U series, which adds a new "Studio Reference Mode" (to provide consumers with the exact same color reproduction used on reference monitors in film editing studios), a pro setting mode (to even further calibrate the set), 3 HDMI jacks, and a 'special' black chrome look. All that 1080p beauty will cost however, with the top of the line TH-58PZ750U carrying an MSRP of $5,499.95 when it hits with limited availability in June. If missing out on the reference quality color is acceptable to you, the TH-58PZ700U (pictured above) is due next month for a mere $4,799.95. Check after the break for a more complete list of models and prices -- but if you're Mark Cuban then don't bother, because the 103-inch TH-103PZ600U has not been updated for 2007, so no need to upgrade yet.Update: Looking for Panasonic's missing 42-inch 1080p plasma? Apparently so were they, the company has issued an updated press release, noting that the TH-42PZ700U will bring 2-million+ pixels this June for $2,499.95.
MicroDisplay planning to shake up 1080p LCoS HDTV market
We're all about driving down prices, thus we're all about MicroDisplay's apparent plans to break the LCoS market wide open when it starts throwing down at CES. The Silicon Valley startup has hopes to deliver "50-inch plus" LCoS sets to "major big box retailers" under "major CE brand names" soon after unveiling its product line in just about a month. The firm is banking on the skyrocketing HD sales, not to mention the phasing out of CRT-based sets, to propel its single-chip sets atop the market. By developing self-proclaimed "unique and proprietary 1080p LCoS digital projection imaging devices," the company is aiming to mass produce a 50-inch model with a lightning quick response time for "under $1,500." Taking a note from Philips' single-chip motif, the sets would eventually range from 50- to 62-inches, with most sets hitting retails floors "around summer 2007."
Hannspree unveils new TVs with faux-wood curvature
Most of those new HDTVs that we've seen more or less look the same -- from the side and the back, that is. Each one comes with basically the same generic plastic case wrapped around ports that we generally don't mess around with more than we need to. But these new Hannspree sets are something else indeed. Each Hanspree Lounge model is wrapped in faux wood paneling, and its curves give you something to admire whilst you're grabbing that next beverage from the fridge during commercials. These new HDTVs will display at 1,366 x 768 and come in three sizes -- 26-inch, 32-inch, and 37-inch -- whose prices range from $1,200 to $1,900, respectively. The New York Times reports that the smaller model will be available this week, with the 32-incher rolling in by the middle of the month and the 37-incher dropping "in early November." Um, isn't that around now? Oh, and each comes with a memory card reader (no word on what type) too.[Via The New York Times]Update: Jared C. pointed out that the Hannspree website actually does list what memory cards this TV accepts, something we missed on our first pass. They include CompactFlash MicroDrive, Smart Media, SD, MMC, Memory Stick and Memory Stick Pro.
IFA 2006: Philips shows off 100-inch Ambilight display
Not too surprising since it was LG.Philips who showed off a 100-inch LCD earlier this year, however Philips took time at IFA to pimp not only their upcoming Blu-ray player but also the updated -- hopefully slightly less dangerous -- Ambilight technology. Just as 1080p has turned into "Full HD", Ambilight on all four sides of the screen is now Full surround, while Ambilight on three sides is merely Ambilight Surround. They'll have TVs featuring both on display throughout the exhibition, including the winner of the recent European Imaging & Sound Association (EISA) High-End LCD TV of the Year. They'll wrap things up with a couple new additions to their line of Viiv PCs, including the MCP9480i with HDMI, Blu-ray playback & recording, and DVB-T capability.
Panasonic Taiwan to stop CRT TV production in 2-3 years
The flat panel giant, A.K.A. Panasonic, has a bright outlook for the plasma and LCD market. So much so that they are planning on halting CRT production in the Taiwanese market with-in a few years. That market has already soon flat-panel love and Panasonic currently only produces seven flat panels to every three CRTs and as the price of said flat-panels drop, so will the sales of CRTs. Experts expect the shipments of CRTs to decrease by 200,000-300,000 units in '07 alone to this market of small tiny living spaces. Well, who doesn't want a flat panel besides chaps that can't afford 'em. Not many people would turn down purchasing a thin and sexy flat panel if it was the same price as the big 'ol CRT.
Overview of the top-5 LCD makers 2Q results
O.K. we have covered most of the top-tier LCD manufactures 2Q financial results so far, but here is a quick overview for all those that want to see them side-by-side. There is tons of more info found after the read link. Samsung - 14.11 trillion in revenues (KRW)- 1.51 trillion in profit LG - 5.796 trillion (KRW)- (10 billion loss) Philips - 7.601 billion (EUR) - 301 million in profit Sharp - 693 billion yen - 23.8 billion in profit Sony - 1.7442 trillion yen - 30.75 billion in profit KRW - Koren won - 1 South Korean won = 0.00105038707 U.S. dollarEUR - Euro - 1 Euro = 1.26300 U.S. dollar
Sony's "hide-and-seek" Bravia TAV-L1 gets pricing and release details
It's coming out a little later than we expected, but Sony has finally announced a solid release window for the Bravia TAV-L1 complete home theater system that we first spotted all the way back in February. As you may recall, this model consists of a 32-inch LCD monitor covered by a motorized panel containing speakers and a slot-loading DVD/SACD player, along with a single HDMI input and two vibration-canceling subwoofers in the base. Knowing full well that consumers love to personalize their gear, Sony will be offering the L1 with optional green, gray, burgundy, orange, or silver speaker grills for $100 apiece starting in September, about a month after the product itself is released. Also on the horizon is a $1,300 system called the RHT-G1000, which features speakers and a receiver built right into a TV stand, allowing users to hook up their own flat panel sets and rear satellites for the full home theater experience. Expect the G1000 to be available sometime in October, while the $4,000 TAV-L1 is scheduled for release next month -- well past the May launch we'd first heard, but also a lot cheaper than the $7,000 we originally reported.
Rig of the Day: Floating monitor
Here's a clever set up. Flickr user Brendan Lynch shows off a white MacBook 2.0Ghz connected to a wall-mounted Mitsubishi E35 18.1'' Flat Panel. It looks real nice, Brendan. If you could go the extra step and somehow hide the MacBook, you'd have a super-clean look."Clean rig" posted by Brendan Lynch.If you'd like to see your own rig featured here, simply upload photos into our group Flickr pool. We select one image to highlight each day, and crown a Rig of the Week on Sundays.
LG puts their biggest 100-inch LCD on display this weekend
If you're looking for a place to catch The Sopranos season finale on Sunday, let us make a suggestion. If you live in San Francisco, you may want to stop by SID (Society for Information Display) 2006, where LG will be publicly showing off their record setting 100-inch LCD HDTV.Or maybe you wouldn't want to...oh who are we kidding you know you would. If you were to accidentally make off with the massive 5ms refresh rate and 3000:1 contrast ratio monster, post up a pic or two in the flickr group of how you got it to fit in your living room.
Mitsubishi's new 21-inch RDT212H monitor for Japan
Mitsubishi has just announced a new 21.3-inch flat panel monitor for the Japanese market, and even though it offers two DVI ports and a UXGA resolution of 1,600 x 1,200, we're not sure how many folks will be willing to part with close to ¥200,000 (about $1,775 US) to have this model on their desks. The RDT212H, in silver or black, does offer a pretty nice 1000:1 contrast ratio, but the 16-millisecond response time won't impress any gamers, and the 300cd/m2 brightness is nothing special, so we're struggling to discover what those hundreds of thousands of yen are really buying you. We'll have to wait a few weeks to find out, though, as that's when this LCD is scheduled to hit stores -- stay tuned to Engadget Japan for the latest.[Via Impress]
Solid state TDEL flat panel HDTVs -- still -- coming soon
Cheaper than LCDs and plasmas plus better picture quality in a 1-inch thick flat panel HDTV? That's what iFire has been promising for a while now and it may be one step closer to reality. Their parent company Westaim hopes to bring the thick-film dielectric electroluminescent technology (TDEL) screens to market in 2007 at a price point of less than $1000 for a 34-inch model. It involves no gases, liquids or vacuums and requires no backlighting. Instead the materials are layered directly onto the glass which they say provides better PQ and a wider viewing angle, with half the production cost of LCDs. Much like the fabled SEDs which we still haven't seen, we've been looking out for these since Engadget first mentioned them in 2004. If/when either technology debuts, it will be very interesting to see how it affects the existing high definition flat screen market.
Philips spins off Liquavista to develop thin Electrowetting displays
A bunch of venture capitalists have been poking around Philips' R&D labs lately, and it seems that they like what they see. New Venture Partners has joined with the Dutch electronics giant to spin off several companies based on technology first developed by Philips Research, with the first collaboration, Liquavista, being announced today. Based on a thin-display technology called Electrowetting, Liquavista will attempt to integrate its products into DAPs, cellphones, watches, and other portable devices where high brightness and rapid refresh rates are valued (which is like, all of them). Electrowetting supposedly provides better brightness and response time than competing reflective display technologies while using essentially the same manufacturing techniques, and according to a handy comparison chart on MobileRead, is just about the best thing ever. Skeptics will be able to peep the displays for themselves in early June, however, when Liquavista will present some prototypes at the Society for Information Display's 2006 exhibition in San Francisco. [Warning: PDF link][Via MobileRead]
Syntax-Brillian looks to LG.Philips LCD for help expanding
To compete in todays flat panel television market, you gotta have size, and Syntax-Brillian has found a way around that. Today they announced they will be buying their LCD screens from LG.Philips in sizes from 20" to 47". This means S-B will be able to ensure they can get their Olevia branded televisions on store shelves, and LG Philips LCD knows there will always be someone to buy them, especially with the constant reminders that overcapacity is imminent.This is one of many such partnerships, you'll need a scorecard (if you already don't) to keep track of who actually made the TV sitting in your living room.
Another plasma hiding fireplace
This is better than some of the furniture challenges we just heard about. There are some times that you just don't want to show off your flat panel. Of course, we can't think of one of the top of our heads, but there must be a time. Anyway, with a press of a button, you can hide that flat panel behind a nice marble fireplace. This new one adds space for some audio/video equipment under the fireplace which would also fry up any lingering dust bunnies among your wiring. This "hot" boy is available across the pond in the UK for $8,687.
Love your Sony Bravia so much you can't turn it off? Good, you might not be able to
That's what Sony informed Reuters today. About 400,000 of the flat panel displays and rear-projection TVs in the Bravia or Grand Wega line have faulty software that could leave users unable to turn them off (kinda bad) or bring them out of standby mode (really bad). Affected owners can simply unplug the sets to reset them and/or visit Sony's website Update My TV . Depending on model, you can either update the firmware yourself or you may need a technician to do it for you. Hopefully this problem is not more widespread than they think, the Bravia line has been very popular for Sony.[via Engadget]
Flat panel price wars: Are Pioneer & Hitachi big enough to sit at this table?
Size does matter, at least if you're an LCD manufacturer. While 2005 may have ended without the oversupply and price crash many had predicted, as LG & Samsung continue to add production capacity prices will (someday) drop, and smaller manufacturers may be squeezed out. The outlook for plasmas is similar, with Matsushita (Panasonic) currently holding one-third of the market, and also with plans to expand production rapidly over the next few years. What can smaller manufacturers do? A few things, like partner up. For a company like Pioneer, maybe it's time to start focusing on features, not price and volume. They could start by offering 1080p TVs that accept 1080p inputs (oh wait, they already do that), provide in-home calibration, longer warranties, Ethernet ports for streaming, something. Maybe by the end of this year they'll be willing to throw in an HD-DVD or Blu-ray player just to differentiate themselves.
Yule log broadcasts a preview of new art forms?
Perhaps. As flat panel displays continue to drop in price, some people believe we'll have so many that this new trend will take off with "ambient video" and this is just one early example of it. We already saw the live log feed on INHD and the log DVD earlier, and as the CEO of ScreenDreams came by to mention, it will also be available in next generation DVD formats whenever they become available.Will this take off, will I walk throughout my house as my networked LCD wallpaper reacts to my movements and mood? I dunno if I really want it to, plus I'd probably have to change it all around when my parents visit.
