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LG's E90 monitor slims down to 7.3mm thickness by stuffing everything into its excessively glossy base
LG's just announced a new desktop visualizer for us all and it looks a promising proposition with its stupendously thin 7.3mm profile and minimal bezels surrounding the screen. But wait, it can't be all good news and it's not, as LG's also decided to apply an ultra-glossy finish to the E90, which should easily neutralize any understated appeal it might otherwise have had. As usual with these ultraslim displays, most of the electronics are encased in the E90's base, though the specs themselves don't seem to be showing any sacrifices. You're looking at an LED-backlit panel with a 2-millisecond response time, a 1920 x 1080 resolution (on the 21.5-inch E2290V), 250 nits of brightness, analog, digital and HDMI inputs, a 10,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, and a €329 ($435) MSRP. It should be available at some point later this month, see video of its appearance at IFA this year after the break.
Acer announces new 3D monitor, AS5745DG 3D laptop availability
More 3D choices for your 3D lifestyle. Acer is launching a pair of products that'll give you another excuse to wear fancy active-shutter glasses at all times, starting with the HS244HQ, a 1080p monitor that measures 23.6-inches across, has the requisite 120Hz refresh rate and manages a 12,000,000:1 contrast ratio thanks to its LED backlighting. We're also learning more about the AS5745DG laptop, a "high cost-performance model" 15.6-inch laptop with NVIDIA GeForce GT425M graphics, 2.53GHz Intel Core i5-460M processor, 4GB of RAM, 640GB of storage, and a 120Hz display with a pair of 3D Vision glasses to match. It's a bit meatier than the company's 5738DG from last year, and rather pricier too, with an MSRP set to fall just under 100,000 yen -- about $1,200 when it ships next month. No word on the monitor's cost yet, but don't expect a bargain.
LG 72LEX9: the **largest 3D television you can purchase next year (updated)
If you're going to make the jump to 3D then don't pussyfoot around. Not when you can go all in with the world's largest commercial 3D LED backlit television from LG. The 72LEX9 stretches that 400Hz TruMotion panel to a full 72 inches while bunging NetCast online media streaming, Spot Control pixel dimming, DLNA, and Wireless AV Link into the mix. Look for it to be released in Q2 of 2011... at which time LG will probably release its 84-incher just to spite you. TV sans human after the break. ** Mitsubishi makes a 75-inch 3D-ready LaserVue TV. Talk about splitting hairs.
MacBook Air suffers another bout of 11.6-inch display rumors
You know a device is due for a refresh when the only thing left to write about it is rumormongering of a possible upgrade. Today it's the turn of AppleInsider, citing sources in Taiwan, to declare that an 11.6-inch LED-backlit display will be headlining a long overdue update to Apple's MacBook Air. We've heard this scuttlebutt before, and the idea that the Air would be shrunken in order to better differentiate it from the MacBook Pro line carries a lot of believability, but we're still a little jaded from previous misleading rumors on the same subject. At least this one comes with all the gravitas of DigiTimes, whose scribes suggest Quanta has an order to build up to half a million 11.6-inch "MacBooks" for Apple in 2010. All that said, we still wouldn't be surprised if Apple let another holiday period go by without updating its unhealthily thin 13.3-inch laptop.
HP's 2310e is less than an inch thick, packs 1080p display, asks for $289 tithe
After the 2310m comes the, erm, 2310e. HP has put its 1080p-resolving 23-inch monitor on a strict training regimen and returned with this new unit that checks in at under an inch in thickness. The 2310e brings as much gloss as a humanoid can handle, even going so far as to replace the usual buttons with touch-sensitive light-up controls. Speaking of light, the jumbo HP logo on the back blossoms in a lustrous white when you turn it on. If that doesn't curb your enthusiasm for this cake slicer, you'll want to know it has DVI-D, HDMI and DisplayPort inputs, 250 nits of brightness, a 5ms response time, and an admittedly meaningless 8,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio. Price is set at $289 and US availability is expected on September 29th.
Sharp releases slew of new Quattron TVs at IFA 2010
Just in case those George Takei commercials didn't clue you in that Sharp was serious about Quattron, the company has announced four new TV lines at IFA sporting yellow as a fourth subpixel color. At the top of the list, the Quattron 3D-enabled LE925 line will be available in 60-inch or 46-inch sizes and feature Sharp's proprietary high-speed FRED LCD signal processing technology along with side-mounted scanning LED backlighting -- which like the LV Series -- is touted to produce 1.8x better brightness than competing sets and reduce 3D crosstalk. Aquos Net+ connectivity is thrown in too, along with 2D-to-3D conversion, a digital triple tuner and 8GB of built-in flash memory for timeshift recording. Playing second fiddle to this overachiever are the 2D-only LE924E, LE824E and LE814E series, which will also feature Aquos Net+. Pricing details for all of the new lines are still unknown, but they're slated to be available in Germany and Austria later this month. Here's hoping Sulu gets his jaw checked out before then.
LG to unveil LEX8 3DTV at IFA featuring 'Nano LED' backlighting
Now that LED backlighting has trickled down to nearly every HDTV lineup, it appears the big manufacturers will have to find new ways to differentiate their products, like LG's upcoming LEX8 television. Set to debut at IFA in Berlin before going on sale in Germany and Korea next month (no word on the US), LG claims that thanks to a 'thin film of miniscule dots positioned in front of a full array of LEDs' its Nano Lighting technology -- perhaps of the Nanosys variety it licensed earlier this year -- makes for a clearer, smoother picture, with the slimmest and narrowest outline of any LED TV, ever, at just .88cm thick with a 1.25cm bezel. Of course LG's NetCast widgets and Magic Motion remote are along for the ride as well, while we'll have to wait until the show opens later this week to get our eyes on this beauty, check after the break for a few more pictures.
Samsung 90 and 30 series LCDs work hard as computer monitors, play hard as 1080p HDTVs
The dividing line between computer monitor and HDTV grows ever thinner. Samsung is announcing two new series of multi-function monitors, displays that handle the computing you need with sizes ranging from 21.5- to 24-inches, 1920 x 1080 worth of pixels, and a response time of 5ms. But, they also handle the entertainment you want, with HDTV tuners, built-in speakers, and even remote controls. The $420, 24-inch 90 Series offers LED-backlighting and a retina-punishing 5,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, while the 21.5-, 23-, and 24-inch 30 Series makes do with a paltry 70,000:1 dynamic ratio at prices ranging from $270 to $330. All these genre-benders are shipping now, perfect for your dorm room escapades.
Sharp releases 8 new DVR-packing LED backlit LCD TVs into the wilds of Japan
Sharp's 46-inch Quattron LE821E caught our eye in the UK a few months back thanks to its addition of yellow at the pixel level and its integrated Freeview HD DVR. Now Sharp Japan has jumped in on the all-in-one action with their announcement of two new series of LED backlit LCD TVs. On the higher end, the DR series will feature built-in BD burners and 500GB hard drives, while supporting full HD in the 40-inch version -- but only 1366 x 768 HD resolution in 32-inch model. Similarly, the DZ3 series will come with USB HDD DVR features and sell in full HD sizes of 32, 40, 46 and 50-inches, while 20 and 26-inch sizes will only support 1366 x 768 HD resolution. These combo sets are scheduled to hit Japan later this year, but if you ask us, we'll be waiting for even more bullet point features... 3D, anyone?
VIZIO XVT HDTVs with LEDs, WiFi, apps & Bluetooth ready to ship
This year's iteration of VIZIO's top of the line XVT LCDs (at least until the XVT3D -- née XVT Pro -- series hits in Q4) are finally ready to ship and, as we've come to expect, pack a long list of features to go along with their price tags. The 240Hz 42-, 47-, and 55-inch versions all feature LED backlighting, which may be ready to beat criticisms of light black levels with a claimed 10,000,000:1 contrast ratio. Whether or not you believe any TV manufacturer's contrast measurements, an increased 120 zones of backlighting (up from 80 last year, up to 160 from 120 on the 47-inch) and a profile that's 2 inches slimmer (down to just 3 inches deep) this time around should be easily noticeable. The 37- and 32-inch XVT models rely on the company's edge lit Razor LED lighting tech and are less than 2 inches this, with stated 1,000,000:1 contrast ratios. Other than arbitrary and easily fudged specs, VIZIO's fighting the competition with its VIA suite of features -- widget based app platform with Netflix, Pandora & others, built-in WiFi and QWERTY Bluetooth remote -- and they're all here, along with plenty of HDMI inputs and SRS audio technology. The 32-inch isn't the cheapest model that size you'll find at $699 and neither is the top of the line XVT553SV with its $2,199 MSRP, but after perusing the list of specs in the press release after the break, it's hard to imagine finding many with a similar resumé at those prices.
NEC outs versatile E231W monitor with 1080p resolution and green aspirations
You know that the 16:9 display ratio is here to stay when even NEC's business monitors -- long the bastion of old school sensibilities -- start offering it as a standard feature. At least the Japanese company has also had the decency to include a DisplayPort on its latest 23-incher, with a full 1080p resolution and ambient light sensor adding to the feel of modernity. The E231W isn't moving things along much further than the well-liked EA231W of last year, but it does consume less power (28W) and up-front cash ($299) than its senior sibling. 250 nits of brightness, a 1,000:1 contrast ratio, 4-way adjustability (height, tilt, swivel, and pivot), and a 3-year warranty round off the energy-efficient package. Availability of this latest MultiSync monitor is scheduled for later this month, and you'll find the full PR after the break.
Toshiba's latest Cell Regza LCDs are Slim, but don't go calling them 2D
Ready to climb Mount Fuji and see what the next top Japanese TV will look like? Toshiba has just outed its trio of flag-bearing displays for this fall: the Cell Regza Slim 55XE2 and 46XE2, and the full-bloodied 55X2. Inch-based dimensions are already given in their model names, but you'll also want to know they offer 240Hz refresh rates, 1,000 nits of brightness and 9,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratios on the chunkier X2 (augmented with local backlight dimming), and a 2D-to-3D conversion technology that'll translate your stale old 2D imagery into bodacious triple dimensionality. You're also keeping the 3 terabytes of storage and the capability of time-shifting up to eight channels at a time from the older model, though you're no longer limited to a hard cap of 26 hours per channel. Connectivity is also rich, with options for DLNA and/or up to eight HDDs, while jacking in a Blu-ray recorder will permit you to record straight to the optical media the same way you can do to the Regzas' own storage. All these goodies won't come cheap, however, as the flagship 55X2 will retail for a well-rounded million Yen ($11,430) in late October, to be preceded by its Slim siblings with prices of ¥700,000 ($8,000) for the 55-inch and ¥600,000 ($6,858) for the 46-inch earlier that month. Full press release after the break.
Toshiba refreshes Satellite low-power laptops in the UK
If you had your eye on a CULV-toting Toshiba Satellite ultraportable, you might to wait another month before coughing up the change -- Pocket-Lint says the mysterious new Toshibas from Computex are actually updates to the T110 and T130, and both are getting a sizable upgrade. Whereas 2009's low-end lappy settled for a Celeron chip, the Iron Man Metallic T210 (pictured above) has a dual-core 1.2GHz Pentium U5400 powering that 11.6-inch LED-backlit display, and the 13.3-inch T230 is back in black with a Core ULV i3-330UM and a 500GB hard drive. Both feature Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, 802.11n Wi-Fi, chiclet keyboards and the usual array of ports, and both claim a very respectable 8.5 hours of battery life on a 6-cell battery's charge. No word on pricing or stateside availability (like that drool-worthy 3D Dynabook) but astute Brits should find them in stores next month.
Toshiba's new REGZA record over LAN, convert 2D to 3D quite soon in Japan
Though Toshiba's flagship ZX900 Cell TV has yet to make its feature-packed US debut, the company is already planning fancy new toys for the motherland. This week, Toshiba announced a full fifteen new LCD HDTVs destined to spice up the sweltering Japanese summer -- each of them ready to pull double duty as DVR -- and Nikkei Electronics reports that the company's 3D-converting sets will debut around the same time. Meanwhile, Google Translate tells us a bit about the rest. While the low-end REGZA HE1 series have only a built-in 500GB hard drive and LED-backlit LCDs (as if that weren't enough), the RE1 can send footage to up to four external hard drives over USB in a system that gives each family member their own dedicated hard drive. But the Z1 series takes the cake -- it's got fleshed out DVR functionality that lets users record two programs at once (while watching a third) and jack into a LAN switch with eight drives for a veritable NAS of up to 4TB. It's little things like this that make us wish we lived in Japan.
GPNC Korea announces the first me-too Android HDTV
Anyone opposed to another Android packing TV announced by a foreign manufacturer of questionable validity? We figured you weren't, so say hello to GPNC Korea's television running Android 1.5 on a 833 Mhz ARM Cortex A8 chip. While it's claiming NTSC and ATSC support among other broadcast standards, the USA doesn't appear to have made the cut for availability, with 10 different countries including Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Netherlands, Poland, Australia and Dubai. Practically identical to People of Lava's effort, it is slated for 42-, 47- and 55-inch LED-backlit versions with no real price or date, and even this promo pic looks very familiar. GPNC managed to keep the screen clear of error messages this time, but its website is flagged by Google as "dangerous" so we'd probably wait for something more official before making any attempts to preorder. At this rate, these TVs will be as ubiquitous as Android/ARM tablets before long -- let's hope Sony and Intel spill the details on those Google TV plans sooner rather than later.
LG unveils first Full LED 3D HDTV -- the 22.3mm-thin LX9500
Well, here's a way to make those 3D tellies attractive -- slim them down to unreasonable proportions and kill as much of the bezel as you can. The newly announced LX9500 isn't quite as skinny as the stuff we saw LG show off at CES, but at 22.3mm it still makes the majority of laptops look on in envy. Paired to a pleasingly minimal 16mm bezel, it makes for quite the gorgeous living room accessory, whether on or off (one more pic after the break). The new LED-backlit set will offer a full 1080p resolution and a 400Hz refresh rate, which is more than enough to make those active shutter glasses useful. A 10,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio is given, but that number wouldn't impress us even if it was the total US national debt to 1, we want real contrast numbers or nothing at all. Anyhow, Reuters is reporting a 4.7 million Won ($4,134) launch price for the 47-inch model, which should go on sale a week from now in Korea. A 55-inch variant should also be available when these 3DTVs make the journey westwards in May.
Philips intros new Ambilight HDTVs, speakers and other AV wares
Philips ain't much for introducing new gear here on US soil, but for those fortunate enough to buy their milk with Euros, the company has a cornucopiaof new kit to tempt you with. It seems as if the company chose to skip right over CES and do its own thing here in late February, with the "2010 Consumer Lifestyle" event bringing to us a refreshed lineup of LED-backlit Ambilight HDTVs (7000, 8000 and 9000 series), a new Immersive Sound home theater system (with tri-speaker satellites) and the aluminum-tinged Soundbar HTS9140. We're also told that the new line of 8000 and 9000 LED 1080p TVs are 3D capable, with a "3D upgrade pack" to be made available separately and include two Active3D glasses and a wireless transmitter. In related news, that now-forgotten Cinema 21:9 set -- which was supposed to ship many moon ago -- now has a "summer 2010" estimated arrival date on it, though we certainly aren't holding our breath just yet. Hit the source link for all the other goods, but don't expect to find much in the way of pricing and availability.
Bang and Olufsen's 55-inch BeoVision 7 collects a review, much love
55.5 inches of 1080p goodness would draw attention in any case, but when they're supplemented with local dimming of an LED-backlit display, 6ms response time, a stonking 4,000:1 static contrast ratio, and an integrated Blu-ray player... well, our cup runneth over with interest. The BeoVision 7-55 is just such a monstrous, no-compromise display, and it's recently undergone a review over at Flatpanels HD. The reviewers were giddy with the versatile motorized stand and the Blu-ray player (which opens by you waving a hand in front of it), while describing the design and execution as "truly beautiful." Picture quality is no worse, mind you, and epithets like "extraordinary" and "fantastic" were used to describe the experience of watching HD content on this panel. The same words can also be applied to the $18,700 MSRP, but at least the review is free and can be found at the source link below.
BenQ V2220 claims 'world's slimmest' monitor title
BenQ is on the warpath today, updating its V series and crying from the mountaintops about unbeatable slimness and contrast ratios. We could care less about the supposedly class leading 10,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, but the 15mm thinness on the flagship V2220 certainly intrigues. It's claimed as the thinnest 21.5-inch monitor around and its junior sibling, the 18.5-inch V920, shaves another millimeter of thickness off while claiming the same title for its size class. Naturally, they're supplemented by slightly bulkier 23- and 24-inch varieties (V2320 and V2420, respectively) for those who need the extra room, with H variants offering HDMI and headphone connection options. You can expect 1920 x 1080 (1366 x 768 on the V920) resolution, 250 nits of brightness, 5ms response time and a good 1,000:1 real contrast ratio across the board, with the Taiwan launch set for the next couple of months followed by global availability in June.
Nanosys and LG Innotek agree deal for newfangled LED-backlit displays
For the nitty gritty of how Nanosys' proprietary LED backlighting technology works, check out our earlier coverage here -- what you really need to know is that the company promises a significantly wider color gamut from its displays, while reducing power consumption by up to 50 percent. Quantum dot LEDs have shown their faces before, but now there's the big hulking heft of LG Innotek -- LG's component manufacturing arm -- behind what Nanosys is offering, which indicates we might actually see the release of nanotech-infused displays within the first half of this year as promised. The early focus appears to be on mobile phones, which gives us yet another next-gen feature to add to our list of requirements for our next phone. Check out the full PR after the break.
