Mitsubishi
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Mitsubishi's HL2750U projector suits the "detail-oriented" crowd
We know, we could totally see you confusing "detail-oriented" with "high-resolution," but unfortunately Mitsu's not referring to those kinds of details. The HL2750U checks in with a barely respectable SXGA+ (1,400 x 1,050) resolution and a lovely 3,100 ANSI lumens for lighting up even mildly lit rooms. The 10.8 pound beamer also touts a lamp life of 5,000 hours, digital vertical and horizontal keystone correction, various lens options, Ethernet / RS-232c ports and an array of video inputs. Obviously, we'd recommend looking elsewhere for your dedicated home theater PJ, and we suspect you'll agree after swallowing the $3,995 MSRP.
Magna, Mitsubishi show off electric vehicle concepts in Geneva
We're not sure if it has anything to do with its falling out with Telsa or not, but auto-parts maker Magna International looks to have really gone all out for this year's Geneva Motor Show, where it is showing off its new Mila EV concept vehicle. Apparently, in addition to proving that it can build more than just parts, Magna is hoping that the vehicle will appeal to manufactures who want a turn-key EV platform that they can quickly get into production. Magna even seems to be going so far as to supply the batteries for the vehicle, which it says could have a charging time of just 2.5 hours and a range of 150 kilometers. Also offering up an EV concept at the show is Mitsubishi, which has rolled out an update to its iMiEV electric vehicle in the form of the iMiEV Sport Air (pictured after the break). In addition to getting an even more eye-catching, head-scratching look, this one also gets a boost in range from 100 to 120 miles, and a bit of an increase in performance from a new 60 kW motor. Dive into the links below for a closer look at each.Read - AutoblogGreen, "Geneva 2009: Magna Steyr Mila EV concept"Read - Autoblog, "Geneva 2009: Mitsubishi iMiEV Sport Air streamlines the bubble"
Mitsubishi unveils LDTV146 and LDTV152 1080p LCD monitors
Mitsubishi may be having some trouble with its LaserVue set, but those in the commercial realm probably aren't too concerned. What they may be interested in, however, are these two. Mitsu has introduced the 46-inch LDTV146 and 52-inch LDTV152 at the Digital Signage Show in Las Vegas, both of which boast 1080p 10-bit LCD panels. These were designed to last and last (and last), with a backlight estimated to survive 30,000 hours -- or around seven years when turned on for 12 hours per day. Other specifications include a 10,000:1 contrast ratio, 500 nits of brightness and $2,995 / $3,995 price tags, and if you're into either, you'll be glad to know they're available now.
Mitsubishi unveils prototype in-dash Blu-ray player
Difficult though it may be to believe, Panasonic showcased a conceptual in-dash BD deck of its own back in October of 2007. Obviously, nothing has really come of that, so Mitsubishi's stepping in with a prototype of its own. It's stated that the player has only a third of the volume compared to a traditional "home Blu-ray player," with it somehow being able to slip into a standard single-DIN opening. Better still, we're told that the final unit -- which is slated to hit production during fiscal year 2009 -- could also boast a mobile TV tuner in select markets, giving us even more reason to not pay attention to pedestrians, road signs and stop lights while taking that Sunday cruise.
Zero-emission i MiEV begins testing in New Zealand
Slowly but surely, the i MiEV is making its way out to test fields around the globe. Just months after a smattering of the zero-emission vehicles hit the west coast of America, we're now being told that a new crew of guinea pigs have waltzed into New Zealand. Over a hundred government representatives and key stakeholders were invited to drive Mitsubishi Motors' oddest, greenest vehicle, and of course, to talk business about how this bean could fit into the nation's transportation system. As it stands, Mitsu is still looking to launch the vehicle for consumer use this summer in Japan, though no word was mentioned on when it would arrive Down Under, across the pond or on US soil.
Mitsubishi temporarily suspends production of LaserVue HDTVs
We had heard that certain Mitsubishi representatives had been telling Diamond dealers that production had been suspended on the outfit's flagship LaserVue HDTV, and sure enough, the story is true. We have confirmed with Mitsubishi Digital Electronics America that the outfit has "temporarily suspended production of LaserVue televisions due to a problem with manufacturing equipment used to produce LaserVue TVs." We're also informed that "Mitsubishi Electric engineers are taking the necessary action to ensure that the company resumes production as quickly as possible, while maintaining the highest standards for product quality and reliability." So far as we know, this isn't a sign of sudden discontinuation, as Mitsu has affirmed that it's "expecting production to resume in early 2009." We'll update with more as we get it in.Update: We asked a few followup questions, and we did find that Mitsu isn't anticipating any supply issues, which indicates the problem may be short lived (or at least it hopes so). As for an official comment on what went wrong? "LaserVue production was suspended due to a manufacturing equipment issue." That's all we've got.[Thanks, Chuck]
Will TV makers consolidate during downturn?
It's a question that's always asked during downturns, but we actually believe there's a remote possibility of it happening this go 'round. A recent Wall Street Journal report suggests that industry experts anticipate only the top-tier brands -- Sony, Samsung, Panasonic, Sharp, LG and Toshiba, for example -- making it through the current economic slowdown without consolidation. They also suggest that everyone else could be "forced to either pull out of the TV business or join forces with a surviving entity." Quite frankly, we feel that's probably a bit extreme, as we can't imagine names like Insignia and VIZIO vanishing (or crazier still, merging) when it's price that matters most. Still, we can appreciate that the big firms could likely outlast the others in terms of coping with weak sales, but we still refuse to believe that Westingneer is even close to becoming a reality.
Mitsubishi's 65-inch Diamond WD-65835 RPTV HDTV reviewed
If you've been eying something a touch larger than Samsung's 61-inch HL61A650, why not consider Mitsubishi's WD-65835? The 65-inch Diamond series set was overshadowed by the altogether more intriguing LaserVue when it was introduced this Spring, but there's still a lot here worth loving. The surprisingly lightweight set was found to have accurate colors, "convincingly deep blacks" and a "bright, punchy, dimensional image," all of which sound characteristically Mitsu. Truth be told, critics had a tough time knocking the image quality at all under real-world scenarios, noting that its "exceptional contrast and solid blacks" easily trumped all but a few flat-panels. All that praise for a 65-incher under three grand? Smells like a winner if you've got the space.
NanoTouch: like your parent's LucidTouch, but now with more nano!
Microsoft and Mitsubishi Electric Research Labs in Cambridge, Massachusetts -- the cats that brought us LucidTouch a while ago -- are back with NanoTouch, a further refinement of the technology aimed at making UIs practical on tiny devices. Utilizing a 2.4-inch screen with a touch pad on the back, users can select or drag items from the underside -- meaning that the entire screen is visible at all times. According to researchers, targets as little as 1.8mm (less than half the size of, say, the buttons on an iPhone) are easily hit using this method -- bringing the advantages of touchscreens to smaller form factors, with a number of possible applications including electronic jewelry, wearable computers, and virtual finger puppets. Video after the break.Update: It appears that unlike LucidTouch (which was in fact developed in Cambridge), NanoTouch was actually the product of work done by folks from Microsoft and the Hasso-Plattner-Institute in Berlin / Potsdam. Sorry for the mix up!
Mitsubishi's 1080p HC7000 HD projector reviewed: it's a keeper
Mitsubishi's HC7000 1080p projector just started leaving the docks not too, too long ago, and now the kind folks over at BigPictureBigSound have published a thorough review after spending a decent bit of time with it. Installation and setup was said to be "a simple affair," and one of the first things they noticed upon firing it up was just how quiet it was while operating. In fact, critics deemed it the quietest projector they had tested in this price range. Testers fired up an upscaled DVD after calibration procedures were done, and what they saw was "perfectly acceptable," with black levels being ultra black and color being "vibrant and very natural." Blu-ray Disc and HDTV content were even more stunning, and overall, only minor niggles ("remote backlight shuts off too quickly," for instance) were mentioned. In case you couldn't guess, critics deemed this one "a keeper," and to sweeten things up, the street price on this puppy is a far cry from its original MSRP. Mmm, price drops.[Via AboutProjectors]
Mitsubishi's DVR-BF2000 Blu-ray DVR up for grabs in Japan
With all the talk of Blu-ray stalling out, it's easy to see why Blu-ray DVRs haven't been something that manufacturers have even tried to sell the American public. Over in Japan, things are a little different -- just take Mitsubishi's DVR-BF2000 Blu-ray DVR model, for example. The hefty sum of ¥178,000 ($1900 US) nets you a DVR with a 500GB hard disk, dual tuners and a disc burner that can write out on BD-R/RE media and DVD-R/RW for when you don't need such capacious archiving. The unit also has some automatic editing features for cutting out those pesky commercials you don't need to store on your shelf. With these kind of features, we'd at least like to see these offered up here in the US -- they certainly won't get cheaper until they're available -- but we're not holding our breath.
Audioholics puts Mitsubishi's LT-46149 LCD with iSP to the test
If you're dead set on getting all your video and audio delivered from a single device, you could do worse than Mitsubishi's LT-46149 LCD and its iSP (Integrated Sound Projector) -- at least judging by the Audioholics review of the unit. The 16 beaming speakers across the bottom of the bezel proved more than just a toy and actually could be dialed in to create a real soundfield, albeit lacking in ultimate SPL output and bass. The lack of discrete input codes wasn't really solved by the automatic input selection and the backlighting could have been more even, but those problems faded away when watching movies. Some annoyance was laid at the feet of the 120Hz processing, consistent with other opinions (including our own). Keep in mind the "convenience with good performance" target for this set and hit the link for the full review.
Sony HDTVs found most reliable in PC World study
Yep, it's already that time of year again folks. That time when you begin to "see" your breath, the air has that "certain chill," shoppers go berserk and PC World readers toss in their votes for the most reliable HDTVs. The latest annual Reliability and Service survey received inputs not from independent researchers, but from 16,000 actual owners who can speak best for the quality of the wares they own. The happy winner was Sony, which notched above-average ratings in seven of nine measures, though LG, Panasonic, Samsung, Sharp and Vizio didn't fare too bad, either. The biggest loser was Mitsubishi, which showed four below-average scores and a "higher-than-average incidence of severe problems." The four-page writeup can be viewed in full by clicking the read link, but our main question is this: are you in agreement with the findings?
Mitsubishi's soundbar-equipped iSP LT-52149 gets full-on review
When we had Mitsubishi's 1080p iSP LT-52149 HDTV in our own labs for testing, we weren't exactly thrilled with the image quality, particularly the 120Hz shenanigans. The folks over at Home Entertainment saw a lot of the same flaws we did, though they seemed to think the overall package was palatable after a great deal of tweaking. In fact, they outrightly stated that this set "requires more attention during video setup than other high-end LCDs [it had] tested," but it was worth the effort. The soundbar didn't serve as a 5.1-channel surround sound system or anything, but it did treat the ears more so than most integrated speakers. 'Course, SD material looked pretty terrible, but it did make Blu-ray Discs look fairly excellent. Still, the $4,000+ MSRP is slightly ridiculous in this world of low-cost LCDs, and we still can't see enough jaw-dropping positives here to warrant that kind of sticker.
Mitsubishi's HC6500 HD projector reviewed: a serious contender
Mitsubishi's 1080p HC6500 has been shipping for just over a month now, but if you've been holding off from unloading $2,500 until you saw a bona fide review, you can finally have a peek and move on with life. CNET was able to wrap its retinas around the expansive image beamed out of this sexy piece of front-projection goodness, and overall, it had incredibly positive things to say. For instance, the deep blacks were applauded, skin tones were "natural," noise wasn't an issue at all and the input selection was quite stout. The only real rubs critics had were that it wasn't perfectly calibrated out of the box and the fact that it's up against some stiff competition -- neither of which are particularly "negative" traits. The bottom line? It's an "excellent all-round performer for the money," or in other words, you can finally commence with that trigger pulling.
Wakamaru's latest gig: distraught thespian, clothes rack
After a failed career of house cleaning and guarding your kids, Mitsubishi's Wakamaru was left with a choice: toll booth operator or actress -- she chose the latter, easier option. Osaka University's 20-minute play titled, "I, Worker," focuses on a young couple whose seductive (don't you think?) housekeeping robot has lost her will to work after struggling with the idea of human servitude. The play is expected to go full-length by the year 2010, at which point we expect Wakamaru to extend her brooding to the insatiable lust she feels to violate her programming and enslave humanity. It's not like she can pull off a broad emotional range thanks to that chiseled face of apprehension anyway.
Mitsubishi's i MiEV electric car makes it to the States, but not to you
If you've been keeping an eye on the i MiEV, the word from the street (or, in this case, Wired) is that four of the cartoonish vehicles are on their way to SoCal Edison, where their Electric Vehicle Technical Center will put 'em through their paces, testing not only the vehicles themselves but how they interact with the grid. Not that the car will be selling Stateside any time soon -- until it bulks up enough to pass federal side-impact tests and its range is extended beyond the current 70 miles, it looks like the vehicle will be a no-show at the dealerships. Apparently the vehicle sports a 16-kWh lithium-ion battery and optional regenerative braking mode, and the 47 kW (roughly 64 horsepower) motor shouldn't have any trouble keeping up with city traffic. But on the other hand, the car doesn't fly through the air, play VCDs or impress the ladies -- so what's the big deal, then?
Vizio caves on patent dispute and joins MPEG-LA licensees, gobble gobble
Chalk another one up for MPEG-LA, as the licensing group's members have dropped lawsuits against Vizio stemming from the one-time value HDTV company's refusal to license MPEG-2 technology, claiming it's suppliers had already paid the necessary fees. Despite Amtran's pleas, just like Target's TruTech brand televisions and DVD players, that argument appears to have quickly folded, . It remains to be seen what direct effect this will have on price, but between this and Vizio's notable Black Friday absence they must be serious about changing to a more upscale image, we wonder if Sony will invite them to a special reception. (Warning: PDF read link)
Mitsubishi debuts XD95U XGA micro projector
Mitsubishi's new XD95U DLP projector may not technically fall into the "pico" category, despite the company's attempts to proclaim it as such, but that doesn't mean it isn't tiny, with it weighing in at just a bit over three pounds and measuring a very portable 7.5- by 8.1-inches. The projector's specs also look like they should be up to most anyone's presentation needs, and include a full XGA resolution, 2,200 ANSI lumens, a 2,000:1 contrast ratio, and just the bare necessities when it comes to ports (composite, s-video, and VGA). Not surprisingly, you'll have to pay a considerable premium for that all that portability, with the XD95U boasting a suggested retail price of $1,495, which might just be enough to get some folks to reconsider the $500 Dell M109S and its non-standard 858 x 600 resolution.[Via Gearlog]
Mitusbishi iSP LT-52149 LCD TV with integrated soundbar hands-on
No, it's not the hot new LaserVue set, but we've gotten to play with Mitsubishi's new LT-52149 120Hz LCD with integrated soundbar for a week or so now, and while we're impressed with the soundbar's simulated surround, the picture quality just isn't there on the $3,799 display. First off, we're not at all sold on the value of 120Hz dejuddering -- it makes everything look like it was shot on VHS on a soap opera set. We're totally unclear on who likes this, since we think it's pretty nasty. It does work well with sports programming, but for the most part we just left it off and didn't miss it. We also saw some gradient banding issues on HD content, and SD looked terrible, leading us to believe the built-in scaler isn't all that great -- an issue on a large 1080p set where almost everything has be scaled or deinterlaced in some way. That said, there's always a chance we didn't spend enough time tweaking settings, since Mitsu lets you get pretty deep -- we liked the PerfectColor adjustments, and the discrete brightness and backlight controls were much appreciated. Speaking of which, the backlight is one of the brightest we've ever seen, and it makes a huge impression when you first see the display -- it's incredibly vibrant. Too bad the image quality didn't hold up to harsher scrutiny -- the integrated soundbar is super easy to set up, sounds good, and would have made this set a perfect choice for rooms where traditional surround systems don't work. As it is, however, we just can't see dropping nearly four grand on a less-than-perfect picture. Check the gallery for some more hands-on shots.%Gallery-35635%
