Panasonic has announced that they have begun shipping a new line of High Definition LCD Rear Projection Display televisions featuring a new revolutionary long-life technology called LIFI. LIFI is a “first-of-its-kind” light fidelity projection display application which ensures image brightness over an extended period of time. It also reduces the startup time typically found on rear projection display systems. The new LIFI HD lineup includes two new series - the LCZ and the LCX series.

The LCZ is available in three sizes - a 61 inch, a 56 inch, and a 50 inch display - and feature 1080p resolutions, a glossy black finish, and a floating panel design. The LCX is available in two sizes - a 61 inch and a 56 inch model - both with 720p resolution.

These new displays replace the typical High Intensity Discharge (HID) lamps with LIFI lamps resulting in a light source that is more stable with a much longer life-span. Since the light source does not use electrodes and the LIFI bulb is 1/8th the size of a typical HID lamp, the startup times are also greatly decreased - from a typical 60 seconds to a mere 15 seconds.

Features of the Panasonic LCX70 Series include:

• LIFI Light Source
• New 720p LCD Panel
• All Black Cosmetics
• 3,000:1 Contrast Ratio (Target)
• Full Range Speaker System (20W output)
• HDMI (Front 1, Rear 2)
• PC Input
• SD Card Slot
• EZ Sync

Models in this line include:

• PT-61LCZ70 for $2199.95
• PT-56LCZ70 for 1899.95
• PT-50LCZ70 for $1699.95

Features of the Panasonic LCZ70 Series include:

• LIFI Light Source
• New 1080p LCD Panel
• Piano Black Cosmetic
• 3,000:1 Contrast Ratio (Target)
• Full Range Speaker System (20W output)
• HDMI (Front 1, Rear 2)
• PC Input
• SD Card Slot
• EZ Sync

Models in this line include:

• PT-61LCX70 for $1995.95
• PT-56LCX70 for $1699.95

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Panasonic, LIFI, Rear Projection

If someone were to ask you which company was the top selling LCD manufacturer for the second quarter of this year, what brand name would you say? Sony? Samsung? Sharp? If you were to say those names, you would be… WRONG! The top selling manufacturer for the second quarter was in fact Vizio which saw sales in North America rise 76.4 percent over the first quarter.

According to iSuppli, the company shipped 606,402 LCD TVs in North America during the second quarter - up from 343,704 units in the first quarter. Overall, Vizio’s market share in North America rose to 14.5 percent - up from 9.4 percent in the second quarter.

The company went from fifth place to first place during the quarter passing the likes of Samsung, Philips, Sharp, and Sony.

According to Riddhi Patel, principal analyst at iSuppli, “Vizio’s success is mainly due to the company expanding its retail presence to Wal-Mart and Sears at the beginning of the second quarter”. There’s nothing like high volume channels and cheap prices eh?

It should be noted that the overall LCD market also grew during the second quarter increasing from 3.7 million units to 4.2 million units.

Now the bad news.. and it’s not for Vizio. Sony slid to sixth place as LCD shipments actually declined to 263,377 units from 412,323 units in the first quarter. That’s a drop of 36.1 percent.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Vizio, LCD TV

Sharp Electronics is introducing a new full HD, 1080p line of LCD TV’s called the D64U series. This new lineup features a thin, lightweight “slim-line” design offering a significantly smaller footprint than previous AQUOS TV sets. The new D64U lineup consists of the following models:

• 65 inch LC-65D64U
• 52 inch LC-52D64U
• 46 inch LC-46D64U
• 42 inch LC-42D64U

Sharp claims the new D64U series is the thinnest large screen flat panel television in the industry nearly 25 percent thinner than previous AQUOS models and also 20 percent lighter than previous models. Sharp achieved the smaller form factor by re-engineering the circuitry layout inside the panel and cutting the overall number of parts.

Features of the new Sharp D64U LCDs include:

• Full HD 1080p picture
• Utilizes Sharp’s proprietary Advanced Super View (ASV)/Black TFT Panel with multi-pixel technology
• Dynamic Contrast Ratio of 10,000:1 with enhanced picture contrast technology
• Enhanced Fine Motion video circuitry delivers the fastest pixel response time of 4ms
• Utilizes Sharp’s proprietary 4 wavelength backlight system to round out enhanced specs, providing deeper more vibrant reds
• 176 degree viewing angles
• Three side terminal inputs - One HDMI. one component, and one composite
• Rear has two HDMI, one component, two composite, one S-Video, a dedicated PC input, and RS-232C for system control
• HDMI support is version 1.3

Pricing and availability for the sets are as follows:

• LC-65D64U will be available in September; pricing is to be announced
• LC-52D64U will be available in August for a Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) of $3,799.99
• LC-46D64U will be available in August for an MSRP of $2,699.99
• LC-42D64U will be available in August for an MSRP of $2,099.99

Thanks to Akihabara News for the pictures

Technorati Tags: Sharp, D64U, LCD TV

Matsushita Electric Industrial, the parent company of Panasonic, has announced that they will launch a new 37 inch LCD TV in September - modifying their original policy of only selling LCD TVs for the 32 inch and smaller TV market. Matsushita was attempting to segment the market by reserving plasma television sets for those who wanted larger form factors and keeping the LCD market down at the low end. Unfortunately this policy resulted in Matsushita missing out on the growing demand for large screen LCD TV’s with companies such as Sony and Samsung eagerly fulfilling the consumer demand. Matsushita’s attempt at market segmentation was doomed to fail as LCD panels dropped in price and consumers increasingly saw less of a difference between plasma TVs and LCD TVs. It all boils down to money for Matsushita of course. Plasmas have higher gross profit margins than LCD panels so why not try and sell plasma displays right? Unfortunately it appears this decision has backfired on them and Matsushita now finds itself needing to catch up in the LCD market.

The new 37 inch LCD TV will be unveiled in Japan on September 1st for a price of $2508 (300,000 yen). No word on actual specs at this time but for that price, it better be a 1080p display.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Matsushita, LCD TV

Sharp Electronics has filed a lawsuit here in the U.S. against Samsung Electronics accusing the company of infringing upon its LCD patents. Sharp claims that Samsung is infringing on five of its LCD patents including one related to enhancing display quality. The infringing products range from Samsung televisions to monitors to mobile phones that include Samsung LCD modules. There’s no word as to how much monetary compensation Sharp is looking for from Samsung. According to News.com, Sharp is the third largest LCD TV manufacturer behind Samsung and Sony.

[Check  it out]

Technorati Tags: Sharp sues Samsung, LCD Televisions

Pioneer Japan announced on Thursday that it would be launching its first full high definition plasma television sets this coming October. The company is playing catch-up with other rivals including Matsushita Electric Industrial which has already released their own full HD plasma display lineup.

Pioneer will be releasing a new 50 inch and 60 inch 1080p displays capable of reproducing deeper blacks than ever before. The new 50 inch 1080p plasma display is expected to sell for 720,000 yen or $6,060 dollars while the 60 inch 1080p plasma is expected to go for 990,000 yen or $8,340 dollars.

[Check it out]

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OK - so tell me that you wouldn’t want one of these new Sharp Internet Aquos systems (i-aquos)? The company has announced 16 new versions of the Internet Aquos system spanning a G series and a D series. The new G series is broken up into the GX line which features:

LC-52GX3W, LC-46GX3W, LC-42GX3W and LC-37GX3W

LC-52GX4W, LC-46GX4W, LC-42GX4W and LC-37GX4W

LC-52GX35, LC-46GX35, LC-52GX45 and LC-46GX45

and the GH line which features:

LC-32GH3 and LC-26GH3

LC-32GH4 and LC-26GH4

The G series feature full HD displays (1920 x 1080) and are designed to be slim and compact.

Three other new models makes up the D series which include:

LC-32D10, LC-26D10 and LC-20D10

These new displays work in conjunction with three PCTV systems - the PC-AX120S, PC-AX80S, and PC-AX60S - all of which come with a remote control and Windows Vista Home Basic. Curious though why the OS doesn’t come with Home Premium or Ultimate - considering you’ll need that to get Windows Media Center going.\

[Check it out via Akihabara News]

Technorati Tags: Sharp, Internet Aquos

More High Def Camcorder news - Canon announced a new HD capable camcorder yesterday called the Canon HG10 AVCHD Hard Disk Drive Camcorder. As you might have guessed by the long name, the HG10 comes with an integrated 40 GB HDD and records HD video using the AVCHD codec. Major features of the HD Camcorder include a Canon 10x HD video lens, a full HD CMOS image sensor, Canon’s DIGIC DV II Image Processor, SuperRange Optical Image Stabilization, and Instant Auto Focus.

The Canon HG10 is capable of recording full high definition video (1920 x 1080 resolution) thanks to the Canon Full HD CMOS Sensor. For those of you that want that film look and feel, the HG10 supports 24p recording.

Here’s the tally of what features and specs are available with the Canon HG10:

• AVCHD Format HDD
• Full HD on a 40GB HDD
• 1920 x 1080 Full HD CMOS sensor
• Canon 10x HD Video Zoom Lens and 200x digital zoom
• DIGIC DVII
• SuperRange Optical Image Stabilization
• Instant AF
• 24p Cinema Mode
• HDD Photo Grab from Video
• 2.7 inch Multi-Angle Vivid Widescreen LCD
• Advanced Photo Features
• Corel Application Disc
• HDMI support
• 3.1 megapixel still pictures
• Dolby Digital 2 channel support
• Measures 3.2 x 3.0 x 5.1 inches and weighs only 1.1 lbs

[Check it out]

[Check out the press release]

Technorati Tags: Canon, HG10 AVCHD Hard Disk Drive Camcorder, HD Video

Hoping to spur interest in high definition equipment and content, Panasonic held their first ever “Living in High Definition” initiative event today. The event was held today at 11:45 am EST and lasted till 12:45pm EST and included speakers such as a Hollywood producer and director, academic experts, and Panasonic executives. Luckily, it was a web cast, which means you can still catch it by going to this link here:

http://4.78.165.100/PanaSonic_HD_Event/default2.asp

More importantly, this event was designed to launch Panasonic’s Living in High Definition program. The program will select families from across America and provide them with Panasonic’s high end HD products including a 50 inch 1080p plasma TV, an HD camcorder, digital cameras, a Blu-ray DVD player, and much much more.

So how do you enter to get this equipment? Starting on August 1st, Panasonic will be posting up challenges for families to compete in. What you’ll need to do is tell Panasonic how your family would complete the challenge and why your family would be the best spokes-family for the company. If Panasonic chooses your family, then you will receive Panasonic’s entire HD product suite and then asked to bring your ideas to light. Your final video might be shown online or become part of a documentary film that the company is making with Brett Ratner.

The folks judging the entries will include Brett Ratner, Justine Shapiro, Kevin Smith, and Robert Wilson. The selection panel will review the submissions, and then judge them based on several criteria. However, creativity will be the most important aspect to the submissions.

If you’re interested in the program, make sure to check out the new website - http://www.livinginhd.com  and also make sure to check out the web cast for additional information into the program.

[Check out the web cast]

[Check out Living in HD]

Technorati Tags: Panasonic, Living in High Definition, High Definition

Akihabara News reported on three new LCD HDTV sets from Samsung over the weekend known as the “Bordeaux” lineup. The three new sets will be available in Japan and include a 23 inch, a 32 inch, and a 40 inch LCD panel. All of the LCDs have:

• 1366 x 768 resolution
• 8ms response time
• 8000:1 response time
• 550 cd/m2 brightness
• Samsung’s Digital Natural Image Engine
• HDMI

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Samsung, Bordeaux, LCD TV