Friday, March 31, 2006

Westinghouse LVM-37w3 LCD TV

Westinghouse Digital Electronics a leading US LCD TV manufacturer showcased the 37-inch model LVM-37w3 which includes features like a bright flat panel, fast response time, high contrast ratio and six HD inputs, and 1920 x 1080 progressive scan (1080p) resolution. It also features a sleek black and silver design and the LCD just weight around 43 pounds without the base making it mountable anywhere.

The LVM-37w3 lets the user enjoy high-resolution multimedia entertainment like HDTV broadcasts, HD DVD movies, surfing the Internet, Video games and viewing digital images. It includes six HD input connectors for devices like VD player, high-performance gaming platform and cable or satellite set-top box. The 6:9 aspect ratio is a winner too. The LVM-37w3 takes imagery to the next level and offers a 16.7 million True Color display with a fast 8ms response time. Then there is the wide 176-degree horizontal and vertical viewing angles which lets one enjoy the display from any given angle. The LVM-37w3 has an estimated retail price of $1,899

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Thursday, March 30, 2006

BenQ unveils new 'LCD TV-notebook' Joybook S61 and S73G

Lifestyle vendor BenQ yesterday unveiled its latest models of "TV-notebooks," laptop computers with the functions of a digital television. The portable computers, Joybook S61 and S73G, both feature Intel Core Duo processor T2300.

Hank Horng, head of BenQ's notebook division worldwide, is upbeat about his TV-notebooks' sales prospects. "LCD-TVs are very popular, and this has been especially evident during the last quarter. The LCD-TV market roughly comprises 40 million consumers," Horng said after a news conference yesterday.

"We believe that notebook computers may also make a windfall from the rise of LCD-TVs. This is a plus for my notebook business." Pricing will play a crucial role in the S61 and S73G's sales performance, he continued.

"It depends on our price-positioning strategy. If I have the capability to lower our selling price, everyone will be happy and I will be able to sell more," Horng said.

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Monday, March 27, 2006

Evesham launches cheap 32 inch HD Ready LCD TV

HD television became even cheaper today with the announcement from Evesham that it has released a 32 inch widescreen HD Ready TV for under £750. The company has launched the television as part of its lowestontheweb.com offering and promises the widescreen V32EMRO-ZE3 is "Dressed to Impress".

The new TV supports both 720p/1080i, and offers HDMI connectivity for connecting to other Hi-Def units such as the Xbox360 and Sky's new HD box.

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Saturday, March 25, 2006

Backlight unit makers to focus more on LCD TV application

Taiwan-based backlight unit (BLU) makers Kenmos Technology, Radiant Opto-Electronics and Forhouse all expect to increase shipments for their LCD TV application this year, according to the companies.

Kenmos Technology is currently constructing an LCD TV BLU plant at the Southern Taiwan Science Park (STSP), with volume production set to commence in the third quarter. Production at the plant will mainly focus on BLUs for 37-and 42-inch LCD TV panels, and the company stated it expects LCD TV applications to eventually account for 60% of its revenues.

Radiant plans to increase its monthly capacity for LCD TV BLU production to 500,000 units in 2006, up from 300,000 units last year. The maker recently secured orders for 32-inch TV panel BLUs from Chunghwa Picture Tubes (CPT).

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Wi-Fi LCD TV from Philips

The Philips 23iF9946 is a 23" LCD screen sporting a 400:1 contrast ratio, 450cd/m2 brightness and 176 degree viewing angle, it also has a built in FM tuner . However, though this little telly might appear ordinary, it also boasts something extra; Wi-Fi. The integrated 802.11g connection is part of Philips Streamium concept, which is aimed at linking computers, home cinema and stereos together so that digital media can be shared throughout the home.

The 23iF9946 is able to browse stored media files across a network or stream live from the internet if you prefer. Supported codecs include MP3, MP3 Pro, PCM, Wave, MPEG1, 2 + 4, DivX, XviD, JPEG, GIF, BMP and PNG which covers pretty much every conceivable base. As it's equipped with a 1280x768 resolution and virtual Dolby surround sound, makingr a great alternative for viewing digital videos rather than needing to be hunched over a computer.

Philips 23iF9946 is available now with an RRP of $2999.95 but can already be found for less than that.

Tuesday, March 21, 2006

Power Supply Reference Design for 220W LCD-TV

ON Semiconductor unveiled its GreenPoint reference design for 220W LCD-TV power supplies. This flat-screen television design delivers standby power of less than 1 W, addresses all functional blocks of the power supply and meets international regulations for low standby power dissipation. The enabling devices for the reference design are the NCP1395 and NCP5181.

NCP1395 is a resonant mode controller that offers everything needed to build a reliable and rugged power supply. Its unique architecture includes a 1.0 MHz Voltage Controller Oscillator and protections featuring various reaction times that contribute to a safer converter design, without engendering additional circuitry complexity. This device is offered in an SOIC-16 package, priced at $1.38 per unit in 2,500 unit quantities, and a PDIP-16 package, priced at $1.50 per unit in 500 unit quantities.

NCP5181 is a high voltage power MOSFET driver that provides two outputs to drive two N-channel MOSFETs. The NCP5181 uses the "bootstrap" technique to ensure proper drive of the high-side power switch. This device is offered in an SOIC-8 package, priced at $1.60 per unit in 2,500 unit quantities, and a PDIP-8 package, priced at $1.74 per unit in 1,000 unit quantities.

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Monday, March 20, 2006

Partnership with Sanyo to help drive Quanta Computer LCD TV business

With its new joint venture (JV) with Japan-based Sanyo Electric, Taiwan-based Quanta Computer expects its ODM-based TV business to see significant growth over the next ten years, according to Michael Wang, CEO of Quanta Computer.

Sanyo Electric and Quanta Computer have officially signed a letter of intent (LOI) to invest US$65 million in capital to develop the JV, which will be located in Taiwan, according to both companies.

The newly formed company will manufacture and sell flat panel TVs under the Sanyo brand and it is expected to begin operation in the third quarter of this year, with the details of the cooperation between the two firms to be finalized over the next three months, Quanta Computer pointed out.

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Friday, March 17, 2006

Philips Recall Plasma TV's That Burst Into Flames

Philips Electronics who are struggling with quality control problems with their LCD TV's have now been forced to recall 11,800 plasma flat-panel TVs that have been bursting into flames.

The problem according to Philips officals is that arcing by capacitors in the left and right sides of the back cabinets of the Philips Plasma TVs are posing a safety risk by setting the screens on fire.

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Wednesday, March 15, 2006

Sony Launches BRAVIA V-Series LCD TV: Bringing Colour to Life

Unprecedented colour accuracy, wide angle viewing that really works and the power of the BRAVIA ENGINE introducing the BRAVIA V-Series

The new BRAVIA V-Series is a breakthrough in the art of colour reproduction. Exclusive Sony Live Colour Creation technology opens up the spectrum of colours on the screen to breathtaking effect. Significant boosts in the range of red and green in the picture brings what you see closer to the true colours of nature than ever before.

"Reds and greens are the most difficult colours to reproduce on LCD screens - and they are vital," says Andreas Ditter, Director, TV Operations Europe. "The challenge in creating a picture that people instinctively see as realistic is how to reproduce true, lively reds and greens while faithfully reproducing what we call "memory colors," like human skin tones. That's why Live Colour Creation is such an important part of what makes the V-Series special."

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Monday, March 13, 2006

Samsung aims to double its LCD TV shipments in 2006

Samsung Electronics expects to ship four million LCD TVs this year, up from two million units last year, according to David Steel, vice president of Samsung Electronics digital media business. The company will focus on the 42- and 46-inch segments during 2006, Steel added.

Samsung was the top supplier in the Europe market in the fourth quarter of 2005 and that market currently accounts for 40% of global LCD TV demand, Steel pointed out.

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Friday, March 10, 2006

Samsung's 82-incher: World's largest LCD TV... with LED Backlight



You know, we used to come to these things and see signs like "world's largest Plasma display." Short, to the point. But now the display size war -- especially between Samsung, LG, and now Panasonic -- is getting so out of hand that it currently takes 8 1/2 words to say you're king of the hill, even when you're not.

Once again here at CeBIT, Samsung claims that their 82-incher is the world's largest LCD..."with LED Backlight" now tacked onto the end. Samsung, you're not fooling anyone, we all know that LG's got ya beat. Not that we'd kick it out of bed our livingroom or anything.

Wednesday, March 08, 2006

LG.Philips develops 100in LCD panel



By: Steven Schwankert

LG.Philips has developed a 100in TFT (thin film transistor) LCD (liquid crystal display) panel, the company announced today. The company claimed that the 100in panel is the largest in the world, and comparable in size to the largest PDP (plasma display panel) currently available.


The 100in panel is a widescreen LCD TV panel with a screen width and height exceeding 2.2 metres and 1.2 metres, respectively. The panel offers 6.2 million pixels, full HD (high definition) picture quality and can reproduce 1.07 billion colours, the company said.

The product also features the latest technologies, such as a maximum 3000:1 contrast ratio, colour reproduction of 92 per cent, and an 180-degree viewing angle based on Super IPS (Super In-Plane Switching) and super-large compensation film technologies.

LG Philips did not say when the product would be available or its suggested retail price.

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

Major LCD TV and Monitor Systems Patent Continuation Granted to O2Micro

O2Micro(R) International Limited, a leading supplier of innovative power management, and security components and systems for the Computer, Consumer, Industrial, and Communications markets, was granted 11 claims under United States patent number 6,999,328 for its Phase-on-demand(TM) invention a continuation of the invention issued August 2004 under United States patent number 6,778,415.

"O2Micro's patented Phase-on-demand(TM) invention is the latest scan-mode backlight inverter technology used in LCD TV applications. This invention enhances the viewer's experience by providing the best resolution for motion picture movement. In addition, this invention simplifies the system design, while reducing the overall system cost," commented Dr. Yung Lin, executive vice president of O2Micro's Intelligent Lighting business unit.

This invention is a new key element in the family of backlight inverter IC solutions used for large panel LCD applications. It is designed for large panel LCD applications that require multiple lamps used in LCD TVs or LCD monitors.

How hot is the LCD-TV market?

So hot that lcd-tv sales in the first quarter actually rose in the first quarter of 2004 compared to the fourth quarter of 2003, defying the seasonal sales slowdown that tvs typically suffer at the start of each yearIn the first quarter, total worldwide shipments of tv sets totaled 38.5 million units, 12 percent lower than in the previous quarter, according to iSuppli/Stanford Resources (www.isuppli.com). Slowing sales of crt, plasma and projection televisions all contributed to the decline.

However, lcd-tv shipments in the first quarter of 2004 grew to 1.6 million units, up 31 percent from 1.3 million in the fourth quarter. Lcd-tv revenue reached $2.7 billion, rising 27 percent compared to the prior quarter.

iSuppli expects demand for lcd-tvs to accelerate dramatically in 2004 and beyond due to the start of full-scale production of sets measuring 30-inches or more at new production facilities.

Sales in the first quarter were propelled by declines in product pricing, as the tvs became available in greater numbers and as oems gave price breaks and discounts to attract consumers to lcd-tv technology.