May 31, 2007
Yesterday, VIZIO announced the arrival four new LCD HDTV models at Wal-Mart stores.
Wal-Mart has undertaken a nationwide effort to expand its service, values, and selection in electronics, and the addition of VIZIO brand HDTVs seems to be a step in the right direction.
The four new VIZIO LCD flat panel HDTVs available in all of Wal-Mart’s U.S. store locations include the VW26LHDTV, VW32LHDTV, VW37LHDTV and the VW42LHDTV, whcih range in size from 26-42″. The best part: prices start at $448.
“Wal-Mart is an ideal retail partner for VIZIO to further expand its national distribution,” says Jeff Schindler, vice president marketing for VIZIO, Inc. “Moreover, this partnership is one of shared values, where the success of both companies is based on reputations for providing customers quality products at remarkable prices.”
“Wal-Mart’s decision to add VIZIO to its electronics department was not only in response to VIZIO’s exceptional value-added products but to the company’s phenomenal growth performance coupled with customer response to VIZIO in our Sam’s Club division,” says Kevin O’Connor, vice president and general merchandise manager for Wal-Mart’s consumer electronics. “Our customers are more technology driven than ever before and are now searching for the right brands at the right price.”
Great prices and competitive service policies, such as free on-site repairs for a full year after purchase, have served as catalyst in VIZIO’s recent growth.
DisplaySearch President Ross Young explains that VIZIO was one of the few brands to earn sequential growth in North America in the first quarter of 2007 ”due to its strength in the rapidly growing warehouse club channel along with expansion into new channels through Wal-Mart and Sears.” Consequently, Younx says, VIZIO’s North American flat panel TV unit share rose from the #9 position in the fourth quarter of 2006 to #4 in the first quarter of 2007. “In addition, in the important 32″+ flat panel category, VIZIO rose from #5 to #3 and led the 37″, 42″, 47″ and 60″+ flat panel market segments.”
May 30, 2007
Yesterday, ARM announced that LG Electronics has licensed the ARM926EJ-S(TM) processor for its new line of digital set-top boxes, an ARM press release read.
“The US analog cut-off presents a window to drive a fresh wave of consumer electronics devices into the home, powered by the demand for advanced TV-based services. ARM’s technology provides us with the flexibility we need to design set-top box solutions which enabled us to offer the US market a breadth of products which can fully take advantage of this opportunity,” says Choi Seung-Jong, an LG vice prez.
LG’s new line of set-top box product line “will take advantage of ARM Jazelle(R) Java acceleration technology included in the ARM926EJ-S processor, as well as the enhanced DSP capabilities available with the ARMv5TEJ instruction set.”
Naturally, the new line will also focus on the “lucrative US digital TV market which will be the primary TV transmission standard as of 2009.”
ARM’s segment marketing VP Ian Drew explained that “the range of ARM processor-based technology” in the “new, low cost set-top” converter has made LG “one of the leaders in the switch over to all-digital broadcast.”
ARM, in case you’ve been wondering, designs “the technology that lies at the heart of advanced digital products,” such as microprocessors, data engines, graphics processors, digital libraries, embedded memories, peripherals, software and development tools, analog functions, and high-speed connectivity products.
May 18, 2007
UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science researchers Yang Yang and his graduate researcher Jinsong Huang have recently achieved the highest lumens per watt ever recorded for a red phosphorescent LED using a new combination of plastic, or polymer, infused liquid. And the best part is that they did it at half the current cost.
“That means your next LED flat panel TV could be less expensive,” Yang said. “And the picture will be brighter and clearer than ever before.”
LEDs are generally measured in lumens per watt. Lumens, a measure of the perceived power of light, and watts, a standard measure of power, combine to define the optical efficiency of power (how bright a device is and how much power it consumes).
Yang and Huang’s newest device rates a record-breaking 18 lumens per watt, as opposed to current red LEDs, whcih generally score around 12 lumens per watt. “That’s a significant difference,” Huang said. “Visually, it means you get a higher quality display, and the product is also lighter and thinner. And with our improvements, you also need less energy, but you get an all-around better product.”
In Yang and Huang’s new polymer light emitting diodes, the devices have a very simple single-layer structure, generated by a much cheaper solution process. The new LED, or more precisely PLED, developed by the two UCLA engineers uses a polymer powder and liquid mixture added to a previously top-secret material developed by the Canon company to create a paint-like product. The product is used to coat a layer of glass, and a charge is added, resulting in a slim single layer of glass with two electrodes.
“It’s a much simpler, lighter, thinner and more elegant answer to creating a better LED product,” Yang said.
He added: “The current results represent our ongoing quest to create better, slimmer, less expensive high-performance PLEDs. Using our simple solution method, we already have successfully achieved several world records in device efficiency, including 20 lumens/watt white emission fluorescent PLEDs, 30 lumens/watt green emission fluorescent PLEDs and 18 lumens/watt red emission phosphorescent PLEDs. So our latest red emission PLED is just one of our multiple records. It’s a very exciting development.”
The new LED technology has already been licensed by Canon and should be available to consumers in about three years. Yang and Huang’s latest work will be presented at the Society for Information Display 2007 conference in Long Beach, CA., from May 20-25.
Fast action images have typically been a weakness in LCD performance; such was the case until JVC recently announced its second-generation Clear Motion Drive (CMD) high-speed LCD TV technology.
JVC’s new Clear Motion Drive II technology features a refresh rate of 120 frames per second (120Hz), whcih is double the typical rate. CMD II has been designed specifically for full HD (1920 x 1080) displays and improves motion detection fivefold compared to the original high speed driver, according to the company.
Three JVC full HD LCD TVs incorporating CMD II will be available in the US this fall as part of a new JVC High Speed 2 series: the 47″ LT-47X898, the 42″ LT-42X898, and the 37″ LT-37X898, each offering three HDMI (1.3) compatible inputs.
To reduce blurring of moving images, JVC’s CMD II uses a frame doubling driver (120Hz) and motion interpolation. JVC’s original CMD technology was applied to a 720p LCD panel and detected only horizontal motion. A 120Hz-driven LCD panel with an 8ms response time will achieve an motion picture response time (MPRT) figure that’s superior to what a 60Hz-driven panel with a zero millisecond liquid crystal response time can achieve. As a result, the 120Hz panel will have less blurring of moving images.
To get the most out of the double-speed full HD panels, JVC will use its fifth-generation (5G) D.I.S.T. (Digital Image Scaling Technology) engine on the JVC-exclusive 32-bit Genessa chip, thereby optimizing processing for more natural shades of grey compared to an 8-bit panel.
May 17, 2007
HP said it is now shipping its new 2007-2008 lineup of flat-panel HDTVs, including its first 1080p LCD models.
The new models, originally unveiled at International CES, feature HP Visual Fidelity technology, which enhances image detail. The 720p lineup will include the 32″ LC3272N ($899 suggested retail) and 37″ LC3772N ($1,199) LCD TV models, as well as the 42″ LC4272N ($1,399) and 50″ ($2,099) plasma models.
The new plasma models will include 6.87-billion color contouring; new panels with low-reflection phosphors; and black walls around pixels to reduce reflection and enhance detail, brightness, and contrast.
The models also offer concealed/integrated speakers for a uniform “picture frame” cosmetic, HP said.
As for step-up 1080p LCD TV models, the 42″ LC4276N ($1,899) and 47″ LC4776N ($2,499) will both include 1,200:1 contrast ratios and 6 ms response times.
HP said “the HDTV line addresses consumers’ growing need for expanded connectivity. New models incorporate three HDMI interfaces (all supporting 1080p), as well as PC inputs and RS232C with WSD bridging capabilities for custom integrators.”
All of the currently shipping models are available for purchase direct from HP online and at a variety of brick-and-mortar retailers, across the country.
This summer HP will ship an expanded MediaSmart TV assortment. MediaSmart TVs are fully networked TVs that allow users to access their digital media and a range of Internet services on TV screens through wired or wireless connections to their PCs. Users can also tream on their TVs photos, music, and video files stored in other rooms.
