| Sony Unveils 70-Inch LCD TV
By Antone Gonsalves
InformationWeek
Jan 30, 2007 01:57 PM Sony on Tuesday unveiled its largest high-definition LCD TV, a 70-inch flat panel that carries an equally large price tag. The Bravia XBR LCD will cost $33,000 when it ships to stores next month. For that kind of money, buyers get a full high-definition panel resolution of 1,920 pixels by 1,080 pixels, which provides the best viewing of hi-def content. Picture quality of standard DVDs can degrade on large screens, but Sony's latest LCD TV converts non-HD content for better viewing, according to Sony. Sony credits picture quality and color enhancements to its Bravia Engine Pro, a proprietary video-processing system. The TV also features a 178-degree viewing angle. LCD screens usually lose picture quality when viewed from the side.
LCD, plasma TVs each have advantages
Q: What is the difference between LCD and plasma flat-panel TVs? Also, has an HDTV standard for the U.S. been officially adopted? I am thinking about purchasing a new TV set and am not sure whether it's wise to buy now or wait. Frank Humphries, Minneapolis, MN A: LCD TVs use an LCD panel to create the picture. It's the same LCD screen technology you find on laptop computers and digital cameras. Plasma TVs use gas suspended within glass panels and stimulated by an electrical field to create the picture. .
Sharp to up flat screen TV output
Japanese electronics maker Sharp Corp announced plans yesterday to ramp up its output of flat screen televisions by investing in new production lines in Japan and Mexico in response to flourishing demand. Sharp will spend ?200 billion (US$1.66 billion) on a third production line at its Kameyama plant by July to double output of large liquid-crystal-display (LCD) panels to 60,000 units a month, rising to 90,000 next year. The company will also build a second plant in Mexico at a cost of ?8 billion to produce finished LCD flat panel TVs for the North American market. The facility in Baja California will start operating in July with a monthly output of 200,000 LCD TVs "to cope with burgeoning demand for LCD TVs in North America," Sharp said. "Due to the global expansion of digital broadcasting, demand for LCD TVs continues to expand," the company said in a statement.
Last-minute Deals on Super Bowl TVs
At the end of last month I said post-holiday sales on TVs would be good, considering everyone is trying to get rid of their old inventory. But this holiday season was a little different from holiday seasons past: The deals on TVs were so good last November and December that there wasn't much room left for prices to go down. So post-holiday sales on TVs have been relatively few and far between, but luckily the best TV I've ever seen in my life is on sale until March 31st, so I insist on writing about it here since some of you may still want to take the big HDTV plunge before Sunday's Super Bowl kick-off. Pioneer plasmas are pricey, but they're also almost-perfect. I seriously considered forking over $8,000 of my savings for the Pioneer Pro Elite FHD1, a 50-inch, full 1080p plasma with superb color, clarity, and video processing that makes even iPod video look great.
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