Plasma Television

Like your digital video recorder and TV integrated do you? Well, be sure to check the third generation "Time Machine" line-up from LG just announced in Korea and heading our way sometime soon. All five of the new Full HD 1080p televisions feature dual integrated HD tuners allowing you to watch one channel while recording from the other or watch the two side-by-side should your ADD so require. They also feature USB 2.0 from which you can sling additional disk; good thing too since LG skimps with just a single 250GB 160GB disk drive in the unit. The new embedded-PVR sets are available as 50-inch (50PB3DR) and 60-inch (60PY3DR) plasmas or 37-inch (37LY3DR), 42-inch (42LY3DR), and 47-inch (47LY3DR) LCDs. LG doesn't provide any real specifications but we've already seen other sets announced from both the PY3D series of plasmas and LY3D series of LCDs.

Pacific Media Reports Fourth Quarter 2006 HDTV Sales Doubled ...

The move to higher resolution models was clearly demonstrated by the fact that 1080p models accounted for nearly one-third of the total unit sales, and the majority of these were LCD models. 1080p demand has grown rapidly; just six months ago, it accounted for just 5% of the total unit sales.

Sony was the top-selling brand in consumer flat panel displays 30-inches or larger, with Samsung close behind in both unit and revenue share. The best-selling consumer model was the Panasonic TH-42PX60U, a 42 plasma HDTV with an average street price of $1,331.

Note: Data cited here is based on a sample of retailers and resellers, and is subject to sampling error.

About Pacific Media Associates
Pacific Media specializes in global display market information, covering all large-screen display categories: front projectors, plasma and LCD TVs, and rear-projection displays.

Dominique Numakura's Newsletter from Japan

This is part three of my observations from the 36th InterNepcon held at Tokyo Big Sight from January 17th through January 19th. There was little representation from the rigid board and flexible circuit manufacturers, and the technologies presented were not too unique. On the other hand, equipment manufacturers introduced a lot of new machines with innovative ideas, but the machines were not designed for major manufacturing processes. They do not accommodate the entire circuit board manufacturing process, but they will provide some value added improvements for the minor, but labor consuming processes such as blanking and supplemental treatments.

UHT, a unique punching machine manufacturer introduced a couple of new punching machines for high accuracy trimming of the connector insertion part for high density flexible circuits.

Vizio's Budget 1080p LCD: Grayscale Sucks, but it's Still the Cheapest

Good news and bad news for all you penny-pinching HD fans out there. First the good news. As far as price/performance goes, Vizio's budget 1080p LCD beats out the competition (we're looking at you, Westinghouse). But if you actually care about the quality of what you're buying, you're better of passing on this one as its grayscale performance sucks the big one.

So here's what you can expect from the GV47LF. Spec-wise, you get a pair of HDMI inputs, two component inputs, and a VGA-style PC input. Looks-wise, the panel has a snazzy design going for it. Not to mention you're getting 47 inches for $1,899. Now here's where things go rotten. Performance. Color accuracy was good, but the LCD's black levels were wack. They just weren't black enough. Grayscale was just as bad, looking more blue than it did gray.