September 18 - 12:55am EDT   Pioneer recently announced it would start selling its LCDs in North America and Asia during the first half of 2009, after unveiling the 32- and 37-inch models in Europe last month. CE Pro reveals that Pioneer will follow up the North American and Asian releases with Japan in 2010, opting to focus mostly on small- and medium-sized LCDs for the Japanese. Pioneer also said it would offer a high-end range of LCDs, manufactured with Sharp LCD panels. [full story]

September 4 - 12:50am EDT   Sharp on Wednesday unveiled several new AQUOS LCD high-definition televisions to the North American market, including two limited-edition models. Sharp's D65U lineup offers a native 1080p resolution, and spans between 42- and 52-inches, featuring a 6ms response time. Sharp touts the energy-saving features of the line, saying it is Energy Star-compliant, with active backlight and contrast controls to reduce energy consumption while the set is in use. [full story]

September 1 - 4:30pm EDT   A Monday report has LG Display and Amtran – maker of Vizio LCDs – agreeing to set up a joint production plant to manufacture LCD panels and TV sets for their brands in China. Under the agreement, Amtran's existing facility in Suzhou, China, will see a $20 million initial investment. The new plant, due to commence operation early next year, will produce 3 million LCD modules along with 5 million LCD TV sets. [full story]

August 28 - 1:25pm EDT   Japanese electronics giant Sony today introduced four new lines of BRAVIA LCDs, including the XR1 series, which sports a new LED backlight to endow the sets with a 1,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio; the ZX1 series, featuring a sub-0.4-inch LCD thickness at the thinnest point; the W1 line, with Sony’s Motion Flow 240Hz display panel, and the X1 collection, which relies on existing CCFL backlighting technology to deliver 3,000:1 contrast. All are capable of 1080p resolution. [full story]

August 27 - 3:05pm EDT   Epson Imaging Devices on Tuesday announced it has developed a high-resolution low-temperature polycrystalline silicon (LTPS) TFT LCD for use in its next-generation P-6000 and P-7000 photo viewers. The new 4-inch, 640x480 VGA display combines a wide viewing angle of 80 degrees from horizontal and vertical and covers 94 percent of the Adobe RGB color range, achieved thanks to what Epson calls its Photo Fine Premia technology. [full story]

August 25 - 5:15pm EDT   In its effort to maintain a market share in the global sales of HDTVs, Samsung demonstrated three new HDTV lines utilizing the company’s backlight LED technology. With the release of the PAVV Bordeaux 780, the Korean company is bringing its second-generation LED backlight technology further downmarket, as the LCD TV is available in 46- and 40-inch sizes. In the fall of 2007, the company released 52- and 57-inch LED-backlit LCD HDTVs, and a 70-inch version before that, in June. [full story]

August 22 - 12:20am EDT   Apple is facing scrutiny for ignoring long-standing issues with the flatscreen iMacs, going back as far as the iMac G5, where vertical lines surface in the LCD displays of the popular desktop [1|2|3|4|5|6|7|8]. While some users were fortunately covered by either the limited AppleCare or AppleCare Service and Support Plan, others have been told to either cover the repair themselves or work out a compromise for living with the issue (such as purchasing an external LCD display). [full story]

August 7 - 4:50pm EDT   Sharp on Thursday announced the upcoming release of a pair of its newest AQUOS LCD HDTVs, the 20-inch LC-20E5 and 16-inch LC-16E5. Both are capable of displaying 720p (1366x768 resolution) images and feature two HDMI connections for HD sources such as Blu-ray players. While a digital TV tuner is built in, the TVs can double as computer monitors thanks to their necked stands that allow them to swivel from side to side. [full story]

June 24 - 4:15pm EDT   JVC recently announced it will launch the industry's thinnest LCDs with built-in TV tuners. At 2.9 inches deep at the center, slimming down to 1.5 inches at the edges, the 42-inch LT-42SL89 and the 46-inch LT-46SL89 offer 1920x1080 (1080p) resolution. At the same time, JVC claims the new sets are lighter and consume less power than traditional LCD TVs, thanks to a new backlight panel and power supply substrate, respectively. [full story]

June 18 - 4:50pm EDT   Sanyo unveiled the CE52SR1 52-inch LCD monitor at Infocomm 2008 today. The monitor's headline-grabbing feature is its usability in outdoor environments, thanks to marine-grade construction and an LCD that is legible in direct sunlight thanks to 1500 cd/m2 brightness. The second-generation monitor is meant for commercial applications and will support 1080p HD (1920x1080) resolution and features a 6.5ms pixel response time suitable for fast movements in video. [full story]

June 9 - 11:50am EDT   Computer manufacturer Acer has announced a new LCD monitor, the P244W. The display is being aimed at high-end buyers, and as such measures 24 inches, with support for 16:9 widescreen resolutions up to 1080p (1900x1080). Appropriately the monitor is equipped with an HDMI input, which lets users connect the likes of game consoles and Blu-ray movie players. Regular computer inputs should also be included. [full story]

May 23 - 1:55pm EDT   Sanyo is switching to Sharp LCD panels for its HDTV sets, the former company has announced. While Sanyo is well-known as a brand in general, its TVs have not been able to compete against the likes of those from Samsung and Sony. The Japanese electronics market has been consolidating as whole, and has forced the adoption of strategies similar to Sanyo's on the part of companies like Pioneer. In Sanyo's case its consumer electronics division has done poorly, and Reuters notes that on Thursday, the corporation announced its first profits in four years. [full story]

May 19 - 12:50pm EDT   Korean electronics giant Samsung is using the 2008 SID symposium in Los Angeles to demonstrate a new LCD TV, formatted to an original resolution standard. While commercial LCD panels are currently limited to HD resolution (up to 1080p, or 1900x1080), the Samsung set is claimed to operate at "ultra-definition," with a maximum resolution of 3840x2160. This is however below the forthcoming 4K standard (4096x1716), and not to be confused with the experimental ultra-high definition resolution (7680x4320). [full story]

May 1 - 1:25pm EDT   Hitachi has announced that its UltraThin LCDs, first announced at January's CES expo, are now beginning to ship in American versions. Their name derives from their thickness, which measures only 1.5 inches at the deepest point; this may come at a cost of screen size however, as only 32, 37, 43 and 47-inch models are planned. The sets are further divided into regular V (UltraVision) and high-end X (Director's Series) models, though aside from an extended warranty, Hitachi has not specified what makes the Director's Series special. [full story]

April 25 - 8:40pm EDT   Samsung and Sony are paying 1.8 trillion South Korean won (~$1.9 billion) to upgrade the S-LCD Corporation joint venture, allowing the two companies to produce enough 8G LCD panels to meet global demand. The Wall Street Journal reports that the new manufacturing line will be located in the Tangjeong complex southeast of Seoul, where production will start in 2009. Monthly output is initially expected to reach 60,000 units, versus 50,000 sheets currently. [full story]