High Display

Before I get to the subject, I want to refresh your memory a bit, so be patient! Sharp is the company that presented at CES 2007 the world's largest LCD TV of that time, a 108-inch model having 2.386X1.344m, while their Aquos line of LCD TVs starts with small portable ones (for example, the 13-inch B series) and goes up to an impressive 65-inch screen size, encountered in various HD widescreen models. Yesterday, the Aquos series got 21 new members!

The new LCD TVs belong to the Acquos X Series, E Series, and D Series. The E and D series are mid-range products, so there's nothing out of ordinary with them. While all the technical specifications of these 2 series are pretty common, the ultimate X Series are a subject worth getting into a bit deeper...

Available in 37-inch, 42-inch, and 47-inch flavors, all the models belonging to the X Series are full HD TVs, so their native resolution is 1920X1080, supported by the Double-Speed LCD technology which enables a 120Hz refresh rate, an impressive contrast ratio of 15,000:1, 12-bit BDE color value rendering, and a 1-Bit Digital amplifier. At last, you should also remember that no less than 3 1.3a HDMI connectors are available.

Unfortunately, no details about availability and pricing are known yet, but be sure we'll keep you in touch!

One of the main drawbacks of the OLED technology is the pretty short life of the display panels manufactured using it, since about 30,000 hours declared for a brand new OLED TV from Sony, the XEL-1 isn't too much at all, considering that most common LCD panels exceed 50,000 hours. Well, that seems to have become a part of the past now, because Toshiba and Panasonic just doubled the life expectancy of OLED displays!

The idea behind the new generation of OLED displays is to increase the efficiency of the way the emitted light is used, so the organic materials used to build the screen have a much longer life expectancy. How is that achieved?

Well, the new OLED displays from Toshiba Matsushita Display Technology added a metal membrane inside the screen, so light from polymers in the substrate is delivered with an increased efficiency, compared to existing models. This way, you can get the same picture quality, with only half the effective brightness delivered by the polymers, so the life of the organic components should double, obviously.

While this sounds great, for now we only know about a prototype display using this technology, so we need to see if products using it start appearing soon enough to push back the LCD TVs a bit, since they are getting better and better with each day...

Being given the latest steps forward in the miniaturization field, I don't think we're that far from the day when you'll take your computer, fold it nicely, and then throw it in your chest pocket. Sounds like taken from Star Trek? Don't worry, that day may be closer than you think, and as a proof, let me tell you a few words about Polymervision's electronic paper reader called "Readius", a device that can be easily folded (well, not as easy as I would like, anyway) after use!

As you can see above, this device is nothing more than an electronic notebook that uses flexible display technology, which allows you to fold the display and then store it in a safe location, saving some space when compared to common PDAs.

At these time, all that I can tell you about Readius is that this interesting device comes with a 5-inch 4:3 ratio B/W display having a resolution of 320X140, weighs 150g, and has 100X55.6X21mm in size. Its features include wireless Internet access, USB and built-in speakers, but no information about pricing or availability can be found at this time.

BenQ is one of those producers that I was never crazy about, but I must admit some of their latest LCD monitors look pretty good, at least on paper. When it comes to practice, that's a completely different story...but since we just found out about 2 new LCD monitors from this well-known producers, let's take a look at them, shall we?

The two monitors in question are the X2000W and X2200W, both featuring HDMI and a DVI HDCP port, as well as RGB. The "little brother", the BenQ X2000W, comes with a 20-inch screen, and the "big brother" is a 22-inch LCD monitor, both of them having the same native resolution, 1680X1050.

Of course, we also have some even more interesting technical details, those that I mentioned earlier to be looking great on paper. For example, 1,000:1 contrast ratio and 300cd brightness would be just great, if reality would match accurately these specs, don't you think?

The bad part is that, despite the HDMI and DVI HDCP support, none of these two monitors is 1080p-ready, so you'll get HDMI, but no Full HD. What a pity...

Although the product I want to tell you about today should become available to the public in March, I have to tell you about it now. The reason? Well, at this year's CES, held in Las Vegas, Nevada, Philips grabbed the "Best in Show" award from CNet with their 2008 Eco FlatTV 42PFL5603, and since the Eco series is a very interesting choice as your new living room LCD HDTV, here you have it!

The winning LCD TV from Philips was designed to include several power saving features (that's obviously one of the reasons for including "Eco" in the name, apart from incorporating lead-free and flame retardant materials, as well as being shipped in a recycled materials-made package), such as the Philips proprietary dimming technology that lowers the display's backlight intensity to reduce power consumption, but without affecting image quality.

Unfortunately, no specific technical details are available at this time but, as I already mentioned, the Philips 42PFL5603 is scheduled to start shipping in March, for a suggested retail price of $1,399.