Business News Holding

Category: hdtv

  • LG Rolls Out 3D LCDs with Full HD Resolution

    LG announced the world’s first commercial launch of 3D LCD panel boasting full HD resolution.

    Although full HD 3D images have been developed for contents such as video games, movies and animations, 3D display products with full HD resolution were unavailable in the market.

    According to LG, the commercial launch of its full HD 3D LCD panel is expected to “help to boost development of high resolution 3D contents while allowing users to view true-to-life 3D images.”

    The new product is a 23-inch 3D monitor LCD panel for use with shutter glasses that delivers full HD resolution. LG syas it offers picture quality that is almost twice as crisp as HD 3D displays currently available in the market.

    The panel adopts the company’s proprietary technologies such as “high performance 3D exclusive controller” capable of processing more than twice as much image data as other HD 3D LCDs and “copper bus line” to improve on the resolution and picture quality, as LG claims.

    In addition, the panel is able to reproduce both 2D and 3D images, meaning that users can switch back and forth from 2D and 3D modes.

    The 3D display market is expected to grow at rapid pace as the industry players are shifting their focus from two-dimensional to three-dimensional technologies.

    The Korea Communications Commission recently announced plans to start a trial service for the world’s first full HD 3D terrestrial broadcasting from the second half of 2010. A launch of trial services for 3D satellite broadcasts had been also announced earlier in Japan and the UK.

  • Boeing Ships HD Broadcasting Satellite DIRECTV 12 to Launch Site

    Boeing, who has provided advanced satellite systems to DIRECTV for more than 16 years, announced that DIRECTV 12 was shipped Nov. 25 from Boeing’s satellite manufacturing facility in El Segundo to the Baikonur Cosmodrome launch facility in Kazakhstan.

    Upon arrival, the satellite will undergo final preparations for a December launch aboard an International Launch Services Proton/Breeze M rocket.

    DIRECTV 12 is the 11th satellite Boeing has built for DIRECTV. According to the company, the new satellite will increase DIRECTV’s high-definition capacity by 50 percent, and when combined with the DIRECTV 10 and 11 satellites that launched in 2007 and 2008, will enable DIRECTV to deliver 200 national and 1,500 local HDTV channels to “millions of U.S. households”.

    DIRECTV 12’s national and spot-beam Ka-band payloads are designed to receive and transmit programming throughout the continental United States, Alaska and Hawaii.

    "The successful launch and deployment of DIRECTV 12 will bring the best in digital television programming to DIRECTV’s more than 18.4 million customers across the United States," assured Craig Cooning, vice president and general manager of Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems.

    Forbes.com has recently named the DIRECTV iPhone app one of the Best Branded Mobile Applications of 2009.

    A unit of The Boeing Company, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems is a space and defense businesses specializing in innovative and capabilities-driven customer solutions, and the world’s largest manufacturer of military aircraft.

  • iSuppli: California Regulations Could Cut LCD-TV Energy Use Worldwide in Half

    New television power consumption limits imposed by California’s Energy Commission (CEC) could cut aggregate annual power consumption of LCD-TVs worldwide in half by the year 2013, if these standards are adopted universally, according to iSuppli.

    If all of the 200 million LCD TVs set to be shipped in 2013 complied with the CEC standard, they would use a total of 64.4 billion kilowatt hours for the year, compared to 126.8 billion if they didn’t, iSuppli estimates.

    Analysts say this represents a 50 percent decline in power consumption. With indications that other states may follow California’s lead, and with the United States the world’s largest LCD-TVs market, it’s conceivable that CEC-style regulations could spread throughout the country and the world.

    The U.S. Consumer Electronics Association is warning that the CEC mandates will have a deleterious impact on consumer choice and technological innovation. The trade organization stated the regulations will result in higher prices for consumers, job losses for Californians, and lost tax revenue for the state.

    iSuppli believes the regulations could reduce California tax revenue as consumers purchase larger-sized LCD-TVs through out-of-state channels. Furthermore, the regulations could cause a cessation in sales of certain products in the state, such larger-sized plasma televisions.

    However, with both the industry and consumers already embracing greener televisions that consume less power, the negative impacts of the CEC regulations are likely to be limited.

    “While the CEA has legitimate concerns, the CEC regulations simply follow suit with the EPA’s Energy Star 3.0 and 4.0 guidelines,” said Randy Lawson, senior analyst, display electronics, for iSuppli.

    “Television makers already have been working to cut the power consumption of their products so they can earn the coveted Energy Star label.”

    Furthermore, iSuppli’s research indicates that consumers increasingly are aware of power consumption issues, and are likely to gravitate toward sets that use less electricity.

    “Because of this, television brands will still be offering a plethora of product choices that will be attractive to consumers,” said Lawson.

    An iSuppli survey revealed that 46.1 percent of U.S. consumers in the third quarter said green factors influenced their television purchasing decisions. The same survey showed that 43.4 percent of those consumers considered power savings to be the most important green feature.

    According to iSuppli, the ever-more-restrictive television power consumption standards in California and elsewhere definitely will impact the path of technology development for flat-panel TVs, affecting panel materials, LCD backlight designs and system audio/video electronics.

    Lawson said, “Many design changes will occur in the television electronics and OEM-enabled features, including technologies like ambient light sensing to help enable intelligent backlight drive options.”

  • OKI Develops Industry’s First 1.1 Inch QVGA High Brightness LED

    OKI Digital Imaging, a subsidiary of OKI Data Corporation (a subsidiary that develops, manufactures, and markets LEDs), announced it has succeeded in developing a 1.1 inch QVGA (Quarter Video Graphics Array) LED display while reducing power consumption to one-tenth that of conventional LCDs.

    According to OKI, this achievement is the direct result of a new company technology that enhances luminance efficiency, based on refinements of its proprietary Epi Film Bonding technology that permit two-dimensional deployment.

    This new technology applies the Epi Film Bonding technology to mount thin-film LEDs onto a metal board in a manner permitting high reflection and radiation.

    “Featuring the world’s first 65-micrometer pitch between LED chips, this LED display also realizes high density to deliver high-definition images while maintaining diminutive dimensions,” the company says.

    OKI claims that since it is self-illuminating, the new display features faster response, more compact dimensions, and lower power consumption than LCD displays that require a separate light source. It also features high contrast (over 5000:1) for high visibility even in bright daylight.

    “The new technology has made it possible for us to develop a groundbreaking LED display that provides high definition images while maintaining compact dimensions,” said Hiroshi Kikuchi, President of OKI Digital Imaging.

    Ha added that the firm plans to leverage the expertise and technical knowledge accumulated over 20 years of experience with LED printing to develop new technologies in other areas and to expand its LED-related businesses.

    OKI informed they will manufacture the LED display at the newly-acquired LED manufacturing facility in Gunma prefecture, Japan. Shipments of samples are expected to begin by the end of fiscal year 2010.

  • NVIDIA Expands 3D Vision Technology to Notebook Market

    NVIDIA, along with the PC manufacturers, notebook panel manufacturers, and content developers, announced the expansion of the NVIDIA 3D Vision ecosystem to include HD notebook platforms that integrate advanced 120Hz 3D Vision-capable displays directly into the chassis for on-the-go 3D.

    NVIDIA says they have worked closely with display manufacturers, including CPT, LG, CMO, and Samsung, to bring 120Hz 3D Vision-capable panels to notebook platforms.

    These new displays provide 2D capability with crystal clear images, but also deliver flicker-free 3D, with support for high definition playback of 3D games, movies, and photographs.

    With notebook displays available, PC manufacturers are now able to bring 3D Vision notebooks to market. Notebooks will include the 120Hz 3D Vision-capable panel and bundle 3D Vision active-shutter glasses.

    David Choi, Vice President of LG said LG Display is planning to fully support NVIDIA 3D Vision technology with their next generation of 120Hz notebook panels.

    SH Moon, Vice President of Samsung said, “Samsung LCD Division is fully behind NVIDIA’s 3D Vision ecosystem.”

    “NVIDIA’s 3D Vision technology provides the best 3D experience that we have seen, and we look forward to bringing this technology to market on notebook panels,” he added.

    The first notebook utilizing NVIDIA 3D Vision is the G51J 3D, introduced last week by ASUS.

    Powered by an Intel Core i7 processor and 64-bit Windows 7, the G51J 3D comes with NVIDIA GeForceGTX 260M with 1GB DDR3 video memory, 15".6 HD LED backlight 1366 x 768 display, dual SATA HDD support, DVD Super-multi / Blu-ray Combo drive and, of course, a pair of 3D Vision active-shutter glasses coupled with a wide-range infra-red emitter.

    The GPU driver and a 120Hz 3D panel render each scene twice, delivering up to 60 images evenly to each eye, amounting to a total of up to 120 images at any given time.

    Clevo, a Taiwan-based notebook manufacturer, is supposed to introduce its first 3D Vision supported notebook in 2010. Stephen Chien, WW Sales and Marketing VP at Clevo said, “The era of 3D is upon us, and immersive 3D gaming and movie watching is indeed an exciting proposition.”

  • Biz-News.com “Product of the Year Award 2009”

    2009 is coming to a close, a difficult year for many and an opportunity for others.

    With a recession lurching over world economic growth we have seen some companies that have continued betting on innovation and development and have launched some amazing products into the market.

    Last year Biz-News.com celebrated the “Product of the Year Awards 2008”. Nominations where received from all parts of the globe. First hand users explained their experiences and recommended best practices for the most innovative products out there.

    Honouring those who have fought to make the most of this year, Biz-News.com again wishes to call upon its readers to nominate their favourite product of the year.

    Nominations will begin on November 19th and will close on February 15th 2010. Runner ups will be featured in our editorial and winners will have an exclusive interview complete with user reviews and photographic backup published on Biz-News.com.

    To make your vote on the Product of the Year for 2009 please fill in the following form.

    Product of the Year Winners in 2008

    VoIP.biz-news.com
    – MyGlobalTalk by i2Telecom
    – IPsmarx

    Storage.biz-news.com
    – RestorePoint by Tadasoft

    Smartphone.biz-news.com
    – AmAze

  • California Approves New Energy Efficient TV Regulations

    The California Energy Commission approved the U.S. first energy efficiency standards for televisions.

    When these standards are implemented in 2011, new TVs sold in California will be the most energy efficient in the nation, as the commission claims.

    After ten years, the commission estimates the regulations will save $8.1 billion in energy costs and save enough energy to power 864,000 single-family homes.

    The technology neutral standards mandate that new televisions sold in California should consume 33 percent less electricity by 2011 and 49 percent less electricity by 2013. The standards affect only those TVs with a screen size 58 inches or smaller.

    For example, a 42-inch screen would consume 183 watts or less by 2011 and 115 watts or less by 2013. Pacific Gas & Electric estimates that over a decade the standards will reduce CO2 emissions by three million metric tons.

    More than 1,000 TV models on the market today already meet the 2011 standards and cost no more than less efficient sets. The regulations will not affect existing televisions that consumers already own or the TVs currently on retail store shelves.

    Stores will not be prohibited from selling existing stock of older televisions after the standards go into effect.

    California’s per capita electricity use has remained flat for the past 30 years compared to the rest of the nation which has increased its energy consumption by 40 percent.

    "The real winners of these new TV energy efficiencies are California consumers who will be saving billions of dollars and conserving energy while preserving their choice to buy any size or type of TV," said Energy Commission Chairman Karen Douglas.

    California was recently named the nation’s most energy efficient state by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE).

    The Energy Commission began working on TV energy efficiency standards in January 2007. Since then, the Commission’s staff collaborated with a variety of stakeholders including major statewide utility companies, the environmental community, TV industry groups and retailers, and consumer groups in an open public process to develop these regulations.

  • AMIMON Introduces Wireless HD Modules for the Notebook Market

    AMIMON, a fabless semiconductor company that specialize in HD solutions, announced the availability of its WHDI (Wireless Home Digital Interface) modules which can be embedded into notebook and netbook enabling a wireless HD connection from PCs to HDTVs.

    Earlier introduced, the company’s WHDI allows flat-panel televisions and multimedia projectors to wirelessly interface to all HDTV video sources at a quality equivalent to that achieved with wired interfaces such as component video, DVI and HDMI.

    Newly released modules are available with a mini-PCI form-factor of 50mm*30mm and will also be offered with a standard Display-Mini card form-factor of 44.4mm*26mm based on the interface defined by the PCI SIG which uses Displayport.

    Additionally, these cards are designed for the WHDI standard and are capable of wirelessly delivering full uncompressed 1080p/60Hz HD content throughout the entire home, as the company claims.

    Notebook PCs embedded with the new WHDI modules are expected to be in the market in 2010 offering the ability to connect notebook wirelessly to any WHDI-enabled HDTV or, through an external WHDI-to-HDMI adaptor, also to any HDTV.

    AMIMON says the new modules will also enable external wireless PC-to-TV accessories (‘dongles’) which connect to the PC and TV via HDMI.

    The WHDI modules are based on the newly developed video modem technology operating in the 5GHz unlicensed band. WHDI co-exists in the same frequency spectrum with Wi-Fi and uses similar RF building blocks and antennas.

    It synergies with Wi-Fi enable a roadmap to integrated WHDI + Wi-Fi semiconductor components which is said to offer notebook OEMs the prospect of a low cost WHDI wireless HD link to the TV.

    According to the firm, the WHDI Modules key features include support for full high definition resolutions up to 1080p/60Hz, Hollywood approved HDCP 2.0 copy protection, 5GHz unlicensed band with support for Dynamic Frequency Selection (DFS), compact form-factor, practically no latency (less than 1 millisecond) and low power consumption modes for portable devices.

    Noam Geri, vice president of marketing and business development for AMIMON believes WHDI is gaining momentum with TV OEMs. “Now also PC OEMs set to offer consumers multiple WHDI enabled products in 2010,” he said.

  • Samsung Retakes Leadership in U.S. LCD-TV Market

    Samsung in the third quarter retook the No.-1 ranking in the U.S. LCD-TV market from chief competitor Vizio, according to iSuppli.

    The iSuppli research shows the South Korean electronics giant shipped 1.3 million LCD-TVs in the United States during the period from July through September, equaling a 16.8 percent share of the market.

    This gave Samsung a 1.1 percentage point lead over U.S.-based Vizio, which held a 15.7 percent share in the third quarter with shipments of 1.2 million LCD-TVs.

    The last time Samsung held the top spot in the U.S. LCD-TV market was in the fourth quarter of 2008. “Vizio in the first and second quarters of 2009 took the lead in the United States as consumers warmed to its low-cost, full-featured sets sold through high-volume retailers like Wal-Mart,” the report says.

    “However, Samsung in the second quarter began to regain momentum and increase its market share as the company focused on advanced LED-backlit LCD-TVs and reduced prices for its high-end sets.”

    According to Riddhi Patel, principal analyst, television systems, for iSuppli, Samsung is leading the LCD-TV industry’s adoption of LED backlighting technology.

    “The company has been marketing these sets intensely, attracting the interest of U.S. consumers. Consumers like LED-backlit LCD-TVs because of their ultra-thin form factors. With Samsung cutting the prices of these sets aggressively, they now are becoming increasingly affordable for a larger number of U.S. consumers,” she said.

    The report also shows that the United States now leads the world in sales of LCD-TVs with LED backlights: LED-backlit sets accounted for 3.7 percent of total U.S. LCD-TV shipments in the third quarter, up from 2.1 percent in the second.

    Samsung in October was selling 55-inch LED-backlit LCD TVs for $2,650, just $325 more than for equivalent-sized and featured sets using conventional Cold-Cathode Fluorescent Lamp (CCFL) backlighting technology.

    “This low price point and minimal gap with CCFL sets represents a critical price threshold for LED-backlit sets, making them more acceptable to U.S. consumers,” Patel said.

    She adds that most of the Top-5 LCD-TV brands in the U.S. saw their shipments and market shares decline in the third quarter compared to the second, as smaller companies increased their sales.

    iSuppli predicts the fourth quarter, which brings the Christmas selling season, will bring stronger shipment growth because of aggressive discounts for full-featured LCD-TVs.

    “Furthermore, retailers are expected to offer attractive deals on product bundles. Such bundles will include LCD-TVs sold with Blu-ray players, surround-sound systems, DVRs, game consoles, and installation services. Premium brands such as Samsung, LG and Sony are expected to lead the way with these packaged deals,” Patel said.

  • Review: Lenovo IdeaPad U350

    The Lenovo IdeaPad U350 laptop offers computing and entertainment technology at its best.

    With the retail price starting from as little as R6 699 (~$900), the IdeaPad U350 is a must for technology lovers for its amazing range of utilities.

    The smallest IdeaPad U350 laptop is a mere 1.58kg and is less than 25mm in size, making it easy to carry around.

    The battery also has a long life span and if fully charged is unlikely to leave you frantically searching for a power source to recharge it when outdoors.

    Among the wide range of benefits of using the IdeaPad U350 is that it is fitted with a 16:9 aspect ratio high definition 13.3 inch LED panel and an HDMI connector which allows the user to watch movies or other multimedia in high definition.

    Computing technologies on the IdeaPad U350, which include Intel Core 2Solo and Pentium ultra low voltage processors, up to 8 GB high speed DDR3 memory and up to 500 GB of hard drive storage, speeds up video editing.

    The protective system of the IdeaPad U350 is also high quality as it can make the hard drive to stop if the machine is dropped and has the facility – OneKey Rescue System – to help the user recover information in the event that data is corrupted.

    Several extra features like the Ambient Light Sensor which automatically adjusts the screen’s brightness according to the lighting environment and therefore reduces eye strain, make the IdeaPad U350 all the more valuable and desirable.

    A camera also comes in handy for video messaging or making Skype calls through the laptop’s WiFi connectivity.

    IdeaPad U350 laptop is certainly a useful gadget for the working class, students and all the computer literate people out there.

    ***
    Disclaimer: this review has been possible thanks to Lenovo who has provided the unit we tested.