Hitachi unveiled 9 new Wooo HDTV’s yesterday across the pond in Japan. The Hitachi Wooo UT Series will be available in three sizes, 32-, 37-, and 42-inches, all with full 1080p resolution save for the smallest display which features 720p. Super-slim 35 mm thin bodies are a result of several of the televisions’ components and dual TV tuner being removed from the set itself and placed in an external box connected to the set by Ultra Wide Band. All three LCD’s have 250GB of internal HDD space, an iV an iV port for iVDR HDD cartridges, DLNA compatibility, x.v. Color, and Deep Color. The two smaller screens feature IPS Alpha panels while the 42-inch display boasts a 120Hz IPS panel.

Three more LCD’s will become members of the Wooo XV Series, available in identical sizes as the UT Series, and utilizing many of the same features. Once again, all displays are 1080p aside from the 32-inch display which features 720p resolution and all have an iV port. None of these sets have any internal drive space and aren’t quite as thin, integrating all the TV’s components within the sets.

The final three new releases are plasma displays, branded under the Wooo 02 Series moniker, and available in either 42- or 50-inch sizes. The 42-inch big screen features 1024×1080 pixel resolution, while the two 50-inch sets feature 1920×1080 pixels or 1280×1080 pixels. Like the Wooo UT series, the two larger 50-inch displays integrate a 250GB hard disk drive, while all three new Hitachi plasmas features an iV port.

The Shuttle XPC G5 6801M HTPC looks to be a great solution for European’s sucked into the now legendary HD DVD marketing ploy. Boasting an LG GGC-H20L Blu-ray/HD DVD Combo optical drive, the Shuttle will playback the boatload of HD DVD’s you mistakenly bought before the HD disc format went deadpool. Also featuring an AMD Athlon X2 6000+ processor and 500GB of hard disk space, Shuttle says its new HTPC is “ideal for fluid playback” of HD content. The Shuttle XPC G5 6801M HTPC uses the Windows Vista Home Premium OS and has both DVB-T and analog tuners, as well as wireless LAN and 8 channel audio.

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44 million households worldwide will have a HD signal received and displayed on an HDTV by the end of 2008. That’s 4% of worldwide households, double that at the end of 2007, but only a quarter of the expected 180 million HD homes by 2012. All this thanks to dropping HDTV and set-top box prices according to the London-based research firm behind the new numbers, Informa Telecoms & Media. Not surprisingly, HD penetration has been the highest in North America, due to the growing availability of HD content and the poor quality of analog signals. The research also found the HD subscriptions rose dramatically once 20 HD channels are available in any given area.

Via marketwatch

Mitsubishi announced their 2008 HDTV lineup today including the long-awaited laser TV we saw early this year at CES in Las Vegas. The laser TV will be branded under the LaserVue name and will be available in the 3rd quarter of this year. LaserVue will be the first ever laser-powered TV available to the consumer market, making available a color spectrum that’s twice that of current LCD’s and plasma’s on the market. The LaserVue also offers 3D viewing capabilities and is incredibly energy efficient, using half the power of a typical LCD TV and one-third the power of a typical plasma. Still no pricing info yet though.

While many big name manufacturers are pulling out of the DLP market, Mitsubishi announced 7 new models, all big screens with increased brightness, thinner bezels, proprietary 6-color processor and 3D viewing capability. The first five models and their prices are as follows:

• 60-inch WD-60735 - $1,799
• 65-inch WD-65735 - $2,199
• 73-inch WD-73735 - $3,199
• 65-inch WD-65736 - $2,499
• 73-inch WD-73736 - $3,599

The other two models will be part of the Diamond DLP line which features Smooth120Hz for crisp, clear fast-moving scenes and Dark Detailer for higher contrast. The sets will have a high gloss design and Blue Light Accent. The 65-inch Diamond WD-65835 and 73-inch Diamond WD-73835 will retail for $3399 and $4699 respectively. All the new DLP models should be available this month.

The company also has 7 new Ultra Thin Frame 1080p LCD TV’s with frame widths reduced to less than one inch. The sets will feature 10-bit panels, x.v. color, 6-color processing, Smooth120Hz Film Motion, GalleryPlayer, and Deep Color. The GalleryPlayer is downloadable software which can be loaded onto the Mitsubishi allowing you to view high-definition art and photography right on your TV screen. The first five models and their respective prices are as follows:

• 40-inch LT-40148 - $2,499
• 46-inch LT-46148 - $2,999
• 46-inch LT-46149 - $3,499
• 52-inch LT-52148 - $3,599
• 52-inch LT-52149 - $4,099

Like the DLP line, the new LCD line will also feature two Diamond models: the Diamond LT-46246 and the Diamond LT-52246, priced at $3799 and $4499 respectively. The Diamond models feature Variable Smooth120Hz Film Motion, low profile speakers, DeepField Imager for improved contrast, and a high gloss design with Blue Light Accent. The new LCD line will be available in May.

via press release

Sony’s BDZ-A70 Blu-ray DVR performs all the typical functions of any digital video recorder, but what makes it uniques is its ability to transfer any television content to your Sony PSP or Walkman. Just slip in the PSP’s memory stick and with the press of a button, the BDZ-A70 will sync your selected TV shows onto your PSP. You can transfer video in either QVGA 384k or 768k and the download time is remarkably fast, taking only about 3 minutes for the higher-quality 768k and a quick 2 minutes for 384k.The BDZ-A70 also features a 320 GB HDD, 2 ground analog and digital TV tuners, and Sony Room Link. Japanese customer of NTT’s DoCoMo mobile phone service can also transfer video onto their cell phones, which should clue you in to the fact that right now the Sony BDZ-A70 is only available in Japan.

One downside to the BDZ-A70-it can’t rip Blu-ray or DVD to your PSP. Darn, that would’ve been cool!.

Via Akihabara News

Mitsubishi Digital Electronics America has announced the name and details of its LaserTV which will be known as LaserVue. This is the first product line of its kind, realizing the dream of the laser-powered TV which made its debut at CES earlier this year in Las Vegas. Mitsubishi claims that the LaserVue will deliver a range of color never before seen in home entertainment - pretty high claims, so it must be seen to be believed. Other details concerning this year’s DLP lineup and its range of ultra thin LCD HDTVs will include a thinner frame and brighter picture on the DLP models and while the proprietary Ultra Thin Frame on the LCD HDTVs will feature improved sound capabilities. LsaerVue models will be available sometime this Q3 at a yet undisclosed price.

Panasonic Projectors Systems Company announced today two new LCD projectors designed for fixed installations, the PT-F200NTU and the PT-F200U. Both projectors feature long-lasting brightness with 3,500 Lumens that ensure reliability through 5,000 hours, vertical and horizontal lens-shift, closed caption capability for hearing-impaired, and cost reducing properties. They also feature Auto Rolling Filter (ARF), which is a feature that reduces maintenance costs that deal with dust build-up and air contamination. Also featured with the projectors is a fourth-generation Daylight View 4 image-processing which includes Edge Enhancement. The PT-F200NTU features a built-in wireless local-area network capability which supports the Japanese issued PJLink protocol. To purchase one of the projectors, you can look at a cost of around $4,499 for the PT-F200NTU and around $3,999 for the PT-F200U. Panasonic Projector Systems Company is a supplier of projector systems in the United States and is a unit of Panasonic Corporation.
[via Business Wire]

Planar’s PD8130 and PD8150 1080p single-chip projectors, designed exclusively for your home theater, are shipping in high-gloss black for $5999 and $7999 respectively. The Planar PD8130 has a 10000:1 contrast ratio and multiple HDMI and component connections while the Planar PD8150 has a 15000:1 contrast ratio, HDMI 1.3 and 12-bit Deep Color.

Both projectors have a number of features in common including Planar video processing technology with Dynamic Black and BrilliantColor enhancement, horizontal and vertical lens shift, sharpness and noise reduction controls, ISF day and night calibration memory settings, programmable image memory selection keys, built-in test patterns and an easy-to-use remote.

Buffalo Technology has announced the general availability of its LinkTheater HD media streamers, which were previously only available in Japan.The Buffalo LT-H90LAN HD media streamer uses an Ethernet connection to stream media around the home from PCs, Macs, USB hard drives and DNLA compliant media servers, allowing content to be played back on a living room HDTV or stereo system. The wireless version, the Buffalo LT-H90WN, has not yet been released.

The Buffalo LT-H90LAN features an HDMI output, built-in USB 2.0 and 1.1 port, 10/100 LAN port, analog audio/video connectors, D4/component video connectors and optical audio connectors.

It can stream and output 720p and 1080i HD video, and also 480i and 480p. It supports the H.264 (MPEG4 AVC), WMV9, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, XviD, AVI, HDV, and AVCHD video formats; many audio formats including, WMA, MP3, Dolby Digital (AC3), AAC-LC, AAC-HE; and the usual image formats.

The Buffalo LT-H90LAN is priced at £99 and should be available this month.

The Panasonic SC-BT100 Blu-ray home theater system, first announced at CES 2008, is supposed to be available later this spring at an unconfirmed price. It seems to have popped up on the J&R website already for pre-order priced at $999.95. Not a bad price for a higher-end home theater system with Blu-ray playback.

The SC-BT100 system’s key features:

• Blu-ray profile 1.1 for picture-in-picture viewing
• 7.1 channel ready (meaning you actually have to purchase an extra couple of speakers and a wireless transceiver to actually make it a 7.1 channel system)
• five disc changer
• SD card slot (for digital media playback
• wireless rear speakers

The system has a few lacking areas as well. Profile 1.1 is a step behind Profile 2.0/BD Live which enables more interactive features and internet connectivity straight from Blu-ray disc titles. The SC-BT100 only plays back iPod video via a low-res composite output and its pretty barren in the connectivity area.

At $1000, this is a better deal than many, but we’ll have to see the price drop substantially before we run out and purchase the Panasonic SC-BT100.