With softening demand, sales prices of screens have declined, hurting profits. The tough road in the LCD panel market is affecting more than Samsung; it’s also affecting Samsung rivals LG and Sony. Some analysts place some blame for the soft market and falling prices on the panel makers themselves for continuing to produce screens over and above market demand. By producing too many screens, panel makers have forced themselves to slash prices to sell the excess production.

Strangely, despite the LCD panel market as a whole being in an oversupply situation Chinese firms are entering into the market and building new production lines only adding to the oversupply in the industry and forcing prices even lower. Prospects for growth in the LCD industry overall are slowing, but the OLED segment is set to boom in the coming years so many of these companies are expected to refocus on OLED panels to spur profits and growth. Samsung has estimated that OLED revenues will increase by 600% from now until 2014. With the difficulty in the LCD market, a spinoff of the Samsung LCD unit would help streamline Samsung’s business.

[via BBC]

Meanwhile, the S-LCD business – Sony’s share of which has now been sold off to partner Samsung – contributed to a loss despite Samsung paying for Sony’s half, because the company’s shares went cheaply when they were sold last month. Repairs after the flooding in Thailand cost $114m, though much of that was covered by insurance.

Profit from LCD televisions declined, thanks to lower retail prices that didn’t cover Sony’s own costs, while the company’s game business struggled to make back what Sony had spent on marketing to promote the PlayStation Network. Lower sales of the PS3 itself didn’t help either.

The ray of hope is Sony’s movie business, which saw a 7.7-percent increase year-on-year with sales of $2.1bn. Still, Sony predicts a larger than expected loss for its full 2011 fiscal year, with Hirai to focus on boosting its core businesses of cameras and games, increase investment into mobile and restructure the TV business, in addition to ditching the more unprofitable areas the firm has found itself in.

Total revenue at the South Korea-based manufacturer climbed to 47.3 trillion won, a 13% increase compared to the previous year. Samsung’s Galaxy brand of phones reached an astounding 300 million units in sales last year. In the fourth quarter, it reported 32 million smartphone sales, making it account for 40% of the entire company’s profit. In comparison, Samsung’s display division saw an operating loss of 220 billion won, a complete 180 from its profitable position the year before.

In other news, Samsung’s semiconductor unit also grew year-to-year, raking in 2.31 trillion won in profit. That represents a 29% increase over the previous fourth quarter. Clearly, though, the story is all about Samsung’s mobile business. The company is now ranked as the world’s largest smartphone seller, ahead of such titans as Apple and Motorola.

[via Washington Post]

The move is to save money. Previously, Hitachi, Sony, and Toshiba all agreed to an operations merger back in November 2011 that would have all operations for LCD manufacturing merging into the Innovation Network Corporation of Japan. Each of the three firms would hold 10% of the merged company with the deal expected to close this April. The announcement that Hitachi is moving its flat screen LCD TV business out of the country.

Hitachi is moving the flat screen TVs from its consumer electronics arm to the Hitachi brand home appliances arm. That transfer will start April 1 and will be completed by the end of September. That is a strange move since TVs have more to do with consumer electronics than home appliances though the two do converge with some refrigerators having TVs for instance.

You also get a 2W stereo speaker setup built in, though we’re guessing most users will want to plug in an external system if they care about audio at all. The 16:9 aspect panel has 250 cd/m2 brightness and a 5ms response time, and AOC is quoting the usual, ridiculous dynamic contrast ratio: in this case, 20,000,000:1.

AOC throws in two pairs of 3D glasses, one traditional set and another that clip onto prescription glasses; you can also use them with other passive 3D displays, like HDTVs. The ACO E2352PHZ is on sale now, priced at $299.

The photo here is a tie up with Samsung and Absolut Vodka showing a cooler with the transparent LCD for the door. That is a very interesting way to use the big display. The panel has a contrast ratio of 4,500:1 and supports 1366 x 768 HD resolution. It also can display 70% of the standard color gamut even though you can see through it.

I can imagine that the special cooler would draw some attention in the grocery or liquor store. I would assume that it will show moving images and commercials, not just still images as the photo implies. Samsung is also working on a 22-inch transparent LCD that is now being commercialized. The transparent LCD panel was awarded at 2012 CES Innovations Award.

The MT65 Presenter display is Full HD with 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution, supports 3D, and offers up to 32 simultaneous touch points. The LED backlit screen is rated for 50,000 hours and is protected by 3mm thick ultra-clear tempered glass.

Inside, the MT65 Presenter packs a quad-core Intel Core i7 2720QM processor with 8GB of RAM, 256GB SATA SSD, and a discrete GeForce GTX 460 GPU. It also has built-in WiFi, Bluetooth, and Ethernet connectivity along with stereo speakers, stereo microphone, an HD webcam with Carl Zeiss optics, and HDMI port.

Although the MT65 Presenter would be awesome to have in your home, at $17,500 it’s obviously priced for commercial use such as in museums or other public spaces. It will be available with either Windows 7 Professional 64-bit or Linux starting in March.

[via GizMag]

Samsung actually showed off the transparent display technology back in March 2011, suggesting at the time that it could be used for advertising. Unfortunately that application proved too mundane to catch the public’s attention in quite the way Samsung hoped for, hence the return of the tech last week and the far more exciting prospect of your double-glazing telling you your latest Tweets, Facebook friend requests and Google+ Hangouts.

As well as giving internet updates and letting you work on your latest report for work while simultaneously keeping an eye on the kids in the garden, the smart window can create its own virtual privacy shades. Although during the day, it’s ambient light that works as the backlight, two traditional edge-lighting sources are also fitted for nighttime use.

Tech-wise, the 22-inch panel runs at 1680 x 1050 resolution and has a 500:1 contrast ratio. Regular LCDs are only 5-percent transparent, whereas Samsung’s new panels increase that to 15-20-percent. Unfortunately there’s still no word on pricing or domestic availability.

As for the TDi2340 universal display, that’s an altogether more interesting proposition. Described by ViewSonic as an “anchor for cloud computing devices”, the 23-inch monitor supports 10-point multitouch and wireless connections with your smartphone, tablet, or notebook.

Inside there’s an ARM11 processor running a custom ViewSonic UI, that supposedly makes viewing photos and streamed video more straightforward; Netflix and YouTube get name-checked. For more businesslike purposes, you can apparently either set the TDi2340 up as an extended desktop or in dual-display mode.

No word on pricing for either monitor, but they’re both expected to drop sometime in Q2 2012.

Sony will continue to push OLED displays for its corporate clients, such as broadcast television and other niche uses. However, North American and European sales of OLED sets will cease, just as they did in Japan back in 2010, and new models on the roadmap have been cancelled.

The company was the first to commercialize an OLED TV, the XEL-1, all the way back in 2007. Measuring just 11-inches and a scant 3mm thick, the XEL-1 nonetheless carried a vast price tag: around $2,500.

Sony followed the XEL-1 with the promise of a $200m investment in an OLED production line, hoping to deliver medium and large scale panels. That cash injection seems to have been for naught, however, and Sony is scaling back on all its panel endeavors including selling up its share of the S-LCD joint-venture with Samsung. Sony will continue small-scale R&D into OLED, the company has said, but for now it seems the Japanese firm is content to let its Korean rivals own the OLED space.

[via OLED-Display]

Users can expect a crisp, visually-stunning picture on the Series 9 monitor. This 27-inch monitor has Samsung’s Natural Color Expert technology for “maximum panel performance”. See colors the way they were intended to be seen on this quad high-definition (QHD) resolution (2560 x 1440). Link your Android MHL-compatible smartphone, and enjoy the built-in stereo audio or benefit from a much larger screen than the one on your smartphone. The new Series 9 monitor will be available in March 2012, starting at $1199.99.

Samsung has also released information about their Series 7 Smart Station and Series 7 HDTV monitor. The Smart Station is part HD monitor, part wireless docking station, now with the ability to integrate with mobile devices in addition to notebook PCs, peripherals, network and AV. Samsung’s new Series 7 HDTV monitor (TB750) includes HDTV functionality with a built-in TV tuner and integrated wireless display (WiDi) technology from Intel. Both will be available in 24- and 27-inch displays. The Series 7 Smart Station will begin at $549 while pricing for the Series 7 HDTV monitor will begin at $599.

[via Press Release (Series 9) & Press Release (Series 7)]

Plug in to your notebook – USB 3.0 is best, though USB 2.0 is supported as well though you’ll lack the highest speeds of the integrated hub – and you instantly get a Full HD display, two USB 2.0, two USB 3.0 and ethernet connections. The webcam is a 720p HD unit, and the display can recharge your notebook too. It will go on sale in February, priced at $319.

As for the HP LV1911 and LV2011, they measure up at 18.5- and 20-inches respectively, use LED backlit panels running at 1366 x 768 and 1600 x 900 respectively, and each pack a single VGA input. Basic stuff, with pricing to match: the HP LV2011 will go on sale in February, priced at $135, with the LV1911 following on in March for $125.

HP also announced the Omni 27 all-in-one PC this morning, along with the HP Pavilion HPE h9 Phoenix performance PC.

Samsung had dropped support for the Japanese market back in 2007, over concerns it was unable to satisfactorily compete with homegrown firms like Toshiba, Sony and NEC. In the years since that decision, however, Japan’s native vendors have struggled to compete, with Sony recently selling up its stake in the S-LCD joint-venture with Samsung amid diving performance of its LCD unit.

Meanwhile, Samsung has gone from strength to strength. Its new controlling role in the S-LCD business is expected to allow the company “heightened flexibility, speed and efficiency in both panel production and business operations” according to the deal announcement.

A push for OLED TVs will see Samsung take on LG directly, its arch-rival already committed to bringing a 55-inch OLED set to CES 2012 next week and expected to launch it commercially late in the year. Samsung has also been tipped to bring a similarly-scaled OLED HDTV to the tech show; SlashGear will be there to bring back all the details.

[via Reuters]

A probe into allegations of similar anti-competitive activities among LCD manufacturers took place back in December 2006, which led to the several companies and execs pleading guilty and paying more than $890 million in fines. This latest settlement is to address claims by consumers as well as by eight states, including Arkansas, California, Florida, Michigan, Missouri, New York, West Virgina, and Wisconsin.

The companies involved include Samsung, Sharp, Hitachi, Epson, Chi Mei, HannStar, and Chunghwa. In addition to the fine, they will be required to engage in antitrust compliance programs and cooperate with ongoing prosecution of other companies that may have participated.

[via Engadget]

“This transaction will enable [Sony] to monetize its shares in S-LCD and aims to secure a flexible and steady supply of LCD panels from Samsung, based on market prices and without the responsibility and costs of operating a manufacturing facility” the Japanese company says. As for Samsung, it “anticipates heightened flexibility, speed and efficiency in both panel production and business operations.”

The deal is another step in Sony’s attempts to bring its large-format LCD business into profit, the TV division proving to be a significant money pit in recent quarters. Back in November, Sony warned of losses of around $1.15bn, with under-performance in the TV segment a sizable contributor to that.

Initial goals of LCD production, Sony explained, had been set when there was a shortage of panels and the belief that demand would continue to grow. Both those factors proved unreliable, leaving Sony with a wasteful production setup. The company announced plans to divide the LCD business into three, one section handling the legacy LCD TV business (using Sony-designed and produced components), another the ODM business (using third-party components) and finally a group that would be responsible for “developing and designing the next generation TV.”

A 100,000:1 contrast ratio and broader color gamut than similarly sized LCD panels add to a response time in excess of 1,000x faster than LCD, along with reduced power consumption from more intelligent backlighting. There’s also what LG is calling “White OLED (WOLED)” which vertically stacks red, green and blue diodes on a white diode base.

Where LG Display has been particularly clever is in the backplane, using an Oxide TFT tech rather than Low Temperature Poly Silicon (LTPS) as is currently common in OLED, for identical picture quality and performance but “significantly reduced investment levels.”

Those cheaper manufacturing costs will be essential if large-scale OLED is to take on LCD and plasma in the living room. Existing OLED TVs commercially released have generally been both small and expensive; LG has shown it can go big, but there’s no word on whether this particular OLED HDTV will see a retail launch or simply be used as a tech demo for WOLED and Oxide TFT processes.

[via Engadget]

It still manages to pack in 7W integrated speakers and that all-important IPS display, however, with support for 3D graphics. The DM52 series includes 23- and 27-inch models, with 3D support and both HDMI and USB inputs for showing content from your computer, AV kit or even a thumb-drive.

As for the LG D43, that can actively convert 2D graphics into 3D, without demanding any specific software be running on your computer or AV player. A dedicated 3D button allows for simple tweaking of the depth effect.

LG will be showing off the new range at CES 2012, with a global launch beginning in February. No word on pricing at this stage.

Pictured above on the far left is the smaller Optimus mini six, which isn’t expected to ship until November. In the middle is the long-awaited Optimus Popularis, which is expected to ship in July. The Optimus Aux on the far right has already been released, and can be purchased along with the other two keyboards. Art Levedev bills the Optimus Popularis as “a compact keyboard with each key displaying any image and being assigned any function.”, and the Optimus mini six as an “auxiliary device with six customizable keys that can be assigned any function, including displaying information related or non-related to the current program in use.”

Most likely known for the Optimus Maximus keyboard, which goes for close to a weighty $1500 USD, Art Lebedev’s studio is certainly one that has pushed the boundaries of interface computing, at a premium price that comes with it, though. SlashGear readers, do any of you own or have used a piece by Art Levedev? Any thoughts? Leave them in the comment section below.

[via Art Levedev]

Also inside the stroller you’ll find running lights, a kid-in-seat sensor, a pedometer (of course) and an assortment of other less mentionable but just as fantastic implementations of future adult oriented technology – like an LCD screen! The one thing this stroller will not do is ward off, as Cory Doctorow reminds us, the hoards of pro-walking devils that would lay waste to your sense of good parenting when you’ve got a child with two perfectly good legs and feet sitting comfortably in a rolling seat. But just look at what it can do!

Now that’s what I call an advanced bit of strolling technology — is it worth the $850 USD it costs to own though? I’m not so sure of that, especially since I’d feel strange putting a piece of equipment that costs almost as much as my laptop alongside my camping supplies. Or perhaps this is only for those who bring their strollers along with them into restaurants. Either way, this stroller isn’t quite out on the market yet, but it will be soon! 4moms to the rescue with buttons!

NOTE: It’s been quite a while since we added anything to our Parenting Gadgets portal – is this the sort of thing you’d like to see more of, you readers you? Let us know in the comments below!

[via 4moms]

Since putting things on top of displays normally ends in cracks and weeping, Samsung has outfitted this particular panel with a sheet of tempered glass that can withstand 80kg. However the expectation is that it will be used for eye-catching (and convenient) tricks like scanning documents placed on top or – since wall-mounting is an option – held against it.

The LCD itself runs at 1080p 1920 x 1080 Full HD resolution, with 178-degree horizontal and vertical viewing angles. It has a 2,000:1 contrast ratio, a brightness of 300 cd/m2 and an 8ms response time.

Samsung reckons it can “actively take the lead” in the large-scale touch display market, though hasn’t spilled details on what clients other than Microsoft it might have. It’s also unclear whether the multitouch panel might show up in consumer Samsung TVs, though the company would have to extend the range that PixelSense could track objects if it wanted to, say, integrate the motion-tracking experience of a Kinect sensor.

Microsoft Surface SUR40 demo:

Co-developed with Planar, the two existing prototypes come in sizes of 21.9″ by 33.9″ with an aspect ratio of 1:1.5 and 48″ by 27″ with a 16:9 aspect ratio. Much like tablets, the displays have ambient light sensors and also sensors for motion, meaning they have the ability to turn on and off by themselves, conserving power. Also borrowing from our tablets is Samsung’s goal of bringing a market-like service to the panels where users could search for new art to display and purchase it right from the device.

Samsung intends for this to be a new market of displays. They claim artist are eager to start making works with the new technology, and their goal is to develop this into a new medium. There is no information on pricing available at this time, however it’s safe to assume it will be much pricier than a standard LCD TV set. Samsung says the first SM’ART Gallery Panels will be available sometime in mid-2012.

[via Chip Chick]

The source also claims that the Apple is investing in Sharp’s Japanese manufacturing facilities. Although no investment figure was divulged, we’ve heard rumors from analysts previously that Apple planned to invest $1 billion. The move is part of Apple’s efforts to work with multiple component makers to ensure sufficient supply of parts for its iPhones and iPads.

The source further claims that Apple already uses Sharp displays in its iPhones and plans to also use Sharp displays for its next-gen iPhone that’s due out sometime next year. LG and Samsung were said to supply the displays for Apple’s iPad 2, with a supply bottleneck earlier this year that was rumored to be the result of some faulty light leaking displays from LG, although these reports have not been confirmed.

Moving screens supply to Sharp will help ease off reliance on LG and especially Samsung, which is currently locked in several patent battles with Apple across multiple continents. Sharp is also said to be supplying Apple’s rumored iTV for 2012.

[via 9to5 Mac]

EIH invested NT$1.5bn ($49m) in CPT (Chunghwa Picture Tubes) in July this year, in an attempt to secure production for its FFS displays. Panels using the technology were at one point tipped for inclusion in the iPad 3, with an analyst suggesting back in February that Apple would use an FFS Retina Display for the third-gen tablet. However, more recently it has been indicated that Apple will likely use AH-IPS panels produced by Samsung, Sharp and LG Display.

It’s unclear how the shifting allegiances will impact LG Display’s use of FFS technology, though the indication is that the company will no longer be able to manufacture such displays since Hydis will continue to hold the patents. FFS screens are used in Kobo’s new Vox tablet/ereader, though it’s unknown who actually provides Kobo with the 7-inch panels themselves.

Instead, the 3D Display will follow on in 2012, with updates on exactly when that’s expected tipped for early in the new year. It’s possible that Sony has been overwhelmed with sales, demand for the screen outstripping its production capabilities; the company blamed the Thai flooding recently for part of its underwhelming financial results and manufacturing delays.

Priced at £410 in the UK (and $499 in the US), the PlayStation 3D Display measures in at 24-inches and comes bundled with a pair of 3D glasses; although its primary target is gaming, it will also handle 3D movies and other content, such as that played back on a PS3. Sony has also said it is considering larger versions for future launches, though has not committed to availability. Still, with the company’s LCD business looking disappointingly dreary right now, we imagine Sony is keen to take advantage of any interest from the market whatsoever.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

Sony says it set its initial LCD production targets back when there was a shortage of panels, and based on the assumption that strong demand would continue. Neither of those are still the case, and so the company will now attempt to save up to 40-percent on production costs, better target developing markets, and boost appeal using smart TV style functionality. Meanwhile, as of this month the TV business as a whole will be divided into three, respectively dealing with the legacy LCD TV business (using Sony-designed and produced components), the ODM business (using third-party components) and then a team responsible for “developing and designing the next generation TV.”

As for Sony Pictures, sales increased overall but predominantly from selling merchandising rights and TV programming; theater revenues dipped year-on-year. Music sales also dropped, down 6.6-percent year-on-year, though were helped by digital music licensing deals.

In gaming, Sony reported 3.7m unit sales of the PS3, a 0.2m increase year-on-year, while PSP sales rose a similar amount to 1.7m units. PS2 sales dropped to 1.2m units, however, from 1.5m twelve months ago. In software sales, only PS3 titles saw an increase, with PSP and PS2 games sales each falling.

Together the ten firms that were fined hold 80% of the market share for LCD screens. According to reports, the firms held more than 200 secret meetings dubbed “crystal meetings” between 2001 and 2006 according to an investigator for the commission. Samsung was the firm hardest hit in the investigation with its fine alone totaling 97.2 billion won.

LG was the next biggest loser with a fine for three of its units totaling 65.5 billion won. AU Optronics was fined 28.5 billion won. The European Commission also fined some of these same firms in a similar case last year for price fixing occurring between 2002 and 2006. That EU case also mentioned the “crystal meetings.” I wonder if this has anything to do with Sony looking to pull out of the Samsung joint LCD venture.

[via Computerworld]

Meanwhile, Panasonic’s coveted plasma display production – which was previously expected to shift to Shanghai, bringing the production line equipment back up to speed – will no longer be restarted. In a dramatic move, Panasonic’s headquarters will decamp from Osaka, Japan, and move instead to Singapore.

Panasonic blamed the continued strength of the Japanese yen and sidelined demand from developed markets for the underwhelming quarter, with sales in Europe, China, Asia, Japan and the Americas all down by as much as 13-percent. However, those global figures hide some pockets of success: sales in Nigeria over the last six months have leapt 64-percent year-on-year, and in India 40-percent, excluding Sanyo-branded devices.

Nonetheless, Panasonic’s semiconductor business is floundering, with a 7.4bn yen ($94.8m) operating loss in Components and Devices “mainly due to significantly worsened profit in semiconductors.” Overall, Panasonic now estimates its 2012 full-year results will include a 420bn yen ($5.4bn) net loss.

Sources are saying that if Sony does give up on the S-LCD venture that it would benefit the other large makers of LCD panels including CMI and AUO. Sources claim that Sony and Samsung are in talks about Sony stepping out of the venture and that the agreement for Sony’s exit will be complete by the end of 2011. Sony’s losses total $6 billion since the S-LCD venture was started.

Sony is in the third spot globally in the TV market behind Samsung in first place and LG in third. Sony is particularly hit hard in its home country of Japan where the TV market is shrinking much more rapidly than expected. Japanese TV shipments to Japan are expected to drop to 7 million rather than the expected 13 million in 2012. It’s also worth noting that S-LCD makes the Super LCD screens that are heavily used by HTC in its smartphones to fight the AMOLED screens used by other firms. What affect Sony walking away from the venture would have on that sort of screen is unknown.

[via DigiTimes]

“The technology provides brighter images, reduced moiré effects (or rippled appearance) and the ability to work in any orientation – portrait or landscape” CMI claims, in a package ideally sized for a large smartphone. CMI isn’t the first to offer a 720p phone-scale display – the Galaxy Nexus uses Samsung’s 4.65-inch Super AMOLED HD panel, for instance – but it’s the first time that resolution has been paired with glasses-free 3D.

It’s unclear when the new panel might be in production and ready for commercial devices, with CMI only showing off this demo version at FPD! International in Yokohama, Japan this week. Mobile 3D remains something of a niche market, though it’s entirely possible that 720p could provide the tipping point.

[via NetbookNews]

The Lotus Glass has a high annealing point, meaning that it’s heated to much higher temperatures and then allowed to slowly cool. This process removes internal stresses and makes for a much tougher product that can remain stable during high temperature production processes. In addition to being able to offer higher resolution image quality, the new glass is also said to increase response time and cut down battery usage.

The glass is currently in production, but the company has not revealed yet which manufacturers will be among the first to incorporate the glass. The recently launched Apple iPhone 4S and Samsung Galaxy Nexus both do not use Corning’s current Gorilla Glass, which may have something to do with display resolution requirements that the Lotus Glass will address.

[via ArsTechnica]

It also packs in far more pixels than the Tab 7.7, which had already impressed us back at IFA 2011 with its 1280 x 800 resolution. The Toshiba Mobile Display panel has a 1,000:1 contrast ratio and offers 16.7m colors, covering 61-percent of the NTSC color gamut. Viewing angles are 176-degrees both horizontally and vertically, making it ideal for tablets since they’re usually flipped regularly between portrait and landscape orientation.

While the current model runs in 2D, Toshiba suggests that future iterations could show 3D images instead. One possible implementation could be a high-res glasses-free 3D display; usually, such panels – as found on the Nintendo 3DS – offer low resolutions as they split alternate lines of pixels between each eye, thus halving the number of vertical lines that each eye sees. Toshiba’s new display, however, isn’t short on vertical lines, meaning even if halved it would still be far higher than current compact LCD panels.

Toshiba will show off the new 2,560 x 1,600 display next week, but isn’t saying when the panel might make it into full production. We’d definitely be interested in some super-high resolution tableteering using the screen, however, having seen the print-quality text 498ppi is capable of delivering.

[via NewLaunches]

That, LG reckons, is enough to ensure that “onscreen colors are identical to real-life colors” with color temperatures of around 6,500K. Viewing angles are also improved, as we’ve seen on other IPS implementations, while there’s a dynamic contrast ratio of 5,000,000:1.

LG will also offer a so-called Dual Package feature, which will supposedly make setting up a second display more straightforward, including spreading the Windows task bar across both monitors. The IPS5P throws in a height-adjustable, posable stand too. No word on pricing at this stage, but the IPS5 series will go on sale this month and the IPS5P will arrive in November.

The specifications, in fact, are broadly similar to the 4.5-inch LTPS 720p panel Hitachi showed off back in February (and shown in the image above), though the new panel should be more affordable. Both offer 500 cd/m2 brightness and 16.77m color support, along with 160-degree horizontal and vertical viewing angles. The original LTPS panel does have a slightly better contrast ratio, however, at 1,100:1 (the new version runs at 1,000:1).

Hitachi, however, has worked on the aperture of each pixel so as to reduce the amount of backlighting required, which will hopefully add up to lower power consumption in whatever mobile devices the panels end up inside. No word on when that actual implementation will happen, though given the appetite for HD-capable smartphones of late – with the Samsung Galaxy S II HD being recently announced for the South Korean market – Hitachi is likely to want to get its more affordable panel on the market as soon as possible.

[via Impress]

The display has a 24-inch screen size and has a full 1080p display with a resolution of 1920 x 1080. The dynamic contrast ratio is 20M:1 and brightness is rated at 300 cd/m2 typical. The actual fixed contrast ratio for the screen is 1000:1. The viewing angles are 170-degrees horizontal and 160-degrees vertical. The display has a response time of 5ms typically according to Viewsonic.

The screen supports 16.7 million colors and has an anti-glare coating to make it easier to view in bright environments. Connectivity includes D-sub, DVI-D, and a HDMI. The screen has a 3.5mm input and uses a DC adapter from the wall for power. The screen measures 582mm W x 440mm H x 210 mm D on the stand. It is available in the UK right now for £169 inc VAT.

Pixel Qi screens are also already in use around the world in products like the OLPC notebook and more. The funding was led by 3M New Ventures and will help Pixel Qi to develop product offerings into volume consumer markets. Those markets will include digital signage and touch applications. Pixel Qi also notes that the 3M investment wraps up its second investment round.

The money raised will be used for multiple things including strengthening the sales and engineering capability at Pixel Qi. The company was showing off a new 10.1-inch sunlight readable screen back in May that looked very promising.

“Pixel Qi’s full-function color screen technology, for the first time, gives consumers an outdoor-readable video display with exceptional battery life, usable anywhere, anytime. It’s a first in the industry. In our collaboration with 3M, we have the ability to accelerate this into mass adoption,” said Mary Lou Jepsen, co-founder and CEO of Pixel Qi.

[via ARMdevices]

In the report released today, Samsung has been reported to have a 20.6 percent share of the TV market in North America, a 1.2 percentage point increased year over year compared to 2010, and its highest market-share position since the year 2009. As far as units shipped and revenue percentage for LED TVs during this same 1st-half of 2011 period goes, Samsung is at 23.8 percent and 32.02 percent respectively, while 18.2 and 25.4 percent shares for units shipped and revenue re-claim Samsung their top spot in the USA for LCD TVs.

As far as both plasma and LED 3D TVs, Samsung grew units market share to 45.4 percent in the first half of 2011 while their dollar share in 3D TV is currently at 42.9 percent. That’s big, that’s huge, that’s dominant. As far as Quixel Research specifically notes, four out of five of the “top TV models sold in the U.S” in quarter two of 2011 were, you guessed it, Samsung televisions (this is based on dollar value). Along those same lines, market research firm IHS iSuppli reported that more than one in five TV purchases in the USA during the first quarter of 2011 had a screen size of 50-inches or larger, this being the new all-time high for screens of this size.

Samsung notes that they’ve released several TV sets to meet this giant demand for big-screen HDTVs. These models include their LED D8000 and LED D7000 flagships in screen sizes of 60 and 65-inches as well as a series of 64-inch plasma TVs. Inside these TVs, Samsung notes they’re seeing a “strong consumer interest” in TV apps, reminding everyone that their HDTV version of their Samsung Apps store is active and doing quite well in percentage growth (500%) in content offerings since inception and a total of over 900 apps available at this moment globally. Samsung notes that the download of Samsung Apps are soon to be approaching 10 million and are doubling every three months amongst consumers the world over.

The camera has a 5x optical zoom, a 26mm wide-angle lens, and lovely drag and scroll menu options for a fun and completely customizable experience. You’ll be able to use a new Live Panorama function, complete with connections to 3D HDTV, you’ll be looking at images and panoramic shots in-depth and with fabulous detail. You’ll have access to Smart Filter giving you a menu of 14 artistic effects, Funny Face and Water Paint included.

Samsung’s new MV800 POS will cost you a clean $279 when it’s all said and done. Will the 26-130mm, f.3.3-5.9 lens give you all you want in a single camera? Or will you decide that you’d rather hit up the Android devices Samsung is pushing as a replacement for said single cameras? Interesting, isn’t it, that they’d introduce a camera and a camera replacement on the same day. Have a look at the official intro video below:

LG has stated that it will spend around $2.8 billion on facilities next year, which is a 33% reduction in the amount that it had in the budget previously. LG had already cut its capital-spending budget a month back to 4.5 trillion won from 5.5 trillion. The WSJ reports that this is the lowest capital-spending budget that LG has had since 2009 when the global economic crisis was in full swing.

Analysts are saying that the market is showing no signs of recovering at this time. All the major players in the TV market seem hard hit. Sony reduced its TV shipment target to 22 million units in July, a 19% reduction according to the WSJ. LG thinks that flat screen demand won’t increase until early 2012.

Intertek tested the screens for color accuracy using a spectrophotometer that measured color temperature against standardized display color. The winner in the test was the 4.5-inch AH-IPS screen with three times more color accuracy than the Super AMOLED. The two screens were also tested for power consumption. The AH-IPS screen was found to consume 624mW of power compared to consumption of as much as 1,130mw for the 4.3-inch AMOLED.

That means that the AH-IPS screens are more power efficient than the AMOLED screens. The power consumption was tested at 600 nits brightness. The 4.5-inch AH-IPS screen that was tested is set to hit the market in the second half of 2011. I wonder if this is the screen the next iPhone will use.

[via OLED-Display]

While adding a white pixel to boost brightness has been attempted before, it usually results in a loss of picture quality Sony says. By coupling the extra brightness with signal processing, the WhiteMagic panel can dynamically tweak the display to suit whatever’s on screen, balancing brightness and detail.

The two picture modes make the WhiteMagic panel ideal for cellphones or digital camera preview displays, Sony reckons. Both classes of gadget are often used outdoors – where screen visibility is essential – but also benefit from anything that reduces battery drain, such as the low-power mode. The VGA 640 x 480 resolution is probably a little low for smartphones, though we imagine Sony could use the same white pixel concept for higher-resolution panels.

Sony expects the panel to go on sale in October this year, priced at 5,000 yen ($65) per sample unit. No word on when we can expect the first products adopting the technology to show up, but we’d be very surprised if Sony’s CyberShot camera team wasn’t looking on with great interest.

[via OLED-Display]