Hitachi's not really reaching here in the naming department, but we sort of like the effect: the company's new Ultra Thin 1.5 LCDs are 1.5-inches thick (hence the name), and headed for Vegas. Coming in 32-inch, 37-inch and 42-inch sizes, the 1.5 line has been hanging out in Japan for a few months
under the Wooo name (pictured), but CES will mark the design-centric LCDs' entrance into the States. The two larger sizes feature 1080p resolutions and 120Hz refresh rates, and all displays will be available in Q2 2008. It seems like the main tradeoff for the slimness and weight loss of this lineup is the lack of inputs -- the Director's and V Series only feature one HDMI plug and one D-Sub plug, while the S series includes a breakout box with three HDMI plugs and dual component inputs. Specs and model number breakdown is after the break.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
HDpurist @ Jan 4th 2008 7:02PM
LCDs are and will never be any good due to poor contrast ratios. Although thin is cool, whats the point if the PQ is still garbage?
Charles @ Jan 5th 2008 9:59PM
It astounds me how stupid you are. LCDs may not be the top dog when it comes to PQ, but they are certainly catching up to plasma at a very fast rate. As local dimming and LED backlit panel technologies improve, you'll soon see LCDs surpass plasmas. LCDs are already killing them in sales.
dokworm @ Jan 14th 2008 5:33PM
LCDs can have far, far better contrast ratios than any other technology, they just need to move to active backlighting.
Check out the brightside (now bought by Dolby) displays, they are the way of the future and will bring unimagined quality.
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2005/10/03/brightside_hdr_edr/1
I saw this unit early last year, and nothing, and I mean *nothing* compares. you will never want to watch any other kind of display after seeing one of these in action. I just hope that via dolby it will now get licensed and make its way into consumer products, because OMG the picture is just astounding.