Panelists at Home Media Magazine's third annual high definition conference found plenty in Blu-ray to be positive about, according to the magazine's own report, so they may be somewhat surprised to see co-sponsor Hollywood Reporter's less optimistic "Economy grinch may pinch Blu-ray" headline as the most syndicated report we found this A.M. Not exactly another Blu-ray is dead exaggeration, but not exactly how the industry wants to represent itself coming into a very important holiday season. With Blu-ray player prices diving, a slew of blockbuster titles on the way and shelf space expanding, the perception of Blu-ray as a niche format should be dwindling, but Home Media Mag publisher Thomas Arnold blames analysts and reporters who "don't understand our business" for putting Blu-ray in their crosshairs. At least per our poll, 55% of you are continuing as normal or increasing purchases, at least for some, there's just no substituting for quality.

Read - Economy grinch may pinch Blu-ray
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AOC did a stellar job of knocking off some rust and catching our eyes with the downright stylish 2230Fm, and the inclusion of a self-sustaining media player was also worthy of a closer look. Thankfully, the kind folks over at Gear Diary managed to get ahold of one such unit and put it through the paces, and in the end, it seems as if more positives were noticed than negatives. As an LCD, it was viewed as top notch; visuals were crystal clear, colors were sharp and accurate and ghosting was non-existent. The built-in audio and slideshow players were lackluster at best, but the integrated video player did a phenomenal job of handling a myriad formats and making things look right at home on the 22-inch panel. Granted, we still wonder who will actually use said media player if this gets connected to your home computer anyway, but for those who've conjured up a plan, hit the read link for the full review before buying blind.

AOC's 2230Fh LCD was fine and dandy, but if you're looking for something similar to pull triple duty as a media player and digital photo frame (its words, not ours), you'll need to refocus on the 2230Fm. Said display is apparently the first from the firm to boast HD³ technology, which alludes to its abilities to function as more than just an HDTV. The unit includes a proprietary menu and remote to play back clips loaded onto memory cards (there's a 4-in-1 reader), not to mention a 1,680 x 1,050 native resolution, 20,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, USB 2.0 socket, DVI / HDMI inputs, integrated speakers, 2-millisecond response time and a piano black finish. All that for $399.99. Full release posted after the jump.