This year's edition of the Hitachi Wooo line of flat panels look a lot like their predecessors on the outside (120Hz IPS LCDs, 250GB HDD equipped models with iVDR slots for additional hard drives and Wooonet DLNA network support) but it's what's inside that counts. The four new XP plasma models range from 42- to 50-inches and promise even better contrast ratios, as high as 40,000:1, with better color reproduction and the promise of greater energy efficiency. The ultra-thin 35mm / 1.4-inch thick LCDs are back in four new models, with UWB wirelessly connected tuners, auto sensing/adjusting brightness and aforementioned "eco" power sipping improvements. The relatively fat XP line of LCDs consists of just three displays, but just like all the rest, buyers can still hook up to the 'net and pull down video on-demand or Yahoo! Japan's web TV portal -- features unlikely to make the jump when we see U.S. versions of these later this year. The XP plasmas and LCDs go on sale in Japan later this month or next, while the ultra-thins will be crash dieting until October.

Read - Hitachi, recording double-35mm-thin LCD TV "Wooo UT800"
Read - Hitachi, 7 new plasma / LCD

Pioneer and Matsushita (Panasonic) have finally hammered out the basics of a deal that will allow the latter to supply panels for future Kuro plasma displays, and plasma HDTV fans to breathe easy again. Pending a final agreement in May, dollars and cents remain undisclosed, but we can expect a fusion of Panasonic's current "Neo PDP" technology from its Viera line when they begin production May 2009 in Amagasaki before hitting shelves in the fall. Kuro will still be maintained as a premium brand (with a premium price) with different image processing, while both companies plan to keep working together on reducing power consumption and the infinite black level plasma. Pioneer still plans future Kuro LCD HDTVs based on panels from Sharp,but it'll also apparently have access to IPS technology from Panasonic's tie-up with Canon and Hitachi. See? We told you it'd be okay.

[Via AV Watch]

Hitachi's in-plane switching technology's been making the rounds of late, and LG Taiwan's the latest to pick it up for use in future LCD HDTVs. Doubling frame-rate, providing a wider field of view, and supposedly upping durability (among other things), apparently we can start to see some IPS-enabled TVs from Korea's #2 in the not too distant future.

[Via Far East Gizmos]

Completing the final segment of the three-way Hitachi / Panasonic / Canon LCD mashup, Hitachi & Canon have finalized paperwork on the deal. Canon will take its 24.9% piece of Hitachi Displays, Ltd, pending regulatory approval, which should pave the way for plenty of sweet IPS-enabled panels and maybe even some OLED action in the future if anyone feels up to it. The specifics are in the read link as usual, we'll judge the wisdom of this partnership when there's a new HDTV on the shelf.

It's a dilemma faced by nearly every photo / video editor on the planet -- stick with a huge CRT for that precise color accuracy, or make the jump to LCD for aesthetics sake? Fret not, dear worriers, as Panasonic has supposedly crafted a miracle solution with the BT-LH1760. This April-bound production monitor is essentially devoid of attractiveness, but it does offer up a 120Hz refresh rate, an IPS panel with a 1,280 x 768 native resolution and "faithful color reproduction with twice the response speed of other currently available professional LCD monitors." Furthermore, you'll find a built-in waveform monitor and vectorscope, pixel-to-pixel matching capabilities and a slew of inputs including DVI, auto-switching HD-SDI / SDI, component and VGA. Yeah, it's a pretty impressive array of specs for a 17-incher, but then again, most 17-inchers don't demand just under five large, either.

[Via BroadcastBuyer]

It wasn't quite a year ago that we saw JVC gush all over its own LH805 series of LCD HDTVs, but now, those are simply livin' in the past. Introduced today, the LH905 series steps things up a notch with the included Genessa Premium 36-bit video engine. Additionally, the 37-inch LT-37LH905, 42-inch LT-42LH905 and 47-inch LT-47LH905 will all feature a 1080p resolution, 500 nits of brightness, dual ten-watt speakers, 10-bit LCD IPS panel, a built-in analog / digital terrestrial tuner, DLNA support, three HDMI 1.3 ports, integrated SD slot and an Ethernet port for good measure. Unfortunately, these are all sporting the elusive open offer tag for now, but the trifecta should start floating onto shelves late next month for those interested.

[Via Impress]

Yeah, there's a decent chance you'd forgotten all about JVC's three Clear Motion Drive II-equipped TVs, but just in case you've been waiting in tense anticipation, we've got stellar news. The 37-inch LT-37X898, 42-inch LT-42X898 and 47-inch LT-47X898 are all set to take the US by storm, featuring a 120Hz refresh rate, 10-bit IPS LCD panels, and Full HD support. Additionally, these sets boast the firm's "fifth generation D.I.S.T. (Digital Image Scaling Technology) engine on the JVC-exclusive 32-bit Genessa chip," a 178-degree viewing angle, 2,000:1 contrast ratio, a 4.5-millisecond response rate, 500 cd/m2 brightness, a trio of HDMI 1.3 inputs, and 20-watts of amplification for the built-in speakers. The trifecta is set to land this month as a part of JVC's new Procision series, and will run interested consumers $2,100, $2,600 and $3,300 from smallest to largest.

Yamaha isn't the only manufacturer to unleash horde of new products today. Hitachi is expanding two of their flat-panel lines with new and improved models that are sure to peak your interest. Their Wooo line has a new 37-inch LCD that has an optional DVR add-on. This panel is somewhat of a milestone for Hitachi as it is the first set off the production lines as that Panasonic, Toshiba, and Hitachi share in their joint LCD venture called IPS. Truthfully, though, this LCD TV is just another 1366 x 768 panel with a decent 178 degrees viewing angle but the optional DVR attachment does sound rather nice. The W37L-HR9000 has the optional DVR included and will retail for 350,000 Yen ($3,041 USD) while the W37L-H9000 doesn't include the DVR built will sell for 50,000 Yen less making it $2,606 USD. The H90 product line has three new additions as well and these too are the IPS panels. Once again though, they are just mediocre 32- and 26-inch LCD TVs with the same 1366 x 768 resolution and 178 degree viewing angle. The W37P-H90 plasma employs Hitachi's 1080i ALAS panel a 1024 x 1080 resolution. All of four of the above mentioned sets include the same amount of inputs: 2 HDMI, Japanese D4, 3 S-Vid, 4 composite, 1 monitor out, Ethernet, and a strange telephone input that we aren't quite sure what it is used for. Expect to pick up the sets on September 1 (that is if you are going to be in Japan) with the 32- and 26-inch LCDs going for 230,000 Yen ($1,998 USD) and 200,000 Yen ($1,737 USD) respectively while the plasma is going to retail for 300,000 Yen ($2,606 USD).

Matsushita, maker of Panasonic-brand products, and Hitachi are part of IPS Alpha Technology who together with LG.Philips have plans to dominate the world LCD landscape. These Japanese electronic giants are going to double their LCD output. LCDs, you know, have had a great first part of the year and these companies are not going to be left behind. Panasonic has been focusing solely on plasmas for some time now and has recognized the world-wide growth in LCDs. Once the production lines are up and running at full steam, they should be able to produce 4.5 million LCD panels a year, up from 2.5 million on the current lines.