IPS Alpha, a LCD manufacturing company and subsidiary of Panasonic, announced on November 12, 2008 that it will invest about JPY900 million (about US$9.2 million) to build a LCD module production plant in Selangor, Malaysia. Operations are schedule to commence in February 2009 with an initial monthly output of 50,000 units with plans to hit [...]

NEC EA241WM Specifications
Display: 24″ PVA TFT LCD
Aspect Ratio: 16:10
Pixel Format: 1920 x 1200
Contrast Ratio: 1000:1
Brightness: 400 cd/m2
Connectivity: DVI, VGA, USB Hub (4 ports)
Adjustability: Pivot, Tilt, Height
Availability: October 2008
Price: US$549

NEC has some wonderful LCD monitors in its lineup. The company has added to that with the EA241WM, a 24″ LCD monitor with a pixel format of [...]

NEC EA221WM Specifications
Display: 22″ TFT LCD
Aspect Ratio: 16:10
Pixel Format: 1680 x 1050
Contrast Ratio: 1000:1
Response Time: 5ms
Brightness: 250 cd/m2
Viewing Angle: 176/176
Connectivity: USB 2.0 (hub, 4), DVI, VGA
Speakers: Yes (down-firing)
Adjustability: Height, swivel, tilt, pivot
Energy Consumption: EPEAT Gold, Energy Star
Availability: September 2008
Price: US$389.99

NEC’s EA221WM is touted as a premium 22″ LCD monitor by the company. There are two [...]

The natural evolution of Apple’s Cinema Displays would be toward incorporating LED backlights. High-end LCD TVs, ultra-portable notebook PCs and high-end notebook PCs are all moving toward LED backlights. Apple was the first to incorporate a 15.4″ LCD with a LED backlight into a notebook PC and was the first to do it again with [...]

NEC MultiSync LCD39090WQXi Specifications
Display: 30″ TFT LCD
Pixel Format: 2560 x 1600
Contrast Ratio: 1000:1
Response Time: 12ms, 6ms (GTG)
Brightness: 350 cd/m2
Viewing Angle: 178/178
Color Gamut: 102% USNTSC
Power Consumption: 150W (operational)
Connectivity: Composite, DVI-D with HDCP, DVI-I, VGA

NEC’s LCD3090WQXi is a beautiful LCD monitor. You really have to see the actual picture quality on the 30″ LCD monitor to truly [...]

On April 23, 2008, Merck, a pharmaceutical and chemical company based in Germany, announced net profits of €239.1 million in Q1′08 after posting a loss of €8.3 million (US$13.2 million) a year earlier. The Q1′07 loss was mostly due to high interest payments on debt and Serono acquisition-related write-downs. Growth was driven by all divisions [...]

Panasonic BT-LH1760
Size: 17″
Aspect Ratio: 15:9
Pixel Format: 1280 x 768
Frequency: 120Hz
Panel Technology: In-Plane Switching (IPS)
Viewing Angle: 176/176
Image Processing: 10-bit, 3D LUT
Input: DVI-D, HD-SDI/SDI, Component (Y/Pb/Pr), RGB, PC RGB
Availability: April 2008
Pricing: MSRP $4500

During the NAB 2008 conference, Panasonic introduced the BT-LH1760 production LCD monitor. Although the size is diminutive compared to regular LCD monitors that have been [...]

According to Walter Zywottek, head of Merck’s chemicals business, Merck’s Japanese competitors have not made substantial enough investments to have a major impact on the company’s liquid crystal business. Zywottek also forecasted that LCs prices will stabilize as flat panel display TVs has largely shifted toward LCD technology instead of plasma.

Merck’s competitor in Japan is [...]

On February 15, 2008, Hitachi and Matsushita Electric Industrial announced an alliance reached on December 25, 2007 by Hitachi, Matsushita, and Canon. Under the terms of this agreement, Matsushita will acquire a 24.9% stake in Hitachi Displays, which is a wholly owned Hitachi subsidiary that makes small/medium LCD panels, from Hitachi by March 31, 2008. [...]

On February 15, 2008, IPS Alpha Technology announced plans to construct a Gen. 8 TFT LCD plant in Himeji City, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan. IPS Alpha currently has a Gen. 6 LCD plant running. As the name suggests, IPS Alpha makes use of In-Plane Switching (IPS) technology that was originally developed by Hitachi, who is part [...]