JVC Demos 180Hz LCD Technology

by Greg Tarr -- TWICE, 10/3/2007

Tokyo — Victor Company of Japan (JVC) unveiled at CEATEC its new LCD TV technology that offers a 180Hz “panel operation frequency” rate, improving upon current 120Hz models.

JVC's 180Hz technology was said to use a proprietary algorithm enabling the panel to “predict, produce and insert” two additional frames of images every second in a standard 60 fps video stream, according to a report in Nikkei Business news.

Compared with available 120Hz systems, the 180Hz technology produces smoother, higher resolution images, JVC said.

Plans for volume production of the technology were not disclosed.

JVC also showed a 42-inch LCD TV with a contrast ratio that was said to measure 100,000:1. The company achieved the high number, it said, using LED backlight technology in combination with JVC’s proprietary “area control LCD driver.”

LED backlight sources are placed under the LCD panel, where the driver controls the luminance in each of 128 areas of the panel’s surface.

Luminance levels are adjusted after analyzing the distribution of the video input signal, according to a Nikkei report.

The backlight system uses 1,151 RGB LEDs in total, the company said.

By controlling the luminance of the backlight system, JVC said power usage is reduced by about 50 percent compared with comparable Cold Cathode Fluorescent (CCFL) back-lit models commonly available today.

The LED technology also broadens the color reproduction range to 116 percent of the NTSC specification, said JVC.The new LCD TV has a 32-inch screen size and 1,024 by 768 pixel (progressively displayed) resolution.