JVC Unveils Slim Design LCD TV Line

By Greg Tarr -- TWICE, 1/8/2008

LAS VEGAS — JVC unveiled at its Caesar’s Palace showroom Tuesday new Procision series LCD TVs billed as “the world’s thinnest tuner-equipped LC televisions.”

The models measure 1.5 inches deep across most of the set and less than 3 inches at the center. Each is trimmed with a 0.98-inch bezel.

Although other companies have announced thin-design LCDs at this year’s International CES, JVC is touting its advantage of having a built-in tuner, rather than relying on an outboard media center or other tuner-quipped device.

JVC accomplished the thin-depth dimensions by using a newly designed thin back-lighting system using Cold Cathode Florescent lighting, the company said.

Models in the Slim Design series will include the 42- and 46-inch screen sizes and will be available in the summer.

This year’s LCD offerings will range in screen sizes from 32 to 52 inches. Top-of-the-line models feature JVC’s Clear Motion3 engine for smoother action images, said Karl Bearnarth, JVC marketing senior VP.

Another LCD line, called the JVC P-Series “Teledock,” features a built-in drop-down iPod dock, providing a direct connection to playback on the TV screen music, video and photos stored on an iPod. The connection will also charge the connect iPod device.

Models include video up-conversion technology to clean up videos stored on the iPods’ hard drives.

The line, which will begin shipping in March, includes four models, including three full HD 1080p sets. These include: the 32-inch LT-32P689, 42-inch LT-42P789, 47-inch LT-47P789 and the 52-inch LT-52P789. The LT-32P689 is a 768p model, while the others offer 1080p resolution.

In future technologies, JVC showed LCDs using a new LED back-light system, which is slated to ship in 2009, and also showed new twists on graphical user interface commands, include a system that is controlled by hand gestures.