JVC unveiled at International CES three high-definition LCD TV series, new camcorder offerings and showed plans for some forthcoming future technologies.
All of the offerings this year have been designed to meet JVC’s new mission statement, which is: “to find out what consumer needs are not being served within the categories we do business in, and serve them incredibly well,” said Karl Bearnarth, JVC marketing senior VP.
Among the highlights of the line was the new Procision series LCD TV line, billed as “the world’s thinnest tuner-equipped LCD 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 a number of other companies announced thin-design LCDs at International CES, JVC touted its advantage of having thin-sets with built-in tuners, rather than relying on outboard media centers or other two-piece tuner-equipped solutions to bring TV signals to the screen.
JVC accomplished the thin-depth dimensions using a newly designed thin back-lighting system using Cold Cathode Florescent lighting, the company said.
Models in the Slim Line (SL) Procision series feature the 42- and 46-inch screen sizes and will be available in the summer at prices to be announced. Other features include a USB photo viewer, new on-screen menu, dual HDMI inputs, PC input, and a dedicated wall mount bracket that keeps the set close to the wall.
In other LCD TV news, JVC is offering a range of screen sizes from 32 to 52 inches. Top-of-the-line models feature JVC’s Clear Motion3 engine for smoother action images, said Bearnarth.
The 52-inch screen size stands as JVC’s largest to date, and will appear in JVC’s P Series, with models slated to ship to retail in the spring. These will include the 32-inch LT-32P689 (768p), the 42-inch LT-42P789 (1080p), the 47-inch LT-47P789 (1080p) and the 52-inch LT-52P789 (1080p). Pricing will be announced later.
The P-Series models also add a “Teledock” feature, consisting of a built-in drop-down iPod dock, providing a direct connection to music, video and photos stored on an iPod. The connection will also charge the connected device.
Models include video up-conversion technology to clean up compressed videos stored on the iPods’ hard drives. Other features include a USB photo viewer connection, new on-screen menu, and three HDMI inputs.
The J Series will consist of four models in 32-inch LT-32J479 (768p), and the 42-inch LT-42J579, 47-inch LT-47J579, and 52-inch LT-52J579, all with 1080p resolution.
Features include a new on-screen menu, three HDMI inputs, and a new thin-bezel cabinet with bottom-firing speaker design in the 1080p models.
The J-Series will ship in the spring at prices to be announced later.
In future technologies, JVC showed LCDs using a new LED back-light system, which is slated to ship in 2009, and presented some new twists on graphic user interface commands, including a system controlled by hand gestures.
