Pictures posted on NotebookReview show how the skinny, optical-drive-less Latitude Z looks to be somewhere between the ultra-thin Adamo and the kinda-thin Studio 14z.

As the leak comprised solely of images there are no firm details on the specs, but Windows Vista and Intel Centrino stickers are clearly visible, along with a fingerprint scanner and an oddly positioned Ethernet port.
Other tipsters on the site claim it will feature a 15" matte widescreen, a Core 2 Duo processor and a webcam with facial recognition. [NotebookReview Thanks, Kevin!]

Like Lenovo's recently announced (but not available until July) u350, the 14z sacrifices something in the way of size and weight as compared to something like the Adamo, but still measures in at a respectable .8 to 1.2 inches. And performance-wise, it barely sacrifices anything: a wide range Core 2 Duo processors are available (though notably, no ULV versions), as is a full complement of RAM (up to 5GB DDR3), HDD (up to 500GB) and display (either 1366x768 or 1600x900) options.

The $649 configuration will be a bit bare, obviously, but it'll outpace Lenovo's offering out of the gate, mainly due to its vastly less-shitty graphics hardware. And it's not just other manufacturers' products that the 14z's Nvidia 9400m will put to shame—Dell's own Adamo, basically a much, much more expensive version of the same concept, except with inexplicably lame video hardware, will be handily outperformed by any version of this laptop, which can be had for less than a third its cost. Weird. As you can see in our above hands-on gallery, though, it's not quite as pretty, although as with all the Studio products, you'll have plenty of color choices.

The 14z's most interesting feature is its availability date: Intel tipped off May and June as months that we'd hear about major manufacturers moving into this new niche, which proved true, but Dell is the first one of them to bring a product to market. It's available now, from Dell's website. Full specs and press release below. [Dell]

UPDATE: The product page is now live.

NEW DELL STUDIO 14z LAPTOP PERFECT POWERHOUSE FOR ONLINE GENERATION

· Thin, cool design for those who download media from online

· Powerful, mobile entertainment system combines HD resolution screen with great audio and 500GB1 hard drive option

ROUND ROCK, Texas, May 28, 2009 – For the generation that has grown up with the Internet and can find just about anything online, the new Dell Studio 14z laptop makes it easy to carry their digital world with them. Designed for students and others on the go who demand the perfect balance of mobility and performance, the Studio 14z is a homework-busting system by day and an entertainment powerhouse by night.

It features a svelte design and a huge 500GB1 hard drive option that can store up to 125,000 songs, 142,000 photos or 133 DVD quality movies2. The Studio 14z allows people to watch their favorite movies and TV shows, listen to streaming music with friends, store a vast MP3 collection and socially network from just about anywhere3.

The Studio 14z is the industry's first consumer laptop available with FailSafe™ theft prevention. This option helps protect personal data should the laptop go missing or be stolen. With Failsafe engaged, owners can track network information and the ISP location of the laptop when it connects to the Internet, and get help to remotely erase selected files and render the laptop unusable until the rightful owner unlocks it.

"Young people have grown up with the Internet and can find almost everything they need online." said Michael Tatelman, vice president of Dell's global consumer sales and marketing. "They want a slim, easy-to-carry laptop and like the choice of a larger hard drive over an optical drive. The Studio 14z has the storage and speed that most people need, and it comes with color options that let them truly express who they are."

The Studio 14z comes in six colors: Black Chain Link, Midnight Blue, Spring Green, Plum Purple, Ruby Red and Promise Pink (U.S. only). Dell will donate $5 to Susan G. Komen for the Cure® from the purchase of each Promise Pink laptop.

The new laptop also comes with Dell Remote Access4; the optional premium version allows people to access content via their home network of personal computing devices including desktops, laptops, ultra-mobile devices, smart phones and web cameras.

Priced from $649 U.S., the Studio 14z is available now online and over the phone in the U.S. and Canada.

The News:

· New Dell Studio 14z laptop sports a stylish, thin (0.79–1.2-inches) design for students and digital downloaders who want a combination of power and exceptional mobility

· Energy-efficient, mercury-free, 14-inch 16:9 LED display with HD resolution (720p/ 900p)

· Intel® Pentium® Dual Core, and Intel Core™ 2 Duo standard voltage processors up to T9550 (2.66GHz, 1066Mhz FSB, 6MB Cache)

· Integrated NVIDIA® GeForce® 9400M graphics5

· Digital Video/Audio via HDMI and DisplayPort

· Standard 1.3MP webcam with dual digital array mics

· Starting weight of 4.3 pounds6

· Standard FastAccess™ Facial Recognition Software to help prevent unauthorized access to your computer

· Optional Phoenix Failsafe™ Theft Protection to help protect laptop and data in event of theft

· Advanced touchpad control to help improve productivity

· 4W, SRS®, 2.0 Audio w/ discrete tweeters and dual headphone jacks

· Up to 500GB1 HDD capacity

· Optional 8:1 Media Card Reader via 34mm Express Card slot

· Six-cell battery standard, optional slim design 8-cell battery for up to 6:46 hours of battery life with WLED display option7

· Standard Wi-Fi, optional Bluetooth® and mobile broadband to connect anywhere3

· eSATA connectivity for high speed data transfer rate (up to 6X USB 2.0)

· PowerShare - Charge your USB-connected cell phone and other mobile devices via the USB 2.0/eSATA combo port even when you're unplugged from a power outlet

· Optional external optical drive options (DVD+/-RW, Blu-ray Disc™ read-only and read-write drives)

As per usual, the paper cites trusted sources in the "Taiwan manufacturing industry" who say that HP is gearing up to first incorporate Intel CULV processors into existing laptops, after which they'll design their very own cut-rate ultrathin laptop, basically inline with the Aspire Timeline or Lenovo U350, and hopefully nothing like the HP Chameleon concept, shown at left. They won't ship until Q4 of this year though, by which time the field will be a little more crowded. [Digitimes]

Intel and Lenovo's concept makes enough sense: take those ultrathing, ultra-expensive notebooks like the MacBook Air, Dell Adamo or VooDoo Envy and sacrifice a little performance, a little weight and a little thinness to bring the price down. After all, they're already sluggish, so why not? What makes it genius, though, is how this compromise manifests itself. It turns out, these mild design and performances compromises knock a tremendous sum off the price.

The U350 is a sub-1-inch-thick, 3.5lb 13.3-inch notebook which, aside from its thin profile and conspicuous lack of an optical drive, is a fairly standard piece of notebook hardware. You can get just about anything you want in one of these guys—Core 2 Solo, Pentium ULV or Celeron processors; up to 8GB of RAM and up to 500GB of storage—but after a while you'll start to lose the price advantage that makes it attractive in the first place. It'll be around that $700-$800 pricepoint that the U350 shines. Available from July, full press release and spec sheet below. [Lenovo]

IdeaPad U350 Laptop
Display: 16:9 aspect ratio, 13.3 inch LED, HD 1366 X 768
Processor: Intel ultra low voltage CPUs and small form factor chipsets: Intel® Core 2 Solo SU3500 (1.4G, 800 MHz, 3 MB), Intel® Pentium® SU2700 (1.3G, 800 MHz, 2 MB), and Intel® Celeron 723 (1.2G, 800 MHz, 1MB) processors. Mobile Intel® GS40 and GS45 Express Chipset.
Graphics: Mobile Intel® GMA 4500M and Mobile Intel® GMA 4500MHDMemory
Memory: Up to 8 GB DDR3 800/1066 MHz DRAM
Hard Drive: Up to 500 GB 5400 rpm
Battery Life: 10 hours with 8 cell, 5 hours with 4 cell
Weight: 1.6kg
Dimensions:328mmX228mmX17-24.9mm
Connectivity: Ethernet 10/100/1000m/Intel WiFi Link 5150 1 X 2 AGN, Intel WiFi Link 5100 1 X 2 AGN, non-Intel wireless b/g/Bluetooth
Other: 1.3 megapixel camera, ambient light sensor technology, multi-touch touchpad, Dolby Sound Room/two 1.5 watt speakers, Active Protection System, Ambient Light Sensor, VGA ports, 4-in-1 multicard reader, Dolby Headphone, VeriFace 3.5, Quick Start
Software: VeriFace 3.5, Vista Home Basic/Home Premium, OneKey Rescue System

IdeaPad U350 Laptop
Lenovo is pushing the envelope on design to bring consumers ultra-thin, ultra-light and ultra-loaded PC technology. Encased in a sophisticated sleek silver shell, the IdeaPad U350 laptop starts at 3.5 pounds and measures less than one inch thick1. While thin and light to the touch on the outside, Lenovo loaded the PC inside with the latest entertainment and computing features to enhance and simply users' digital worlds. A 16:9 aspect ratio high definition 13.3 inch LED panel and an HDMI connector allow users to fully enjoy watching movies or other multimedia in high definition.

The IdeaPad U350 laptop also packs in several unexpected features, such as Ambient Light Sensor technology, borrowed from the IdeaCentre desktop line. This technology automatically adjusts the screen's brightness when in different lighting environments for the best picture quality. Also, Dolby Sound Room complements the video experience by providing a high quality surround-sound audio experience. And with VeriFace facial recognition technology, they can make their face their password for easy log in. A camera also comes in handy for video messaging or making Skype calls using the laptop's WiFi connectivity2.

The laptop's entertainment features are powered by a backbone of computing technologies, including choices of Intel Core2Solo and Pentium ultra low voltage processors, up to 8 GB high speed DDR3 memory and up to 500 GB of hard drive storage. The technologies help users to do more, faster, such as burning DVDs, compressing and opening documents and enjoying smoother, more realistic gaming. For high reliability important to individual business users whether on the clock or off, Lenovo borrowed a component of ThinkPad laptop design with the Active Protection System. This helps protect data by temporarily stopping the hard drive if the laptop should fall. The IdeaPad U350 laptop also comes with OneKey™ Rescue System to help recover data if it becomes corrupted in just a few simple steps.

The guru himself, Gary, is calling this baby the "most advanced HDTV" from Panasonic, with a native contrast ratio of 40,000:1, THX certification, a crazy color gamut, 24Hz movie playback and a separate box containing a wireless HDMI receiver, to keep the thinness thin.

At a time when plasma seems to be dying—see Pioneer and Vizio—this is one last gasp that might be worth paying for.

There's more leaked info on the Z1 and all the lesser Panasonic plasmas, over there. [HDGuru]

The two big chipmakers seem to think so. CNET's sources at CES told them that the processor, which will be priced above the Atom but below the pricey ULV Core 2 Duos found in ultraportables and current thin laptops like the MacBook Air and Voodoo Envy 133, are "going to enable notebooks that are less than one inch (25mm) thick," but that don't cost as much as the aforementioned computers. The performance level will be commensurate with the price, give or take: significantly more powerful than the Atom, but by no means a flagship processor.

Details are scarce for the time being, but the processor seems to have an identical mission as AMD's Neo: create an entirely category of laptop, designed like an ultraportable, but priced between a netbook and a notebook. Does anyone need this, or want this? HP's 12-inch DV2 is the first of its kind, and by definition these new ultrathin laptops won't deviate much from its precedents. If it doesn't get your juices flowing, it's doubtful that any of these new bridge machines will. [CNET via Engadget]

The processor is called the Athlon Neo, and it's based on the previously-leaked Yukon platform. Compared to AMD's current offerings, it is an evolutionary step: It's smaller, media-oriented, and bundled with the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3410 video hardware, theoretically allowing for a reasonably un-crippled user experience. But the evolution is incremental, and this is by no mean an Atom equivalent. Nor is it intended to be.

AMD boasts that the Neo will easily drive full 1080p video, something that even nicely-screened netbooks simply don't need. That's because the Neo is intended for "ultrathin" notebooks, which the company claims will live comfortably between the low-end netbooks (remember the company's snide "race to the bottom" comment?) and high-priced ultraportables.

HP was the first company to announce a Neo not-netbook, and it does indeed sit between a mini-note and an ultraportable (More on this here). It remains to be seen if that niche, which is being aggressively promoted as an entirely new class of laptop, will amount to anything more than needless moniker for a loose collection of confused products. [AMD]

It's not every day that you get to check out the world's thinnest LCD HDTV, let alone all three "ultrathins" currently in production, but that's what's going down. Sharp's super insane new flagship, the Limited Edition Aquos LC-65XS1U-S, arrived at my door in a bulletproof shipping container, 138 pounds of metal and glass measuring 65 inches diagonal that you can barely see from the side. Yes, in spite of its full-frontal gravitas, it measures only an inch thick at its edge, and a slightly more flexed 2 inches in the middle. It's gorgeous and ridiculous and designed to hang on a wall with no more protrusion than a dainty sketch in a frame—only it can blast Casino Royale at 1080p, 24 frames per second, while your face melts, and I'd have to sell my car twice over to buy it.

I love you Giz readers too much to stop with something that none of us can actually afford—and if you can afford it, you'll be decent enough to not let us know—so I called in the new slender 1080p models from Hitachi and JVC, too. As much lower-priced sets, I thought they'd just be the icing on Sharp's Limited Edition cake, but they turned out to be, in their own right, fine specimens. Let's review, shall we?

Who Thin?
"Ultrathin" is best defined, at this moment, as a TV that is mostly thinner than 2 inches.

Hitachi's Director's Series 1.5 UltraThin UT37X902 (37 inches listing for $1,900) got its name because it's an inch and a half thick across its entire panel. It is a monitor with speakers, but no tuner and the barest of inputs—one HDMI and one VGA—to help it keep trim. JVC's LT-46SL89 (46 inches for $2,400) on the other hand is a true TV, with digital HD tuner, 3 HDMI ports, 2 analog inputs with option of component, composite or S-Video, and a PC VGA input. That adds a bit to the girth—while most of its main panel is one-and-three-quarter-inches thick, there's a middle section that is a fat three inches.

To give you a sense of comparison, Pioneer's fairly slim and lightweight first-gen Kuro plasma is nearly 4 inches thick, with a slimming bezel that measures about half that. Pioneer isn't content there, though—its newest Kuro Elite monitors are quite trim, and you'll recall last CES the company showed off an unbelievably thin half-inch plasma screen that's presumably nowhere near production.

WTF Thin?
When I asked Sharp Aquos product manager Tony Favia what the fuss was about all of these new super thin TVs, he said that customers, particularly high-end ones, wanted a TV that could hang on a wall as flush as art, and even fill in for art as needed. That's why Sharp loaded the XS1 with paintings: When you push "Image" on the remote, up pop masterworks by Hokusai, Renoir, Seurat and Van Gogh, about 10 or 12 total. You can't leave the TV set on a particular image, though, despite the remote's discreetly stashed Play/Pause/Fwd/Rew transport buttons.

The XS1 achieves its thinness in part by farming out its functionality: An accompanying AV box, tethered by a single long HDMI cable, doesn't just handle all of the inputs, but the digital tuner and AquosNet internet access as well. It's so integrated into the TV's life that without it that, though I was able to run a video source directly, I couldn't even touch picture settings.

The thing about thin is that it's not cheap, and as such, manufacturers aren't at liberty to cut out performance to slim down the screen. This is probably why the biggest successes in TV sales—Sony, Panasonic, Samsung and LG—haven't expressed outright interest in marketing slim product. In fact, Sharp is smarter than JVC and Hitachi, aiming the thin concept at particularly spendy customers (Russian oil barons, professional golfers, Alaskan governors who may soon sign book and/or TV deals), rather than just going thin to differentiate itself at the Best Buy.

You Can't Afford It
The sleek all-metal Sharp 65-inch XS1 Limited Edition costs $16,000. The 52 incher costs $11,000. The build materials have a lot to do with the cost. A critically acclaimed, plastic-encased 3.7-inch thick Pioneer 50-inch plasma (that weighs 13 fewer pounds) lists for around $4,000, and sells for as little as $2,500. So you're not a sheikh, I'm not a sheikh, why are we talking about a sheikh's TV? Favia said the company went for a "no compromise" approach, and as hard as I looked, I found just one technical compromise, one most (sheikhs) could live with. If the damn thing didn't cost so much, the XS1 would be one of my favorite TVs ever.

Speaking of the Kuro, I placed a first-gen model side-by-side to calibrate and compare, and though the Sharp LCD wasn't always as perfect as the Pioneer plasma, I was surprised to see how well it kept up. Even though the LCD is equipped with 120Hz Fine Motion Enhanced blur reduction, I realized that during the action sequences in Casino Royale it went with native 24p (24-frames-per-second) movie playback. There wasn't any noticeable blur. In fact, thanks to the massive LCD's dazzlingly snappy 4-millisecond response time, I found that you really didn't need 120Hz at all.

Contrast Is King
In the all-important land of contrast, this Sharp scores big. Sharp has, in the past, been criticized for confusing contrast with an overuse of darkness. The XS1 is obviously a ground-up redesign, but in that arena in particular, I found I could tweak settings to walk the line between crushed and bleached blacks. You don't see charcoal gray when you're supposed to see pitch black, and yet dark textures are plainly visible.

This has much to do with the tight grid of RGB LEDs behind the main panel that light only what's needed. This technique has recently earned Sony and Samsung high praise for contrast and color reproduction, but it has a third crazy attribute: The 65-inch Sharp is capable of using less energy than the 46-inch JVC and even the 37-inch Hitachi, because it lights only what it needs and doesn't require the constant glare of a fluorescent light source.

When it comes to specific wattage demands, the Sharp hovered in the low to mid 100s with peaks upwards of 200W. The plasma was averaging 250 or higher, maxing out during the brightest scenes at 400W. The JVC's 46 incher could be set, using the backlight slider, anywhere from 98W to 200W, and the Hitachi similarly ranged from 83W to 171W. Though nice and slim, both of these sets use constantly lit fluorescent lamps.

While contrast on these smaller TVs didn't immediately seem as good, I got a sneaking suspicion that LED backlighting is, at least in part, a psychological trick. See, constant FL light means that, when watching 2.35:1 widescreen movies, you get a touch of gray in the bars at top and bottom, at least you do unless you dial down the backlight and sacrifice some whiteness. With LED backlighting, the LEDs behind the letterbox's black bars are simply turned off. You perceive that contrast to be better since there are fewer dead giveaways of less-than-perfect contrast.

I'm not trying to uncover a mystery here; I'm just saying that once I ignored the light shining through the black bars, I was happy enough with the contrast and color—demonstrated below by Disney's new Sleeping Beauty Blu-ray, our friend HD Guru Gary Merson's favorite color-gamut test source along with, naturally, Southland Tales—on both the JVC and Hitachi. Sometimes "good enough" is actually "good."

The Last LCD Issue
The funny thing is that two of the three test TVs suffered from an annoying LCD-related problem, and it wasn't the cheaper two. Both the Sharp and the JVC, which in many ways could not be more different as TVs, lost color saturation and even shifted in tint when viewed from the most peripheral angles.

Viewing angle issues are far from new: Projection TVs and LCDs have continued to suffer from them for years and years (in some cases decades). And maybe you think that it's no big deal, since most people watch a TV sitting head on. But I think that ultrathin TVs—intended to hang flush on walls, and without a pivoting mount—should be especially good looking at every angle where the picture is remotely visible. The Hitachi alone managed to hold its colors to the very edge, losing only brightness, as you'd expect.

New Hope
In the end, I think this review session did more to renew my faith in LCD technology than it did to sell me on the whole ultrathin thing. I spent years at line shows wondering why anyone would buy an LCD when plasma was an alternative, and even the amazing rise of Sony and Samsung in the LCD space was clouded by the simultaneous rise of all those extra-crappy savings-club TVs.

It's worth noticing that these ultrathin sets don't hail from the current Korean, Japanese or Chinese TV powerhouses. But as flagships from their companies, they do an even better job boding well for the whole industry, at least from a technical perspective. Plasma can still enjoy its high noon, but at a cost—nothing here looked better than the Kuro, but it took twice the energy to deliver that marginally better picture. And when it comes to hanging these bastards on the wall, well, let's see if Pioneer's still going to make good on that ultra-ultrathin promise from last CES. If not, these LCDs are going to be the slim-o-cizers to beat. That is, until the first 40-inch OLEDs hit the market. [Sharp Aquos Limited Edition XS1; Hitachi 1.5; JVC SuperSlim]

The researchers said they were able to get better lifetime ratings after identifying a flexible, highly impermeable barrier layer, which helps keep the OLED screen from degrading because of oxygen and water. Flexible, amazingly thin and with a very decent lifespan? It sounds like we're two steps closer to handing out Young Lady's Illustrated Primers. [AVS Symposium via Slashgear]

While the slick Sony ZX1 is only 9.9mm, it also has a box in the middle and has to be set up on a stand because of that. The Samsung Ultraslim LCD TV All-In-One 1 doesn't, extending the circuitry across its back and tapering the glossy back cover toward the edges, in a very smooth curve. This is a design choice similar to the iPhone 3G and the MacBook Air (and before the anti-Apple fanboys protest, here's a little tale: four days ago I asked one of the chief designers at Philips about Apple's industrial design. "Do you think they are a big influence in consumer products?" I said. Smiling, he spent five minutes talking about the undeniable influence of the work of Ive and Co. in most of the stuff currently out there).

The Good: Amazing, beautiful design. It's as beautiful and simple on the front as it is on the back. In fact, so nice on the back that, even while it's perfect to be hung on the wall, I would like for it to be standing in the middle of a room. The picture quality doesn't go far behind. Crisp image quality and very smooth motion, with an even distribution of light.

The Bad: You will have to wait until next year to get one.

Bottom line: The race toward the slimmest TVs continues, and I think Samsung has the winner so far. [More IFA 2008 Coverage]

Trading a few millimeters shaved off the panel for a big honking box may not seem like a hugely advantageous situation, but WHDI has a range of over 100 feet (into the closet it can go) and allows for seamless pairing of compatible HDTV gear throughout your home, meaning the tuner (or the external Mitsubishi Blu-ray recorder shown next to it) could potentially be linked to other panels in the house. I kind of like the idea of stashing all of my modular source gear in a home theater server room of sorts, leaving only ultra-thin panels to receive the signals visible. That seems to be where WHDI is taking us, although Panasonic (who is not a WHDI member) could have something else up their sleeves. [Tech ON]

Hitachi to Showcase the World's First UltraThin Line of Displays at Annual Dealer Show This Week

The Much Anticipated and Only "1.5" Displays Are Now Available to Consumers
CHULA VISTA, Calif. —(Business Wire)— May. 1, 2008 At its Annual Dealer Show this week, Hitachi Home Electronics (America), Inc. will showcase its "1.5" family of UltraThin Displays, which, for the first time, are now available for purchase by U.S. consumers.

Unveiled to rave reviews at the Intl. CES in Las Vegas in January of this year, the 1.5 displays — so named due to their sleek 1.5-inch depth — continue to generate excitement and momentum, particularly now as consumers are able to purchase these slim, stylish displays through retail and specialty AV dealers nationwide for the first time.

Available in four screen sizes (32-inch, 37-inch, 42-inch and 47-inch), the 1.5 displays embody an array of Hitachi's engineering breakthroughs which have resulted in an award winning design, unrivaled thinness and outstanding picture quality. From the patented ventilation technology to the backlight, power supply and unique crystal frame, the innovations found in the 1.5 line represent Hitachi's achievements in areas as diverse as automotive design, server systems and optical R&D.

The new 1.5 line is further differentiated by its appealing design that, importantly, extends a complete 360 degrees around. So whether the displays are seen from the front, a side angle or from the back, the elegant lines and distinctive aesthetics demonstrate an attention to detail that make the displays the ideal complement to a luxury lifestyle.

Another important first: Hitachi has now outlined the pricing structure for the new 1.5 line, which will be offered in Director's Series (X) and Ultra Vision (V) models. Pricing and availability for each model is as follows:

There's also an iVDR port for iVDR drive cartridges, dual tuners and DLNA and 1080p compatibility. The cleverest bit? Most of the TVs' guts are in a separate box, connected by Ultra Wide Band, which is presumably how they keep the screen so skinny. They've got black or white bezels, and are available from June in Japan, for $2,670, $3,360 and $4,350. We don't have a date for their US release yet. [Akihabaranews and AV Watch]

HITACHI SHOWS OFF NEW ULTRA THIN PLASMA DISPLAY AT CES

— Just 1.5-inches Thin, Hitachi's New Plasma Display is Centerpiece of "Innovations Showcase" at its CES Booth —

LAS VEGAS, INTL. CES (Booth: Central 11906) - Jan. 4, 2008 - Hitachi has developed an Ultra Thin plasma display panel (PDP) that is a mere 1.5-inches in depth. Having shaved more than one third of the thickness off of today's comparable plasma displays, this new product represents an engineering achievement of significant importance from Hitachi.

This new Ultra Thin plasma display will be the centerpiece of Hitachi's Innovations Showcase here at CES, which also features:
• A "super" Ultra Thin LCD at just .75 inches in depth
• An advanced search technology that can be applied to visual images
• A system that allows video to be shared between homes and then viewed on a TV, not a PC
• A wireless video gateway for sharing content among several displays in the home
• An IPTV user interface for accessing, managing and sharing content at home or on the go

Complete Family of Ultra Thin Displays
While a handful of companies, including Hitachi, have already developed Ultra Thin LCD models, Hitachi is among the first vendors to demonstrate an Ultra Thin plasma display. For various technical reasons, the challenges in producing a thin plasma display greatly exceed those associated with developing a thin LCD, making Hitachi's achievements - 1.5-inch Ultra Thin models in both LCD and PDP - even more impressive. As a result, Hitachi expects to seize an early lead in the rapidly emerging and commercially attractive new category of Ultra Thin Displays.
- more -
"Hitachi has a long history of innovation and a proven track record of making breakthroughs that advance the consumer electronics industry," said Daniel Lee, vice president of marketing for Hitachi America, Ltd., Ubiquitous Platform Systems Division. "But what is even more important than being first with a prototype or concept is being first to deliver the end product to consumers. Especially for our complete new line of Ultra Thin displays, we already have the manufacturing processes, sales and marketing investment and overall corporate commitment in place to put these products into consumers' hands months, if not years, ahead of other suppliers. From our perspective, and that of our distribution partners, being first with a product in the sales channel is ultimately what is most important."

Developed using highly proprietary and innovative technology from Hitachi, which is so secretive and highly competitive it cannot be revealed, the new plasma display sample is 50 inches in screen size. Hitachi expects
to commercialize the product by late 2009 and other sizes may be available at that time.

Alongside its 1.5-inch Ultra Thin PDP, Hitachi is also showing off its "super" Ultra Thin LCD which measures an incredible .75 (19mm) in depth. First seen at CEATEC in Japan last Fall, this 32-inch wonder offers another proof point for Hitachi's engineering prowess. The other breakthrough technologies Hitachi will feature in its Innovations Showcase include:

Similarity Based Image Retrieval System - With the volume of data already at unprecedented levels and expected to continue to increase rampantly, technology enabling quick searches of still and video images is much in demand. In response, Hitachi has developed a Similarity-Based Image Retrieval technology, a search engine for just such large-scale image and video archives. Similarity-Based Image Retrieval technology automatically extracts quantified information intrinsic to the image — such as color, shapes and forms — and runs searches to locate a match. This innovative search technique can be used for something as basic as searching for a movie scene or image on a camcorder to something as complex as searching for facial imagery in security, video surveillance or law enforcement applications.

Personal Video Sharing - Throughout CES, Hitachi will conduct ongoing demonstrations of its Personal Video Sharing System, which allows users to easily share and play content recorded for personal use, both inside and outside the home, via a home data center. The demonstration goes through a sample application in which content recorded on a video camera can be shared between two homes - for example, a consumer's home and that of their parents - simply by using the first home's central server. The parents can then easily view the latest videos of their grandchildren simply by using their television to access the network - there is no need to hassle with a PC.
- more -
Wireless HDTV System - This demonstration will show how high-definition video content is distributed over WiFi from a Hitachi wireless video gateway device to two Hitachi LCD HDTVs. The content is stored locally on a hard disk drive, but the server can also connect to a local PC or IPTV for HD content. Each TV has a remote control to select different content via a user-friendly menu. This form of wireless HDTV content distribution enables consumers to be located anywhere in the home where a power supply is available. Complicated and troublesome management of unsightly cable, satellite or other wiring is no longer needed. Easy access to stored video and Internet content provides an added advantage.

IPTV User Interface - Hitachi will also demonstrate its new IPTV User Interface. This innovative GUI features a set of intuitive controls for selecting and enjoying content from various sources (home
server/network, broadcast, Internet, handheld devices, etc.); a customizable menu with the ability to set user-specific preferences to enhance personalization and control; and multi-device support, which allows users to store and access content using multiple devices both inside the home and on the go.

Hybrid Monitor - Hitachi will show its one-of-a-kind Hybrid Monitor that uses an advanced Light Source System capable of generating an eight million to one (8M: 1) "mega contrast" ratio and optimum light efficiency. Through the ingenious combination of Hitachi's proprietary Micro Display system, a Sole Polarized Light Source a magnifying lens and an LCD panel, the Hybrid Monitor perfectly controls color gradation, allowing the viewer to see pure black and natural images in a more true-to-life way than ever before possible.

For more information about Hitachi's activities at the 2008 International CES, please visit http://av.hitachi.com/

• Hitachi used automotive technology to build the radiant beveled edge with a translucent back-coating of metallic paint. In Japan the metallic paint may be red, blue, white or other colors; in the US, it will be silver.

• Ventilation engineering came from Hitachi's mainframe division: the system is called "airflow analytic design" and it helps the TV achieve ultra-quiet no-fan cooling.

• The bulb in the Ultra Thin series is an external electric fluorescent light (EEFL) which is apparently more efficient than CCFL and can provide a better color range than white LEDs.

HITACHI LAUNCHES NEW LINE OF ULTRA THIN DISPLAYS

— Available in 2008, Hitachi's Chic New HDTVs Mark the Debut of an Entirely New Category of Display —

TOKYO - October 23, 2007 - Hitachi has achieved yet another consumer electronics breakthrough with today's announcement of its new line of 1.5-inch (35mm) Ultra Thin HDTV's. Hitachi also expects to be first to market with its new Ultra Thin series, which will be available in the Japan market in December of 2007. U.S. consumers can expect to see Ultra Thin models in early 2008 - many months before thin displays from other manufacturers.

These slim, stylish LCDs from Hitachi represent an important new category of product that is being called Ultra Thin Displays. This new type of display is designed for a highly affluent and refined segment of consumers who seek luxury, style and prestige. This extremely discerning audience also demands a set of features, technologies and design aesthetics that are separate and very distinct from those found in today's traditional Flat Panel Displays.

"As very large consumer markets grow and evolve, sub-segments with particular nuances will emerge," said Daniel Lee, vice president of marketing for Hitachi America, Ltd., Ubiquitous Platform Systems Division. "This is precisely what we're seeing in the HDTV market and our new designs are at the forefront of this shift. What's happening is that the more traditional Flat Panel Displays will continue to focus on 'bigger is better.' Hitachi knows this segment very well, and we have for years held a leadership position with our Director's Series plasmas. But our research shows a new trend emerging: consumers want access to information and entertainment throughout the home. This is the promise behind the 'networked' and 'digital' home. And it's also what's behind the emergence of these new Ultra Thin Displays from Hitachi, which are very thin, versatile, lightweight and stylish and can elegantly be placed in any room or multiple rooms throughout the home. At Hitachi, we will be tailoring our engineering product development and overall go-to-market strategy to address this important and exciting market dynamic."

Initially offered in three sizes (32", 37" and 42"), the displays are designed to provide consumers with a range of options for placement throughout the home. Hitachi's research shows consumers want Ultra Thin Displays to be more discreet, flexible, modern and sleek, since they will often be purchased for a kitchen, bathroom, office or bedroom.

Ultra Thin, Yet Feature Rich

"Hitachi understands that when selecting an Ultra Thin Display, consumers want a very modern, thin profile and a lightweight unit but they do not want to trade off any of the features or performance of a top-of-the-line HDTV," said Bill Whalen, director of product development for Hitachi America, Ltd., Ubiquitous Platform Systems Division. "The Ultra Thin Displays from Hitachi pack style and performance into a sleek, compact form factor that makes absolutely no compromises when it comes to innovative technologies, groundbreaking features, theater-quality image optimization, state-of-the-art electronics and wall-shaking sound. Typical of Hitachi's complete line of products, these new displays perform at the top of their class." The new Ultra Thin Displays embody the following features:

External Electrode Fluorescent Lamp (EEFL) - The thinness of the displays was achieved through Hitachi's proprietary implementation of a technology called EEFL, which affords greater power efficiency, delivers better and more flexible color accuracy and delivers a longer overall life span for the display.

Wide Viewing Angle - By implementing In Plane Switching (IPS), Hitachi has achieved the sharpest, clearest LCD possible, regardless of the angle at which the viewer is seated. A vertical and horizontal viewing angle of 178 degrees maintains natural colors and brightness, making it ideal for watching TV with the whole family and friends.

Hitachi's Proprietary "Anti-Judder" Technique (37" & 42") - Movies provide the illusion of motion by showing a series of still images over time. In fact, all Hollywood movies flash 24 individual images each second. However, Hollywood's 24 frames-per-second do not match our television systems, which show 60 frames each second. A conversion technique called "3:2 pull-down correction" is used to make the 24 frames of film fit the television's faster 60 frames. As this conversion is done, the viewer can often observe a jerky, troublesome visual effect that is called "judder." It appears as if the image is jittery or stuttering and is especially noticeable when the picture pans or makes sweeping, side-to-side movements. In its new Ultra Thin line, Hitachi has implemented proprietary technology which accurately and automatically eliminates the jerky "judder" motion. It does so by creating interpolated frames based on the original film images. It smoothes out the movement and correctly matches the motion of the original movie.

Picture Master Full HD — Hitachi's enhanced high-resolution image processing engine, Picture Master Full HD, analyzes and processes image at a high speed, providing state-of-the-art high picture quality. It achieves this in three ways:

* Advanced Dynamic Contrast — analyzes every picture that appears on the screen and optimizes its contrast frame by frame.
* 3D Color Management — adjusts the three constituent components of color (hue, saturation, and brightness) pixel by pixel using 3D data.
* Advanced Dynamic Enhancer — expresses images which are simultaneously detailed and dynamic, and controls detail gradation and sharp edges. In addition, Hitachi added a circuit which enhances the crispness in scenes to capture subtle details, such as details in human skin or a three-dimensional expression of mountain ridge, which reduces the grainy effect and pulls out the natural beauty.

High Audio Quality — The 6.0 watt + 6.0 watt digital amplifier produces an exceptionally clear sound. The speakers located at the left and right sides of the bottom of the monitor are Hitachi's newly developed box-type speakers which are high quality and slim enough to fit the 35mm thickness of the monitor. The three sound modes allow consumers to select the most suitable type of audio effect depending on the contents - "clear voice" to pick up human voices clearly, "surround" for natural, clear three-dimensional sound, and "bass boost" for the optimum bass sound depending on the input signal.

Highly Refined and Energy Efficient Design

A glossy and high precision frame surrounds the picture area of each of the displays. The frame is beveled to present the viewing picture as if it were a work of art. The combination of a bevel on the outer frame combined with a radius on the inner frame presents a visually unique addition to any living environment. Not only are the new Ultra Thin Displays gorgeous in their appearance, they are responsible and sustainable in their design due to Hitachi's energy-efficient features such as "auto power off," to prevent consumers from forgetting to turn off the TV. The UT series also feature a "video power save" which allows consumers to switch to stand-by mode when there is no signal coming into the TV.

15.4" LCD with active white-LED backlight.
22" desktop LCD with DisplayPort interface
46" digital information display (1500nits)
7" mobile display with touch screen
2.1" LCD with sensor-based automatic brightness control
14.3" plastic display
8.1"e-paper
14.1"active-matrix OLED. [via Press Release]

The TVs will be made at Sharp's new plant in Osaka - which is the same one that makes their solar panels, because it shares the same manufacturing technology.

We asked Martin how they were lighting the panels, suggesting it was LED. Martin smiled and shook his head, saying that it was top secret and he wasn't at liberty to talk about it. Who knows? Maybe he was bluffing or maybe he didn't know, but it sure looked amazing.

They are, however, aiming to be size leader of LCD TVs - and, it seems, the kings of thin. Let Giz remind you that the screen is just 23 mm thick - that's 0.9 inches - and 32 mm (1.26 inches) if you add in the back box and grille. And just check how big their tenth-generation LCD panel actually is - that's little old me jumping up and down next to it, and I'm 5'11".