Adrienne Maxwell

Lighting control for cowards.

When selecting products to review, I like to tackle new categories. Every new genre I explore provides the opportunity to better understand the industry as a whole. There is, however, one category that I've avoided like the plague: lighting systems. Why? Because my mama taught me never to stick fingers, screwdrivers, or any other conductive material into a wall socket. I have a healthy fear of my mama and an even healthier fear of performing any task that might lead to electrocution, fire, or total protonic reversal.

I, too, saw Pioneer's Extreme Contrast demo today and completely agree with everything Shane says in his earlier post. Now, just imagine an image that striking in a cabinet this striking? Another Project Kuro concept design, this 50-inch plasma measures just 9mm thick and weighs 41 pounds. Pioneer's goal is to combine these technologies in future models, but don't expect to see a real-world product until late 2009 or perhaps 2010.

Hitachi is very excited about their new statement product, the Ultra Thin LCD. "1.5" is both the brand and the depth (in inches) of these new LCDs, available in screen sizes of 32, 37, and 42 inches. The 37- and 42-inch models have a 1920 x 1080 resolution, while the 32-inch model has a 1366 x 768 resolution. In traditional Hitachi form, the line is divided into three series: The Director's Series and V Series are HD monitors only, with HDMI 1.3 and RGB inputs but no internal tuners. The S Series comes with an outboard Audio Video Center that includes ATSC/NTSC tuners, three HDMI 1.3 inputs, and two component video inputs. The Audio Video Center can be purchased separately, as well. All of the models use Hitachi's In-Plane Switching (IPS) panel to improve viewing angle and Reel120 120-Hz technology to reduce judder.

Ah, there they are. A much better view of the XEL-1. The new OLED TV offers more than just a sleek form factor. The picture quality was impressive. We can’t wait to get our hands on one.