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Much like the format war that once divided us between HD DVD and Blu-ray, a battle between two different types of 3D-capable HDTVs rages on while customers wait to be convinced that any of the new tech is worth the trouble. One of the first to enter the battlefield for the passive glasses side from LG is the LW5600, a slim edge-LED lit LCD model that is most notable for its extras. Besides featuring a Film Patterned Retarder (FPR) screen that plays back 3D viewable with the same RealD glasses you use at the movie theater, it's a connected TV packing apps, Plex media streaming software and a "magic motion" gesture control remote. After perusing the spec list we couldn't wait to see if more features actually made for a better HDTV experience and if passive 3D is a competitive option for home viewing, so check after the break to see how we felt about it after a few hours on the couch. Design and Controls Right out of the box the LW5600 impressed with its design, it...

The "ultimate 3D monitor?" Likely a stretch, but who are we to argue with a stalwart like ViewSonic? All jesting aside, those looking to finally bite on the 3D value proposition can get ready to do so, as the 24-inch V3D245wm-LED monitor packs a built-in 3D emitter, an HDMI 1.4 input, 1080p resolution, 120Hz scanning rate, two millisecond response time and a brain-melting 20,000,000:1 "maximum contrast ratio." For those looking for something a bit more bantam, the PLED-W200 is also being (re)introduced here atComputex, claiming to be the planet's first WXGA pico projector. 'Course, we got an early peek of this very unit back at CES, but hopefully we're one step closer to actually seeing this one ship. Sadly, the outfit's not dishing out pricing or release dates, but hopefully both will be revealed shortly.

Don't you hate it when the guy next to you on the subway is looking over your shoulder, watching you screw up in  Fruit Ninja ? Well, Apple could have predicted your discomfort -- back in November 2009, before the iPad was anything more than a unicorn, the company applied for a patent on an LCD display with adjustable viewing angles, explicitly designed to "shield the display away from unintended viewers." According to the filing, the display would include steering modules made of liquid crystal material, which aim the so-called scattering modules that sit on top of them. The top layer then redirects the light, making it possible to narrow down and alter the viewing angle. The patent specifically calls out cellphones and laptops, paving the way for discreet displays on MacBooks and iPhones, though the broad phrase "other portable electronic devices" leaves plenty of room for iPads and iPod Touches. No word, of course, on when or if Apple will secure this patent...

It's a well-known fact that LG's already dominated the pixel density race in the smartphone market thanks to the Retina Display inside the iPhone 4, but we've yet to see similar technologies making their way to larger devices. That could change very soon, however, with Samsung and LG both announcing larger high-density panels to be showcased at SID 2011 next week. From Samsung we'll be seeing its 10.1-inch 300ppi prototype LCD panel, which rakes up an astonishing resolution of 2,560 x 1,600 under the battery-friendly PenTile RGBW matrix (not to be confused with AMOLED and Super AMOLED'sRGBG arrangement). What's more, Samsung also teases "commercial availability" for this technology later this year. Things are a bit vague with LG -- no specific resolutions are mentioned in the pre-show announcement, but we're told that the company will introduce "a full line-up" of "ultra-high resolution" Advanced High Performance In-Plane Swi...

How do you solve a problem like lighting a Mirasol display? Sure, the technology provides something of a comprise between traditional E Ink displays and tablet LCDs, with full video and color, low power consumption, and the ability to be viewed in bright sunlight, but it still has some decided drawbacks: like a lack of backlighting. Qualcomm showed off a simple and elegant solution at this week's CES on the Hill, essentially embedding a book light into the device, lighting it from the front -- it's not the first time we've seen an e-reader arrive at this answer, but still, sometimes the easiest solutions are the best. The prototype shown off in DC this week had buttons on the rear for adjusting brightness, though according to  The Digital Reader , Qualcomm will also be showing off a device with an ambient light sensor in the near future. The technology should be on store shelves this fall -- no word whether the device is capable of yelling at you for "ruining y...

We don't have official word from Apple on the subject, but we're hearing rumors that might explain why some iPad 2 backlights tend to bleed -- according to  Digitimes ' anonymous sources, LG Display was "forced to reduce its shipments in the first quarter due to light leakage problem for panels," and that Samsung took up the slack. That suggests that some of today's vaunted 9.7-inch  IPS  displays may be from LG's faulty batch and some may be slightly superior Samsung screens, but we don't really recommend you crack yours open on the basis of an uncorroborated rumor (or at all, really) to find out the truth of the matter. Update:  An astute reader reminds us that while LG, Panasonic and Chimei make IPS screens, Samsung traditionally does not. Perhaps Samsung has managed to get its plane-line switching (PLS) displays into iPads instead, as was rumored last month, or perhaps this rumor is simply inaccurate, in whole or in part. ...

We've got a pretty good inkling that it's coming -- the big question is when will Amazon finally ship an LCD tablet. According to  DigiTimes,  and its occasionally trusty sources at upstream component makers, when  is defined by the second half of 2011. What's more, the media tablet will feature a Fringe Field Switching LCD display and touch panel from Amazon fave E Ink Holdings, a company better known for the technology behind the Kindle's EPD e-paper displays. According to  DigiTimes , Quanta has received the manufacturing honors with production expected to peak at about 700,000 - 800,000 units per month. So yeah, the Amazon Kindle tablet won't be sporting a Mirasol display according to this gossip. Then again, it's only gossip so anything goes. DigiTimes

Being that doomsday and the robot apocalypse are nearing quickly, now seems an appropriate time to gaze into the future of laptop design, right? Well, maybe those anomalies aren't actually around the corner, but you know us -- we always fancy a warm cup of concept tea. Designer Park Hyun Jin over atYanko recently posted some renders of the Fujitsu Lifebook X2, a laptop-like invention of his fervent imagination that allows for two orientations thanks to its four folds. The design features a full QWERTY keyboard that can be used when the notebook is folded out in full, as well as a half-folded option with an onscreen keyboard. Naturally, we'd love for this concept design to become a reality, but we can't wrap our brains around the seam between the two screens. Well actually, we could probably get used to it. Update : We got a request from the designer to pull this prototype, which was submitted to a competition and leaked. To be nice, we're complying....

At its "Spectacularge" press conference today Sharp announced its new 70-inch LC-70LE732U is the largest LCD HDTV on the market . It sports Quattron four color pixels, full LED backlighting, Netflix, CinemaNow, Vudu Apps and DLNA access among its list of features, but no 3D. That will be remedied by one of the three additional models of 70-inch LCDs Sharp says it will ship this summer but in the meantime we're just enjoying a throwback to the heady days of 2006 when consumer LCDs were last found in this size range. Interested parties with enough green to cover the $3,799 MSRP should be able to order these at their local retailers, while the rest can gawk at the specs in the press release and hands-on shots. Oh, and as for those adjectives you'll see just past the break -- a preview of Sharp's marketing campaign, whose target customer has an "emotional" connection to the word big -- well, somewhere Freud is having a field day. Sharp LC-70LE732U Sharp LC...

Where Samsung leads, LG inevitably follows (and vice versa, of course). The Korean electronic arms race has now heated up by an extra few degrees with LG's demo of a crazy new 47-inch display that packs in everything a geek could want: IPS technology, 1080p resolution, multitouch, and some good old transparency... just because. This so-called Window Display is sadly intended for advertisers and other digital signage proprietors, meaning that even if it wasn't still at the concept stage, it likely wouldn't be populating living rooms anyway. Ah well, so long as LG makes sure John Anderton and the precrime unit get one, we'll be happy. Video for the rest of us after the break.     OLED-Display.net

Toshiba, Hitachi, and Panasonic already said they would shutter their liquid crystal display plants for a month following the 9.0 magnitude earthquake and resulting tsunami that struck the country on March 11. Now, Japan's largest exporter of LCD TVs (Sharp, for those keeping notes) has suspended production at its two biggest factories, thanks to a shortage of a gas used in the manufacturing process. The Osaka and Mie plants, which have a combined capacity of 172,000 sets per month, won't reopen until May 6, at the earliest. Until then, the company claims it has enough TVs in its inventory to last about a month. One JP Morgan Chase analyst estimates that the company stands to lose 50 billion yen ($590 million) this fiscal year due to the freeze. That all seems trivial, of course, given that more than 27,000 people in Northeastern Japan are dead or missing and the country is widening its evacuation zone, all whi...