LG let us know at CES 2011 that it had 4K LCD televisions in the pipeline, but unfortunately they didn’t make it out this year. Expect for that to change in 2012, as the company just announced it’s bringing an 84-inch “ultra-definition” (3840×2160) TV to Las Vegas to go along with its 55-inch OLED. It has all of LG’s Cinema 3D and Smart TV features built-in, including support for that upgraded Magic Motion remote and voice control. There’s no official word yet on when we’ll see these on shelves or at what price, but it certainly looks production ready compared to other prototypes that have been displayed over the years. While we don’t have easy sources of 4K-res video content yet, one of the reasons LG is making the jump first is for 3D. Its Cinema 3D tech uses a Film Pattern Retarder (FPR) screen and passive glasses that result in lowered resolution, but with those extra pixels there’s no question about whether viewers are still getting at least an HD picture. So far 4K at home is the domain of Sony and JVC’s high-priced projectors, but we’ll see if any other companies show off upgrades in size and resolution of their HDTVs this year.

You’ve always wanted a bit more privacy with your monitor (porn jokes imminent) and if you’re willing to tear apart a spare LCD monitor and a pair of 3D theatre glasses, you’ll get it. In lieu of a thicker tinfoil hat, Instructables’ dimovi suggests removing the LCD’s frame, cutting out its polarized film with a utility knife before removing the screen’s film adhesive with a combination of cleaner and paint thinner and reassembling the monitor. Once complete, grab the glasses, cut out the lenses and combine them with the plastic film removed from the monitor before inserting them back into their frames. The result is an LCD monitor that displays a white screen to anyone not wearing the customized glasses, your actions being confidential, no matter what they might happen to be. Check the how-to video embedded after the break, or hit the source link for full instructions

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A revamped set of Energy Star requirements went into effect last week, much to the chagrin of plus-sized plasma TVs everywhere. Under the new specification (Version 5.3), sets bearing that vaunted blue sticker will have to be, on average, about 40 percent more energy efficient than standard models, while larger displays will be held to even stricter requirements.

The latest iteration also calls for qualifying TVs to adhere to a “hard cap” of 108 watts (irrespective of size), essentially disqualifying any plasmas at least 50-inches in size, and any larger, non-LED-backlit LCDs.

Among those sets that qualified for certification under Version 4.2, a full 14 percent consume more than 108 watts (mostly 2010 models), and only three are LED LCD-based (including Samsung’s UN65D8000). Some newly disqualified 2011 models, however, may still bear blue stickers, due to Energy Star’s ongoing transition process.

“With the intention of seeing products that meet the newest requirements on retail shelves when 5.3 takes effect, EPA halted certification of new TVs that met the 4.2 requirements (but not the 5.3 requirements) as of May 31, 2011,” Energy Star product manager Katherine Kaplan explained to CNET. “All new products certified since May 31 meet the 5.3 requirements. A product newly manufactured and certified in June had to meet the 5.3 requirements to be labeled.” Hit up the source link below for more details.

SOURCE via EnergyStar

It’s been more than two months since Apple unveiled its Thunderbolt Display, and the gadget sadists over at iFixit are just getting around to picking the thing apart — quite literally. So what has this dive into the 27-incher revealed? Well, for starters, the iFixit crew found that the LG-made LCD display in this Thunderbolt monitor appears to be the same one found in Dell’s UltraSharp U2711, though favoring a cursed glossy finish. That’s also the same setup we saw in Cupertino’s 2009 iMac. This teardown also features a slew of chips from the likes of Texas Instruments and Broadcom and a miniature subwoofer. For more under-the-hood discoveries and a healthy helping of disassembled Thunderbolt Display components take a stroll on over to the source link below.

SOURCE via iFixit

Obtained by Korean site Money Today, these in-the-wild images appear to corroborate many of the specs we’ve already heard about, including that 4.5-inch AH-IPS display at 720p resolution, eight megapixel camera and 1.3 megapixel front-facing shooter. This device is also rumored to feature a 1.5GHz dual-core CPU, 1GB of RAM, 4GB of built-in storage and will reportedly ship with Android 2.3.5, though it’ll be ready to update to the forthcoming Ice Cream Sandwich, as well. The LU6200 is expected to hit the Korean market sometime next month, where it’ll run on LG Telecom’s U+ LTE network.

SOURCE via Pocket Droid

Japanese monitor maker Iiyama just blessed the market with a new pair of panels sporting a 1920 x 1080 resolution, 8ms response and a special ECO mode that reduces power consumption by up to 60-percent. The 24-inch XB2472HD-B and 27-inch X2775HDS-B both rely on an LED-backlit VA display (better than your bargain LCD, but not quite as nice as an IPS display) and have your standard trio of HDMI, DVI and VGA inputs. The primary difference between the two screens is the 24-incher’s slightly higher brightness (300cd/m2 versus 250cd/m2) and the 27-inch model’s 4-port USB hub and integrated speakers. The XB2472HD-B should start shipping by the end of the month for ¥24,800 ($323) with the X2775HDS-B to follow in September for around ¥34,800 ($453).

SOURCE via Akihabaranews

Sure, 1080p HDTVs aren’t exactly an ultra-luxury these days seeing that almost all monitors sold in PC Fair has 1080p, but a 1920 x 1200-pixel IPS panel on your desk? That’s a privilege often enjoyed by HD film editors, graphic designers, and those of us who know how to beat the technology ordering system at work. Luckily, Dell’s new UltraSharp U2412M isn’t ultra-expensive, delivering over 2.3 million pixels with its 24-inch LED-backlit display. It also features in-plane switching (IPS) with a wide viewing angle, a 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio, DisplayPort and DVI connectivity, a built-in USB hub, and height adjustability. Oh, and it retails for $399. That price tag may make you reconsider spending an extra MYR 600 per inch for Apple’s new MYR 3,099 Thunderbolt Display, though Dell’s 24-incher notably lacks a built-in webcam, and is somewhat limited in the connectivity department.

SOURCE via Dell

Along with today’s MacBook Air and Mac mini updates, Apple has also updated their 27” Cinema Display. The display now goes by a new name: the Apple Thunderbolt Display (ATD). As the name implies, the display now features Intel’s new Thunderbolt interface, which Apple has heavily adopted in all new 2011 Macs. The ATD is world’s first commercially available Thunderbolt display and the second Thunderbolt device, the first one being Promise’s Pegasus enclosure.

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Here’s a new tablet from ZiiLabs for their new Jaguar Honeycomb tablets, developed for the OEM market. Actually, make that two. The company has designed two Honeycomb slates, one with a seven-inch, 1024×600 LCD and another with a ten-inch 1280×800 display.

Unlike their ZiiO predecessors, these 64GB siamese twins call for both capacitive and resistive touchscreen capabilities, support OpenGL ES 2.0 3D graphics and, as you can see in the image above, feature front- and rear-facing five-megapixel cameras.

But what’s more important here is that there’s a dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 ZMS-20 or quad-core ZMS-40 helping them plays with the rest of the kids, both clocking in at 1.5 GHz. Impressive right? Well they won’t be here yet, so the other big boys might be able to catch up real soon.

The two Jaguars will be showcased at next week’s Computex tradeshow in Taiwan.

SOURCE via ZiiLabs

Don’t like to let people know what you’re listening on your iPod Touch? Don’t like your friends peeking at your lovey-dovey messages with your scandalous mysterious friend? I think Apple is getting lots of emails regarding these problems that their users are facing, and they’ve come up with a solution apparently.

Apple has a new patent on an LCD display with adjustable viewing angles, explicitly designed to “shield the display away from unintended viewers”, which may slip into future iDevices if Apple managed to iron out this new technology perfectly.

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 and if so, what devices might incorporate such screens, but Apple is also the company that filed many patents just for the lulz anyway, though there are some that managed to get into final products too. Hopefully we’ll see this in the next iPhone.

SOURCE via Electronista