Titans Clash: 3D version of Blu-Ray included in Japan with Sharp HDTVs

Critically speaking, Clash of the Titans didn’t do that great, including its blah 3D conversion, seemingly done last minute to cash in on the 3D craze in theaters at the time. But Sharp apparently thinks the 3D HD Blu-Ray version is worth including with their HDTVs in Japan. Witness this Engadget blurb:

Sharp is promoting the movie alongside the 3D editions of its Quattron LCD HDTVs and, assuming our understanding of machine translated Japanese is correct, will be tossing in a copy gratis with purchases. At least in Japan, the 2D version of the blu-ray will be released august 25, with the 3D & 2D combo pack arriving October 6.

We think bundling Blu-ray with purchases is a good idea, we just aren’t sure bundling this particular one is a good idea. But at least Sharp is getting on the ball with some cool promotional ideas, which we always like seeing.

Thursday’s HDTV Deals

Here is our list of fine HDTV deals for this equally fine Thursday:

Walmart has a killer deal on the LG 47LD450 47″ 1080p 60Hz LCD HDTV for $788 with free shipping too. Use the ‘Add to cart’ to see the price. For any LG, especially this size, this is a can’t miss deal. It just shows how far prices can still fall on bigger units.

TigerDirect.com – A very nice deal on a highly-regarded Sharp AQUOS LC-32LE700UN 32” 1080p 120Hz LED HDTV for $599.99 = $594.99 – with free shipping as well? Amazing indeed. This one has got raves for its picture quality.

How can you resist either of those? Both are some of the better deals we’ve ever seen on the web.

Going 3D Crazy: Sharp dives into HDTV 3D market

It appears Sharp is convinced that 3D HDTV is here to stay, because they’re set to launch of whole bunch of HDTV 3D displays in the near future. See this report courtesy of Engadget:

Next month, the fourth-largest LCD TV maker will launch a slate of new 3D TVs in Japan, just as planned. Based on the same Sharp Quattron quad-pixel technology that made George Takei’s jaw drop, the new LV-series of AQUOS panels will come in 40-, 46-, 52- and 60-inch sizes when they debut July 30th, and feature 1080p resolution, UV²A panels and a high-speed signaling technology named FRED that Sharp says increases brightness and reduces crosstalk.

Pricing has been a bit of a mystery so far, but rumors have these starting around the $3,000 US mark or so, topping at around $6K for the 60″ model. These same rumors indicate that they will cross over into other waters (US, Europe) quite soon as well, possibly by the end of the year.

Sharp Thought: DivX playback a big new feature of Quattron line of HDTVs

Apparently there was still a HDTV or two with no DivX stamp, but that should be mostly worked out now after a new deal with Sharp reached recently. The newer line of HDTVs by Sharp should be something to look out for. Good thing to put this factory to use.

The new AQUOS LE820 LCD line — incorporating the (according to published previews) amazing Quattron quad-pixel tech –can play 1080p DivX HD files from a connected USB drive, a very cool feat indeed.

Now bear in mind, this might not be quite the embedded content technology seen at CES, but DivX has proven itself a fighter in the technology arena, so don’t be shocked if it creeps into the plans of even more LCD companies in the next few years.

Sunday’s Easter HDTV Specials

It’s Easter, time for bunny rabbits, marshmallow peeps and great HDTV deals. Check them out:

TigerDirect.com has a great deal on a well-regarded Plasma HDTV: the Samsung PN42C450 42” 720p Plasma HDTV for $539.99 with free shipping too. That’ll even tempt the Easter Bunny to turn in his basket and kick back for some HD joy.

Staples.com has a very nice combo unit: the Sharp LC-26DV27UT 26” LCD HDTV With DVD Player built-in for $349.99, and with free shipping as well. Brighten up anyone’s Easter with this gift!

Thanks for joining us, and may many brightly colored eggs be headed your way.

Wednesday’s HDTV Deals

Yet more amazing deals we scour the internet to bring to you, so feel free to stare, gawk and generally be amazed:

Sears.com has a very nice Panasonic TC-P50C2 50” Viera 720p Plasma for $719.99 with free shipping too, and that’s a heck of a deal for a company whose specialty seems to be of the Plasma persuasion. Check it out.

PcRUSH.com has an LED wonder, the Sharp AQUOS LC-40LE700UN 40” 1080p LED HDTV for $814.96 with free shipping as well, and that’s one of the lower prices for this we’ve seen around. Great reviews, great price, no strings.

Thanks for joining us, and see you all later!

Saturday HDTV Deals ‘R Us

Once again, we bring you some of the best HDTV deals on the web:

Dell has a monstrous glory in the Sharp AQUOS LC65E77UM 65″ 120Hz HDTV (LCD) for $2,599 with free shipping as well. Great stats, huge size, and AQUOS brands tend to get very high ratings on image quality too. Great deal! Make sure to click to “see the sale price”.

PCConnection.com has a deal that makes me a little ill. Not because its bad, but because its pretty much the TV I bought a year and a half ago for twice this price (mine is 1080p though): The LG 42LH200C 42” 720p Widescreen LCD TV for $599.95 + small shipping charge = $621.90 out the door Shipped, which is amazing, simply put.

Thanks for joining us this fine weekend, and may you have an HD-quality day.

Saturday’s HDTV Deals

More amazing deals on this fine Saturday for your consideration:

Sears.com has the well-reviewed and well-regarded Sharp LC52LE700UN AQUOS 52” LED 1080p LCD HDTV for $1299.98 and includes free shipping too. Great deal (the best we’ve seen for this exact model, in fact).

Walmart.com has an amazing offer on their own Element ELDHW421 42” 1080p LCD HDTV for $499.00 with free in-store pickup as well. Astounding how low prices have gone, even if this isn’t a Sony or LG exactly.

Big News at CES (Literally): Sharp announces a new 60″ LCD HDTV model

Sharp has gotten into the HDTV game at the latest CES by showing off their latest and greatest upcoming unit, the ‘LC-60E88UN’. It’s gigantic, energy-sipping, and has lots of advances for smooth action pics.

You start off with a huge 60″ screen, and if that isn’t enough, it includes Sharp’s X-Gen panel technology with 240Hz Fine Motion circuitry for a smooth picture with action-oriented entertainment content like movies and sports.

And your electric bill will appreciate the advances too; the unit will be ENERGY STAR 4.0 standard compatible and feature a range of ports built-in, including 4 HDMI and a component connection. It’ll be released in February, and price hasn’t been released yet. Expect around $3-4K or so, in our estimation.

HD Pie: Sony grabs a piece of new Sharp LCD manufacturing plant

As planned and reported among insider HDTV blogs and mags, Sony has grabbed up a small piece of Sharp’s new 10g LCD plant built a year or so ago, which should allow Sony to grow its manufacturing muscle for LCD panels quite a bit in the next few years.

For now its small piece only equates to about 7%, but will jump to 34% by April 2011 or so, and other companies are expected to bid for space in the highly-regarded plant over the coming year or so, so expect a good number of HDTV units to originate from the Sakai City facility.

Companies rumored to bid on a piece of the pie: Samsung and Panasonic, as well as possibly LG. Times are good for HDTV companies (and consumers), indeed.

Alert: The HDTV Deals of the Day Returns (Limited Engagement)

Hark, the return of the HDTV deals, for a limited time only! Here they are:

AbesofMaine – Here’s a nice deal on a top-rated model: The Samsung LN32B460 32” 720p LCD for $479.18 – $15 off coupon code we have nicely supplied you with: “LOYALTY15″ (Expires 12/31) = $464.18, and it includes free shipping. Now you’re talking.

6ave.com has a very nice offer on the Sharp Aquos LC-40E77U 40′ 120hz 4ms 1080p HDTV for $749.00 and we even include a $53 off coupon code “AFLSHP696″ (Expires 01/05) = $696.00 and they throw in free shipping too. How can you turn that down?

Enjoy the fruits of our labor and no need to thank us….we at Screen Sleuth are always looking out for you.

Legal Blow: ITC rules Samsung was bad, bans import of some LCDs

We love us some legal dirt, so witness the latest legal blow struck by Sharp in the TV wars: Samsung was found to have violated some patents, so has barred Sammy from selling LCD TVs in the US (a least importing them from here on out) until its corrected.

The US International Trade Commission already ruled in mid-June that they had violated 1 patent from Sharp, but this ruling says they actually violated 4 in total, and handed down the import ban.

Samsung has said they will comply with the ruling, but also saying there will be “no impact on our business and our ability to meet market demand., and has also said they plan no meetings to negotiate with Sharp for now, so a workaround is probably the plan for now. We’ll see how deeply this impacts Samsung’s bottom line in the long run.

Early ‘Black Friday’ Action: Wal-Mart fires first shot in HDTV war

On Saturday November 7th, Wal-Mart fired a huge early shot in the prequel to Black Friday with some pretty amazing HDTV deals on certain models that will definitely set a huge bar for other chains to beat, and many of them won’t be able to, to be frank.

The 1-day deals included a 42” Sharp LCD, the LC42SB45UT for $498. Its a 1080p television that offers a 2,000:1 contrast ratio and 4 HDMI inputs that’s about $200 cheaper than many online retailers such as Amazon sell it for. Or maybe a 46” Plasma from Panasonic (TC-P46U1) for $788 is more your style? With a eye-popping 30,000:1 ratio and $300 or so off the usual price, it was a huge bargain.

Let the HDTV pricing wars begin!

Saturday’s Scandalous HDTV Deals

Does scandalous fit? Maybe, maybe not…but there it is anyway, and here we go with our great HDTV deals for the day:

BuyDig.com – Sometimes a deal on a highly rated TV surprises you, and this is another example: The Sharp Aquos LC46E77U 46″ 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV for $999 with free shipping too? Yes indeed…grab it before its gone.

6ave.com – LG makes a fine TV set, and this is a nice offer for any room of the house not blessed with LCD tech already: The LG 26LF10 26” 720p LCD HDTV for $399.00 – 15% off coupon code we provide “AFLTV15″ = $339.15 with free shipping as well. Very nice, and we can personally testify as to the quality of LG’s TVs.

Thanks for reading, and please visit us again soon.

Explosion: LED HDTV makers growing in numbers

It seems LED HDTV technology is starting to catch on with TV makers; four companies have now announced plans to release their own models in the next 3 months or so.

The companies: Sharp, LG, Sony and JVC, all strong market players in one area or another, and all vieing for a piece of a (relatively) small pie at the moment. Prices are pretty high right now (mostly 2-3K range) for mainstream consumption, but its only a matter of time, like any other technology.

More about the models themselves in this article from ZDNET, including the 32″ Sharp LED model coming for only $1,099.

Fabulous Friday HDTV Deals

More great deals to consider:

OnSale.com – A very nice deal on a high rated TV: The Sharp Aquos 40” Widescreen LCD HDTV for $913.99 + shipping = $918.98 Shipped. Grab this up, as it may be pretty limited.

6ave.com – Yet more amazing deals with the Panasonic TC37LZ800 37” 1080p LCD HDTV for $888.00 with free shipping as well – hard to beat that!

Join us tomorrow for more astounding HDTV deals.

Feel The Burn: New Sharp Aquos with Blu-Ray burner

Sharp introduced the world’s very first HDTV line with integrated Blu-ray players last year, so what could be next, you ask? How about BR burners? Yep, they did it, apparently.

The next DX2 series lineup one-ups the original DX models by adding Blu-ray burning as well. These do not feature the LED backlighting of the latest displays later this fall, but will settle for the more than adequate 15,000:1 contrast ratio shared with the other D-series televisions from Sharp.

According to reports, these sets will burn up to 30 hours of HD video on dual-layer Blu-ray discs via MPEG4 compression, which is very useful for those who like their movies and shows HD. We like it, even if the price may be a bit steep for some.

The price: from ¥170,000 ($1,740 USD) to ¥480,000 for the biggie. Ship date is estimated at September 15 but may take awhile to make it over to US shores; mainly a Japanese product for now. It’s only a matter of time though.

Speaking of Sony: To buy TVs from Samsung?

We just talked about a deal to partner up with Sharp, but don’t think Sony is done with their partner dreams yet. It seems they’re talking with Samsung about TVs too.

Word from the Seoul Economic Daily newspaper is that it may also make some sort of backroom deal with Samsung on LED backlight TVs, probably related to their recent decision to go with cheaper backlight technology on their BRAVIA line in the future.

A word of advice: Think about this story while TV shopping, if you’re putting it off until 2010. The big price differences between models might not buy as big a difference in actual performance as you may think it does, as either of these two stories today have established.

Finally: Sharp/Sony LCD factory up and official

The recent economic problems have made things slow way down for this deal to go through, but Sharp and Sony have finally completed a billion dollar joint deal that has Sony taking a 7% stake later this year and stepping up to 34% by the end of April 2011, in a much-needed partnership between two companies struggling to sell units.

Production access is the big draw for Sony, while Sharp views this as the first of 2-3 deals to help them sell the 13+ million 42″ers produced each year to other manufacturers and companies under various nameplates.

The Nikkei says other partnerships with Toshiba and various other Europe companies are in the cards, so after October (when the plant will open) whatever name is on the front of your TV, there’s a 50/50 chance it will originate at this factory.

Sunday Siesta: 2 Great Best Buy HDTV Deals

Here’s some great HDTV offers to stir up your quiet Sunday:

Best Buy – A nice TV at a great price: The Samsung LN32B360 32″ 720p LCD HDTV for only $450 and free shipping too (In-Store Pickup). Talk about a deal! Expires 8/1.

Best Buy (again) – Yet another eye-popper: the Sharp AQUOS LC46D85U 46″ 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV for only $999.99 w/ free in-store deal again. Can’t beat that at all; solid reviews.

Thanks for reading and come back soon!

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