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DVICE: Who wants a separate DVR? With three new models of Sony TVs, you won’t need one, as they come with 500GB hard drives built right in. Not enough? You can expand them via external hard drives.

All three models are 1080p LED LCD TVs and come in 40-inch, 32-inch and 22-inch varieties. Those hard drives will be able to store up to 65 hours of HD programming, which should keep you set for a while. They’re coming to Japan first, but they may end up on these shores soon enough as well.

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Engadget: It’s still a long way from the more budget-friendly model you may have been hoping for, but Bang & Olufsen has now at least introduced a smaller BeoVision LCD TV. That comes in the form of the company’s new 32-inch BeoVision 10-32, which hangs onto many of the features of the other BeoVision 10 series TVs, including edge LED-backlighting, a DVB-HD module, and a pair of built-in speakers that B&O says offers a sound quality that is “quite superior compared to the market level for TVs of this size” — you can even add your choice of one of two motorized stands. Just how much will it cost you? Try €4,000, or roughly $5,500. Full press release is after the break.

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Übergizmo: If it weren’t about the price, most folks out there would want a few Bang & Olufsen products in their home. Now the company has just announced its BeoVision 8, which is a smaller version of its BeoVision 10 LCD, and less expensive. This 4-inch display touts 240Hz motion processing, something that the folks over at B&O claim to be nearly double that of the conventional LCDs. Being a B&O product, you’d expect it to sport some pretty awesome sound quality. The BeoVision 8 will be available this summer, and should set you back around $5,400, pricey, but it shouldn’t force you to sell your assets, right?

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Übergizmo: Fancy purchasing a TV pretty soon, but do not know where to start? Perhaps you might consider a Samsung LED or LCD TV after reading this post – after all, selected models from either line from Samsung will be incorporated with InstaPort technology from Silicon Image, where it will change HDMI input within one second – basically, this removes the time of waiting for the input to look for a source, giving you instant change in the blink of an eye. This is something nice to have but not essential, then again who are we to say in this world that has a “I want it now!” attitude? Perhaps it might end up as a common feature in all TV brands sometime down the road, who knows?

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Engadget: No two ways about it, 2009 was a bad year for plasma. How else could you describe a year where the so called king of plasmas — and to many, HDTVs — exits the market? It was a hard enough hit when Kuro lovers learned that Panasonic would be manufacturing ‘em instead of Pioneer, but when at the last minute Pioneer canceled the plan before the first Panasonic-branded-Kuro ever shipped, plasma lovers everywhere died a little inside. But all was not lost and Panasonic, Samsung and LG proudly continued on and didn’t miss a beat when Vizio joined the quitters of 2008 — Panasonic even opened the biggest plasma plant yet in 2009. Panasonic did step up, and by some accounts filled the void left by the Kuro by managing to win most of the best of awards of 2009; only to be tarnished by reports that the black levels were depreciated faster than expected.

But the year wasn’t all bad, as plasma prices dropped and in the second quarter of last year it actually did pretty well. Then at CES 2010 Panasonic’s 3D plasma demo stole the 3D show, and early reports showed that the new line offered even better blacks and a better 3D effect than LCD TVs. So while there are no signs that plasma will ever be the king of flat screen TVs, it has proven for yet another year that although LCDs garner the lion’s share of HDTV sales, plasma still owns a piece of the market and offers some advantages over the competition. So while the LCD vs plasma debate has never been as fun or as meaningful as a format war — after all it isn’t like choosing one excludes you from viewing content — it is an interesting battle to follow. In the coming years we expect LCD to continue to push plasma up in size and plasma to push LCD blacker and faster. So the great news is that in the end it is the consumer that is getting better HD viewing options.

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Electronista: The California Energy Commission has approved a new set of efficiency standards aimed at regulating televisions sold in the state, according to CNET News.

The rules apply to displays 58-inches or smaller, requiring retailers to stock TVs with 33 percent less energy consumption by 2011.

The terms increase once again for 2013, with mandatory reductions in consumption by an average of 49 percent.

The Commission claims the mandate will reduce electricity costs by up to $8.1 billion. The group also expects the rules to eliminate the need for building a natural gas power plant of 615 MW capacity.

The Consumer Electronics Association has opposed the bill, arguing that the regulations will effectively kill the plasma TV market in California.

The Commission, however, claims that CNET and Energy Star test data shows that plasma screens utilizing new phosphors with enhanced gas mixtures will be able to meet the 2011 and 2013 standards, especially if the technology is paired with automatic brightness control.

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DigiTimes: Global LCD TV shipments are estimated to increase 10-15% to 155 million units in 2010 amid a gradually recovering global economy, according to market sources.

The sources indicated that vendors are optimistic about the 2010 market and have started talking with LCD panel makers about panel supply for 2010. The sources noted that better-than-expected LCD TV sales in the North America market helped boost global LCD TV shipments in the first half of 2009 to 56 million units, and if MoniTV sales were included, the first-half shipments reached 64 million units.

With the second half of the year being the peak season for LCD TV sales, global LCD TV shipments for the entire 2009 may exceed 130 million units, the sources said. Panel supply remains tight due to glass substrate shortages, and current inventories for notebook and monitor panels are below two weeks, while monitor and notebook inventory levels in the end market are about 3-4 weeks, the sources added.

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DigiTimes: HB Chen, vice-chairman and CEO of AU Optronics (AUO) has pointed out that with the China’s current 500 million CRT TVs needing to be replaced by LCD TVs in the next 5-10 years, he forecast China will surpass the US and become the largest LCD TV market in 2010 or 2011.

Chen explained he is assuming that 10% of the 500 million CRT TVs currently in the market will be replaced each year, equating to demand for an additional 50 million LCD TVs. He also indicated that LCD market still has significant room for growth amid the introduction of new technologies.

In terms of panel pricing, AUO president LJ Chen noted that the recent panel price recovery has only boosted prices by around 10%, a lot lower than the drop of 50% from last year. Panel makers’ priority should be getting panel prices back to a reasonable level, but not necessarily to 2008 prices levels since costs have dropped amid decreasing component prices and improving production processes, he explained.

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DigiTimes: Around 1.4 million LCD TVs were sold during the three-day May Day holiday in China, up 75% on year, with local vendors dominating sales, according to industry sources in China.

Sharp was the only international brand that made it to the top-five ranking for the three-day sales, which the Japanese vendor shared 12%, the sources noted. The rest of the top-five were all China-based vendors:

1. Hisense with 14%,
2. TCL with 12%,
3. Skyworth with 11%, and
4. Konka with 10%.

In terms of screen sizes, 32-inch was the most popular with 33% of the May Day LCD TV sales, followed by 42-inch with 19%, 46-inch with 10%, and 37-inch with 9%, the sources added

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Engadget: Looks like we’ve got a new record holder for world’s thinnest LCD, as LG pegs its new 42- and 47-inch models at only 5.9mm thick.

Apparently lacking an iPhone for the accepted measurement of thinness, this model was reduced to holding up a coin for an example of LG’s edge LED lit prowess.

Though you may prefer local dimming LEDs, DisplayBlog is hopeful we’ll see a combo of the two lighting schemes bringing thinness and high picture quality next year. Meanwhile, compare these to JVC’s magnetically mounted former champ, measuring a now-widebody 7mm thick, but at only 5kg, still holding a weight edge over these two at 6.1 and 7.3kg, respectively.

LG promises 120Hz refresh technology and 80% of the NTSC color gamut, up from 72% on standard models, on these, but we’ll wait for them to go from the demo stand to the store shelf before revisiting the question of whether thinner and more energy efficient is actually better.

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Time: Most people use their eyes to judge the best flat-screen televisions. Michiyuki Sugino, deputy general manager of audiovisual systems for Sharp, says people should also use their hands.

Touch an ordinary set and you’ll feel the heat given off by electronic components at work. This warmth is energy that is being wasted, Sugino says, and for consumers, hot spots mean higher electric bills.

But lay your hands on one of Sharp’s new 32-in. D Series Aquos TVs: “The biggest surprise for consumers is when they touch the TV front and back,” says Sugino. “It’s cool. They can feel the difference.”

But will they care? Japan’s leading consumer-electronics companies sure hope so. The global recession is weakening demand for LCD and plasma TVs. This means Sharp, Panasonic and Sony are desperate to defend their market shares and are racing to come up with features to distinguish their products from those of their competitors.

The marketing catchphrase in Japan is now “eco-TV”: flat-screen sets that, like the new Sharp Aquos, are environmentally friendlier because they use less energy and cost less to run. “[Eco-functions] are a premium that consumers will pay for,” says Emi Nagahara, a product planner for Sony’s TV business group.

“It will be a standard” for all LCD TVs, she predicts. (See Japan’s greatest designs.) Using a variety of technological tweaks, manufacturers are achieving substantial power savings with no sacrifice in performance and picture quality.

Sony, which entered the eco-TV market last summer, developed a more efficient backlight for its new Bravia VE5 series that uses nearly 40% less energy than conventional LCD TVs. Further gains are made through additional features, including a sensor that halves the energy the TV uses by turning off the screen when no motion is detected nearby. The sets are also equipped with a light sensor that adjusts the backlight to ambient room light and with an energy-saving switch that cuts all power to the set as if it were unplugged. (Even when turned off, conventional sets waste small amounts of electricity if left plugged in.)

Other manufacturers are launching green TVs of their own. This month, Panasonic — the No. 1 maker of plasma TVs, with a 40% share of that market worldwide — started selling in Japan its 42-in. Viera V series plasma set, which uses 48% less power than the product line’s previous generation. On Feb. 20, Sharp launched its Aquos D Series in Japan, which uses 45% less energy than last year’s model. Cool to the touch, this model has improved power-saving components, including a modified backlight.

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DigiTimes: Shipments of large-size TFT-LCD panels increased 26.3% on a monthly basis to 30.1 million units, with revenues going up 21.4% sequentially to US$3.1 billion in February 2009, according to Displaybank.

It is the first time since September 2008 that both shipments and revenues have increased because of low inventory levels, increasing orders from system makers and falling prices, Displaybank said.

But the shipments and revenues declined on a yearly basis, which indicates that demand has yet to really recover, the research firm said. Shipments and revenues dropped 14.8% and 53.7% respectively compared to February 2008.

Samsung Electronics remained the top supplier with 26.2% of the market in terms of revenues for February 2009, followed by LG Display (LGD) with 25.8%, and AU Optronics (AUO) with 14%.

Samsung also ranked first in the unit shipments with 26.2%, followed by LGD with 25.8%, AUO with 14%, and Chi Mei Optoelectronics (CMO) with 13.9%, Displaybank said.

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