Digital Trends

Sharp blew us away with the largest LCD screen announced to date. The Aquos LC-45GD1U is a 45-inch LCD HDTV flat panel. Not only is the 45GD1U the largest display of its kind, it also is the first to deliver a 1080p image, the best possible high definition image. Due to ship late in the summer of 2004, the television features a 1920x1080 pixel resolution and upconverts 1080i and 720p signals to 1080p. The rest of their Aquos line was just as impressive, with products for all rooms in the house.

The Sharp Aquos line blurs the line between PC and Television.

Projector and printer powerhouse Epson formally introduced their new line of rear-projection LCD TVs that include some innovative features. The 47 and 57-inch Livingstations feature a built in photo printer, digital media readers, and even a CD-R drive, allowing users to view, print and store digital images without the need for a computer. While we're not yet sure if consumers really want or need these features, Epson gets points for doing something nobody else has done.

Epson's Livingstation with built-in photo printer.

While televisions are getting bigger and thinner, computer displays also benefit from the advances made in the LCD arena. LCD computer displays are getting bigger, and the smaller models are getting better. Sony featured their 17-inch SDM-HS73P which features their "X-BRITE" technology previously used in Vaio notebooks. The technology is said to enhance contrast, viewing angles, brightness performance and overall image clarity — and from what we saw, it did all of that. This was one of the sharpest LCD monitors we have seen. Look for it in retail in February at a price of around $609. We can't wait to see a 19-inch version of the unit.

BenQ displayed their FP783 17-inch LCD monitor that features a 12ms response time. They also introduced some larger models, including the 23-inch FP231W widescreen LCD monitor.