LG Electronics staged a summer line review at renowned art auction house Christie’s, here Thursday, to unveil what it calls its own consumer electronics “masterpieces.” Highlighting the presentation was the company’s new flagship LBX LCD TV series, dubbed “Opus,” which features 1080p HD resolution and 120Hz frame-rate technology.
The LCD TV line also features a new styling design that uses more rounded edges and corners; a gloss piano-black bezel; and a re-engineered pedestal base, which will take advantage of the growing lifestyle trend of placing large flat-panel TVs on tables and cabinet tops, rather than mounting them on walls, the company said.
Other summer consumer electronics introductions included a new 50-inch 1080p plasma set, and the announcement of a 10 free HD disc giveaway with the purchase of the previously announced Super Blue HD DVD/Blu-ray Disc combo player.
In IT peripheral devices, the company added a new higher speed Super Multi Blue-disc recorder and HD DVD-ROM drive.
All of the products conform to what LG called its ongoing mission to improve upon style, functionality and the user experience.
LG’s Allan Jason unveiled the company’s new high-end “Opus” 1080p LCD TV series at Christie’s Auction House in New York.
The LBX line will be available in September in the 42-inch ($2,499 suggested retail), 47-inch ($3,299) and 52- inch ($4,499) screen sizes, and will receive selective distribution through assisted sales channels, said Allan Jason, LG consumer electronics marketing VP. He added that LG plans to use the name “Opus” to designate a series of products using “LG’s best technology and best design.”
The 1080p sets will also include LG’s TruMotion 120Hz frame-rate technology that is said to eliminate jagged edges in fast motion sequences such as scrolling text and fast camera pans.
Other features include HDMI v1.2 inputs, LG’s TruColor wide color gamut technology, a Super IPS wide viewing angle panel, and the company’s “XD Engine” technology.
The company’s new 1080p 50-inch plasma set — model 50PY3D — incorporates “LG Simple Link” connectivity, allowing integrated system control of other LG Simple Link compatible equipment, such as DVD players or home theater systems.
Jason said 1080p currently represents 20 percent of the plasma business in the United States, “and it will be far greater next year. LG is very, very bullish on the plasma business,” he said. “We do a lot of side-by-side testing with consumers and we find that for many consumers, plasma is absolutely the best picture quality.”
The company’s first 50-inch 1080p plasma model will give it a total of three 1080p PDPs in the fall line up, Jason said.
The set, which ships in September at a $3,499 suggested retail, includes three HDMI v1.2 inputs and a USB Media Host interface to allow for playback of digital music and photos.
Despite reports that LG would introduce a second-generation Super Blue HD DVD/Blu-ray Disc combo player by the end of the year, the company said it continues to sell only the first generation combo player ($1,199 suggested retail) introduced at International CES, but “stay tuned.”
However, LG announced its own high-definition disc giveaway to support that machine. Under the three-week promotion running in July, purchasers of the LG Super Blue combo player receive 10 free movies of their choice — up to a $300 value. The offer is open to all HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc titles on the market. The mail-in offer will reimburse buyers for the purchase of any 10 HD DVD or Blu-ray titles, and is not limited to a selection of titles as some current competitive offers require.
In Super Multi Blue IT peripherals, LG unveiled a pair of second-generation internal Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD-ROM drives — the GGC-H20LI and the GGW-H20LI — at new low prices of $399 and $499, respectively. Both units will read Blu-ray Discs, HD DVDs, DVDs, and read and write to DVD (16x speed) and CD (32x speed). The $499 GGW-H20LI will also record/write to Blu-ray Discs at up to 6x speed.
Both drives also feature LightScribe technology, enabling consumers to create direct-to-disc labels from their drive.
LG also showcased its “SecurDisc” models, which use software jointly developed by LG and Nero to protect confidential data and data integrity. The system is available in both internal (GSA-H55LI, $79.99) and external (GSA-E60L, $119) models and in a slim, portable drive (GSA-E50L, $129), which will ship in August.
story: Greg Tarr
