Sharp has been fined by Japan's Fair Trade Commission as part of an investigation into price fixing of LCD (liquid crystal display) modules for Nintendo's popular DS handheld gaming device.
Sharp, which is one of the world's largest LCD makers, has been instructed to pay ¥261 million (US$3 million) by March 19 next year, it said in a statement. The fine is related to LCD modules supplied to Nintendo from late October 2005 to March 2006.
Additionally Sharp received a cease-and-desist notice from the Fair Trade Commission over LCD modules sold to Nintendo between January and March 2007 for the DS Lite.
Sharp denies engaging in any activities that violate the country's Antimonopoly Act.
The company said that it and Hitachi Display supply modules to Nintendo but that other display makers can compete for the same business and so price-fixing could not take place. It also said it "made continuous efforts to reduce costs and conducted price negotiations" with Nintendo to meet prices demanded by the DS maker as close as possible.
"We understand there is no precedent in Japan that a cartel in violation of Antimonopoly Act was found for a specific product which was sold to one private company
for use of a single product model," it said in the statement. "Therefore, since Sharp would like to insist its company's view on this matter, we will determine next steps including whether to request a hearing."
LG Display has cut its outlook for the current quarter after seeing a sharp decline in demand for LCD (liquid crystal display) panels and a bigger than expected drop in their price.
The company still expects demand to increase from the third quarter but growth is now expected to be in the single low-digit percentage range. It had been forecasting a percentage jump in the low to mid-teens. Prices are down by the low twenties percentage from the third quarter, it said in a statement.
Production has already been scaled back in light of the lower-than-anticipated demand, it said.
LG Display is a major manufacturer of LCD panels, which it supplies to manufacturers of products such as laptop PCs, televisions and cell phones. Lower global demand for electronics products and computers as a result of the poor economy is causing device makers to scale back their production and that in turn is hitting LG Display.
Although 30-inch wide-screen LCD monitors are meant for a niche market-professionals whose work demands color accuracy, the NEC MultiSync 3090WQXi is among the nicest displays we saw this year.
The 3090WQXi may be more expensive than Apple's 30-inch Cinema HD display, but it features a wider viewing angle, a higher contrast ratio, and an adjustable height, and it has a longer warranty than Apple's largest display. Its wide viewing angle makes it a great collaboration tool, since folks gathered around the screen will see the same colors from almost any angle. The monitor can display 16.7 million colors (8 bits), and it boasts a 12-bit Look Up Table that gives it an enormous palette of 68.5 billion colors.
NEC built a ton of technology into the 3090WQXi-such as X-Light Pro, which uses an internal backlight sensor to monitor and correct light output over the display's life-to keep it looking great over the years. For color pros who want a large canvas but don't want to sacrifice color accuracy and performance, the NEC MultiSync 3090WQXi sets a new standard for big displays.
For more Macintosh computing news, visit Macworld.com
Apple early adopters rejoice! Apple has just sent out the first wave of shipping confirmation emails for the new 24-inch Apple LED Cinema Display (I know this because my inbox just received one such e-mail). You'll recall that the LED Cinema Display is designed to compliment the new MacBook/MacBook Pro line with a Mini DisplayPort connector, integrated MagSafe, 3 powered USB 2.0 ports, iSight, and built-in speakers.
Apple unveiled the display in October at the same event where it overhauled its entire laptop line.
Some have called this US$899 monitor a MacBook dock, and it certainly seems to fit that bill quite nicely especially when you consider that MacBooks are the only computers on the planet at the moment that can even make use of one. Still, even though it supports a small subset of Macs (at the moment) this monitor is a great deal for a LED backlight monitor which makes it even more attractive to this MacBook Pro toting blogger
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Apple officially discontinued its 23-inch Cinema Display on Tuesday, making way for recently announced 24-inch LED Cinema.
The 23-inch display is now listed on Apple's online store as "Discontinued." The status of the old monitor comes as no surprise -- speculation of it being cut from the product line-up started as soon as the new monitor was announced.
The 24-inch LED was announced on the same day as the new MacBook and MacBook Pro notebooks in October. The 24-inch LED Cinema Display offers 1,920-by-1,200-pixel resolution, along with a built-in iSight camera and microphone, stereo speakers, and three-port USB 2.0 hub. It features an aluminum and glass enclosure.
The new monitor is being targeted to owners of the new notebooks. The LED Cinema Display features an integrated MagSafe charger that allows laptop users to plug in and power their notebooks. MacBook users can also connect to the monitor via its Mini DisplayPort, which Apple says is 10 percent the size of a full DVI connector.
The 24-inch LED can be order from the online Apple store with a delivery date listed as "November."
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Changes to the MacBook and MacBook Pro lines highlighted Apple's notebook announcements Tuesday, as the company unveiled new versions of all its laptops during a press event at its Cupertino, Calif., headquarters.
The new MacBook line introduces a new design for Apple's consumer-oriented desktops--an all-metal unibody enclosure with a large glass trackpad which supports four new MultiTouch gestures. The MacBook now ships with LED-backlit displays just like Apple's MacBook Pro offerings.
The MacBooks are changed on the inside, too. They now come with an Nvidia GeForce 9400M graphics chipset for improved 3-D graphic performance. That's been a major complaint about the otherwise popular MacBook--that its integrated graphics causes performance lags in graphically-intensive applications and games.
The MacBook comes in two models--a 2GHz Core 2 Duo configuration with a 160GB hard drive for $1,299 and a 2.4GHz offering with a 250GB hard drive for $1,599. The latter model also features a backlit keyboard. Apple plans to continue selling a white plastic MacBook with a 2.1GHz Core 2 Duo processor for $999.
Like the MacBook, the new MacBook Pro models sport a unibody design and a redesigned glass trackpad. All of the connectors will be on the laptop's left side--a nod to the design ideas that produced the MacBook Air earlier this year.
The new MacBook Pro comes in two 15.4-inch models--one with a 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo chip and 250GB hard drive for $1,999 and the other with a 2.53GHz processor and 320GB hard drive for $2,499.
While Apple focused on those two 15-inch models, the company also updated the $2,799 17-inch MacBook Pro. It now comes with a 1,920-by-1,200-pixel screen in either glossy or matte form. Processor speeds remain at 2.5GHz (though you can upgrade to 2.6GHz), while memory has increased to 4GB and storage capacity now reaches 320GB.
While the most substantive changes occurred to the MacBook and MacBook Pro lines, the MacBook Air was not left out of this round of updates. Apple's ultra-thin notebook gets the same Nvidia GeForce 9400M core graphics chipset introduced to the other laptops. The MacBook Air now comes with either a 120GB hard drive or a 128GB solid-state drive option, an improvement from the 80GB and 64GB options available in the current Air models.
Apart from faster RAM and the addition of a Mini DisplayPort that replaces the old Mini DVI video connector, the MacBook Air models are otherwise unchanged from the $1,799 1.6GHz and $2,499 1.8GHz configurations currently available.
The new MacBook Air models ship in early November.
In addition to remodeled laptops, Apple also introduced a new monitor built for laptops. The 24-inch LED Cinema Display features a Mini DisplayPort and integrated MagSafe charger that allows laptop users to plug in and power their notebooks. The new model is an LED-backlit monitor that's arsenic-free and designed to consume less power than displays based on cold-cathode florescent lamp technology.
For more Macintosh computing news, visit Macworld.com
LaCie rolled out a new line of LCD monitors Tuesday aimed at creative professionals who put a premium on color accuracy. The 700 series of displays comes in 20-, 24-, and 30-inch models.
The 700 series features an RGB-LED backlight which, according to LaCie, allows the monitors to produce purer red, green, and blue primaries for a larger range of vibrant colors than are available in other LCD offerings. The monitors offer ultra-wide gamuts of up to 123 percent of Adobe RGB, which LaCie says will minimize the need gamut mapping and allow users to move easily from image capture to print.
The 20-inch LaCie 720 features a 4:3 aspect ratio; it costs US$1,599. The 24-inch LaCie 724 and 30-inch LaCie 730 both feature a 16:10 wide-screen format and cost $2,299 and $4,599, respectively. All three LCDs come with an integrated USB 2.0 hub for hooking up peripherals and a LaCie easyHood that prevents ambient light from interfering with color-sensitive applications.
The 700 series displays come bundled with LaCie's blue eye pro Proof Edition calibration software package. The monitors also embed ColorKeeper, a backlight stabilizer technology.
The 720, 724, and 730 displays are available from LaCie immediately.
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NEC's MultiSync 3090WQXi is a 30-inch wide-screen LCD monitor aimed at professionals whose work requires color accuracy. The 3090WQXi is more expensive than Apple's 30-inch Cinema HD display, but it features a wider viewing angle, a higher contrast ratio, and a longer warranty than Apple's largest display. The 3090WQXi also offers numerous technologies for keeping both color and luminance consistent over the life of the display.
The display connects to your Mac using one of the two DVI inputs. It requires a dual-link DVI-equipped Mac, such as a Mac Pro or MacBook Pro. Some Power Mac G5s and late-model PowerBooks also support dual-link, but check your system's specifications before purchasing a display over 24 inches. You'll also need to use the included dual-link cable in order to run the display at its native 2,560-by-1,600-pixel resolution. The height-adjustable stand is very flexible, allowing you to tilt, swivel, and even pivot the display, so you can find just the right position for you. The display is nearly 14 inches deep and weighs about 40 pounds, so you'll need a decent amount of desk space.
Once set up, the 3090WQXi started up in its full, native resolution when we tested it on both a MacBook Pro and a Mac Pro. I used X-Rite's i1Display 2 (US$259) to calibrate the monitor to a white point of 6500K and a gamma of 2.2. I found no dead pixels and a little bit of light leakage near the top center of the screen, visible only when I viewed a fully black screen in a darkened room. The black screen wasn't as pure a black as with some other displays I've seen, such as LaCie's 324 LCD monitor, but this wasn't an issue when I viewed photos and graphics on screen. Color and brightness appeared consistent across the screen. Our photographic test images looked great on the display, with rich colors, white whites, and good amounts of shadow detail. Text was very legible even at very small point sizes. The viewing angle was very good, with almost no color shifts or loss of contrast from virtually any angle.
NEC has a ton of technology built into the display to keep this monitor looking great over the years, including X-Light Pro, which uses an internal backlight sensor to monitor and correct light output over the life of the display. Other interesting features include its programmable Look Up Table. Though the monitor can display 16.7 million colors (8 bits), it boasts a 12-bit Look Up Table that gives the NEC a palette of 68.5 billion colors.
For more Macintosh computing news, visit Macworld.com
V7's D24W33 is a 24-inch widescreen monitor. Its built-in speakers, HDMI inputs, and small price tag will please the budget-minded consumer who wants multimedia features, but its limited viewing angle and slightly washed out appearance should have color pros looking elsewhere.
The D24W33 can be rotated into portrait mode and has a height-adjustable stand. The display includes an analog VGA port as well as an HDMI input, but it's lacking a DVI port, the type of connection used by most Macs. For compatibility, the D24W33 does include an HDMI-to-DVI converter cable.
The first time I set up the monitor using the HDMI-to-DVI cable, the D24W33 didn't sync to my MacBook Pro automatically, because the display was set to look for a VGA connection. I had to change the video input setting using the monitor's on-screen controls to switch to HDMI input. Once I got past that, the display came up in its native 1,920-by-1,200 pixel resolution.
At the default color settings, the display's images had a blue tint and were washed out. Calibrating helped bring the colors back in line, and adjusting the brightness helped return some image detail that wasn't visible at the default settings.
One thing calibration couldn't do was expand the D24W33's limited viewing angle . Color shifts and loss of contrast were apparent when moving just a little bit away from center. This may not be a problem if you tend to sit still directly in front of your screen. If, however, you often collaborate with coworkers around your monitor, the limited viewing angle could become bothersome.
As a multimedia display, the D24W33 boasts a fast 2ms response time that can help when playing games or watching movies. You can use the HDMI port for connecting consumer electronics components, but since there's only one HDMI port, you'll need to disconnect your Mac if you're using the included HDMI-to-DVI cable. (If you want to connect both a Mac and an HDMI device at the same time, you can connect your Mac to the VGA port using a DVI-to-VGA adapter while your HDMI device uses the D24W33's HDMI port.) The display also features built-in stereo speakers, and though they are nothing to write home about, they sound better than the audio coming from my MacBook Pro or Mac Pro.
For more Macintosh computing news, visit Macworld.
ViewSonic's VP2250wb is a 22-inch LCD monitor with 1,680-by-1,050-pixel widescreen resolution. It has a DVI port for connecting to just about any modern Mac, and an analog VGA port for connecting older Macs or PCs. It features a fast 2 millisecond response time, which helps when watching movies or playing games. The VP2250wb is a decent consumer-level display, but you'll need to calibrate it to improve the color, and its narrow viewing angle limits the display's usefulness in a collaborative setting.
Setup was straightforward. We connected the VP2250wb to our Mac Pro via the DVI port using the included cable. The display can tilt forward and back and has up and down height adjustment. There's no ability to pivot into portrait mode, but we usually find that most people only use the pivot as an easy way to access the ports when plugging in the display, rather than actually using the display vertically. Most people don't need to set up and tear down their displays as often as we do in the Lab, so we won't knock the ViewSonic for lacking a portrait mode. If you're one of those folks who do like displays tall and thin, then you'll either need to use the VESA mounts or look for a different display.
The VP2250wb booted into its native 1,680-by-1,050 resolution automatically. Once, when used in a multi-display configuration, the VP2250wb booted into a higher, non-native resolution. While this was more helpful than displaying a black screen with an out-of-range message, you don't want to use the monitor in anything other than its native resolution--the VP2250wb looks pretty bad when displaying this interpolated mode. The problem was easily fixed in the Display pane of OS X's System Preferences, and the error never occurred again.
Once the VP2250wb was set up properly, the display, like most consumer monitors coming out of the box, was overly bright and a little oversaturated at its default settings. Manufacturers do this so that the display stands out on a crowded shelf at your local retailer, but it results in inaccurate color; for example, reds looked purple-ish and whites had a cool blue tint. Calibrating the display to 6500 Kelvin helped immensely; in fact, looking at the VP2250wb straight on, it was hard to distinguish the monitor's images from some higher-end models.
The key, however, is the angle at which you look at the display. Move to the left or right of center (or up or down, for that matter) and the drop off in image quality is very noticeable. Far off of center, the display looks dingy and yellow and not very attractive at all. But you can start to see the shifts even if you move only slightly off center. If you're sitting alone in front of your monitor, this shouldn't be too much of a problem. If you happen to collaborate with co-workers on a regular basis, know that the person sitting on your left or right may not be seeing the same colors that you are.
The VP2250wb boasts a very fast 2ms response time, which helps the display keep up with the frame rates of video games or movies. I watched a variety of clips and games and the VP2250wb had no problem rendering the action.
For more Macintosh computing news, visit Macworld.com
The LaCie 324 LCD monitor is a 24-inch display targeted at creative pros who demand a large color gamut and color accuracy; but with two HDMI inputs for consumer entertainment electronics and support for picture-in-picture technology, the monitor aims to be both a multimedia display and art director's tool. The 324 succeeds on both fronts.
The display setup was simple; the 324 comes fully assembled with one DVI port, and when we connected it to our Mac Pro using the included DVI cable, the display was recognized correctly and displayed its native 1,920-by-1,200-pixel resolution automatically. The first thing I noticed was how bright the display looked--a testament to its luminance, which is measured at 400 cd/m2, and its high contrast ratio, with blacks looking black instead of deep gray. When looking at the 324 with a full black image onscreen, there was very little light leakage, which can occur on some monitors, especially at the edges and corners of the screen.
The 324's viewing angle is excellent. I barely noticed a difference in color or contrast when looking at the display from the side, nearly 90 degrees off angle.
With its two HDMI ports, the LaCie 324 can also be used as part of your home entertainment center.
Though the colors weren't too far off with the straight-out-of-the-box default settings, the display did benefit from calibration. We used a Gretag Macbeth Eye-One calibrator, though LaCie does offer a more expensive 324 bundle (US$1,240) that includes its own blue eye pro hardware calibration system and software. After calibration, the display performed very well, with accurate colors, good shadow detail, rich blacks, and neutral grays. Text was very legible, even at small point sizes.
The only thing I didn't really love about the display was its menu system, which LaCie calls a "touch sensitive control panel" in the 324's press release. White navigation icons grace the lower right side of the 324--there are no physical buttons. You simply put your finger on the icons to maneuver around the menu system. I experienced a bit of delay when hitting the "buttons," sometimes needing to touch them a couple of times. Plus, the lack of physical buttons means that you need to take your eyes off of the menu in order to see where you're pressing, as there is no tactile clue as to where to push.
The on-screen menu offers quite a few tools for display adjustment and preset options, but it's not your father's LCD settings menu. With its large black window and white text, the menu took some getting used to, and I imagine that its uniqueness could turn off some. However, after spending some time using it, the apprehension went away and I found it to be very usable.
I didn't do a lot of testing with the HDMI ports, but I did connect the monitor to an Apple TV and can confirm that they do indeed work. I also played some fast-moving 3-D games and DVD scenes to see if the monitor's response time could keep up with the action and I saw no issues.
Macworld's buying advice
A large desktop display precise enough for a color professional but flexible enough to connect to a large variety of home entertainment devices, the LaCie 324 has the right tools for both work and pleasure.
For more Macintosh computing news, visit Macworld.com
DisplayLink lets computer monitors work over USB. The company offered up the first beta version of Mac-compatible drivers last week, though it cautioned that without Apple's help, those drivers are unlikely to be able to achieve parity with their Windows counterparts.
Designed for computers with limited expandability, such as laptops, mini systems and all-in-one designs, DisplayLink's technology lets you hook up a monitor over USB 2.0. DisplayLink's drivers compress the video signal, enabling up to six monitors to work at a time. DisplayLink licenses its technology for use in products manufactured by LG, Toshiba, Samsung and others.
Up until recently, DisplayLink products only worked in Windows, but at the end of March DisplayLink began offering beta drivers that support Intel-based Macs running Tiger or Leopard.
The release notes for the beta drivers note that they lack any 2D or 3D graphics acceleration. DisplayLink said that they're committed to making their Mac drivers as good as their Windows Vista drivers, including full support for OpenGL 3D graphics acceleration. That development is dependent on cooperation from Apple that they're not getting, however.
"Unfortunately the Mac OS X operating system is a closed system, and unlike Windows XP and Windows Vista, it is difficult to make significant improvements without the direct support of Apple," the note reads.
The note directs users interested in seeing the drivers improve to contact Apple to let their interest be known.
Apple leverages an open standard -- OpenGL -- as Mac OS X's Application Programming Interface (API) for graphics, but how the graphics hardware interacts with the rest of the system is a different story, according to Jason Slaughter, DisplayLink's director of marketing.
"There's no open documentation of the display subsystem," Slaughter told Macworld.
Slaughter said that Apple works with individual graphics hardware vendors like ATI, Nvidia and Intel to expose the functionality that DisplayLink needs in order to improve its drivers.
DisplayLink gauged the interest of Mac users by exhibiting at Macworld Expo this past January, and found that a lot of attendees wanted their hardware. Slaughter added that individuals at Apple have been receptive to DisplayLink, as well. "We've gotten a lot of good support and feedback from them," he said.
But that feedback hasn't translated into Apple opening the books on the graphics subsystem. As a result, DisplayLink's engineers have cobbled together what they can, but the relatively small company is limited to what they can do without Apple's direct help.
As it stands now, said Slaughter, the beta drivers are "absolutely perfectly usable." Slaughter said that individuals at DisplayLink is using the drivers themselves. But there's a lot of room for improvement, if they can get Apple's cooperation.
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DoubleSight Displays is offering the same stands it uses in its multi-monitor display systems as standalone products. The company is now offering dual-monitor and triple-monitor stands.
The DoubleSight Flex Stands feature jointed horizontal mounting arms, and are height, tilt and swivel-adjustable. The mounts work with VESA-compatible displays, and can independently pivot to support portrait viewing modes. The right-hand mounting arms can also rotate 180 degrees, so you can share the display with someone sitting near you.
DoubleSight now manufactures a dual-monitor stand suitable for 19-inch LCD displays, and another suitable for displays up to 24 inches. A third unit -- a triple-display mount -- works with LCD screens up to 19 inches wide.
Prices range from US$199 to $299.
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Matrox Graphics on Monday announced the availability of PowerDesk, desktop management software intended for use with its Graphics Expansion Module (GXM) devices on the Mac. It's available for free download from the Matrox Web site.
Graphics Expansion Modules are external boxes made by Matrox, branded as the DualHead2Go and TripleHead2Go. They enable you to connect two or three displays to your Mac using only a single video interface on the Mac -- useful for laptop systems, Mac minis and iMacs -- systems that only feature a single video output jack.
PowerDesk improves how applications are managed on GXM-based multi-monitor setups. You can use PowerDesk to control where windows appear on your desktop, reposition the dock on an external monitor, and modify resolution settings.
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LG Display has developed an LCD (liquid crystal display) module that it says looks as good outdoors in sunlight ads it does indoors and plans to unveil it CES in January in Las Vegas.
The 14.1-inch display is intended for laptop computers and allows users to switch display modes to suit the location.
All LCD panels require a light source to make the type and images on the screen visible to users and the source varies depending on the type of panel and its intended use. Panels like those in most laptops and televisions use illumination from a backlight panel behind the screen that results in an image that looks good indoors but is not bright enough to be seen outside. Reflective panels use a mirror behind the screen to reflect ambient light for a brighter outdoor image but one that looks dark indoors.
Halfway between these two technologies are transreflective panels that have both a mirror and backlight behind the panel and offer a compromise between the two types of display but don't excel outdoors or inside.
The new LG Display panel can be switched between backlight mode, when indoors, to reflective mode, when outdoors, at the touch of a button allowing the best of both technologies without any compromise, the company said in a statement. An added benefit of this is that when the screen is switched to reflective mode the backlight turns off and battery life can be extended.
The contrast ratio when used outdoors is 9:1 on the new display versus around 3:1 on a typical laptop display, LG Display said.
LG Display will offer its first demonstration of the screen at CES. The display is still a prototype and there are no immediate plans to commercialize it.
