Yeah, they make monitors too. Meet the 22-inch D221 widescreen LCD from Lenovo. Packing that near-ubiquitous 1680×1050 (WSXGA+) resolution found in these panels, the D221 delivers a 700:1 contrast ratio, 5-ms response, 300cd/m2 brightness, and 160/176-degree visibility top-bottom/left-right, respectively with 2x DVI inputs and D-Sub15 for a taste of that limp, analog RGB. Not bad, but even better considering it’ll only set you back Â¥52,000 or about $440 (pre-tax) when these hit Japan on December 5th.

[Via Akihabara News]
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If you liked that 25.5-inch H-IPS panel from Mitsubishi we hit up a few weeks ago then check this professional panel from NEC. While most of the specs are about the same with NEC’s variation of the 25.5-incher — 1920×1200 (WUXGA) resolution, 800:1 contrast ratio, 400cd/m2 brightness, 178-dgree viewing angle, and 2x HDCP-capable DVIs plus one D-Sub15 input — the MultiSync LCD2690WUXi features an embedded integrated circuit with 12-bit look-up tables (i.e., gamma correction) for even smoother gradients. Hell, the panel also delivers a broad color gamut at 91% NTSC and even pivots 90-degrees to get your bigzz portrait on. Ideal for graphic design, photo re-touching or other professional uses. And believe us, at Â¥239,400 (about $2,036) you’ll be more than happy for the boss-man to cover the cost. Expected to hit Japan on 12 January of the new year.

[Via Impress]
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We still have a week to go before Black Friday — the day after Thanksgiving in the United States when retailers offer some of their best deals of the shopping season — and Vizio has already announced a one-day price reduction on their 42-inch plasma. The sale at Costco will mark the first time a high-definition-ready set of that size will be sold for less than $1000, which is considered by many analysts to be that magic number where mass adoption will kick off. As the predictions go, once consumers can see the bill for a HDTV starting out with only three digits in it, they will be much more likely to buy a new set to go with that PlayStation 3, or HD DVD add-on for the 360, or HD satellite. The Vizio VP42HDTV is a 42-inch 720p-capable plasma with HDMI, a 10,000:1 max contrast ratio, and an ATSC tuner. It’s great news to see the prices for sets of all sizes and styles (CRT RPTVs, plasmas, LCDs, LCoSes, etc.) coming steadily down, and will spur that magical day when you can go to any relative’s house for the Superbowl and not have to worry about watching on a standard-def set.

[Via Electronista]
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Polaroid – or should we say the Polaroid Holding Company — is best known for its instant cameras budget digicams these days. Still, that’s not stopping ‘em from rolling out a couple of new 32-inch and 20-inch LCDs in Japan. These new panels of unspecified, though likely Chinese origin, all bring a 1366×768 resolution, 1,000:1 contrast ratio, 8-ms response, integrated digital tuner and 1x HDMI input on top of Japanese D4, S-Video, 2x composite, and D-Sub15 for the PC. The 32-inch FLJ-3235 features a 550cd/m2 brightness and 170-degree visibility while the 20-inch FLJ-2035 dims down a bit to a 500cd/m2 brightness while upping visibility to 176-degrees. While these may be Polaroid firsts for Japan, similarly spec’d and priced models can already be found at Home Depot of all places, closer to home. Invading Japan this December and priced to please at Â¥100,000 (about $845) for the 32-inch model or about Â¥70,000 (about $592) for the wee 20-incher. Go Polaroid uh, branding, go.

[Via Impress]
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Here’s an odd one: Woojin Inc. is showing off its new line of “Tenbuno” 19-inch LCDs that are normal in every regard… except for a random 8.4-inch “sub-screen” jutting out of the top. Yeah, weird, right? AVING, who spied this in the flesh, recommends a bit of home shopping TV up top, but we can’t really make up our minds what we’d use that extra 8.4-inches of freedom for. Alls we know is that the boring old rectangular LCD on our desk just lost half its charm. Oh how you tease us, Woojin! As for specs, the 19-incher sports a 1280 x 1024 resolution, while the 8.4-incher hits 800 x 600 pixels. If up top ain’t your style, the LCD can rotate so you can watch 8.4-inches of “Home Shopping Network” down below. Now if you’ll excuse us, we’re going to see how far duct tape can get us in this direction.

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