This California TV regulation thing isn’t going to happen without a fight, no sir. Even though a bunch of LCD makers have said that they wouldn’t have too much of a problem complying with whatever the California commission comes up with, the LCD TV Association has just applied the brakes, saying that any such regulation will ultimately result in “TVs that have fewer features.”

You would be hard pressed to find an OLED TV in any brick and mortar retailer besides the Sony Store right now. The technology is amazing, but they just aren’t available yet and that might not change soon according to a iSuppli report. The TVs are too small and the prices are too high to gain any real traction. But, as we all know, that will change as the display tech evolves. However, don’t expect to see a wall full of OLED because the LCD market isn’t slowing down.

Sharp has announced four new LCD TVs with some impressive specs for the Japanese market today [press release in English]. The TVs will be available in four sizes: 40, 46, 52 and 60 inches. All models are full HD and feature LED backlight for improved picture quality.

Sharp Japan today announced [press release in English] the development of a new method that makes it possible to control the alignment of liquid crystal molecules in LCD screens with high precision. In practical terms, this means the new UV²A technology could lead to TVs that save energy and display pictures with higher contrast ratios.

We knew that when Sony announced the beautiful ZX5 in Europe a US model shouldn’t be that far behind. And sure enough, Sony just announced the XBR10 which is pretty much a cloned version. It too rocks a wireless 1080p media receiver, edge-mounted LED backlighting, and 240Hz technology. We just wish that they weren’t so damn expensive or at the very least made with localized dimming instead of edge-mounted LEDs.

Mitsubishi Electric organized a big press conference today in Tokyo, unveiling two new series of LCD TVs, three Blu-ray DVRs and a new full HD video projector. The two TVs of the BHR series are the world’s first featuring both a built-in Blu-ray recorder and an HDD. No announcements regarding release dates outside Japan were made, but here are the main details for every device, all prices and release dates and some pictures.

The consolidation process in the Japanese home electronics business goes on and on. Today former rivals Sharp and Sony said [JP] they reached a final agreement to launch an LCD panel joint venture in Osaka, after having failed to ink the deal last month. In March already, Sharp said it wants Sony as a partner for its plans to boost the production of LCD TVs.

Now there is no excuse for you not having an LCD monitor. CompUSA is selling thie I-Inc 19-inch widescreen LCD for only $100 + $2 for shipping. That’s cheap. Granted, it’s not a Dell Ultrasharp, but it’s better than nothing.

Dude. Sweet. I don’t have kids, let alone anyone who really ever rides in the back seat of the car but if I did, I could easily justify a $130 outlay for not one, but two (two!) replacement headrests with built-in 7-inch LCD screens. Maybe I should just get these and then always ride in the back myself while the little lady handles the driving.

If you’ve ever come to Japan, and especially to Tokyo, you will have noticed this country’s love for digital signage systems. They’re practically everywhere and some of them are quite cool. Now Tokyo-based Dai Nippon Printing (DNP) has announced plans to set up a digital signage system [JP] that consists of a total of twelve 42-inch LCDs.

JVC today announced a new brand for LCD TVs in Japan [JP]. The first model of the badly named XIVIEW series is the LT-42WX7, a full HD display sized at 42 inches. JVC said they first want to target business customers with the new model, possibly followed by XIVIEWs for home use.

Toshiba is releasing three new lines of LCD TVs. The only one you care about is the SV670 LED line up though. The other two series, XV648 and ZV650, are just your standard top-tier LCDs TVs. But the SV670 might be something special.

JVC presented a prototype of a super-thin and super-light 32-inch LCD TV back in January (during the CES) and today announced [JP] that sales of the device will begin this August (in Japan, at least). The company claims the model is the world’s thinnest LCD display of that size.

Panasonic launched the VIERA R Series today in Japan [JP], consisting of a total of seven new plasma and LCD TVs. The first TVs of the series will be available over here starting July 1, with Panasonic not yet saying anything about sales in overseas markets.

FED and SED are practically dead, Plasmas never really took off and OLED are still too expensive to produce. Now Hitachi Displays wants to change this by dramatically improving the good old LCDs, at least for mobile devices (even for these, OLED are far from being a regularly used).

Sharp has developed an LCD screen that can display a total of five primary colors, two more than usually used. In addition to red, green and blue, the prototype features cyan and yellow color filters. The result: A screen capable of reproducing 99% of the surface colors existing in the real world through what Sharp calls “Multi-Primary-Color Technology”.

LG announced today their new “thin” display line. The press release claims that LG’s are the thinnest in the world, but our constant readers know the truth.

Toshiba Corp. (6502) announced yesterday it plans to convert Toshiba Matsushita Display Technology (TMD) into a wholly owned subsidiary. TMD is an LCD manufacturing joint venture formed by Toshiba and Matsushita (now Panasonic). The joint venture produces around 10% of small LCD panels. It’s second only to Sharp in this market segment.