Tonight in Denver, Panasonic revealed its newest plasma technology, the 65" custom-install-only VX100 monitor, whose specs meet or beat Pioneer's hallowed Kuro. That means 60,000:1 contrast ratio with 7,160 shades of gradation for visible detail in the darker shadows. At 65 inches, you will pay US$10,000 a panel, but not to worry: Panasonic will roll out a 50 incher soon, which is sure to be (a teeny tiny tad) cheaper. We sat in a dark room and got to compare the VX100 with its predecessor, the 65PF. Though the results in the room were startlingly vivid, you can get a sense of what's going on here in our still shots:If you're really crazy about TV technology, jump for a second gallery of slides from the presentation—but, as they say on MythBusters, there's some "science content" ahead, so put the drink down and focus...

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Rear-projection may be deader than dead as far as the biggies are concerned, but the folks at nLighten are intent to squeeze a bit more life out of these 72-inch 1080p DLP sets by sticking an infrared camera inside next to the light source that detects cursor points from an IR-tipped pen, allowing for a simple (no multitouch) touchscreen interface. It can act as a standard Windows mouse allowing for 1080p touchscreen Google Earth, or any other app.

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At CES, JVC showed off its super slim LCDs, but at the time there wasn't a lot of detail on them. Today, the 42" LT-42SL89 and 46" LT-46L89 are shipping, priced at US$1,900 and US$2,400. Though the 38mm thick TVs actually measure 74mm in the middle, they come with an integrated HDTV tuner, which other slim TVs barf out into an external box to achieve their sub-inch status. I also admire the engineering involved in building a backlight that uses diffusion panels to kill the spots from placing lights too close to the panel, without killing the light.

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Last week we mentioned a "premium" TV from Sharp (while talking about the XS1) that appeared to be destined for European shores: now there's news that the D65 is coming to the US too. The D65U range has 1080p resolution, and will come in sizes between 42- and 52-inches. The HDTVs will have a 6ms response time, Sharp's Advanced Super View and Black TFT Panel tech, and will apparently be very energy-efficient, through its dynamic back-lighting and contrast system which also reduces power consumption. Standard connectivity is supplemented with five HDMI inputs. Available in October, the 42-inch will be priced at US$1,600, the 46-inch for US$1,900 and the 52-inch version for US$2400. [Electronista]

We saw Sharp's "Limited Edition" Aquos XS1 LCDs at IFA, and now at CEDIA they're official for an as-of-now unpriced U.S. release in October (seeing a pattern here?). The 65-inch LC-65XS1U-S and 52-inch LC-52XS1U-S are 1-inch thin (at their thinnest point), and feature Sharp's RGB LED backlight which they say improves colour accuracy over other blue-only LED backlights and allows for a 1,000,000:1 claimed contrast ratio. Joining them are the D65U and D85U serieses, which bring 120Hz to the mid-range. For full details and more shots of all, hit the jump.

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Just like we spied earlier today, Sony's two baddest IFA LCD TVs--the 9.9mm-thin KLV-40ZX1M LCD (above) and the 200Hz Motionflow Z4500 (below, known as the KDL-52XBR7 at 240Hz here in the U.S., due to our 30fps broadcasts vs. Europe's 25fps)--are both getting an official U.S. rollout here at CEDIA. Jesus got a chance to fondle 'em in Berlin last week where U.S. details were slim, but both sets will be shipping stateside in December. Both have whole-house WHDI wireless HD streaming built-in from Amimon. No official pricing on either, but they'll be top-end, for sure (rumoured to be US$4,500 for the ZX1). Full release follows:

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We snuck in (or casually moseyed in, actually) to CEDIA's main show floor, which is still being set up for tomorrow's opening, and we've learned a few things in advance of any announcements.

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Sony's XDV-W600 is no 60-inch high-contrast plasma TV, for sure: no, it'll sell for a different reason... it's waterproof. In fact, it meets IPX 7 and IPX 6 specs, and can safely go three feet under for half an hour. Clearly designed to go in the bathroom, it looks a smidge like a bar of soap, and has a 4-inch screen, recording function to its own 2GB internal memory, and runs for 23 hours from its own batteries supplemented by AAs. Bathing TV fans may be disappointed though: it's a oneseg digital unit, so we're unlikely to see this weirdness in the US. [AVWatch and Akihabaranews]

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To be honest, I was going to headline this article "Toshiba Magic Waving Handy-Spanky-Fingery Gestures Are Perfect for Harry Potter and Online Porn Users," but I decided against it at the last minute for obvious reasons, even when I had two powerful arguments in favour. You will understand them when you watch Helga--the Good Toshiba Witch of West Berlin--and myself in the video:

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Scratch one more notch for Apple design influence, because next year's top-of-the-range Samsung Ultrathin All-In-One looks like an oversized iPhone 3G, down to the finish in black or white. The 52-inch TV--which is 1-inch at its thickest point--includes all the circuitry and ports in its ultra-slim body, with no breakout boxes or hunchbacks. The result is the slickest TV we have seen in the whole of IFA 2008, beating the Sony ZX1. And the best looking so far this year.

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