JVC to slash prices on rear-projection HDTVs

[Gregg Lengling]

Victor Co. of Japan plans to cut prices for rear-projection, high-definition televisions with flat screens as large as 70 inches, a JVC spokesman said Friday.
JVC will introduce three models in the United States in September and in Japan for the yearend shopping season, he said.

The TVs feature resolution of 2.07 megapixels, more than double the 920,000 pixels on conventional HDTVs. The screen sizes will range from 50 to 70 inches, he said.

The 70-inch model is likely to sell for around 1 million yen to 1.2 million, yen or 30 to 40 percent less than other makers' liquid-crystal or rear-projection models, industry sources said.

The same model will sell for an estimated $9,500 in the United States, the sources said.

The models will use JVC's proprietary direct-drive image light amplifier technology, which involves sandwiching an ultra-thin reflective layer between the silicon substrate and liquid crystal layers, the JVC spokesman said.

Among JVC's rivals, Sony Corp. has started marketing a 70-inch rear-projection HDTV for a suggested retail price of 1.68 million yen. Sharp Corp. is selling its 65-inch liquid crystal HDTV at the same suggested price.