LCD making worse for environment than coal?

A chemical used to make LCD televisions and semiconductors could cause more global warming than coal-fired power plants, a report warns.

Nitrogen trifluoride is a "missing greenhouse gas", according to a study published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters on June 26. It's used in chemical vapor deposition for making liquid crystal displays, semiconductors, and synthetic diamonds.

Production of the chemical could double to 8,000 metric tons in 2009, atmospheric chemist Michael Prather, who co-wrote the report, told New Scientist.

Nitrogen trifluoride's globe warming effect reportedly could be 17,000 times stronger than that of carbon dioxide.

However, the picture is incomplete because nitrogen trifluoride isn't among the six gases covered by the Kyoto Protocol international climate change agreement.

This year alone, its production would release the equivalent of the global warming emissions from Austria, totaling some 67 million metric tons, New Scientist noted.

And that would amount to more global warming pollution than all the industrialized world's emissions of perfluorocarbons (PFCs) and of sulfur hexafluoride, which is considered more potent.

Kyoto's terms left out nitrogen trifluoride and some dozen other gases, in part because they weren't produced at a scale large enough to cause significant harm.
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Solar-powered Sharp LCD TV

At 26 inches for an LCD TV, you'd probably sniff at its puny dimensions. But Sharp's shining some light on this particular flat panel, literally. Its 26-inch LCD TV, showcased at this week's G8 Hokkaido Toyako Summit, is solar-powered. While we can see its appeal in an age of rising utility costs, this set was designed specifically for Third World nations where the nearest AC mains is probably a town away. Sharp claims its experimental eco outing guzzles 30 percent less power than its low-power rival (though no names were mentioned).

While this is intended for those earning less than US$2 a day, it's by no means an el cheapo. It's a svelte 20mm thin, with a decent 10000:1 contrast ratio that's not out of place in a middle-class home. So it'll be interesting to see how Sharp prices this for the developing markets. Whether this eventually makes it into the global marketplace remains to be seen, though the idea of an accompanying 26-inch solar panel to power a similar-sized TV kinda takes the shine out of this ray of sunshine.

Via New Launches

Pioneer BDP-LX71: Making Blu-ray even more premium

It's a sad fact that all DVD players aren't created equal. You get ones that churn out a lovely picture, and ones that don't do such a good job. The same is true of Blu-ray players, but of course with 1080p video it's much harder to tell what problems there are--because everything looks amazing, even on the lower-quality players.

Since Pioneer has positioned itself as a high-end manufacturer, its job is to provide the very best players, even if 95 percent of people can't tell the difference. That's where the BDP-LX71 comes in--it's more expensive than most Blu-ray players, but is engineered to produce the best possible picture and sound quality from the format. It's a strategy that works well with Pioneer's TVs, which cost more, but have pretty much the best picture quality your money can buy.


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Pioneer claims 400GB, Blu-ray-like disc

Got a big archiving project you've been itching to do? Pioneer's latest development could help you keep all your data in one nice, little circular package.

The Japanese electronics maker has been working on an optical disc, which, like Blu-ray, can store 25GB of data in a single layer. But Pioneer says it's one-upped the high-definition format to the 16th degree. The company recently announced that it has a single disc which contains 16 layers of storage, at 25GB each. That adds up to 400GB of data capable of being stored on a single disc.

Blu-ray comes in single-layer (25GB) and dual-layer (50GB) flavors. Pioneer does say that because the lens specification for reading the discs is similar to Blu-ray, "it is possible to maintain compatibility" between its disc and Blu-ray discs. That's not saying it will be compatible, but it would make sense since Pioneer is one of the original Blu-ray Disc Association members.

However, plans for that archiving project will have to be put on pause if you want to use this technology. Pioneer is going to demonstrate it at an industry conference next week, but for now the disc is read-only. Eventually, they'll add write capability as well.

Via CNET Crave

EA debuts new family, sports games for Wii, PlayStation

With only a couple weeks to go before the 2008 E3 Media and Business Summit, video game publisher Electronic Arts is giving the press a sneak peek at its new video game lineup, including products resulting from its partnership with Hasbro.

In the forefront is the Hasbro Family Game Night video game for the Nintendo Wii and Sony PlayStation 2, a result of the 2007 teaming of the board game company and the video game company. With Hasbro's Mr. Potato Head as host, EA said families can partake in classic versions of Connect Four, Boggle, Yahtzee, Sorry!, and Battleship, as well as versions of these games with new twists.

The game publisher will also debut a digital version of Sorry! Sliders, a board game that Hasbro will be selling this fall.

Other games displayed by EA at recent coast-to-coast press events include Wii- and PlayStation-adapted games Boogie:Superstar, Littlest Pet Shop, a new Monopoly game, and Nerf N-Strike, which comes with a Wii remote and Nerf gun duo.

All the above titles will hit shelves during the fall of 2008.
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