Ok, so it's not quite as impressive as the 100-inch, Ambilight-equipped LCD Philips has to brag about, but the company has unveiled a pair of impressive FlatTV displays today at the Electronic House Expo in California. First up is the 47-inch LCD TV (47PF9441D), which touts the surely (or not) astounding 1080p spec and also features "Virtual Dolby Digital" audio, while the 63-inch plasma (63PF9631D) gets stuck with the seemingly indistinguishable 1080i and a built-in USB connector to stream images / MP3s without the need for an HTPC. Both units tout HDMI ports as well as Philips' Pixel Plus 3HD technology, which supposedly "enhances content to deliver more natural skin tones, detailed colors, and amazingly lifelike imagesgi." While further details are scant at this point, we do know that the 47-incher will run you $2,999 when it hits next month, while the currently available monstrous plasma will require $5,999.

Toshiba just couldn't let Sony hog all the high-def DVD spotlight with its delays, so it has pushed back its second generation HD DVD players in the US and abroad. Despite the lack of an official statement from Toshiba US, a dealer on AVS Forum revealed that due to problems with a chip from a third party supplier, the lower-end HD-A2 HD DVD player originally due out right about... now has slipped into the second week of December. The HDMI 1.3-equipped, 1080p displaying $999 HD-XA2 is now scheduled to just barely make a 2006 release in the last week of the year. In Europe Toshiba has officially announced the delay, now anticipating a "quantity of units" of the rebadged HD-E1 due in December and the HD-XE1 slated for 2007. Second gen hardware is generally expected to atone for the bug-ridden sins of its predecessors, so hopefully a short delay now means avoiding a quick patch later. In the meantime there's always the Xbox 360 HD DVD add-on, or deciding which free HD DVDs to get.

Klegg seems to be kicking it up a notch from the wee LCDs it's accustomed to producing, as the 40-inch KLM-4010 is more suited for your living room than your front pocket. While it's certainly not the first LCD TV to stuff MCE functionality into its confines, this brushed aluminum beast packs quite a laundry list of impressive specs. It boasts a 1000:1 contrast ratio, 500cd/m2 of brightness, 1,366 x 768 resolution, HDMI, a pair of DVI ports, component, S-Video, composite, digital audio output, and a built-in Hauppauage PVR-150 MCE tuner. Additionally, it rocks an Intel Pentium 4 3GHz 630 processor, 1GB of RAM, a 250GB hard drive, NVIDIA GeForce 6200 graphics card, dual-layer, slot-loading DVD burner, FireWire / USB 2.0 connectors, flash card reader, and dual seven-watt integrated speakers. This PC / TV hybrid touts the ability to download video directly from the internet and store it without the need for a separate HTPC, but unfortunately there's no (presumably high) pricetag or release details to ponder over.

While the next HD DVD players bearing the Toshiba nameplate may be delayed in the US & Europe, they hadn't been officially announced in Japan yet. AV Watch has the details revealed there, where the lower-end model will be called the HD-XF2, to go along with the HD-XA2 as both will launch in December. The specs appear to be the same as the players due in other parts of the world, the HD-XA2 gets an HDMI 1.3 connection and 1080p output -- deinterlaced 1080i via a Silicon Optix chip in the player itself, no native 1080p/24 here folks -- while the HD-XF2 has an old-school HDMI 1.2a connector and loses the analog 5.1 audio outputs of its predecessor in exchange for an improved slim design. The HD-XA2 is set for 110,000 yen ($934 US) while the HD-XF2 will retail for a paltry 49,800 yen ($423 US). The company also acknowledged the US delays due to an unspecified problematic third party chip, but at this point we can still expect to see the new hardware on store shelves this year. Continue on for a picture of the HD-XA2 with its casing in place and unmentionables hidden away, or to AV Watch for even more pictures.