Toshiba has been promising a Cell-based television for years and it’s finally set to deliver this week (in Japan) with the Cell Regza 55X1. Some people forget that the Cell processor is the product of a nefarious triumvirate joint venture between Sony, IBM, and Toshiba. While Sony uses Cell as the heart of its PlayStation 3 console and IBM has all sorts of Cell-based supercomputers, Toshiba hasn’t had anything to show for its investment. That changes on Thursday.

Here are some bullet points from Toshiba’s press release illustrating what Cell does for the 55X1:

CELL Platform Super Resolution Technology that builds on Toshiba’s current super resolution technology to offer unmatched picture quality.
Self-congruency, a dedicated process that improves image quality at the edge of the picture.
Enhanced color and brightness balance that improves picture color and definition.
LED backlight control system. In the CELL REGZA, the display is divided into 512 distinct areas, each with individually controlled lighting. Luminance is pushed to an industry high of 1250cd/m2, 2.5 times the level of typical TVs, and the dynamic contrast ratio is an astonishing 5,000,000:1.
In other words, this television will look better than yours. The Cell Regza 55X1 will be available in Japan this Thursday for around $11,000.


http://rpad.tv/2009/12/08/toshiba-cell-processor-tv-available-this-week/