Vizio has begun shipping its new lineup of "leading edge" XVT (Xtreme Vizio Technology) Series HDTVs with Full Array TruLED LCD HDTV technology, a fancy term that Vizio promises is all that and a bag of the most delicious chips on the planet.

"VIZIO is solidifying its position as a technology and performance leader with the introduction of the new generation of XVT HDTVs," said John Schindler, VIZIO VP New Products. "Our dedication to high performance drives us to use the best commercially available technology. Each of our XVT TruLED sets uses a Full Array with local dimming that produces an unquestioned superior picture. Many competitive manufacturers have decided to use only Edge Lit technology in their flagship products, but edge lighting results in an inevitable compromise in performance."

The way Vizio pitches its new lineup, the company's TruLED HDTVs trump even the competition's most expensive models with uniform brightness across the entire screen, a much better off angle viewing area, and "vastly superior black reproduction."

Other features include 10,000,000:1 contrast ratios (dynamic, of course), dual-band 802.11n Wi-Fi, and up to 240Hz refresh rate (55-inch XVT553SV, 47-inch XVT473SV, and 42-inch XVT423SV models).

Prices range from $700 for the 32-inch XVT323SV on up to $2,200 for the 55-inch set.

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Chalk it up to successful marketing or a genuine desire to consume 3D content in the home, goofy looking glasses be damned, but according to DisplaySearch, 2010 will come to an end having seen 3.4 million shipments of 3D TVs. And that's just the beginning. By 2014, that number will skyrocket to 42.9 million, more than a 12-fold increase.

"TV manufacturers have managed to launch products very rapidly. We have seen a full range of 3D TVs in sizes from 40 inches to 63 inches already available, and without a doubt, there will be another wave of new products at the IFA show in Berlin in September," noted Paul Gray, DisplaySearch Director of TV Electronics Research.

DisplaySearch feels pretty confident this is much bigger than a passing fad and predicts that the 3D TV market penetration will grow from 5 percent of total flat panel TVs in 2010 to 37 percent in 2014. That's more than a third of all flat panel TV shipments.

"Based on early indications, the launch of 3D TVs is similar to Samsung's rollout of LED LCD TVs at the beginning of 2009, albeit at a slightly slower pace," said Paul Gagnon, Director of North America TV Research at DisplaySearch. "This would be in line with our forecast of just over 2 million 3D TVs shipped in North America for 2010.

Despite all this, DisplaySearch points out that the electronics industry is outpacing content availability, which so far is limited to a handful of movies and sports events on pay TV.

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You can add short attention spans to the list of ailments that affect frequent gamers, suggests a new study published in the July issue of Pediatrics, Television, and Video Game Exposure and the Development of Attention Problems.

The study, which was conducted by Edward Swing and his team of researchers at Iowa State University, examined two different age groups, including middle schoolers (third to fifth graders) and 2010 college students. They wanted to see if there was any danger in exceeding the 2-hour max limit for TV viewing and videogame playing as recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

"Those who exceeded the AAP recommendation were about 1.6 times to 2.2 times more likely to have greater than average attention problems," the study concludes.

This isn't the first study to link screen time with short attention spans.

"There may well be a relation between television viewing and attention problems," said Dr. David Elkind, professor emeritus of child development at Tufts University.

Read more here.

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If your DirecTV DVR box took itself offline late yesterday afternoon or early evening (or earlier depending on your time zone), don't worry, there probably isn't anything wrong. I experienced this myself, and come to find out, it was a SNAFU on DirecTV's part, and not a sign that my receiver was about to give up the ghost.

According to Fudzilla, only DirecTV DVR units appear to have been affected by the seemingly random lockup. Apparently there was an issue with a program guide update that confuzzled DVR boxes to the point where they froze and/or shut down. Making matters worse, DirecTV was attempting to push out a software update at the same time, which just led to more problems.

If your box is still locked up, you should be able to bring it back to life by pressing the red button behind the access card door on the front and letting it run through its cycle. Once it finishes, press the red button a second time within 30 minutes. What this does is delete the corrupted program guide information, forcing it to reload.

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