Long hampered by tight supply and low yields of green lasers, Microvision is forecasting expanded production this year as it prepares for the first U.S. shipments of the ShowWX micro-projector, CEO Alexander Tokman told analysts in a conference call.

Panasonic agrees with ESPN that “trying to take 2D content” and doing an “in-set conversion” to 3D will give consumers a poor experience,” Bob Perry, Panasonic senior vice president, told a New York media briefing Wednesday. That’s why Panasonic won’t build conversion chips into its 3D TV lineup, Perry said at the briefing, held at Best Buy’s Union Square store to trumpet the sale of the first Panasonic 3D home theater system to real consumers.

The EPA is hosting a webinar March 26 to discuss with stakeholders proposed “enhancements” to requirements for Energy Star testing and verification. New testing and verification requirements and other changes proposed to the Energy Star program under a memorandum of understanding with the Department of Energy have caused concern in the CE industry. Despite a recent meeting with EPA officials to “review concerns and suggestions,” there are “still remaining concerns about imposing new requirements where none are apparently justified,” said Douglas Johnson, CEA senior director of technology policy.

Shipments of TiVo DVR-equipped RCN set-top boxes and DirecTV satellite receivers were postponed to Q2 and “the latter half of the year,” respectively, TiVo executives said on a quarterly earnings call Monday. DirecTV’s new TiVo DVR/satellite receiver, which originally was to ship in first half 2009, was expected in the spring (CED Nov 27 p2).

SAN FRANCISCO -- All six major Hollywood movie studios are now making HD movies available for purchase in the U.S. on the PlayStation Network (PSN), more than for competing online services including for the Wii and Xbox 360, Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) said Tuesday as the Game Developers Conference started. Disney, Fox, Paramount, Sony, Universal and Warner HD movies are also available for rental through PSN.

It’s not necessarily true, as a Natural Resources Defense Council blogger suggested this week, that CEA would fight federal TV energy limits tooth and nail as it did in California, Doug Johnson, CEA senior director of technology policy, told us Tuesday.

Seeking to steal a march in 3D, Samsung on Tuesday unveiled 14 3D-ready LCD and plasma TVs with built-in emitters that will be packaged with a “starter kit” containing two pairs of active-shutter glasses and Dreamworks’ Monsters vs. Aliens Blu-ray title. Samsung disclosed that some of its sets will contain 2D-to-3D conversion chips. But a senior ESPN executive who last week warned that his network would be “done” with 3D if makers began flooding the market with 3D TVs bearing those chips, declined to comment on Samsung’s specific disclosure.

The Federal Trade Commission is leaning toward requiring TV makers to put energy use labels on products rather than providing such disclosures only online. In proposing that TVs have EnergyGuide labels similar to other appliances, the commission rejected the CEA’s suggestion that research be conducted on various disclosure methods. The FTC is seeking comment on a proposal to require EnergyGuide labeling for TVs.

Sony at least temporarily is limiting direct sales of TVs through Amazon as the companies work to heal to heal a rift over Sony’s minimum advertised price policy, sources told Consumer Electronics Daily. The dispute apparently doesn’t affect Sony TVs sold through Amazon’s authorized resellers, including Electronic Express, Electronics Expo, Abt Electronics, J&R and others, according to a check Monday of Amazon.com.

The building blocks of 3D video are becoming public property as basic patents die of old age, a Consumer Electronics Daily patent search has found. Much like what happened with stereo sound, where master patents filed in the U.S. and U.K. in the 1930s had expired by the time stereo standards were set in the 1950s, 3D pioneers were so far ahead of their time that key patents are expiring before home 3D product sales even begin to take off.