They say fortune favours the brave, and JVC is being very brave indeed if today's keynote at IFA 2008 is anything to go by.

JVC president Hidetoshi Yoshida said at the company's IFA press conference today that the company planned to offer products that were best for performance and best for ease of use and design. That's quite a tall order. So what brought this on?

JVC is hoping to escape its reputation as a 'second-tier' TV maker by pushing its brand upmarket - a move that will put it in direct competition with others like Sony, Philips and Pioneer.

The move isn't too surprising - the company has been bedevilled with losses by recent years, with one-time parent Panasonic actually off-loading its shares in the company last year.

4K LCD display

Now part of a joint JVC-Kenwood holding company, JVC's upmarket ambitions were unveiled in quite spectacular form, first with an LED backlit LCD TV, and then with the announcement that it's showing off a prototype 4K LCD display.

The 4K display is squarely aimed at the professional market, but hints at the company's future direction. It also announced a prototype 35-megapixel 8K projector (again aimed at pro users) that it has developed in conjunction with Japanese TV broadcaster NHK.

The LED backlit LCD TV features a next generation LCD panel, with some impressive specs - it measures just 10mm deep, compared to the 35mm panel in 2007 TV sets, weighs only 6kg and has a 100,000:1 contrast ratio.

JVC also says its eco-friendly - an important concern for the company - with vastly reduced power consumption compared to previous generation models.

Blu-ray home cinema

JVC also a new Blu-ray based home cinema system, the NX-BD3. Key features include BD Profile 1.1, a 2.1-channel surround sound with a total output of 400W.

Naturally it boasts 1080/24p video playback, is DLNA certified and is compatible with HD Everio and AVCHD camcorder footage. Buyers will get a free copy of Indiana Jones And The Crystal Skull on Blu-ray.

D-ILA projectors

Also aimed at home users are two new 1080/24p D-LA projectors - the DLA-HD750 and DLA-HD350. JVC claims they 'break new ground in colour and sharpness'. Contrast ratios are pegged at 30,000:1 for the DLA-HD750 and 15,000:1 for the DLA-HD350. Botg pro

Both projectors also include Silicon Optix HQV Reon-VX video processors, 2x motorised zoom lenses and two HDMI 1.3 inputs.

We'll see how JVC fares in coming months.