CES Theme: Ultra Thin Displays

Posted by: Tom Martin at 5:05 pm, January 8th, 2009

 
Thin displays were on hand from many manufacturers. Whether LCD or Plasma, as shown by Sharp, Samsung, LG, Sony and others a new high-end design criterion seems to be emerging, in which displays must be under 1" thick. The thinnest display I saw was an OLED model from Samsung at 6.5mm (1/4"). At first I thought this was sort of meaningless one upsmanship (which it is), but after seeing a few of these, traditional displays look downright cluunky. Sort of reminds me of phones before iPhone and after iPhone.
These displays are hard to photograph, but this shot of a Samsung (this one is just under and inch thick) may give you some idea:

 
 
Sony showed a 9.9mm KLV-40ZX1M 40" LCD TV. Not quite as thin as the thinnest Samsung, but at 3/8" pretty impressive because the Sony is commercial and the 6.5mm Samsung was a demonstration. This had been shown before but is now shipping.
 
Sony is [offers] the 40-inch diagonal 1920 x 1080p KLV-40ZX1M flat panel LCD monitor.  The revolutionary super-slim display measures just approximately 9.9mm deep – about the depth of a Blu-ray Disc jewel case – and weighs about 26 pounds.


The model features an edge-lit wide color gamut LED backlight delivering exceptional color reproduction and detailed contrast and Sony’s Motionflow 120 Hz technology for exceptional clarity and resolution when viewing film or video content with motion.


Other features include Sony’s BRAVIA Engine 2, a single HDMI input and compatibility with Sony’s BRAVIA Wireless Link allowing users to stream high-definition content wirelessly to the monitor from high-definition sources such as a set-top cable or satellite tuner or Blu-ray Disc™ player.


Other optional accessories include a flat-matching speaker bar with four full-range speakers and two tweeters and a wall-hugging bracket that completes the stunning package.
 
 

 
Even plasma is getting into the act, with a 70% reduction in thickness from Samsung. As Chris and DBJ have said: "Plasma isn't dead".