World's thinnest LCD screen now 7.9mm, from Samsung

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Monday, 20 October 2008 11:49

Opinion and Analysis

Thin is in, with prototype LCD TV screens already thinner than the 2nd-generation iPod Touch, and Samsung has just done 0.1mm better than LG Philips’ previous record of 8mm. No word yet on when it will go commercial, but we do know the trick they’ve used to go go gadget thin...

Want an ultra thin screen without things protruding out the back on your LCD TV?

Then do what LG Philips and Samsung have done with their prototype screens – pop the tuner, power supply and other large components into a “set top box”, connected to the screen via cable, and voila – Samsung has a 7.9mm screen that’s thinner than an iPod - even the 2nd Gen iPod Touch at 8.5mm.

One day wireless power and wireless transmission technologies will eliminate that cable, too – the technology already exists today, but it’s not yet refined to the levels required to remove the umbilical cord you’ll need today.

The news comes after Samsung’s announcement of an LCD TV factory in the East European country of Slovakia, set to produce 6 million units per year by the end of 2008, and 10m units per year by 2011, in addition to factories in Korea and China.

PC World in the US says there’s no word on when Samsung will launch its 7.9mm 40-inch LCD screen, or LG Philips’ its 32-inch 8mm screen, as both are still “prototypes”, but you’d imagine these would arrive next year sometime, in likely thinner versions, still.

LG Philips introduced its screen at the IFA Electronics show in Berlin, in April, while Samsung has just announced its new screen 7 months later, showing just how fast things are moving in this space.

PC World also highlights Samsung’s upcoming 52-inch LCD TV at only 9.9mm thin, which is an actual product likely to go on sale next year, as opposed to the 40-inch screen which is still at prototype stage.

Still, Samsung needs to get a move-on, with Sony’s 9.9mm ZX1 LCD screen to go on sale in Japan on November the 10th, and Europe “soon after”, which likely means we won’t see it until 2009, either.

These screens also compete with Plasma TVs, such as the 60-inch Pioneer Kuro and even Laser TVs, which are now a reality thanks to Mitsubishi with the LaserVue 65-inch screen.

See The Tech Lounge’s review of Mitsubishi’s Laser TV vs the Pioneer Kuro to see LCD’s competitors in action, although neither of these TVs is as thin as the LCD models, with the Laser TV still the thickest (relatively speaking) of them all.

On that note, it's nice to see Laser TVs finally here, something we started talking about back on October 11, 2006, with an article entitled "Forget plasma and LCD TV - the Laser TV is coming!" and several more since then.

So, sub 10mm screens are almost here in some parts of the world if you've got the money (and they won't be cheap), with the once sci-fi only dream of "hanging" your TV on the wall like a painting already a reality for some time now.

It's just that future models will hang ever closer to the wall and be ever lighter. Unless of course you go for the Irish Flat Screen TV... if you haven't already seen it, which looks fantastic from the front. The back? Not so good... :-)