Samsung Electronics used the CEDIA Expo to unveil what the it called one of the world’s largest LCD panels — a 40W-inch model that is expected to ship in the second half of next year.
The 40W-inch TFT-LCD panel measures 980.9mm x 629.6mm and boasts approximately 980,000 pixels (1,280 horizontally by 768 vertically). Resolution is rated as XGA (eXtended Graphics Array) definition. The aspect ratio was said to be 15:9. Samsung said the unit will be “targeted for use in high-performance, wide-screen digital TVs.”
Samsung billed the achievement “a technology breakthrough for TFT-LCDs,” which have been difficult to produce beyond the 30-inch screen size.
Samsung said it has also improved the viewing angle, brightness and response time of the LCD panel. Using its patented Patterned Vertical Alignment (PVA) technology, Samsung has been able to produce a 170 degree viewing angle, while response time has been shortened to 12 milliseconds.
The panel also yields: 16.7 million color tones, a 600:1 contrast ratio, and 500 candelas brightness.
The TFT-LCD operates on 180 watts, about half the power required by a plasma display panel of the same size. The TFT-LCD is guaranteed to last around 50,000 hours, three times the lifetime of a PDP. After this period, one simply has to replace the backlight to continue using the product.
Also shown was a pair of plasma display panels — a 42W-inch EDTV panel and 52W-inch HDTV panel, and a 50W-inch fLCD-based rear-projection HDTV monitor.
Samsung has made LCD models available in limited quantities, but does not plan a full-scale market rollout unitl early 2002.
Other new product announcements included an ultra-compact standard definition DirecTV IRD, which Samsung will supply to DirecTV for “alternative distribution channels,” according to a Samsung spokesman.
