Samsung shows 82in monster TV

[FG Lurker]

Samsung shows 82in monster TV
The Register, March 8, 2005

Having shown off the world's largest plasma display panel late last year, Samsung this week claims the world's biggest LCD TV.

The monster display measures 82in (2.1m) in the diagonal, just short of the plasma panel's 102in (2.6m) size. It is designed for HDTV.

The screen will be the first to be offered by the S-LCD joint venture between Samsung and Sony. It was made at Samsung's Tangjeong, South Korea-based seventh-generation LCD fab [...]

(Full Story)

Looks like Sony picked the right company to partner with for LCDs.

I wonder if the Sony LCDs sold in Japan will all say, "Made in Korea" and if so how that will affect Sony's image here?

[dimwit]

Looks fantastic, but honestly how many Jpanese have the space the fit one of those suckers in there concrete pigeon hole?

[cstaylor]

I think it will be used more in businesses, like Pachinko parlors for example.

[FG Lurker]

Looks fantastic, but honestly how many Jpanese have the space the fit one of those suckers in there concrete pigeon hole?

This particular model will only have a couple of target markets: people rich enough to have the space and afford to buy it, and, (as cstaylor pointed out) businesses.

Beyond the amazing size though, there are other interesting points. The technology in the panel itself -- the very wide viewing angles, super-high contrast, the excellent saturation, and the 8ms response times. These have all been weak points of TFTs until now. In fact, if the specs quoted are accurate then the tech in this panel will overcome all of the key weak points of TFT technology for TV and desktop computer use. (Notebooks still need lower power draws, but that is coming too.) The article also says:

The fab will punch out 23, 26, 32, 40 and 46in panels for LCD TVs cut from 2.2m x 1.9m glass substrates. Samsung says it can get two 82in displays from one such substrate.

If they are as good as the specs claim then I could become very interested in picking up a 32" or maybe a 40" model...

[Addition]
I forgot to add one other point: The fact that Samsung can even produce such a panel is amazing. It was not that long ago that companies were producing 16" panels because the larger 17, 18, and 19" ones were too difficult to get decent yields from. Being able to produce such large sizes at all will help drive down the costs of smaller displays. This will result in larger, cheaper, and better quality screens for portable devices such as cameras, PDAs, and cell phones.