Samsung Readies First 70-Inch LCD TV

Samsung Electronics will this week unveil what it says is the first 70-inch high-definition LCD (liquid crystal display) panel.

The panel is 5 inches wider across the diagonal than the current largest high-definition LCD panel in use in televisions, according to Samsung. It also supports so-called "full HD," which is 1080 horizontal lines of resolution and progressive scanning (1080p).

The new panel won't be available for use in TVs until the first half of next year but a prototype of the panel will be shown this week at the International Meeting on Information Displays (IMID) 2006 technical conference that is taking place from Wednesday in the South Korean city of Daegu.

Putting Pressure on Plasma Makers

When it does appear it's likely to put more pressure on rival manufacturers of plasma display panels (PDPs). Right now, the largest high-definition LCD TVs are 65-inch models. Anything above that is the province of plasma.

A few years ago, this crossover point was around 46 inches but increased competition in the flat-panel TV market has pushed LCD manufacturers to make larger screens and plasma makers to develop smaller screens.

The result has been a large portion of the market, from around 37 inches to 65 inches, where both technologies compete.