High definition TVs (HDTVs) are slimming down while their pictures and capabilities are beefing up.
Innovations at the world's largest consumer electronics show in Las Vegas underscore the trend, with Sony wowing visitors with a 3mm-thick Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) TV.
While liquid crystal display (LCD) TVs use backlights, OLED's picture-creating pixels come from screens that can be made paper thin and bendable while using less power.
PHOTO: AFP
Sony of America chief executive Howard Stringer proclaimed OLED a new industry standard, saying "even the name sounds like a Viking warlord."
"This is the future of television," Jose Albanez of Sony said on Wednesday while guarding a roped-off OLED display on the exhibit floor of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES).
OLED TVs hit store shelves in Japan last month and were launched in the US market this week at a price of US$2,500 dollars.
Albanez told price-conscious visitors that the cost of the TVs would drop "eventually."
Samsung revealed at the conference a pair of OLED TV prototypes it envisions having to market in a couple of years.
Pioneer showed off a "concept model" 50-inch LCD HDTV just 9mm deep, saying it intended to have it ready for consumers within three years.
Hitachi's 1.5-inch-thick LCD model is already on the market.
Philips and Texas Instruments presented flat televisions with 3-D images.
Texas Instruments eye glasses link wirelessly to TVs and alter slightly the images reaching each eye.
The principle behind seeing 3-D images is that each of a person's eyes sees a different perspective and the brain combines the images to create a sense of depth.
"The glasses sync to the TV and then your brain kicks in and sees 3-D," Ken Bell of Texas Instruments said while demonstrating the TV sets.
Texas Instruments uses the same technology in a "dual view" TV that lets video game players compete head-to-head in racing or shooter games, but only see their character on the screen.
"Each player gets the full screen and no more screen cheating," Bell said, referring to being able to take premature peeks at what opponents are doing.
"It's pretty neat," he said.
Philips's 3-D TVs don't require special glasses. The sets split image signals so different pictures hit different eyes.
"It can see a little blurry at first, but your eyes need to adjust to it," Bjorn Teuwsen of Philips said as he and others gazed at a model on the CES show floor.
"It appeals to your senses. You get more excited. We see it in studies -- people start sweating because it is so immersive," he said.
Philips began selling the 3-D TVs in Europe last month and will offer them in the US sometime this year.
Early interest in buying the Philips 3-D sets has come from casinos, taverns, shopping centers and other businesses due to their hefty price tags, Teuwsen said.
The smallest model, 20-inches diagonally, is priced US$3,670.
Among the dizzying selection of slim flat screen TVs are many that boast online connections, bypassing computers when it comes to watching Internet streamed TV shows, films or video clips.
A Toshiba TV incorporates online social networking by letting people watching a TV show link online with others viewers.
Friends can exchange instant messages on their screens during the shows.
ALL-IN-ONE: A company in Tainan and another in New Taipei City offer tours to China during which Taiwanese can apply for a Chinese ID card, the source said The National Immigration Agency and national security authorities have identified at least five companies that help Taiwanese apply for Chinese identification cards while traveling in China, a source said yesterday. The issue has garnered attention in the past few months after YouTuber “Pa Chiung” (八炯) said that there are companies in Taiwan that help Taiwanese apply for Chinese documents. Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) last week said that three to five public relations firms in southern and northern Taiwan have allegedly assisted Taiwanese in applying for Chinese ID cards and were under investigation for potential contraventions of the Act Governing
‘INVESTMENT’: Rubio and Arevalo said they discussed the value of democracy, and Rubio thanked the president for Guatemala’s strong diplomatic relationship with Taiwan Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Guatemala City on Wednesday where they signed a deal for Guatemala to accept migrants deported from the US, while Rubio commended Guatemala for its support for Taiwan and said the US would do all it can to facilitate greater Taiwanese investment in Guatemala. Under the migrant agreement announced by Arevalo, the deportees would be returned to their home countries at US expense. It is the second deportation deal that Rubio has reached during a Central America trip that has been focused mainly on immigration. Arevalo said his
‘SOVEREIGN AI’: As of Nov. 19 last year, Taiwan was globally ranked No. 11 for having computing power of 103 petaflops. The governments wants to achieve 1,200 by 2029 The government would intensify efforts to bolster its “Sovereign Artificial Intelligence [AI]” program by setting a goal of elevating the nation’s collective computing power in the public and private sectors to 1,200 peta floating points per second (petaflops) by 2029, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The goal was set to fulfill President William Lai’s (賴清德) vision of turning Taiwan into an “AI island.” Sovereign AI refers to a nation’s capabilities to produce AI using its own infrastructure, data, workforce and business networks. One petaflop allows 1 trillion calculations per second. As of Nov. 19 last year, Taiwan was globally ranked No. 11 for
STAY WARM: Sixty-three nontraumatic incidents of OHCA were reported on Feb. 1, the most for a single day this year, the National Fire Agency said A total of 415 cases of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) occurred this month as of Saturday, data from the National Fire Agency showed as doctors advised people to stay warm amid cold weather, particularly people with cardiovascular disease. The Central Weather Administration yesterday issued a low temperature warning nationwide except for Penghu County, anticipating sustained lows of 10°C or a dip to below 6°C in Nantou, Yilan, Hualien and Taitung counties, as well as areas north of Yunlin County. The coldest temperature recorded in flat areas of Taiwan proper yesterday morning was 6.4°C in New Taipei City’s Shiding District (石碇). Sixty-three nontraumatic OHCA