Samsung's all up in Sony's OLED space this morning at the FPD International 2008 show. They started by trotting out that 40-inch OLED TV again, with a Full HD resolution, 8.9-mm depth, and contrast ratio so high they just call it 1,000,000:1. Then they upped the ante while dialing down the dimensions to a 4-inch, ultra-thin 0.05-mm OLED (pictured above) with 480 x 272 pixel resolution, 100,000:1 contrast, 200cd/m2 brightness -- so thin that it was displayed flapping in the wind. Take that Sony and your 0.3-mm OLED chubster. Sammy then reached deep into its bag of tricks with a transparent AMOLED display (first hinted at around these parts in early 2006) with an appropriately clad model presumably meant to invoke your pubescent fantasies of x-ray vision. Or maybe that's just us. Click through to see what we mean.

[Via OLED-Display]

Hitachi drug its oh-so-sexy 1.5-inch plasma to Japan after showing it off in Denver earlier this month, but what we didn't see at CEDIA was this: a 15-millimeter thin 37-inch LCD TV. The "reference" set packed a 1,920 x 1,080 panel and a fittingly designed stand, though it won't see mass production until "2009 or later." Ugh, even 1-inch just seems so bloated now.

Sharp's re-upped on the super-size rollouts, with 22 LCDs including every color and size variation, ready to hit shelves this summer ahead of the Beijing Olympics. Available in black or brown, the RX5 series (pictured) headlines the pack with 65-, 52- and 46-inch versions including 1080p resolution, 120Hz motion, a "living contrast" ratio of 1500:1 (dynamic ratio 20,000:1), 12bit image processing and internet access to a specially tuned Yahoo! Japan page all packed into a 5cm deep frame (42- and 52-inch, 6.6cm for 65-inch). The more mainstream GX5 line ranges from 52- to 32-inches complete with all the 1080p resolution, side mounted ARSS "Around Speaker System" DLNA access and internet hookups we know and love, plus 32- and 26-inch GH5 models that drop down to 720p, losing the around speakers, internet and 1080p res. The DS5 line is aimed at those who don't need internet access, but do need to choose between black, white and red LCDs. Check the chart on Sharp's page to compare with the "world's thinnest" X-series and see what HDTV corresponds with your social status when these drop in June.

[Via AV Watch & Akihabara News]

Read - Aquos 22 LCD models comparison
Read - R series
Read - G series
Read - D series

AUO's back again, displaying what new flat panel technologies are trickling down to its OEM televisions, and soon to hit shelves in more reasonably-priced models (albeit wearing another company's name) near you. Hitachi and others are at the forefront of the thinner, lower powered LCD movement, and AUO promises an "ultra-slim" 10mm thick 42-inch LED backlit model next week at SID 2008. The new technology gives power savings of 44% over current models, as well as a 46-inch display with 50% power savings, 500 nits of brightness and 5,000:1 "ultra static high contrast ratio". While we'll wait to find out how that compares to other HDTVs with questionable claims to high contrast rations, the company also plans to show technology that provides 200,000:1 contrast ratio with LEDs. Besides just using less power, we can look forward to LCDs built with using less raw materials and resulting in less chemical waste, which due to our extensive comic book research, we can unequivocally say is a good thing.

Samsung can join Hitachi while crying into their sake as its 52-inch "thinnest non-OLED HDTV ever" is around 4x as thick as Pioneer's 9mm heroin-chic Kuro. Take heart Sammy, because your 82-inch -- and btw, what is with the 82-inch obsession (2005 & 2006 CES), we need to talk about that -- Quad HD display is like looking out of a window, if we had bigger and cleaner windows. Check out the gallery to see what we mean.

Slimming down LCDs just wasn't enough, Hitachi will demo a 1.5-inch thick plasma HDTV at CES. Cutting more than a third of the thickness from previous displays, it ensures your screen will look as incredible from the side as it does the front. Also on display, but without concrete plans for release, are the "super" Ultra Thin LCD that's just .75-inches thick, a search technology for visual images, TV video sharing over the internet without a PC, a wireless video gateway and a prototype IPTV interface. Looking from the near future to the slightly further-off future, we'll get a look at it in Vegas. Check out a side profile of the skinny plasma after the break.

We won't be waiting long for Hitachi's new thin LCDs, the company announced they will make their U.S. debut in 2008. No details on price, but we can still take a look at the feature list for the 42- and 37-inch Ultra Thin 1080p HDTVs, coming in Q2, along with the 32-inch 720p version due in the first quarter of next year. With Hitachi's latest 120Hz anti-judder technology and image processing stuffed into 1.5-inch thick frames, these screens may not be quite as thin as some of the competition but will hit store shelves far sooner. The bad news is there was no mention of the optional UWB expansion for wirelessly hooking up additional components. We hope Hitachi doesn't expect U.S. customers to go through the hassle of actually plugging things into our HDTVs, or if we at least get an additional HDMI port for the trouble.

LG.Philips just announced an "ultra-slim" 42-inch Full HD 120Hz panel for 2008. Not Q4 2008 either kids, we're talking sometime before March. So what can we expect after Sharp's 1.1-inch thin 52-inch panel and Hitachi's 0.74-inch 32-incher? Something in between right? Nope, 7.8-inches thick. Exactly, 19.8-mm or just 0.78-inches thin. According to LG.Philips, that makes it 40% thinner and 10% lighter than conventional LCD TVs which is pretty hot. It'll be CCFL backlit (not LED) though when it does hit -- that'll keep the cost down but won't do much for the contrast. The panel will be on display at FPD International in Yokohama next week where we hope to bring you a first look.

Update: Ooops, major metric conversion snafu -- good thing we're not in charge of the Mars space program. It's fracking thin!

[Via DigiTimes]

While we wait for the the commercialization of those crazy-flat, high-contrast OLED televisions from Sony, Sharp and now Hitachi are trying to tempt us with super-thin LCDs of their own. Either way, we're good. Hitachi's 19-mm (0.74-inch) thin 32-inch LCD television was just announced but won't be revealed until CREATEC Japan 2007 gets underway. Not bad... not a scant 3-mm OLED mind you, but not bad. CREATEC kicks off on Tuesday so be sure to check back then for pictures and specs.

If you've never heard properly set-up electrostatic speakers, you've missed out on something a bit different from conventional cones. Electrostats have always been surrounded by a bit of hi-fi snobbery for a number of reasons: they tend to be expensive; the associated equipment to drive them properly is pricey (read: really high current amps); and they just look so different. MartinLogan is hoping to broaden the appeal of electrostats with their new Source speakers. They're not what we'd call cheap at just under $2000 per pair, but their price isn't stratospherically high, either. Because we expect speakers, especially those doing HT duty, to convey a sense of bass "slam," MartinLogan combines the electrostatic panel with an 8-inch aluminum cone woofer. If your whole HT setup is going for the "thin" look, then put these on your short list.

The ultrathin Sharp LCD prototype we saw yesterday at the company's press conference has made an appearance on the showroom floor (though out of our reach for fiddling with, provided it had any buttons), and boy is this thing... uh, thin. As you can see by the photos, the display practically disappears when you get around the side of it, and for those of you wondering about cabling, there's nothing to see when you peek at the back, though we suspect that those tubes / bars holding the things up may have something to do with getting an image on these behemoths. Check the gallery for a full view of your television-watching future.