Samsung develops first 70in LCD TV for the home

Samsung is boasting a world’s first this week by showcasing a 70in LCD panel that will be used for creating TVs for the home.

The record for the largest commercially available LCD TV for the home is held currently by Sharp with the 65in, Aquos LC65GD1E. Samsung is hoping that the new panel will allow it to challenge plasma and projection TVs, which currently dominate the ultra-large TV market.

The new Samsung panel will be unveiled in a prototype TV at this week’s International Meeting on Information Displays (IMID) 2006 in Korea.

With a resolution of 1920 x 1080, it is capable of handling all of the high-definition formats. It has a contrast ratio of 2000:1 and a fast response time of 8ms.

There is a wide viewing angle of 180 degrees and Samsung said that the video signal is processed at 120Hz, compared to the 60Hz for most other HDTVs, which should help reduce motion blurring.

“Our new 70-inch LCD is not only significantly larger, but also sets a new benchmark in terms of video image reproduction, viewing angle and image quality,” claimed Samsung’s executive vice president, Kim Sang-Soo.

“We've designed it to dramatically enhance the large screen LCD TV user’s viewing experience.”

The panel goes into production in the first half of next year but don’t expect it to come cheap. Although no price has been set, the Sharp 65in HDTV will set you back over £10,000 so you can expect the new Samsung 70in TV to cost anywhere between £13-£15,000.