Digital TV set makers go for clarity over size

Perhaps proving the axiom that size isn’t everything, digital TV makers are no longer competing to produce the biggest TV, but the one with the best screen resolution. LG Electronics announced yesterday the launch of 37- and 42-inch 2 megapixel liquid crystal display “full” high-definition TVs. Pixels are the basic units that produce images on a screen. The higher the number of pixels, the better the picture quality. The resolution of LG’s full high definition TVs is twice that of its existing sets, which are at least six times sharper than standard definition TVs. The latest release completes LG’s full high definition TV line-up, which the company says it will expand to the U.S. and European markets in the first quarter of next year. Previously, the company released 47- and 55-inch models. Samsung Electronics, which unveiled a 57-inch full high definition LCD TV last year, plans to release a 40- and 46-inch full high definition TV line in the third quarter. Japanese electronics makers have been selling full high definition TVs since late last year. Matsushita has a 65-inch PDP TV on the shelves; both Sharp and Toshiba have 37-, 45- and 47-inch LCD TVs already on the market. Later this year, Sony plans to release a 52-inch full high definition LCD TV. Standard definition TVs were, well, standard when digital TVs were first introduced into the mainstream market in 2000. Now, however, high definition TVs make up 90 percent of the market. But thanks to next-generation DVDs and new video game consoles such as the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360, analysts predict that many TV owners will make the switch to full high definition. The global market research firm Display Search forecasts that 48 percent of LCD TVs with screens of 37 inches or larger will be full high definition sets by 2010. Industry experts, however, point out that full high definition TVs are not essential for watching regular TV broadcasts, which are formatted for regular high definition TV. In order for broadcasters to meet full HD TV levels, they would have to transmit 60 images of 2 megapixel resolution per second; currently, they transmit 30 images that are 2 megapixels in resolution or 60 images that are 1 megapixel each. by Wohn Dong-hee