Thinner, Not Bigger, New Buzzword In Electronic Gizmos

Tokyo, Japan (AHN) - The world's thinnest cell phone screens are here: the Sharp LCD (liquid crystal display) that measures 2.2-inches across and 0.68 millimeters thick and AU Optronics Corp.'s 1.9-inch model that is a mere 0.69 millimeters thick.

The gizmos would lead to slimmer phones packed with more technology into the same space. Today's cell phones are on average between 1.5 millimeters and 2.5 millimeters thick.

New technology enabled the use of thinner glass sheet and a reduction in the thickness of the backlight that sits behind the screen, Sharp said in Tokyo, adding it is currently in talks with cell phone makers and hasn't decided when it will start production, PC World reports.

Thinner, not bigger, is the new buzzword.

This week, LG Philips of South Korea is expected to unveil an LCD panel that is 19.8-millimeter thick. The panel is a 42-inch screen with full high-definition resolution making it suitable for use in future televisions.

The panel is 40 percent thinner and 10 percent lighter than current comparable screens.

In August, Sharp also revealed a 52-inch prototype of a commercial TV with a display that is 20 millimeters thick. It could be in production around 2009 or 2010, Sharp said.

Victor Co. of Japan displayed this month a 20-millimeter thick 42-inch LCD panel while Hitachi showed off several prototypes of a 32-inch LCD TV that is just 19 millimeters thick and that would be available in 2009.