By James Wells in Berlin
BERLIN: Philips Consumer Electronics has displayed its 100-inch Ambilight LCD television on its 8,000 square metre stand at IFA 2006 – the world’s largest consumer electronics exhibition being held this week in Berlin.
The 100-inch panel was developed by LG.Philips LCD, a joint venture between the two consumer electronics manufacturers, on its seventh-generation glass substrate fabrication line at Paju in South Korea.
The panel, which was announced in March this year, remains the largest LCD in the world and is only beaten in size by Samsung’s 102-inch plasma panel and Panasonic’s 103-inch plasma panel.
Philips has also announced that it will sell its one-millionth Ambilight FlatTV by the end of the year – which will coincide with the brand’s 10th anniversary since its publicly demonstrated its first flat television.
The 100-inch or 245cm panel is a prototype that also features Ambilight Full Surround – a new four-sided version of Philips’ unique ambient lighting technology behind the panel, which matches the colour and brightness in the images being displayed on the television.
Philips is also trialing another form of the technology that features lighting on three sides of the television rather than two.
At a press conference held in Berlin earlier this week, Philips Consumer Electronics chief executive officer, Rudy Provoost, said the experience offered by the Ambilight technology is an important point of difference in the highly competitive flat panel market.
"The success of our backlighting technology is due to the face that it offers an experience that is both relaxing and immersive. Recent research of Philips shows that for 87 per cent of viewers, watching TV with Ambilight backlighting is a perfect way of relaxing.
“If you want to reduce your stress levels watching television, Ambilight is your ideal option, because Ambilight backlighting significantly reduces eye strain. That’s what consumers tell us and that’s what eye surgeons tell us.
"For the year 2006, we expect sales of Philips Flat TVs with Ambilight to total nearly one billion euros. Close to 85 per cent of consumers who have bought TVs with Ambilight backlighting over the past year rate their product either good or excellent, which is a very high percentage indeed," Provoost said.