CES 2008: Pioneer's "Project Kuro" Concepts Bring 9mm-Thick Displays, Absolute Black Plasma Panels

The International CES from Las Vegas is not only the place where most companies showcase their latest developments, but also a very good launchpad for future technologies, which, at some point, will become an integral part of commercially-available products. And in order to prep us for great things to come, Pioneer has unveiled two very interesting concepts, namely the extreme contrast concept, which will challenge the contrast ratio debate by producing the industry's first plasma that is absolute black with no measurable light emitting from the television, as well as an advanced design concept that is the world's thinnest 50-inch display, only nine millimeters (mm) in thickness.

As Pioneer's statement reads, the "extreme contrast concept is the industry's first plasma that can achieve absolute black with no measurable light emitting from the display when reproducing black." And for those of you who don't know exactly what this means, it's important to note that the contrast ratio is defined as the ratio of the luminosity of the brightest color (white) to that of the darkest color (black). A high contrast ratio is desirable to recreate ideal picture quality, which translates, in the case of television, into the following rule: the truer the black, the more accurate the color.

Pioneer has succeeded in reproducing absolute black by achieving zero-idling luminance in more than six million cells. As they inform us, the display is so black that even when it is on with no image displayed, the television is invisible when you walk into a completely dark room.

The second important concept unveiled by the people from Pioneer is that of a 50-inch flat panel display that has a width of just around nine millimeters (mm), resulting in a picture that "appears to be floating on a wall, creating an experience for consumers where the television becomes simply a canvas for great entertainment", as the company puts it. In addition, its extremely light weight (18.6kg/ 41lbs) allows the television to be easily wall mounted.

Unfortunately, none of these concepts will be available in 2008, but I sure hope that the next CES will bring the first commercially-available products that incorporate these technologies.

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