As some of you might remember from our CEDIA and CES coverages, Japanese company Hitachi announced back at the beginning of 2008 its UltraThin line of LCD HDTVs, which features a width of just 1.5 inches (3.87 cm). Nevertheless, it seems that Hitachi has decided to up the ante right on its home turf and showcased at Ceatec (currently taking place in Japan) a 37-inch LCD TV just 15 mm thick (0.59 inches).

However, the very slim form factor is not the only point of attraction this “paper-thin” device has to offer. As Shinya Saeki reports for Nikkei Electronics (TechOn), Hitachi also claims that its new device will offer a color reproduction range that's around 150 percent better than the one provided by the high-end HDTVs currently available on the market, which is indeed a pretty impressive feature, should it actually prove to be true.

This is possible due to the fact that Hitachi incorporates three different types of LED colors (RGB) for the backlight source, which has also been slimmed-down in order to keep dimensions at a minimum. However, no information regarding the actual number of LEDs or their positioning scheme has been provided.

The company does mention that their new LCD HDTV is a full HD display (delivers 1,920 × 1,080 pixels resolution), and the 15mm thickness has been achieved by reducing the thickness of all components including the power supply circuit.

As Hitachi representatives declared for the Japanese press, the company aims to mass-produce the TV in 2009 or later. These details are quite vague, but at least there's hope that this particular model will, at some point, go beyond the prototype stage and arrive in stores across the world.


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