Canada's thinnest TV?
Looks like Sharp and Sony are in battle-royal for the title of thinnest TV, with each company promising new and very thin models in time for the holidays.
As we reported earlier this year, Sony has plans to release a new, super-thin 40" LCD TV which they claim will measure under an inch at its thinnest point. Unfortunately, as of today, there’s still no word on price or availability.
Thankfully, Sharp has entered the fray with their announcement that effective immediately, their new super-thin LED-back-lit XS1 LCD TV’s are available for ordering.
The 65" LC-65XS1U and 52" LC-52XS1U are sleek, with a sophisticated brushed-metal look, which distinguishes them from the glossy black frames that surround the majority of flat-screens on the market today. They also pack some pretty impressive features:
- 0.9 inches or 23mm thick at the thinnest point
- RGB-LED backlight system
- 1,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio
- 150% of NTSC standard colour gamut
- 120Hz image-smoothing
- 4ms response time
- 5 HDMI ports
- Internet connectivity
It’s that last point that comes with an interesting twist: In addition to being able to download internet-enabled widgets such as news, weather reports, stock market activity and games, owners can get support personnel to connect directly to these TVs when dealing with a prickly tech problem that can’t be solved through the usual means of having someone walk you through the steps on the phone. Privacy concerns aside, this is a great use of an internet connection.
Sharp claims that these 2 new TV’s are Canada’s thinnest. Are they?
Tech fans will remember that Sony launched the first OLED TV to the consumer market earlier this year. That model – the 11" XEL1 – is amazingly thin, sporting a bezel depth of 3mm. But the screen is permanently mounted to a base which measures 5.5" deep, so practically speaking, you’ll never be able to take advantage of the OLED’s tiny profile e.g. for wall mounting.
The main reason the XEL1 has a base, is that it’s currently impossible to include the vast array of connectors, power supplies etc, that a TV needs in a cabinet that only measures 3mm.
Sharp faced the same restrictions when creating the XS1. Knowing however, that 65" TVs must have a wall mount option, they decoupled the base from the display. Their separate AVC (Audio Video Control) system box incorporates the HD digital tuner and all input terminals. The AVC box is connected to the XS1 via an HDMI cable.
The upside is that XS1 owners get a beautiful, thin TV on their walls. The downside is that they’ll have to get a drywaller in to patch up the wall after they run the HDMI (and presumably power) cables from the TV to the AVC unit.
But that shouldn’t put you off too much. If you’re in a position to fork over $11,999.99 for the 52" or $15,999.99 for the 65", I doubt a few wall repairs will bother you.
Read up on both models here:
If you get a chance to see one of these units in the flesh, come back and tell us what you thought.
Update December 22: Sony has finally announced the availbility of their super-slim KLV-40ZX1M at the bargain price of $4,199.99
Excitable 
Quite pointless really… if it's already hanging on the wall who cares if it is 3mm thick or 6 inches thick, it's upi and out of the way and nothing near those old 2 ft thick tvs. Besides most people have the dvd, etc under the tv in a cabinet that is going to be 2 ft thick.
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Why are they saying that these TV's are the THINNEST at the THINNEST POINT on the TV? Shouldn't they be comparing the TV's at the thickest point! After all if the screen is only 1" but the rest of the electronics package in the middle of the unit is 5" thick then the thinnest TV won't matter, you still have to accomidate the section of the TV with the electronics.
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That's great that technology has come so far but who in there right mind wants to pay $12 to $16 thous for an idiot box when these TV's will sell for a thous or so in less then a year or so!!!! New isn't always the greatest or the best. Ya still have to content with cables and the powercord from the back of the TV as well
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I Love these new TVs, but I am still having a hard time dealing with all of the cables. Plus, the idea of hanging it on the wall is great, but what you never see when these babies are hung on the wall in any design magazine or at the stores, is what they did with the inevitbale HD box that you have to have to make them work. Nevermind the Stereo surround or the Blu Ray player.
Still, I still prefer Plasma anyway unless you are in a sunny room and you always leave your curtains open while you watch TV.
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saw the TV at Trutone last night. That is the best picture i have ever seen on a TV….once you see it you'll believe. They told me the key is the use of RGB-LED's.
i agree with one of the other posters about the thinnest point but even at it's thickest it is much thinner than any other TV except the OLED SONY.
PS, for those of you who want to wall mount & hide cables, cut a hole in the wall behind the TV, go to home depot and buy a long extended drill bit & run the cables behind the wall through the studs & drop the cables several studs over and cut another hole in your wall near the floor by your equipment rack, it took me about 3hrs to mount & run all the wires.
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This tv has the most remarkable picture I have ever seen..IT blows plasma out of the water…You owe it to yourself to see one in person..hopefully the price will eventually come down..
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Well I agree with you about the XEL-1. I got to use one for a week and while it is an amazing "concept TV" it's not very practical. LCD may very well come close to OLED performance in the next year or so with LED backlighting etc. And they will be available next year unlike the promised larger OLED models.
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I just saw these things at Bay Bloor Radio. WOW. By far the best image that I have ever seen on any TV…even Plasma. The black levels were out of this world! With regards to the product's thin design…amazing. This thing is thin…even at the "thickest" point, this thing is not more than 1" in depth. The Salesman told me the same thing about the RGB backlight…and I could actually see the difference. Contrary to the above comments, the cable management is the easiest that I've seen on a TV. 1 x HDMI cable coming out of the back of the TV into their breakout box. I could use a 30ft HDMI cable and have all my components hidden in another room…and still have only the single cable coming out of the back of the TV! (2 if you include the power cable). Not sure what the complaint is there. Anyway, a little past my budget right now, but I will wait to see the price come down. I bet you anything that Sharp will roll this technology out to the rest of its AQUOS line shortly…meaning it might become more accessible for us everyday folk.
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My TV is way thinner than that… Check out: http://www.atic.ca/index.php?page=LongDesc&sku=47969
For $469 I have the thinest, most portable and largest TV you can get. Good luck beating that. Screw LCD, Plasma… Projectors are the way to go…
Mark
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Lets see your projector in any well lit room…
Not to mention that you'll be changing your bulb every few thousand hours… which is approximately 1/20th of the life of a LCD / Plasma. :)
Don't get me wrong, projectors are great, but they're not for everybody and every situation.
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I think this Tv is ultimately amazing
it i skinnier than my ipod
and thinner than my sister
this is amazing
where can i get one, i live in ahick town
how can you transport this to me
please tell me
lots of love from the hick folks down here
it is gonna revolutionaze the tv industry
peace yall
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I would love to see these thin TV's in my home. I think they are more practical than projecter models. Soon enough they will not need cables. I am sure they could work similarly to laptops with routers for signals. It could be like using devices from other rooms with a special signal sender..
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Programing which is aimed at slightly above the complete idiot level is the problem. I can sleep through most programing and benefit more from the sleep than I ever could staying awake.
I own several TV's including a Sony LCD, a Hitachi projector and a couple old CRT's. The old 27" CRT probably has the best picture quality and is is about 20 years old.
I am waiting for 3D Holigraph quality.
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A few weird comments, methinks. It's not pointless at all… the thinner/lighter these get, ultimately the lower the price / the cheaper the transportation costs and the better for the environment. In 2002, BusinessWeek ran a story on (emerging) OLED technology and speculated that wall-sized screens would be available for not much more than paint within 15 years… I'd say we're not far off track given the improvement in size, longevity and cost over the past ~6 years. Samsung just showed a .5mm thick screen by the way. 6"? Pffft! And the "DVD, etc." will disappear with downloading – though the point's irrelevant anyway. Short-sighted, Steve.
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Regarding projection… it can't touch where OLED is going – not for virtually anything relevant to the use. Projectors will be dinosaurs and for what it's worth, I submit that when you get "the largest", not too many people care about "the most portable" in the same breath. Keep these screens improving guys (i.e. science and the industry), and users might wanna analyze all the whiners, 'cause they're usually blowing smoke and not thinking long-term. Without the incremental changes we're seeing, we can't get to where we likely all want to go (even the complainers, who likely won't even realize it 'til we get there – LOL).
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Here is my 2 cents in response to the comment on the thickness of this Sharp TV.
One advantage of having a thinner TV is it increases the effective viewing distance and it matters a lot if you have a tight room with a short lengh. So 3mm or 6inch thickness can have a big impact if you have a tight room or you really would like to get a TV as reasonably big as possible.
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Wonderful post! Thanks a lot.
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Great post!
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Cool post thats one thin TV
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