AUO offers peek at HDTV with 5,000:1 static contrast

AU Optronics on Tuesday revealed what it believes is one of the best-looking LCD TV panels ever released. A new, 'bumpless' pixel design, an integrated backlight, and better color resistance have let the company produce a display whose natural contrast ratio is 5,000:1 -- double the 2,500:1 managed last year and more than four times the 1,200:1 achieved in 2005. The technology is the most vivid of any technology on shelves today that uses a mainstream cold-cathode fluorescent (CCFL) backlight and will be the best until LED-lit displays are in the mainstream, according to the company. Displays with dynamic contrast ratios should provide an even larger ratio by shutting off parts of the backlight during dark scenes.

The technology should be on show at the FPD International display expo on October 24th and will reach production HDTVs in the near future. AUO typically does not produce HDTVs itself but often produces the LCDs for major international TV makers such as ViewSonic, which should make the technology available to North American customers.

Additionally, the company noted that extra-thin display technology was soon to be in mass production for HDTVs and uses a new display film to dramatically reduce the needed thickness of a given display. A 32-inch HDTV screen can be just 0.8 inches deep versus 1.3 for old panels and shaves off 4.4 pounds from the total weight, AUO said. New sets should appear within the next few months that take advantage of the extra-thin display, though no manufacturers were named in the update.