Philips shows off 100-inch HDTV

Philips presented a 100-inch HD TV at IFA 2006 along with 300 other HD-ready FlatTV sets and the first Philips products to support the new Blu-ray Disc format.

Ten years since it publicly demonstrated the world’s first plasma FlatTV, Philips continues to drive innovation in the flat-panel TV marketplace. Later this year the company will sell its one millionth Ambilight FlatTV, having shipped the most number of LCD TVs worldwide in the first half of 2006, according to leading display market research organization DisplaySearch.

IFA visitors will be able to see Philips’ latest FlatTV innovation - a prototype 100-inch (245cm) LCD TV with Ambilight Full Surround – the new, four-sided version of Philips’ totally unique ambient lighting technology. Ambilight brings a completely new, transformational dimension to watching TV, creating an immersive viewing experience through a unique technique which matches the colour and brightness in the images being displayed on the television’s screen.

This year Philips is adding two new versions of Ambilight – Ambilight Full surround, which projects ambient light on all four sides of the set, and Ambilight Surround which features lighting units on three sides. Both variants of Ambilight will be demonstrated on the Philips stand at IFA, where visitors will be able to see up close the flagship Philips Cineos 42PF9831D FlatTV with Ambilight Full Surround and the Philips Cineos 37PF9731D FlatTV, recently named High-End LCD TV of the Year by the European Imaging & Sound Association (EISA).



Coinciding with this year’s launch of HDTV services in Europe is the arrival of Blu-ray Disc, the next-generation optical disc format being developed for high-definition video and high-capacity software applications. For the first time in Europe, Philips will be showing at IFA 2006 its first range of Blu-ray Disc products, including the new BDP9000 Blu-ray player, the ‘Triple Writer’ PC drive and packs of 25-gigabyte Blu-ray Disc recordable media.

Following the IFA 2005 debut of the first Philips Showline Media Center, Philips is adding two new models at this year’s IFA, the MCP9480i and MCP9360i. Combining award-winning Philips image-enhancement technology with the Microsoft® Windows® XP Media Center Edition and Viiv™ technology from Intel®, the MCP9480i and MCP9360i provide a high quality video entertainment and multimedia platform for the living room. The MCP9480i also includes Blu-Ray Disc playback and recording, High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) connectivity, and in models to be sold in selected countries, twin digital* (DVB-T) tuners.

IFA 2006 is providing a platform for Philips to demonstrate products which provide a more intuitive and convenient consumer experience. Amongst these will the comprehensive range of Voice over IP solutions, including the world’s first PC-free DECT phone for Skype, the Philips VOIP841, along with VoIP-compatible webcams and headsets.

Philips continues to drive its Connected Planet vision at IFA 2006 with several new members in its family of wireless entertainment devices and solutions. Amongst these will be a forthcoming new version of the award-winning Streamium Wireless Music System – the WACS7000 – which can both store up to 1500 CDs on a built-in 80Gb hard disk drive and then wirelessly stream that music to as many as five wireless receiver stations anywhere in the house. The WACS7000 will also be joined by the fun Streamium Wireless Audio Companion – a novel alarm clock designed to allow owners to wake up to their choice of music – stored on a Wireless Music Center and streamed seamlessly to the Companion.

For independent music enjoyment on the move, Philips’ tiny new GoGear SA9200 micro jukebox will be a small but significant highlight at IFA 2006. Just 9cm long and weighing only 48g, the 2 GB SA9200 can is able to store up to 500 MP3 or 1000 WMA music files, or up to 560 photos – all accessed via Philips’ unique touch-sensitive screen interface.