Toshiba Matsushita Display intros world's thinnest 12-inch LCD

Just when you were feeling pretty smug with your new super-slim ultra-portable laptop, Toshiba Matsushita Display comes along and introduces the world's thinnest 12-inch LCD panel, which will be seen on notebooks much hotter than yours in a few months. Ranging from 2.9- to 4.5-millimeters thick, the new LED-backlit TFT display manages a 1280 x 800 WXGA resolution and 300cd/m2 brightness, packed into a light 183-gram design. TMD, a joint venture between two Japanese electronics giants, says that the display is already in production, although there is no mention of any specific products that will see the new tech, nor any info on when these presumed products would hit stores.

[Via Akihabara News]

[Jordan @ Apr 13th 2006 10:07AM]

Doesn't look much thinner than the screen on a 12" PowerBook to me.. ?

I wonder if it will be in the next MacBook/MacBook Pro? I realize the MacBook is rumored to be 13.3" widescreen, but maybe they will release a 12" MacBook Pro as well, to replace the current model?

[sturmnacht @ Apr 13th 2006 11:13AM]

Actually, I like to see a 13.3" VAIO SZ LCD screen with LED backlighting to go into the next MacBook. It's also 4.5mm thick, and it includes an integrated webcam.

[LoonyLeif @ Apr 13th 2006 11:38AM]

That's awesome, but what's stopping me from snapping it in half?

[Jeffrey M Foster @ Apr 13th 2006 3:22PM]

Macbook pro i'd wager. :)

...then shortly after, every other manufacture in knock-off designs. :P

I'm convinced there will be an isight built into every screen apple releases (notebooks and all-in-ones, and eventually (possibly) their LCD screens) so i dont know if "thinnest" will matter when they need to cram a CCD in there anyway.

[Greg @ Apr 13th 2006 3:34PM]

That's great. Now just make one that is ultra lightweight, 40", and bluetooth enabled so you can hang it on the wall with only a powercord coming out the back.

[Kyran @ Apr 13th 2006 4:49PM]

In other words, Greg, you want a completely different product? :P This is only the LCD module, not an entire monitor with display electronics built in.

Though, if that module pictured includes the LED backlight, that's quite a bit thinner than those lit with clode cathodes. This could help reduce the size/weight of the slate Tablet PCs too. I was interested in getting a device to run Alias- err... Autodesk SketchBook Pro, but there isn't as a single Tablet computer out there that I'm remotely happy with.

[Brandon @ Apr 13th 2006 7:40PM]

When are they going to start making the thickest LCD ever?

[Eli @ Apr 14th 2006 2:11PM]

#5: Yeah, totally. Because bluetooth has all the bandwidth you could ever want for running live video at a high resolution with no compression.

Why, oh why do people think Bluetooth is some kind of magical wire replacement? It's meant to replace low-bandwidth serial cables, basically.

Also, wow, someone finally made an LCD as thin as a Powerbook display. Anybody remember that super thin LCD that Sony used to make? It was like half an inch thick, and housed its bulky components in a breakout box that could be up to 6' away. Now that was a cool idea.

[rektide @ Apr 14th 2006 5:20PM]

DAMNIT. I was just looking for some thin desktop displays. The 12 inches should have given it away I guess. Drat.