Sony unveils world's thinnest LCD HDTV - 9.9mm KDL-40ZX1

Sony's taken the crown in the race for thinnest LCD HDTV. At just 9.9mm thick the KDL-40ZX1 nearly halves the depth of Hitachi's former champ (likely throwing up in the bathroom right now) and comes within a whisper of Pioneer's ultra thin concept. Featuring a LED backlighting, a 3,000:1 contrast ratio, 120Hz MotionFlow tech, x.v.Color and BRAVIA Engine 2 image processing this is about as close to a 40-inch window on your wall as is likely to arrive soon. Only one HDMI in is directly on the screen itself, all unnecessary HDMI / USB / component inputs are relegated to a base station, with the option for wired or -- possibly WHDI based? -- 5Ghz wireless (unfortunately limited to 1080i max resolution for now). We'd mention the XMB GUI, AcTVila video on-demand and DLNA support, but at some point it's just piling on. A mere 490,000 yen ($4,474 U.S.) puts the ZX1 on your wall, due at your local Japanese retailer November 10. See you there?

[Via AV Watch & Sony Insider]

[i89 @ Aug 28th 2008 1:49AM]

Waauw, it is thinner than my iPhone. It looks yummy (:

[andres @ Aug 28th 2008 2:08AM]

my patience with these iphone comments is also wearing thinner than an iphone.

[gad get @ Aug 28th 2008 2:30AM]

How much do you wanna bet i89 has never even touched an iPhone?

[i89 @ Aug 28th 2008 2:54AM]

Hmm.. I am just impressed. It IS thinner than iPhone (at the thinnest place). Gad get, sorry but I have both (EDGE and 3G).

[i89 @ Aug 28th 2008 3:51AM]

Ohh guess what? http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/28/iphone-3g-vs-sonys-40-inch-xz1-lcd-fight/

[v3xx @ Aug 28th 2008 4:09AM]

then you my friend are a tool. the only people i ever see with iphones are attention seeking "metro" sexuals. as in abercrombie and flip flop wearing douches. and you do realize that you're paying about $1000 a year for a false sense of being the cool guy. and if you upgraded for the 3g because you cant go 5 minutes without seeing or should i say hoping that someone wants to talk to you, then you need help.

[gad get @ Aug 28th 2008 4:15AM]

Wow. That's fantastic. Go have a cookie.

[gad get @ Aug 28th 2008 4:17AM]

I was... er... talking to the "i"-whatever guy.

[absinthe party @ Aug 28th 2008 7:47AM]

@v3xx

On behalf of metrosexuals everywhere:

Not all of us wear Abercrombie and carry iPhones... (Fill in witty retort here.)

[bob @ Aug 30th 2008 9:40AM]

Yes but will it blend. willitblend.com

[XIYL @ Aug 28th 2008 1:55AM]

I want it, who here is willing to buy it for me.

[mymaclife @ Aug 28th 2008 3:03AM]

Well if I won't buy your Big Issue why would I buy you a TV?

[Greg @ Aug 28th 2008 1:56AM]

There s white PS3 in the background on the table.. anyone... anyone?

[black @ Aug 28th 2008 2:03AM]

orly?

[andres @ Aug 28th 2008 2:08AM]

pretty sure its Bigfoot out there.

[N00d13s @ Aug 28th 2008 2:10AM]

yeah i see it. damn sony, using product placement in their own ad!

[paul @ Aug 28th 2008 2:34AM]

White PS3 with a black TV? not very good placement there...

[iSmoke,therefore emit death by breathing @ Aug 28th 2008 3:52AM]

a white PS3 in the wild?..don't play with my emotionz like that.


Reminds of this one time at Band Camp when i seen a unicorn..

[gaddelyz @ Aug 28th 2008 4:37AM]

I got a white PS3 sitting in my living room....hehe...

Got it from HK....MSRP even cheaper than in US...lol

[hurricane @ Aug 28th 2008 5:26AM]

I believe you, this does blend well... with the background...

http://www.play-gadgets.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/white-ps3-40gb-japan.jpg

[black @ Aug 28th 2008 2:02AM]

1st to neg you.

Back to the subject, I wonder what is the point of making it this thin, especially since this design needs a stand, and a external power adapter from the looks of it. It would be better if the power adapter could be integrated into the stand, as well as all the inputs.

[kizmet86 @ Aug 28th 2008 2:03AM]

WOW SONY does it again. Thin and feature complete.

[TheMagnificen7 @ Aug 28th 2008 2:06AM]

Gasp. That is all.

[Elisha Adeagbo @ Aug 28th 2008 2:06AM]

man that's thin

[Scott M @ Aug 28th 2008 2:08AM]

Except you can't actually put it on your wall because it needs that damn base-station. Gimme one that I can remove from the base, and I'll get excited.

[ntlam @ Aug 28th 2008 2:09AM]

wow...... I want this....

but... stop giving us all those largest, thinnest, smallest foot print... bla bla bla... all what I want it CHEAP and QUALITY image with normal size 42 inch. that all.

[Bassir @ Aug 28th 2008 2:13AM]

Seriously.

I'm looking for a good, fairly large (50-80) inches HDTV that'll look great when watching high definition television and playing Blu-Ray videos through the PS3

[gad get @ Aug 28th 2008 2:39AM]

"wow...... I want this...."

"...all what I want it CHEAP and QUALITY image with normal size 42 inch. that all."

Can you say, "self-contradictory"?

[v3xx @ Aug 28th 2008 4:50AM]

@ gad get

i think he means stop with the uber thin and work on making average thickness flat screens cheaper. and honestly i agree. show me someone whos table has 9mm of space but not 20mm. the practicality of this tv jut isnt there, and with these sony base stations the point of thinness is moot.

[gad get @ Aug 28th 2008 6:15AM]

I know what he means. But I don't think he does.

[takashisenke @ Aug 28th 2008 2:17AM]

Provided it uses a normal power adapter, which I'm sure it does, it'll need at least 15 mm of space + some bezel space. It'll also need the bottom base station.

This is like saying a Macbook Air is .16" thick when the thickest is actualy .76".

I say fail.

[Gunn @ Aug 28th 2008 2:24AM]

What if you fall on that thing? Instantly cut in half? Nice...

[gad get @ Aug 28th 2008 2:34AM]

Richard Lawler: hard-hitting, unbiased, daring, insightful, gadget reports.

[gad get @ Aug 28th 2008 2:37AM]

Well, it's Engadget, what can you expect? They're never neutral on a product, they either bash it to death, or love it love it love it!

Gotta love 'em.


Or else hate them....

[peter @ Aug 28th 2008 3:06AM]

nearly as thin as a cat walk mode dale

[xValentine @ Aug 28th 2008 3:07AM]

That thing can cut a cake!.

[Cam @ Aug 28th 2008 3:10AM]

Until next month when Sony announces the next world's thinnest LCD HDTV.

[King Mook Mook @ Aug 28th 2008 3:50AM]

Is that a KDl-40ZX1 in your pocket or are you really unhappy to see me?

[jed @ Aug 28th 2008 3:53AM]

somebody tell me what i'm missing. laptop screens have been a few millimeters thick for years, its not that big a deal. also, from the front, does it matter if its 3 inches thick versus 2 millimeters thick? does that translate to some quality i'm missing?

[ArcticFox @ Aug 28th 2008 4:01AM]

Because most of the things your laptop screen needs to run are embedded onto the motherboard of the laptop not to mention you cant get 40" laptop screens, with a standalone tv all the tech including all the ports have to fit into the back of the machine hence the thickness.

[v3xx @ Aug 28th 2008 4:02AM]

black

i agree. and with sony's last thinnest tv i dont think it's fair to call it the thinnest tv when it has a huge brick of a stand. isnt the future about tv's integrated into walls or being paper thin? build everything into a single unit and we'll see who's the thinnest. whats the point of a thin screen when you need a foot of table space.

[bertross @ Aug 28th 2008 4:16AM]

Don't worry Apple fanboys, in a few years will start making TVs and copy this design.

[misha @ Aug 28th 2008 5:02AM]

http://www.hahastop.com/pictures/Failure.jpg

[shimman @ Aug 29th 2008 12:28AM]

since 40" lcd is made only by samsung, will we see thin lcd tv announcement from samsung, too?

i wonder this tv's stand includes electronics like sony's oled tv

[bart @ Aug 29th 2008 2:13PM]

Samsung has no LCD-factory, you probably mean S-LCD? This is a joint venture between Samsung and Sony.

[chris4 @ Aug 28th 2008 10:22AM]

the panels arent samsung if you dont know its a joint venture between sony-samsung 50-50.


BTW its looking great,propably my next tv

[shimman @ Aug 29th 2008 12:35AM]

chris4, you need to get the fact right

s-lcd was, indeed, a joint venture between samsung and sony, but sony was only investing in samsung to get lcd panel supplied in sony's spec; all the developments & manufacturing were done by samsung. if you open up most of sony lcd tvs (especially high end models), it will say samsung rather than s-lcd. whether the panels were branded as s-lcd or samsung; they are samsung panels. you just don't image samsung panels in sony tvs

of course, the lcd panel isn't everything about tv...just an important part of tv; that's all.

[absinthe party @ Aug 28th 2008 7:54AM]

Are you starting a debate with yourself..?

[absinthe party @ Aug 28th 2008 7:57AM]

Aww, man... That was meant as a reply to "gad get." Now I see what you guys are always complaining about with this comment system. At least it wasn't a double post though.

[absinthe party @ Aug 28th 2008 7:58AM]

Aww, man... That was meant as a reply to "gad get." Now I see what you guys are always complaining about with this comment system. At least it wasn't a double post though.