The next battlefront for the rapidly commoditizing flat-panel TV segment is going to be fought through upmarket design and strong styling. In this respect, LG is well-positioned to undertake this challenge with its Scarlet LCD TVs, unveiled today at the Singapore Flyer observation wheel. First announced during the Consumer Electronics Show 2008, it has already bagged the US tradeshow's Innovation Award, though these localized sets are not entirely similar in hardware capabilities.
One of the first ultra-thin panels to reach Asia, it has an astonishingly shallow 79mm-depth for its supersized 47-inch model. A sexy waistline aside, the entire lineup also has a dual persona with a glossy black finish in front and a contrasting yet matching scarlet red for the back. Wrapping up the uniquely different aesthetic concept is a cut-out. A hole punched right through the lower-half chassis lined with LEDs designed to produce a subtle red or white glow, depending on whether its on standby or in use.
Not just an empty shell with a pretty face, the Scarlet LG60 also has matching an ultra-high 50,000:1 dynamic contrast which puts it on par with the latest 2008 Samsungs. Not to mention value-added onboard MP3/JPEG/DivX/Xvid playback via a side USB port. Interestingly, LG has decided to further segment the series into two different categories; the larger 42- and 47-inch sizes will have full-HD resolution and triple HDMIs, while the rest are only HD-ready and have one less HDMI port.
Another unique proposition is its invisible speaker system which has sound actuators around the entire bezel's parimeter. More importantly, it’s fine tuned by audio guru Mark Levinson, whose works include some of the finest high-end audio equipment. Having said that, it seems like these sets are stripped-down models of their CES-announced equivalent. Visible omitted are the 120Hz TruMotion frame rate-doubling technology and a fourth HDMI as documented here. [asia.cnet]
