Diamonds are a girl's best friend, so will Philips' new 2,250 diamond-encrusted display make the spousal purchasing decision easier?Plus:top three indignities that flat panel technologies have been subjected to in Las Vegas.
Everyone loves a giant screen, but do we really want to see one bedecked with 2,250 diamonds? Here's four indignities that flat panel and plasma technologies didn't need to be subjected to in Las Vegas.
Bling to a ludicrous degree. To celebrate the sale of its one millionth Ambilight TV, Philips commissioned the Diamond FlatTV. This Vegas showgirl-inspired 42-inch monstrosity sports 2,250 diamonds, and yet still manages to look cheap. Fortunately, it's not going on sale, which might disappoint Paris Hilton but is good news for everyone else.
 Diamond's aren't a display's best friend |
Boasting about size, inappropriately. Yes, 50 inches is quite impressive (insert your own genitalia joke here). But with virtually every second TV being announced at CES in the 50 inches-plus category, size alone isn't going to cut it as a differentiator. Dropping the prices, now that would really be fun.
Stealing names from other technologies. Toshiba is upgrading its PixelPure display technology, which is fine. It has confusingly decided to call it PixelPure 3G, which it is not, unless it incorporates an unexpected degree of HSDPA support. There's enough acronym confusion out there without adding to the mix.
 Even a B&W TV would be an improvement |
Not getting used in the right places. You can see flat screen displays in your local supermarket, but apparently no-one's willing to cough up to use them at the world's biggest electronics event, leaving us contemplating old fashioned boards like the one pictured below everywhere we go.