Samsung unleashes 70" LED TV with 500,000:1 contrast

Samsung today unveiled what should be not just the company's largest production LCD TV but also its highest-quality model to date. The as-yet unnamed 70-inch LCD achieves an unprecedented 500,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio through a particularly advanced LED backlighting system, the company says. Hundreds of individual LED backlights not only provide a far more evenly distributed backlight than cold cathodes but also selectively dim depending on the on-screen activity, creating truer black levels than would be possible for the older technology. The LEDs can also 'scan' the image by rapidly shutting down in sequence and from there eliminate the flickering or ghosting effects that occur only on particularly large sets, Samsung claims.

Although few other technical details have surfaced for the TV, the 70-inch screen consumes just half the power of a cold cathode equivalent and is bound to serve as a showcase for the company's more recent technology, including HDMI 1.3's richer colors. Official plans have the set launching first in Korea during the second half of 2007 as part of the company's PAVV label. A US release is near certain, but has not been announced and is most likely to follow afterwards.