Samsung on Wednesday announced that it will unveil a 15-inch LCD panel with a 240Hz refresh rate, the industry's first. The new LCD panel, dubbed 'blue phase' by Samsung, will debut at the SID 2008 exhibition, which kicks off in Los Angeles, CA on May 18. With the blue phase technology, the Korean manufacturer was able to double the best frame rate of its current TVs, which operate at 120Hz.

Apart from reducing motion artifacts in fast-moving scenes, the new technology has other advantages, according to Samsung. The display panels are more economical to manufacture, as they do not require mechanical alignment layers common to modern LCD models that include Twisted Nematic (TN), In-Plane Switching (IPS) or Vertical Alignment (VA) panels. Also, the LCD will be less likely to "bruise" and show uneven lighting when it comes in contact with objects or fingers.

The name comes from the bluish hue emitted by the new technology while the new LCD mode TV is in operation. Samsung plans to put the blue phase LCD into production in 2011, though pricing or the size of the TVs it will be utilized in have not been announced.