A superthin, superlight flat screen

Toronto-based electronics company iFire has created a new phosphor-based form of flat-panel high-definition television that it says is a "true hang on the wall."

Its 37-inch HDTV set is 2 centimeters thick and weighs less than 2.2 pounds.

Credit: iFire

iFire's thick-film dialectric electroluminescent technology (TDEL) is a new method to develop thinner, less expensive flat-panel televisions. It uses lightweight materials, thinner glass, and fewer electronics than plasma. And unlike an LCD, it has no backlight.

Their Color by Blue display system uses energy from a blue light source (in this case, a sheet of blue phosphor), which energizes fluorescent pigments that emit green or red light. By combining the blue with the green and red light, the full color of an RGB (red green blue) video is displayed.

"We feel we need to make this quite compelling to compete with the LCD," said Don Carkner, iFire vice president of product planning. He said that with modules costing less than $300 per unit, iFire has one of the most cost-effective modules on the market.

IFire has developed only pilot versions of the TDEL-based model so far, but it plans to form a manufacturing partnership for mass production by 2007.