Europe’s ‘Skinniest’ TVs Coming To A Shop Near You April 23, 2008

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Hitachi’s anorexic LCD TVs are coming to Comet next month. The 32in, 37in and 42in models in the company’s Wooo UT range, measure just 35mm from front to back - excluding stand - and make certain rival LCD tellys look like Jade Goody.

Since none of us will be able to buy big, ridiculously thin and expensive OLED TVs until 2009 or 2010, we’ll have to make do with LCDs on a diet. As well as being very thin the new Hitachi models, according to the company, are up to 50% lighter than rival LCD TVs with the 32in model weighing in at a fraction under 11Kg – very light indeed.

Bill Moir, Comet’s Head of Brown Goods, said:

“TV's just keep getting thinner and customers have fully embraced the change from the big black boxes of yesteryear. We expect this new technology to fly off the shelves as people clamour to get their hands on this ground-breaking new bit of kit.”

All three models are Full HD but it’s unclear how many HDMI slots the TVs will have. In Japan they shipped with just one HDMI on the TV but with an optional media box containing the digital tuner, hard disk drive and spare HDMI inputs. There's no media box for the UK so one would assume - hope - they'll add some more HDMI ports to the TV.

If they come with less than two, they’ll be staying on Comet’s shelves, no matter how light they are. The TVs might be skinnier and lighter than their rivals but for every ounce lost another few quid has been added to the price with the 32in model expected to cost a staggering £1,300.-Martin Lynch

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